Published Published on August 26, 2025 by Comunidad Junax.
Juanpi, a member of the anti-carceral collective «No Estamos Todes», explains the current situation of the prison system in Chiapas, Mexico
ago 28, 2025
The following article is part two of a two part series where we have translated an interview that was previously posted on our Substack. During translation, it was decided that a few words should be left in the original language for purposes of clarity; these words are outlined in the glossary at the bottom of the article.
Juanpi, Could you talk to us a bit more about these groups that are more vulnerable to the Mexican judicial system?
Well, everyone that’s less white is more vulnerable. This includes morenos on the outskirts of Mexico City, indigenous people in any part of the country, and migrants in whichever place that they find themselves on their way to the border. This includes people who are sexually “deviant”. So anyone can be part of a vulnerable group. I also think that we should remove ourselves from this very white-washed way of thinking about the world. Like “this can’t affect me, but it can affect you”, because everything depends on where you are in the world, because it can lead to you being read in different ways. So it’s necessary to be conscious of this, that probably when I’m in Chiapas, the fact that I am mestizo, and caxlan1, means that I have certain privileges, but in Mexico City I lose them all, right? And I can turn into a potential victim of the system.
So anyone that isn’t rich, white, male, and heterosexual, they are a potential victim. I mean, in Mexico and many other parts of the world as well. And also, there is a question of gender in terms of certain crimes, for example, robbery caused by hunger mainly effects mothers who need to steal, let’s say, a kilo of meat or half a kilo of cheese, who are then incarcerated for up to 8 years. So really the color of your skin doesn’t matter, and anybody can find themselves as a part of a vulnerable group, tutti frutti.
For people from pueblos originarios2 500 years of oppression, and for 500 years the system has fucked them over right? And from there they continue to be dissapeared by the system, dissapearing them and stealing their land. Now, they steal their culture, starting with cultural appropriation. So what kind of transformation, if we want to use the language of this shitty government, are we talking about? If it’s the first transformation or transition to independence, well it was the people, the people from below that gave their blood, and it’s those who govern who are always the same, right? Because they wanted power. That’s what happened with reform, that’s what happened in the revolution, and that’s what’s happening now. I mean, they don’t represent us, and never have, and obviously, I don’t speak for the pueblos originarios, but they haven’t represented them, right? And they continue to oppress them no matter who is governing.
Could you talk to us a bit about the way in which these indigenous peoples are made vulnerable?
I believe that it is extremely necessary to fight against the categorization of “indigenous”, because this categorization is very bad, right? Because, as Yasnaya Aguilar has said, of the categorization of “indigenous” that… You can speak of idigeneity in terms of a Amish person in Norway, as a Mixe in Oaxaca, as an, I don’t know… a Palestinian in their home land, and they are indigenous. But other than a shared history of colonization, they don’t fit into the same category. So that is why we use the term “pueblos originarios”, because they aren’t the same.
They only share the reality that the system has oppressed them, and that the system has stolen from them for 500 years, and that’s it, and the daily contempt for their color, their customs, and their culture, I mean, here in San Cristóbal de las Casas, the women from San Juan Chamula are referred to as “Chamulitas”. Well that’s something, right? And people haggle over their things so that they can buy them at a low price, and obviously this is the system reproducing itself even at the lowest levels. I mean, the lack of translators, the lack of society’s interest toward them, well, there has always been a societal viewpoint that paints pueblos originarios as awkward. Like how a Mazahua compañera put it after the Atenco incident, when she talked about India Maria as a shitty comic character that has lasted so many years.
I mean, this character that has been spread throughout Latin America, is at the very least an ignorant person, a fool, and I think that the system reproduced this way of thinking. And I also insist that we should break the paternalistic ways of thought that these people are viewed within. It is necessary to use a different way of thinking, and obviously, the system takes advantage of all of these years of oppression, which doesn’t only happen in the prison system with a translator, but also in hospitals, schools, or other government agencies, so it’s complicated, right? And also there are people that have lived here a long time, who can speak a lot of languages, but we often don’t come close to learning their languages, and well, we should think about that.
How does the government use prisons to wear down resistance?
It’s the same if you’re a political prisoner, or a common prisoner. Prison oppresses all equally, or to a similar degree, to all that find themselves deprived of their liberty, especially in cases of “fabricación de culpables”3 towards prisoners that have dedicated themselves to land defense, the defense of human rights, or activism in general. It turns into a constant threat for all of those that organize. I mean, one compañero that visited us said that there were three, well, he said two, but I say that there are three possibilities for those that fight : death, prison, or disappearance. So prison also turns into a constant threat for those who organize, or you at least know that part of your future as an activist could be lost in a prison, and that’s the bet that you make which is made all across the world.
Every second week when you go, you always visit the same five compas. Could you tell use more about them? Who do you visit, and why are they there?
Yes, the five compañeros, land defenders, are originally from San Juan Cancuc, and they are the two Agustines, Martin, Manuel, and Juan. Juan, Agustin, and Manuel were initially accused of drug possession in San Cristobal de las Casas, which was a crime fabricated by the authorities. They then used this initial crime to arrest these people before fabricating a second, more serious, crime. And then came Martin and Agustin, relatives of the first Agustin, who declared as witnesses that they weren’t arrested in San Cristobal de las Casas, but instead in San Juan Cancuc, which is the town they lived in.
And well, at this point they were also arrested for the murder of a police officer. It’s worth highlighting that they had shown us that they were innocent many times, however, on two occasions, in two trials, they had been sentenced to 25 years, which is the sentence for homicide, and now, well, their sentences have been reduced to 17 years, but well, our fight is to search for liberty. As for those imprisoned, all of them were fathers , and now they’re gone. And well, it’s also necessary to understand that while being incarcerated, their families start to, on the one hand, suffer the effects of criminalization, because society tends to do that, and well, if you’re already in prison, then you’re already a “bad person”, and society starts to show contempt for you, to isolate you, to leave you by the way side.
And on the other hand, well, there are the difficulties of being a parent or being the head of the family. And now ll of the responsibility of caring for their kids falls on their partners, and, over time, it becomes difficult for them to visit on a regular basis, right? So, right now, our compañeros have been unjustly deprived of their liberty for more than three years. And we are doing everything that we can to fight for their liberty, on the one hand by visiting them, but it doesn’t end there. We also have to mobilize around, denounce, and visibilise their cases, which is also a part of the fight we’re waging, and we’re not waging it alone, right? We work with other organizations, organizations in Chiapas, in Mexico, and in other parts of the world, where solidarity and support have reached across borders.
Earlier you mentioned the term “fábrica de culpables”, could you talk to us a bit more about it?
It’s a little bit like what I said at the beginning, that is, the Mexican justice system, like the justice systems in many other countries, doesn’t look to create justice. To think of justice from a punitive perspective, let’s say that I commit a crime, and the person that accuses me of that crime, searches for me, does all of the investigation necessary in order to establish the crime, proves that I committed that crime, and then puts me in prison, right?
Here in Chiapas, well, the investigation of the evidence, the presentation of the evidence often doesn’t happen, and evidence, witnesses, and guilt are fabricated. There are many contradictions in the statements of the witnesses, prosecution, the police, and the experts. So fábrica de culpables happens in two ways, it happens to those who struggle, and to those who are simply found by someone in order to keep feeding the prison system, and then they see you in the street at the same time as the crime and say, “come on, it was you” right?
And what do other types of justice look like?
Well look, it’s necessary to consider that the capitalist system created prisons. We tend to think that the state, the family and everything else, have existed since the Flintstones, and well, that’s just not the case, right? I mean, this was only invented 200 years ago. There were also other types of justice that we also don’t advocate for, but theft due to hunger? Nobody had to steal to eat, and the system itself leads people to steal to eat, right?
On the other hand, the carceral system leads to the glorification of violence and crime. And there are young people who are then seduced into committing these types of acts. Instead, young people should be in college, or having a dignified life without seeking the kind of life that puts their integrity at risk, and that’s a type of justice that has to be provided at a base level for this not to happen. And if at some point, with this type of justice already in place, if you commit a crime, a wrong-doing, well the solution would be the repair of the damage that you caused.
How can we support, whether in Mexico or in other parts of the world?
Well, first, become aware of what prison really means. And then, get to know the anti-carceral collective closest to you and support them more than us, because as the Zapatistas say, it helps us greatly when the cases of our compañeros are spread, but is also helps us when you continue the struggle in your own community.
Thank you so much Juanpi. Can you tell us more about the challenges that you’ve faced in this line of organizing?
Well the challenges we’ve faced include repression, persecution, and threats, but that’s part of the daily life of any activist right? We’re not going to set ourselves apart with that, I mean, we know the risks that we’re assuming. And well, also, a life in the struggle isn’t simple, but that’s the same with any type of struggle, there’s loneliness, and sometimes it leads you to do more than you’re able. But it’s something that has to be done, and it’s necessary to cope and keep going. We were born under the example of our Zapatista compañeras y compañeros and the service that they have provided to their community, the transformation that they are making in their daily lives. And it is a great example that we have, we who are younger, and who try to follow their example, even though we are decades behind.
Thank you so much for sharing this interview with us Juanpi.
You’re very welcome.
Thank you for reading part two of this two part series of “An Interview with No Estamos Todes”. Remember to share this article with the collectives you are connected with and all others involved in the struggle. And if you happen to come to Mexico or Chiapas, you can contact us to help accompany you with these visits to prison, as well as continuing the collective’s struggle on social media on Instagram at “gt_noestamostodxs”.
A term used to signify that one is not from a Mayan indigenous group.
A term used in place of “indigenous” to refer to the first nations peoples of Abya Yala.
A term meaning “The creation of the guilty”, signifying the role the state plays in manufacturing guilt, as opposed to it’s stated goal of establishing justice.