Cover photo by Santiago Navarro F
Marking International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous community of Santa Maria Ostula, located in the municipality of Aquila, Michoacán, is in the middle of a crucial political and legal battle that could determine the future of their communal lands. The moment is decisive, as the Second Collegiate Court will soon decide on the appeal 463/2023 filed by the community.
The legal dispute involving the Nahua community of Ostula is centered around agrarian litigation dating back decades. In 2009, the community recuperated more than 1,000 hectares of land that had been occupied by “land owners and organized crime bosses,” denounced the community in a statement.
Photo: Regina López
The appeal 463/2023 seeks to overturn ruling 78/2004 which authorized the lands to land owners of La Placita, a group who according to communal authorities from Ostula have connections with organized crime. A lower court confirmed that decision, ignoring documents that prove the communal lands belong to Ostula.
Amicus Curiae
As the court decides the fate of the communal lands, the legal defense will present technical reports and opinions of more than 56 experts in anthropology, history, and archeology through a legal resource known as Amicus Curiae. These experts are recognized at the national and international level, and their participation seeks to provide an objective perspective regarding the validity of the community’s claims.
Photos: Regina López
Photo: Santiago Navarro F
Simultaneously, residents of Ostula have launched different protest actions in the streets and on social media with the hashtag #Ostula and #OstulaResiste. A commission from the community traveled to Mexico City to protest in front of the offices of the federal judiciary, while in Morelia, Michoacán, a press conference was held in front of other offices of the federal judiciary.
These actions are part of a series of protests that include blockades on the coastal highway 200, an important route in transporting minerals extracted by the company Ternium in the region.
International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
In a statement from the community of Santa Maria Ostula and the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), they explained that on this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, “we have nothing to celebrate, we only have clamor: justice for Ostula, justice for Indigenous peoples.” The statement highlights the urgent need for agrarian justice and respect for ancestral rights that have been violated for decades.
The statement published on the platform of the CNI also made a call out for national and international solidarity, highlighting that the dispossession of their lands “not only represents an attack against their community, but also a threat to the survival of Indigenous peoples.”
They emphasize that Indigenous peoples for generations have cared for Mother Earth, protecting “the life of the planet where we were born and live.”
The struggle in defense of their lands—lands which contain great biodiversity—has cost them 40 community members who have been assassinated and 6 others who have disappeared. As if that wasn’t enough, “we have resisted the war of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel against us, and today we are expecting the last word from the Mexican State regarding our demand for agrarian justice for our community,” they emphasized in the statement.
The communal guard of Ostula is a voluntary community service. Each encargatura elects their communal guard members and the service lasts a year. Photo: Regina López
The community is on high alert and has taken drastic measures to ensure that their voice is being heard in this crucial phase of the judicial process.
At this fundamental moment, the Indigenous Nahuas of Santa Maria Ostula want the Mexican State to fulfill its commitments of justice and respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples. The final decision is in the hands of the Second Collegiate Court, which will determine the future of the lands and the autonomy of this ancestral community.
Update
Upon publication, the lawyer of the community of Ostula, Carlos Gonzáles, says that the Magistrate Judge Carlos Gario (President of the Tribunal), who is in charge of the case, commented that at the end of the month of August, the project will be turned over to the two other judges so that they study it, and at the beginning of September there will be a ruling.
