Oaxaca. Thirteen years after the murder of human rights defender Alberta Bety Cariño Trujillo and Finnish activist Jyri Jaakkola in Oaxaca, friends and relatives are launching an international campaign inviting artists to contribute to their memory.
On April 27, 2010, Bety Cariño and Jyri Jakkola, members of a humanitarian caravan in the indigenous village of San Juan Copala in Oaxaca, were ambushed by an armed group and shot dead. Other participants, including international observers and media representatives, were injured.
The PRI-affiliated paramilitary group Ubisort, which carried out the attack, previously warned that the caravan would be attacked if it approached the village surrounded by political opponents. San Juan Copala experimented with a path of indigenous autonomy, trying to break away from the tentacles of the organizations that form the basis of political parties.
Although due to international pressure, including from the European Parliament, four people were remanded in custody for the double murder and a further nine arrest warrants were issued, the judiciary stopped the process in September 2022 and released the prisoners.
During the trial, witnesses, investigative authorities and judges were massively threatened, which prevented the trial from being completed and thus a conviction. The alleged perpetrators are also covered by social organizations in the Triqui region, which are active in the Morena party. The center-left Morena has ruled Mexico since 2018 and the state of Oaxaca since December 2022.
Due to the impunity, also in this case, which is paradigmatic for the human rights situation in Mexico, the relatives of the two murdered people announced that they will bring the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The competition “The seed is growing”, with a jury made up of recognized curators and family members of the murdered, was launched on April 27, 2023, the 13th anniversary of the assassination. The 20 best works will receive a symbolic reward and will be exhibited both in Mexico and in Europe.
In the Oaxacan Mixteca, Cariño fought structural injustices and defended indigenous territories and traditions. As coordinator of the organization Cactus (Centro de Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando Unidos), she won an award from the recognized human rights organization Front Line International. In her acceptance speech, she emphasized that resistance to large-scale projects in particular required the active participation of women.
Activist Jaakkola was a member of the internationalist collective “Uusi Tuu” (New Wind) in Finland. He said weeks before his trip that he hoped visiting indigenous communities in southern Mexico would inspire him to find new, alternative approaches to tackling global warming and solving social problems.
The announcement of the art competition refers to the video interviews with the two murdered people. Interested parties can contact the email address given in the announcement in German or Spanish to receive further information on participation. The submission deadline is July 30, 2023.