Yesterday the study abroad class that I have been teaching in Cholula, Mexico met with journalist, Samantha Paez Guzman, Adan Xicale, an attorney and social activist, and his son, Paula Xicale, also a local activist. They told us about the movement Cholula Viva y Digna. The movement began in 2014 when the governor of the state of Puebla, Rafael Moreno Valle (of the PAN) announced a plan to develop the archeological zone in Cholula.
To tell the story of Cholula Viva y Digna, some background about the archeological zone is in order. At the center of this zone is the grand pyramid of Cholula, the largest pyramid in the world. Cholula has been inhabited since 1500 BC and a series of civilizations have flourished there. During the colonial period, the Spaniards used the stones of the ancient temples to build their churches. In Cholula, they buried the great pyramid by building a hill over it and then constructing the Church of the Virgen de los Remedios on top of the hill. The Franciscan monks that evangelized the Indians in Cholula created the church offices that still organizes the life of the Catholic community for which the church of the Virgin de los Remedios functions as a spiritual center. At the same time, the ruins of the archeological zone, uncovered by 20th century archeologists, symbolize the indigenous identity of Cholula's inhabitants.
The grand pyramid of Cholula is also a tourist attraction. It is central to what makes Cholula a "pueblo magico" for tourists who want to discover the authentic Mexico. Historically, there was a balance between how the archeological zone functioned as a toursitic center and its vocation as the religious and cultural center of the community. Rafael Moreno Valle's development plan shattered that balance by mandating the expropriation of properties surrounding the archeological zone and privatizing access to its church. It would cost 10 pesos to enter the premises. The centerpiece of the plan was the construction of a luxury hotel on the west side of the church (facing San Andres Cholula) in the place of the psychiatric hospital which, up until 2014, continued to serve patients. The chief financial beneficiary of the luxury hotel was to be Moreno Valle's mother.
The state government's development plan generated protests from the community. Community members marched to the offices of the municipal president. When their demand for dialog was refused, they initiated a sit-in. In the early early morning hours of the first night of the sit-in, the state police attacked the protesters, beating them and arresting four of their leaders, among them Adan Xicale and his son Paula. Both were charged with damaging government property and other offenses. Arrest warrants for another 10 protesters were announced. The point of the repression, of course, was to scare the community into acceptance of the governor's development plan for the archeological zone. Xicale and his son, Paula, served 11 months in a Cholula prison for the government's charges.
The repression visited on the community is part of a broader pattern of political violence unleashed by Rafael Moreno Valle in Puebla since 2011. The point of the repression has been to crush popular resistance to governmental initiatives, which are tied to the advancement of an exclusionary model of economic growth. Moreno Valle stripped local governments near the town of Atlixo (only 6 kilometers away from Cholula) of their regulatory and governmental authority in order to eliminate local resistance to high-end property development that would have dispossessed low-income residents. When the community protested the sudden cut off of services from the local governments, Moreno del Valle's response was to attack demonstrators with the state police.
Rafael Moreno Valle has also sought to perpetuate his political influence by means of postulating his wife, Martha Erika del Moreno Valle. Martha Erika won a majority of the votes in the July 1 elections in Mexico by a margin of around 5% of the vote over her nearest rival, Luis Manuel Barbosa of Morena. Similar to numerous other locations in Mexico, the elections in Puebla were marred with violence. Armed men attacked voting stations through the state (and also in Puebla) robbing ballots and intimidating voters. At this time, it is not clear whether Martha Erika's election will be confirmed by the federal electoral authority (the Instituto Nacional Electoral) in Mexico. Mexico's president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has refused to recognized Martha Erika's election.
Whether the PAN retains the governorship of Puebla is unclear. Morena won the majority of seats in the state legislature and numerous municipal presidencies, including the presidency of San Andres Cholula. The victorious candidate was Mariana Perez Popoca, an activist associated with Cholula Viva y Digna. The July 1 elections represent a political victory for the movement. But well before the election, the movement succeeded in blunting much of Morena Valle's tourism development project for the archeological zone. Only some expropriations of local property holders were carried out by the state. The luxury hotel was never built, although the psychiatric hospital was closed and torn down and a regional art museum erected in its place. The Church of the Virgin de los Remedios, which sits atop of the archeological zone, was never privatized. Community resistance to the plan grew in the wake of the incarceration of the movement's leaders. The movement developed national and international support.
The story of Cholula Viva y Digna is a tale of people's power. The archeological zone is a central part of the life of the community. Valle Moreno attempted to expropriate this space for the sake of high-end tourism. His gambit provoked a community reaction that has led to a shift of political power in San Andres Cholula. The changes here may be a microcosm of the changes that have occurred across Mexico with the rise of Morena. Neoliberal development has been about expelling people in Mexico from their previous livelihoods and living spaces. The resistances to these processes are local in character. What Morena may represent - we will have to wait and see - is the creation of political space in which social movements can claim local political power, hopefully with the support of the national party. Within the new national hegemony that is developing around Morena, neoliberal exclusion will be harder to accomplish because Mexico's democratic transition will have instituted some degree of people's power.
The grand pyramid of Cholula is also a tourist attraction. It is central to what makes Cholula a "pueblo magico" for tourists who want to discover the authentic Mexico. Historically, there was a balance between how the archeological zone functioned as a toursitic center and its vocation as the religious and cultural center of the community. Rafael Moreno Valle's development plan shattered that balance by mandating the expropriation of properties surrounding the archeological zone and privatizing access to its church. It would cost 10 pesos to enter the premises. The centerpiece of the plan was the construction of a luxury hotel on the west side of the church (facing San Andres Cholula) in the place of the psychiatric hospital which, up until 2014, continued to serve patients. The chief financial beneficiary of the luxury hotel was to be Moreno Valle's mother.
The state government's development plan generated protests from the community. Community members marched to the offices of the municipal president. When their demand for dialog was refused, they initiated a sit-in. In the early early morning hours of the first night of the sit-in, the state police attacked the protesters, beating them and arresting four of their leaders, among them Adan Xicale and his son Paula. Both were charged with damaging government property and other offenses. Arrest warrants for another 10 protesters were announced. The point of the repression, of course, was to scare the community into acceptance of the governor's development plan for the archeological zone. Xicale and his son, Paula, served 11 months in a Cholula prison for the government's charges.
The repression visited on the community is part of a broader pattern of political violence unleashed by Rafael Moreno Valle in Puebla since 2011. The point of the repression has been to crush popular resistance to governmental initiatives, which are tied to the advancement of an exclusionary model of economic growth. Moreno Valle stripped local governments near the town of Atlixo (only 6 kilometers away from Cholula) of their regulatory and governmental authority in order to eliminate local resistance to high-end property development that would have dispossessed low-income residents. When the community protested the sudden cut off of services from the local governments, Moreno del Valle's response was to attack demonstrators with the state police.
Rafael Moreno Valle has also sought to perpetuate his political influence by means of postulating his wife, Martha Erika del Moreno Valle. Martha Erika won a majority of the votes in the July 1 elections in Mexico by a margin of around 5% of the vote over her nearest rival, Luis Manuel Barbosa of Morena. Similar to numerous other locations in Mexico, the elections in Puebla were marred with violence. Armed men attacked voting stations through the state (and also in Puebla) robbing ballots and intimidating voters. At this time, it is not clear whether Martha Erika's election will be confirmed by the federal electoral authority (the Instituto Nacional Electoral) in Mexico. Mexico's president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has refused to recognized Martha Erika's election.
Whether the PAN retains the governorship of Puebla is unclear. Morena won the majority of seats in the state legislature and numerous municipal presidencies, including the presidency of San Andres Cholula. The victorious candidate was Mariana Perez Popoca, an activist associated with Cholula Viva y Digna. The July 1 elections represent a political victory for the movement. But well before the election, the movement succeeded in blunting much of Morena Valle's tourism development project for the archeological zone. Only some expropriations of local property holders were carried out by the state. The luxury hotel was never built, although the psychiatric hospital was closed and torn down and a regional art museum erected in its place. The Church of the Virgin de los Remedios, which sits atop of the archeological zone, was never privatized. Community resistance to the plan grew in the wake of the incarceration of the movement's leaders. The movement developed national and international support.
The story of Cholula Viva y Digna is a tale of people's power. The archeological zone is a central part of the life of the community. Valle Moreno attempted to expropriate this space for the sake of high-end tourism. His gambit provoked a community reaction that has led to a shift of political power in San Andres Cholula. The changes here may be a microcosm of the changes that have occurred across Mexico with the rise of Morena. Neoliberal development has been about expelling people in Mexico from their previous livelihoods and living spaces. The resistances to these processes are local in character. What Morena may represent - we will have to wait and see - is the creation of political space in which social movements can claim local political power, hopefully with the support of the national party. Within the new national hegemony that is developing around Morena, neoliberal exclusion will be harder to accomplish because Mexico's democratic transition will have instituted some degree of people's power.
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