PBI-Mexico interviews director of Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre about PBI accompaniment

On April 7, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted, “In December 2003, PBI began to accompany the members of the Tlachinollan Centro de Derechos Humanos de La Montaña in their new office of Ayutla de los Libres.”

PBI-Mexico adds, “Abel Barrera Hernández, anthropologist and director of that organization, tells us about the arrival of PBI to Guerrero and those 17 years of work together.”

In that interview, Abel highlights, “It was a context of state violence that was becoming institutionalized. There was a need for the authorities to understand that they could not use their force like this.”

“The arrival of PBI puzzled state authorities: they did not understand the importance of an international human rights organization in terms of the security situation of human rights defenders. They considered it an intrusion into public life and an uncomfortable presence.”

“PBI has an important role for us in the fight for justice and truth, but also in feeling like a family.”

PBI-Mexico has previously noted, “PBI originally provided accompaniment through its Guerrero team, then from PBI’s Mexico City head office, and currently its situation is monitored by the Oaxaca team.”

For more, please also see these PBI-Canada articles:

• PBI-Mexico shares Tlachinollan alert on security risk to defenders Manuel Olivares Hernández and Teodomira Rosales Sierra (April 3, 2020)
• PBI accompanies Sandra Alarcon, the Human Rights Centre of Montaña de Tlachinolan (March 8, 2020)
• Mexican human rights lawyer Arnulfo Cerón Soriano found murdered (November 21, 2019)
• PBI-Mexico expresses support for the work of Tlachinollan lawyer Vidulfo Rosales Sierra (October 16, 2019)
• PBI-Canada attends Ottawa gathering for the 43 Ayotzinapa students disappeared in Mexico (September 26, 2019)
• PBI-Mexico accompanies Tlachinollan’s 25th anniversary gathering (August 9, 2019)

Please also see this 90-second PBI video Remarkable Women: Sandra Alarcón, Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountains, Mexico.