translated from Spanish: Corruption in the INPI denounces Council of indigenous authorities

A statement reported that the Michoacán Indigenous Supreme Council (CSIM), an autonomous council made up of civil, communal and traditional authorities from more than 60 communities, reported corruption at the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples in Michoacán (INPI), publicly accusing its holder Celerino Felipe Cruz, of charging at the same time at the Michoacana University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo and as a government official of Mexico.
Similarly, they note that the so-called fourth transformation is discriminatory by reducing the budget for the care of indigenous communities by 60% from 2019 and reporting that the various forums organized by INPI are simulated forums , misleading, partial and mocking the original communities, because they violate the right to free, prior, informed, culturally appropriate and binding consultation.
Finally, they accuse the 4T of maintaining neoliberal policies by continuing to promote megaprojects such as the Maya Train, the Transístmic Corridor and the Morelos Integral Project and announce the Third Day of Struggle: Respect for the Rights of The Original Peoples, by closing INPI facilities in Michoacán, demonstrations at The National Palace and the taking of roads in the entity.
Below is the full communiqué:
THE FOURTH TRANSFORMATION AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
To the Native Peoples
Al Pueblo de México
To the village of Michoacán
To the Media
The self-styled “Fourth Transformation (4T)” is culturally discriminatory, its official discourse of existence of 3 transformations in Mexico does not take into account the memory, culture and history of the original peoples, who, in more than 4000 years of history we have had various agricultural, political and historical transformations. In the so-called first transformation, in independence, indigenous peoples continued in marginalization and general poverty, in the second transformation, in reform, the original communities were stripped of our communal lands, in the third transformation, revolution, the emerging Mexican state implemented indigenous public policies that destroyed our languages and cultures.
The “Fourth Transformation” is budget-discriminatory, historically the budget for the care of indigenous peoples decreases year by year, from 2015 to 2019 the indigenous budget of the former National Commission for the Development of Peoples (CDI) and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) has been reduced by 60% compared to the maximum budget achieved in 2015. Likewise, the Senate of the Republic declared 2019 as “Year of Indigenous Languages”, but the Chamber of Deputies reduced the budget of the Institute of Indigenous Languages this year.
The 4T continues neoliberal policies in Mexico and in indigenous communities, the Mexican state maintains paternalistic, indigenous, discriminatory and rights violations public policies, megaprojects such as the “Train Maya”, the Transístmico Corridor and the Morelos Integral Project to the detriment of indigenous peoples.
The more than 10 “forums” organized by the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples for creation and the more than 50 “forums” organized to formulate indigenous law initiatives, are simulated, misleading, partial and mocking forums for communities violate the right to free, prior, informed, culturally appropriate and binding consultation. Similarly, the law initiative presented by Morena’s parliamentary group “Agrarian Development Act” contributes to stripping and destroying the green and communal territories, thus continuing with neoliberal reforms.
In Michoacán, the in charge of INPI, declared unwelcome for the original communities, Celerino Felipe Cruz, commits acts of corruption while working at the Michoacana University of San Nicolas de Hidalgo in the Faculty of Philosophy and in the Government of Mexico, maintaining duplicity of functions and charging on both sides, demonstrating corruption in the 4T.
Finally we announce that we will undertake the Third Day of Struggle: Respect for the Rights of The Originating Peoples in a gradual and ascending way, first of all, we will close the offices of INPI in Michoacán and take the Welfare Secretariat, in a secondly, we will go to the CDMX to demonstrate in Palacio Nacional and finally, if we do not get a response from the Government of Mexico, we will take simultaneously and permanently, various roads in the state.
Communities P’urhépecha as of 9 September 2019.
TERUNHASKUA K’ OIA, ECHERI KA JURAMUKUKUA IAMENTU IRETECHANI
JUSTICE, TERRITORY AND AUTONOMY FOR ORIGINAL PEOPLE
MICHOACAN’S SUPREME INDIGENOUS COUNCIL

Original source in Spanish