O'odham Holiday Toy Drive Underway

O'odham Holiday Toy Drive Underway 

By Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham

Censored News

Thank you so much early donors to our annual Holiday Toy drive. All the toys are getting sorted wrapped and labeled. Soon the O'odham volunteers will be delivering to children along the border. The International border will not deter our efforts to bring gifts to all children.

To donate for this year's Holiday Toy Drive for O'odham children, please send to:
Ophelia Rivas, Box 1835, Sells, Arizona 85634

Read more on Ofelia's website, O'odham Rights https://www.oodhamrights.org/ 

Yaqui Disappeared and Assassinated Not Included in New UN Human Rights Report

Tomas Rojo, spokesman for Vicam Yaqui Traditional Authority, assassinated

Yaqui Disappeared and Assassinated Not Included in New UN Human Rights Report

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Sept. 11, 2023

Tomas Rojo was someone I knew. In his gentle way, he explained how Traditional Vicam Yaqui were protecting the Yaqui River water from being stolen for an aqueduct for the city of Hermosillo. Tomas was the spokesman for Traditional Vicam Yaqui, and they maintained a highway blockade for years to protect their water.

Tomas was bludgeoned to death and left in the desert.

Nearby, Loma de Bacum Yaqui were going for a cow for a traditional feast, when 10 community members were disappeared. They were traditional security guards opposing a gas pipeline in their village.

It is sad to see that these, and the other assassinations and disappearances in Mexico, south of the Arizona border, are not included in the new report on militarization to the UN Human Rights Council.

The United Nations has failed to take seriously the epidemic of assassinations and disappearances of Indigenous Peoples, by mining and development corporations based in Canada, the United States and Australia, and to hold the governments, military and law enforcement responsible for their crimes -- including Mexico.

Mexico's Government Spy Files on Yaqui and Zapatistas in Europe Leaked by Hacker Collective

Mexico's Secretary of Defense spy files include the photos shown above: Zapatistas in their communities; Zapatistas tour in Europe, and aerial images. Mexico's government spy files include profiles on Zapatistas and their supporters, Indigenous movement leaders, professors, farmers, and women leaders.

Mexico's Government Spy Files on Yaqui and Zapatistas in Europe Leaked by Hacker Collective

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

A hacker collective leaked the spy files of Mexico's Ministry of Defense, revealing spying on the Zapatistas and their supporters during the Journey for Life in Europe in 2021. The spy files include Mexico's targeting of both powerful Indigenous women and Indigenous movement leaders in Mexico.

The files were released by the hacktivists Guacamaya.

The leaked files reveal the Mexican government spying on the Yaqui Traditional Authority in Vicam, Sonora, where Vicam Yaqui spokesmen have been kidnapped, imprisoned, and assassinated.

Vicam Yaqui protested the theft of their water for an aqueduct taking Yaqui River water to the city of Hermosillo. Vicam Yaqui have maintained highway blockades for years in defense of their water on a major highway, slowing down the flow of commercial trucks to the U.S. and elsewhere.

Top photo: Vicam Yaqui Spokesperson Tomas Rojo, a soft-spoken agricultural engineer, was kidnapped and brutally murdered in 2021. Tomas was found buried in the desert outside the village. Photo 2: International Water Forum hosted by Vicam Yaqui Traditional Authority in Vicam, Sonora in 2012. Photo by Brenda Norrell, Censored News. https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/11/video-yaqui-foro-internacional-del-agua.html

The new spy files of Mexico's Defense Department on Yaqui in Vicam are especially chilling since the exposure follows a series of assassinations of Vicam Yaqui.

Remains in Desert Believed to be Kidnapped Yaqui of Bacum Pueblo

Photo 1: Family members hold photos of the missing. Photos 2, 3 and 4 are from the press conference of the Attorney General of Sonora today.

Sonora State Attorney General reports bodies found in desert appear to be Yaqui from Bacum Pueblo

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Attorney General Report in English and Espanol

Sept. 22, 2021

CHICHIQUELITE HILL, Sonora --  Six bodies found in the Sonoran desert are believed to be those of Yaqui from Bacum Pueblo who were kidnapped when they went for a cow for a traditional feast. There was no news of the other four Yaqui from Bacum who were kidnapped. The Attorney General in the State of Sonora, south of the Arizona border, released the information late today.

Family members of three of the men have identified some of the belongings found at the camp where the bodies were found in shallow graves at Chichiquelite Ranch in Cajeme municipality. Clothing, belt buckles, thread bracelets and a USB memory device were found.

When government criminal investigators approached the desert camp, heavily-armed men fired on them. The two assailants were shot and killed.

The Mexican government in Sonora has identified the armed camp as drug runners. However, with the collusion between the government, energy corporations and the cartels -- the truth may not be this simple, or obvious.

During today's press conference, Sonoran Attorney General Claudia Indira Contreras said that as a result of the investigations, last Sunday, September 19, personnel of the Ministerial Agency of Criminal Investigation (AMIC), of this Prosecutor's Office, were attacked with projectiles of large caliber weapons, specifically AK-47 and R-15, and were shot by two unidentified assailants in the vicinity of the Chichiquelite hill, where the agents located a makeshift camp.

When repelling the aggression, Claudia Indira Contreras continued, two unidentified assailants were killed in the vicinity of the Chichiquelite hill, where the agents located a makeshift camp with food and maps.

"The seizure of an AK-47 weapon, an AR-15 rifle, three .22 caliber rifles, percussion casings, two backpacks with tactical equipment, breastplates, a helmet and a Toyota Tacoma pickup vehicle with a theft report in Phoenix, in 2019," she listed.

Report from the Attorney General of Sonora today, Sept. 22, 2021

English and Espanol

'Laberinto Yo'eme' premieres: Yaqui battle corporations as water and land defenders are kidnapped and assassinated

Assassinated Tomas Rojo: Yaqui was a defender of water rights, not interested in petty disputes

Tomas Rojo, Assassinated Yaqui Water Rights Defender

Motive for Tomás' crime, simplified conjecture

The coordinator of the Citizens' Movement for Water, Alberto Vizcarra Ozuna, questions the versions of the Sonora Prosecutor's Office about the conflict over the installation of a toll booth as the motive for the murder of Tomás Rojo, because that was not on the list of priorities of the Yaqui leader.

His fight was not against the criminal underworld, he says, but against the criteria of a water policy. "It is evident that the motivations for this crime transcend the simple dispute over a toll booth in Yaqui territory," says Vizcarra in the text we share here.

Yaqui Water Protector Tomas Rojo Identified in Shallow Grave: Third Assassination

Yaqui Water Protector Tomas Rojo Identified in Shallow Grave: Third Assassination

The assassination of Yaqui Water Rights Defender Tomas Rojo was confirmed on Monday. It was the third assassination of Yaqui Water Rights Defenders.

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Sadly, our friend Yaqui Water Protector Tomas Rojo was identified today as the one found in a shallow grave near Vicam Pueblo, Sonora. Tomas was identified by DNA and fingerprints.

Tomas is the third Yaqui Water Protector to be assassinated since May. Agustin Valdez was assassinated in May. Luis Urbano was murdered by gunshots on the street in Obregon in June.

Vicam Pueblo hosted Water Rights Forums that were covered by Censored News.

For years, Yaqui maintained highway blockades on a major highway through their land, which stalled semis, in protest of the theft of Yaqui River water for an aqueduct for the City of Hermosillo.

Tomas was a spokesman during the Water Forums and blockade.

Agustin served as head of security during the water rights highway blockades.

Luis, who is featured in a new film defending Yaqui water rights, accompanied the Traditional Authority of Vicam.

Tomas, an agricultural engineer, spoke on Yaqui water rights in a video interview with Censored News in 2012. https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/11/video-yaqui-foro-internacional-del-agua.html

The Traditional Authority of Vicam hosted international gatherings of the Zapatistas, upholding Indigenous rights.

Vicam Pueblo is located on Yoeme (Yaqui) ancestral land in the state of Sonora, near the Pacific Coast of Mexico, about a six hour drive southwest of Tucson.

(Above) Yaqui Water Protectors Agustin Valdez, Luis Urbano and Tomas Rojo.

AP: Mexican police identify corpse of Indigenous activist

June 21, 2021 11:46 p.m.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora said Monday tests have confirmed that a badly decayed corpse is that of an Indigenous rights leader who disappeared almost four weeks ago.

The office said DNA tests and fingerprints were used to identify Tomás Rojo Valencia, a leader of the Yaqui indigenous community. His body was found last week near the Yaqui town of Vicam, Sonora.

Rojo Valencia disappeared May 27 following tensions over Yaqui roadblocks protesting gas ducts, water pipelines and railway lines that have been run across their territory without consulting them or giving them much benefit. Rojo Valencia served as the Yaquis’ spokesman during past conflicts over land and water rights.

The confirmation came on the same day a 25-year-old Yaqui woman was reported missing after she left her home in Vicam to go to work, but never arrived. She was last seen June 17.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made it his special project to bring justice to the Yaquis, who he has described as Mexico’s most persecuted Indigenous group.

In February, the conflict over the highway blockades came to a head with the death of an Indigenous man killed when a trucker plowed through a Yaqui roadblock, hitting a member of the group.

Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News.

O'odham Victory: Halting Hazardous Waste Dump at Sacred Quitovac

O'odham shut down Route 2 at Quitovac, shown above. Photo copyright Jason Jaacks. Below: O'odham  shut down the border crossing at Sonoyta/Lukeville in 2006 in their successful actions that halted a planned hazardous waste dump near their Ceremonial place of Quitovac, just south of the Arizona border. Ofelia Rivas, founder of O'odham Voice Against the Wall, led the successful effort to halt the chemical waste dump. Photos copyright Ofelia Rivas.
The new website is: O'odham Rights
https://www.oodhamrights.org/

 

Protest at Mexican Consulate in Tucson. Photo copyright Ofelia Rivas.

Celebrating Victory: O'odham Shut Down Border and Halted Chemical Dump at Quitovac 

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Today we honor the victory of traditional O'odham who halted a hazardous waste dump near their Ceremonial place of Quitovac, on O'odham land in Sonora, just south of the Arizona border.

Yaqui Water Protector's Car Fire Bombed

Yaqui Water Protector's Car Fire Bombed 

Article by Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Mario Luna, spokesperson for Vicam Yaqui, was kidnapped and falsely imprisoned for one year after the Vicam Traditional Authority manned a highway blockade on Yaqui land to protest the theft of their water. Now, his partner's car was fire bombed on June 27, at their home.

Just two days earlier, Mario was among the speakers at the Havasupai Gathering to Oppose Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon.

Earlier, Vicam Yaqui manned the highway blockade for years, disrupting coastal truck transport in Sonora, to protest the theft of Yaqui water for an aqueduct for the City of Hermosillo, Mexico. Mario was kidnapped and falsely imprisoned as he served as a spokesman for Traditional Vicam Yaqui water protectors. Since his release from prison, he has presented their case to the United Nations.

Mario also was among the water protectors at Standing Rock in 2016.

Censored News provided live coverage from Vicam Pueblo of the Vicam Yaqui's water struggle and blockade in Sonora. Earlier, Zapatistas gathered at Vicam to show their support for water rights to Rio Yaqui and Indigenous rights here.

Amnesty International issued the following statement concerning the fire bombing of the car and the risks that Mario and his family face.

Amnesty International
URGENT ACTION

ASSAILANTS BURN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER’S CAR

Unidentified intruders entered the residence of Mario Luna Romero, leader of the Indigenous Yaqui community in Sonora state, northern Mexico, and set fire to his partner’s car. To date, no protection measures have been provided at the defender’s house and investigations are advancing slowly. Mario Luna and his family remain at risk.

In the morning of 27 June, Victoria Anahí Ochoa Domínguez, the wife of Mario Luna Romero, observed smoke rising from their garage and ran outside to find her vehicle on fire. A few hours later, when her husband arrived home from an overseas trip, he reported the incident to the federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, from which he receives protection measures as a defender of the Indigenous Yaqui community’s territory in Sonora state. Representatives of the Protection Mechanism assured him that state security police would promptly be sent, but the police never arrived. In turn, Mario Luna called the local investigative police who came to inspect the scene that same day. They found evidence of a glass bottle filled with gasoline and wrapped in cloth that had been thrown under the car, clearly signaling an intentional attack.

This is not the first time that Mario Luna and his family have faced security incidents. Anahí Ochoa told Amnesty International that in the weeks prior to the 27 June incident, unfamiliar vehicles were stationed outside of their home on repeated occasions. Mario Luna has carried out a number of activities in defense of collective rights of the Yaqui community, especially in relation to the right to water in light of the Independence Aqueduct, a project which could threaten the community’s access to water and cultural survival.

1) TAKE ACTION
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

Calling on authorities to urgently ensure effective implementation of the protection measures owing to Mario Luna and his family under the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, especially regarding patrols by Sonora State Police and security cameras in his home;

Calling on them to ensure a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation into the incident of 27 June, especially in relation to forensic evidence including the analysis of fingerprints found on the burnt vehicle, to make the results public and to bring those responsible to justice;

Calling on them to urgently and publicly recognize the legitimate role of Mario Luna as a human rights defender in order to send the message that attacks against him and his family are unlawful.

Contact these two officials by 21 August, 2017:

Governor of the State of Sonora

Claudia Pavlovich Arellano

Palacio de Gobierno

Comonfort y Dr. Paliza S/N, Colonia Centenario

Hermosillo, Sonora, México, C.P. 83260

Contact form: http://www.sonora.gob.mx/contacto.html

Twitter: @claudiapavlovic ‏

Salutation: Dear Governor/ Estimada Señora Gobernadora

Ambassador Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez

Embassy of Mexico

1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington DC 20006

Phone: 1 202 728 1600

Email: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx

Twitter: @EmbamexEUA, @GERONIMO__GF

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

2) LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION

PLEASE EMAIL UAN@AIUSA.ORG TO LET US KNOW YOU TOOK ACTION— PLEASE INCLUDE: THE UA NUMBER; CASE NAME AND COUNTRY; AND THE EXACT ACTIONS THAT YOU TOOK, E.G. “UA 166.17; IDIL ESER. TURKEY; 2 LETTERS; 1 CALL; 1 TWEET.”

Rio Yaqui, Mexico: Preservation of Indigenous Languages and Culture

Indigenous from Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico, gather for the preservation of languages and culture

Yaqui language learning cards
Photo Brenda Norrell

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
copyright Brenda Norrell

COCORIT PUEBLO, Sonora, Mexico -- The scent of the mesquite wood is sharp and crisp, as the dancers get ready. Inside, Indigenous from across the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico, discuss how to preserve and protect their languages and culture.

Here on the central coast of western Mexico, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sonoran Desert, it is the music, the dance, the languages and the culture that the Indigenous of Sonora struggle to protect. Comcaac (Seri), Yoeme (Yaqui), Yoreme (Mayo), Guajiro and O’odham (Papago) are gathered. The O'ob (Pima) were unable to come, as life is very difficult.

Indigenous gathered are discussing ways to preserve the Pascolas traditional dances of Yoeme, O'odham and other Indigenous in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa.

Alejandro Aguilar Zelleny of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologica e Historia, INAH, said the effort is underway to preserve the traditions and cultures. Indigenous Peoples are expressing concerns, and ways, of how to keep the traditions and culture in tact for future generations. They are working toward recognition of traditions and culture by UNESCO, Aguilar said.

This might be the friendliest community.

As we pass through Yaqui Pueblos, we stop and ask directions. A young woman jumps in the car with us and guides us to the gathering. She gives us an impromptu tour of carvings and plazas and ends with this offer, “I’ll give you my phone number, in case you need more directions, or want to have dinner together tonight.”

Photo copyright Brenda Norrell

We return her to work, and thank her. Inside the Yaqui Museum is a tribute to the Yaqui pueblos, their history, language and culture. At lunch, there is the unexpected: It is new cuisine of stuffed chicken breasts, vegetables, and an artistic ring of a whole grain tortilla. At the table, the languages spoken are O’odham, Spanish and English. Other languages drift across the meal from neighboring tables.

Here in Sonora, there is a great beauty of the desert and the sea. There is the desert, which braces against the Pacific Ocean waters.

Down the road is Vicam Yaqui Pueblo, where for years Yaqui maintained a highway blockade for their water rights. Long haul trucks would back up for miles, and occasionally be let through. These freighters were carrying produce to the U.S. and Mexico. At stake, was the water of the Rio Yaqui, which the City of Hermosillo was seizing by way of an illegal aqueduct that violated the water rights of Yaquis.

Two Yaqui media spokesmen of the Vicam water rights struggle were illegally imprisoned for one year. The men were released after a year of imprisonment. Mario Luna recently went to the United Nations, and the Standing Rock resistance in North Dakota, to share the struggle here for  water rights.

During the long years of struggle, the Zapatistas came with support from Chiapas, and the Mohawk Warriors came from the far north.

Rio Yaqui cultural exhibit at Yaqui Museum at Cocorit, Sonora,
Mexico. Photo Brenda Norrell

Back at the gathering today, an espresso coffee shop with free wifi is located across the road. Unexpectedly, a Yaqui cowboy rides up on his horse. In Spanish he happily greets another Yaqui man at the door of the museum, both are wearing the crisp white cowboy hats that are worn here. “Hola, where you from?” the Yaqui on horseback asks, happy to greet others to this community. There is a peace and joy here, not far from the sea, and not far from Vicam, where one of the greatest water battles of our times has unfolded.

When the Yaqui Deer dances began, the travelers who came so far are blessed. From the northern border, the O’odham have driven eight hours to be here. The roads, at least, are fairly free of the Mexican military that once frightened travelers.

The real danger is not seen. It is not discussed. It is there, the ever present danger.

The water wars, the struggles for the survival of the languages, music, dances, culture and traditions, and the battle for survival itself is always present. Here, in Sonora, for Indigenous, the battle is always the struggle for life itself.


Photo below: Victor Garcia Brown of the ritual ceremony of the flying papantla. Photo by Brenda Norrell.

Below: Comcaac (Seri) elder from the coastal fishing villages of Comcaac, speaks on preservation of language and culture. Photo Brenda Norrell.
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