Mexico City: Police harassment of members of Anarchist Black Cross–Mexico

In the last few years, we have seen how the escalation of repression has intensified around the libertarian and anarchist movement through the strategies used here in Mexico City: Setting very high bond amounts, and applying the same package of charges, always aggravated, without giving much importance to the specific situation, but rather to what the State dictates. Persecution and finger-pointing in the media as a basic element of their set-up: Noting the names of groups of people or spaces (whether they exist or not), making up relationships that really don’t exist, comparing everyone and everything from a vertical point of view, trying fit us into a schematic of leadership. Of course, this demonstrates a deep ignorance and/or contempt for anarchist ideas, which have nothing to do with this kind of hierarchical logic.

On the other hand, we have the government’s efforts to qualify anarchism or “anarchic conduct” under the judicial classification of terrorism, applying severe charges and operating under maximum security parameters, only to withdraw the charges, with the argument that they lack sufficient evidence – but always leaving the open threat that “investigations continue.” Nonsensical investigations, plagued with arbitrary references to groups and individuals that exist in very different spaces.

This is all paralleled by police monitoring and surveillance of certain individuals in an attempt to intimidate them, as well as provocations against certain autonomous spaces.

Framed by this strategy, and alongside many other comrades, groups, and collectives, the name of Cruz Negra Anarquista México [Anarchist Black Cross–Mexico] has come to stand out among the notes, “investigations” and political or police declarations.

We believe it is important to make it publicly known that in the past few weeks, individuals who seem to be part of the Mexico City police “investigation” have shown up outside of some of our houses and workplaces, threatening our neighbors and family members and arguing that they are doing security and surveillance work.

Beyond calling for an end to this persecution, we are making this public report as a wake-up call: We know that repression is intrinsic to the state that we have declared as our enemy. We know that its jails and its police are the foundation of its power and its domination. And we know that our work around anti-prison thinking, support, and accompaniment of imprisoned comrades is directly contradictory to this power and domination.

But we also know that SOLIDARITY BETWEEN ANARCHISTS IS NOT JUST WORDS ON PAPER!

In this context, we ask individuals, collectives, and affinity groups, the comrades we have worked with in the last few years, to be attentive, and to continue to provide the same solidarity that we have received up to this point.

Down with prison walls!

Freedom for everyone!

Anarchist Black Cross–Mexico

original in Spanish (June 16, 2015); in Greek