From Crianza Mutua Mexico we continue to live the daily life that leads us to defend the territories we inhabit, the territory that is not only determined by geography but by all the different areas of daily life, such as eating, healing, learning, sharing and inhabiting. We care for life by considering the daily activities that represent the tangible processes in the life of communities, whether rural or urban, indigenous or from other cultures, which implies a resistance to the systemic processes that seek to destroy it. For this reason we would like to share two statements that reflect part of this defense that is woven with diverse organizations and collectives, one from Oaxaca and the other from Chiapas.

April 12, 2025

Last year left us with a hard lesson of what the fire season in Oaxaca will be like from now on. In recent weeks the fires have shown the importance of prevention strategies and rapid response to these events.

The original peoples and nations that fight have shown that organization, cooperation and tequio sustain life; community members from each community affected by the fires do not hesitate to climb the hills with their tools and their hearts to put out the fires, to cooperate and organize, risking and even losing their lives, as in the painful cases of last year. In the villages more people stay organizing the help for those who are in the bush, preparing food, sustaining the homes, calling people together, transporting the help.

However, in addition to this vital axis, ORGANIZED AND SUSTAINED support is required from state and federal institutions that have the material and human resources to support these tasks. This implies inter and intra-institutional articulation, field presence and coordination, not only among them, but also with the local authorities that maintain a constant work.

The technology and protocols for institutional attention to fires have been consolidated for decades; and time and again the native peoples, communities and nations have shown the organization, solidarity and strength with which they face fires. In view of this, it is necessary to join forces, demanding a rapid and effective response from the corresponding state and federal institutions.

Therefore, the undersigned individuals, collectives and organizations join in support of the communities and emphasize the request to the state and federal authorities for the following points:

Accurate, culturally relevant and continuous communication of the attention to the fires. In Oaxaca the community works and organizes itself and this is a strength that needs to be considered. Rapid response with equipped personnel and supplies, upon notification of fires, since, in general, the fires are not brought under control until they are already difficult to control.

The personnel of state and federal institutions need to operate basic protocols to coordinate their work and effectively communicate the needs in the territory through the appropriate inter-institutional channels that guarantee that the required support arrives in each case.

Respectful coordination with community and local authorities, without minimizing the work they are doing and explaining in detail what, when and how the work will be done and what is required from the community.

Allocate budgets to acquire specialized tools and equipment (helicopters, drones, gps, etc.) to extinguish the fires in an immediate, systematic and urgent manner, since shovels, hoes, lamps, picks, chainsaws and protective equipment is a support that cannot be easily managed through food, water and medicine, which is done immediately due to the tradition and custom of mutual support.

Specify in detail what is required for the management and work of air and ground support and effectively manage its implementation, with transparency, accountability and results.

• Suscribes: More than 150 organizations and activists in Oaxaca
• Webpage: https://forooaxaquenodelagua.wordpress.com/
• Email: forooaxacaagua@gmail.com

March 31, 2025

In the state of Chiapas, the Indigenous Peoples that inhabit the Territories from San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque, in Mexico; concerned about the recent actions taken by the Government, in an attempt simulate a consent process to legitimate the destruction of our ancestral home with the construction of a highway. In exercising our autonomy and our collective right to self-determination, we unite to express our outright rejection to any megaproject that could affect and dispossess us of our Territory, culture and environment.

We subscribe to the present declaration

WHEREAS:

That Mother Earth and the Territory that we inhabit constitute our way of being as Native Peoples with a culture, a cosmovision, and a unique way of feeling and thinking life as a whole. That our Territory is part of the cosmos in which all its parts (hills, water springs, animals, waterfalls, wind) are alive, have spirit-ajaw, are united, and are related to each other. They live and coexist in harmony, a harmony that our ancestors cared for and respected; that is our ancestral heritage.

That we, the original Mayan Peoples, are part of the great common home, and that our grandfathers and grandmothers taught us to care for and respect the life that exists there. Maintaining harmony with the Creation, with the humankind, and with God, being the Territory the fundamental core of our existence, identity and wellbeing.

We carry in our hearts that Mother Earth is sacred, she gives us to eat, to drink, she gives us joy to the heart. It is our duty to preserve her balance in our heart and in the universe so that the life left by our grandparents can continue to be enjoyed by our sons and daughters.

The Palenque-San Cristobal highway project is a threat to our territory and affects it and destroys it. It dispossesses us not only from a piece of land, but also from the life that lives there: springs, animals, diverse trees, and from our identity that makes us Peoples.That is why the Mayan communities in the affected municipalities adhere to this declaration. Women, men, young people, and elders, after dialogue and analysis

WE AGREE:

We declare that our Indigenous Territory, original Mayan peoples, are part of the sacred Mother Earth. That our existence depends on the harmony that we maintain with the life that dwells in it.

We declare that our Indigenous Mayan Territory rejects the Palenque to San Cristobal highway and any project that is not compatible with our way of life, cosmovision and with our care for Mother Earth. Our territory is declared a living culture and a territory free of megaprojects. This protection of the land is protected by international law and in the Political Constitution of Mexico, in the right to self-determination, self-government and autonomy to decide our own way of development or existence and to the preservation of our territorial environments. That every action of the Government of the Federation, the State of Chiapas and the Municipalities must be dialogued and agreed upon with the Original Peoples and communities, in accordance with our word and our normative systems. Therefore, we reject any action that is not taken with the customs and traditional authorities of the community: community assembly and principals. Issues that are guaranteed as prior, free and informed consultation, to obtain consent under the representative and organizational forms of the Indigenous Peoples, and through culturally appropriate procedures, according to the Mexican Constitution, The ILO No. 169 - Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other international Human Rights instruments. As indigenous peoples, we will take the necessary legal, political, and organizational actions to care and respect for our Mother Earth, for the preservation of our Territories, the defense of our collective rights, as well as our way of life as members of the Indigenous Peoples of Chiapas.

“The Territory is water, wind, animals, trees, culture, cosmovision, faith, It is our Mayan identity. Because the Territory is ours”

• Suscribes: Movement for Defending Life and Territory
• Video: https://youtu.be/28LfuBOpne4?si=Ifr_QYZQtLZYK06k
• Webpage: https://modevite.wordpress.com/
• Email: modevitechiapas@gmail.com

Over the past few months at Vikalp Sangam, have hosted one gathering on Social Wellbeing and Justice, we participated in the National Convention of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), and we have also released a short film documenting ten years of the VS process.

The Social Wellbeing and Justice Sangam held at Fireflies Intercultural Centre from January 23rd to 26th January, brought together over 17 participants from across India to collectively reflect on the linkages between social well-being and justice at various levels, from the inter-personal to the global.

The four-day Sangam explored themes such as peace-based and justice-based activism, the relevance of spirituality in social action, challenges to democracy and pluralism, and creating pathways of care and hope in a time of climate and societal breakdown. The sessions were interspersed with activities such as letter-writing, debates, and performances, enabling participants to express their ideas in creative forms.

Read the full report: https://vikalpsangam.org/article/vikalp-sangam-on-social-well-being-and-justice/

Several members of Vikalp Sangam participated in the 30th anniversary National Convention of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), in Hyderabad, 1-4 March 2025. Over 700 people participated, from grassroots movements, civil society groups, lawyers, journalists, artists, and more, in four days of intense speeches and discussions on the multiple crises that India and the world face, and how grounded resistance is even more crucial in today's times. VS members stressed the need to work on radical alternatives along with resistance. Several alliances on specific topics like climate and environment, feminism, river valleys, have been formed, to take up specific actions.

For more details and analysis, please see: https://www.meer.com/en/89690-thirty-years-of-resistance.

A film by Srishti Films and Kalpavriksh, on Vikalp Sangam (Confluence of AlternativesAre activities and initiatives, concepts, worldviews, or action proposals by collectives, groups, organizations, communities, or social movements challenging and replacing the dominant system that perpetuates inequality, exploitation, and unsustainabiity. In the GTA we focus primarily on what we call "radical or transformative alternatives", which we define as initiatives that are attempting to break with the dominant system and take paths towards direct and radical forms of political and economic democracy, localised self-reliance, social justice and equity, cultural and knowledge diversity, and ecological resilience. Their locus is neither the State nor the capitalist economy. They are advancing in the process of dismantling most forms of hierarchies, assuming the principles of sufficiency, autonomy, non-violence, justice and equality, solidarity, and the caring of life and the Earth. They do this in an integral way, not limited to a single aspect of life. Although such initiatives may have some kind of link with capitalist markets and the State, they prioritize their autonomy to avoid significant dependency on them and tend to reduce, as much as possible, any relationship with them., India). It covers some of the events of this process – confluences, documentation, outreach, collaborations, artwork and more – and some key voices of people involved. Necessarily for a 10-year process that has involved hundreds of activities and thousands of people, it is a severely incomplete picture, but one that hopefully illustrates the essence.

Watch the film here - Vikalp Sangam (विकल्प संगम): A Confluence of Alternatives

The Program on Alternative Development of UP CIDS (AltDev) is proud to announce the release by Springer Books of the volume: Reimagining Development in Southeast Asia: Alternative Practices from the Grassroots and Social Movements (2025), edited by Jose Monfred C. Sy and Ananeza P. Aban. With an Introduction by Jose Monfred Sy and Eduardo C Tadem and a Conclusion by Ananeza Aban and Jeroen Adam, the book highlights 20 cases of alternative practices of marginalized local communities, grassroots organizations, and civil society groups in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Malaysia, Northeast India and the works of several regional networks. The cases are categorized into five themes, namely: community resource management; people-centered agrarian systems; education and knowledge sharing for local development; women-led development and care communities; and, towards a people's solidarity economy. As Springer announced on their website.

This volume consolidates chapters from across Southeast Asia, various of members of MASSA, as a means of discussing alternative development pathways. It presents radical re-imaginings of how development might look, considered alongside the growing disillusionment over mainstream development models. In suggesting alternative models of development, it reframes participatory processes from the developing world, discussing practices of decolonization, anti-capitalism, plurality, anti-racism, effacing patriarchy, and ecological sustainability, designed and executed by grassroot communities and civil society organisations (CSOs). The grassroots and social movement paradigms highlighted in this collection seek to challenge and change the dominant model of development instituted in ASEAN, which have largely failed in meaningfully addressing the issues faced by different sectors. That the book project springs from an engagement between scholars and on-the-ground practitioners means that several chapters combine reflective, case-based viewpoints. To this end, the book is relevant to scholars, students, and practitioners working in areas related to Southeast Asian politics, economy, and culture.

These case studies are part of AltDev's ongoing research and documentation of alternative practices by marginalized communities and sectors throughout Southeast Asia which, so far, now total 70 in all - all of which have been uploaded on the UP CIDS web site. Succeeding print volumes will include the other documented cases (as well as future cases) of alternative practices. With the documentation and publication of these alternative practices, it is hoped that marginalized communities can navigate their experiences and best practices from the margins of society to the mainstream so that they may influence government policy makers, legislators, and other relevant branches of government to act accordingly in the best interests of the greater majority of Southeast Asian peoples.