The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, asked, Tuesday, September 28, forgiveness for the “State crimes” committed against an indigenous people from the north of the country, the Yaquis. The president announced a vast investment plan for them during a public ceremony in Vicam, in the state of Sonora (north).
The head of state, from the Mexican left, recalled that the abuses mainly took place during the long presidency of Porfirio Diaz (1876-1880, then 1884-1911), considered a dictatorship by some historians.
The Mexican government is committed to implementing a “Justice plan” in favor of the Yaquis, who have a few tens of thousands of members in a country of nearly 128 million inhabitants.
Access to water and social security
The plan calls for an investment of 11.6 billion pesos ($ 570 million), said Adelfo Regino Montes, director of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador explained that these funds will be used in particular to distribute land, and guarantee the right to water and social security.
“It is about giving us back what is unique to us”, said Jesus Patricio Varela, a representative of the Yaquis peoples, referring to “The territories from which we have been despoiled” and the “Dignity that they wanted to steal from us”.
“The Mexican state must never again allow marginalization, abuse or injustice towards the Yaquis or any other ethnic or cultural group in our country”, concluded the Mexican president.
The Yaquis peoples, grouped together in eight communities, have been fighting for the defense of their territories and their customs since the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors at the beginning of the 16th century.e century.
The year 2021 marks a double anniversary widely commemorated in Mexico: the 500 years of the conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortès and the bicentenary of the country’s independence.
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