Oaxaca is a multicultural and multilingual state inhabited by 16 indigenous communities.

It is located in the southwest of Mexico and is the fifth largest state in the country. Its climate varies depending on the region and it is composed of a variety of ecosystems.

It is a magical and ancestral land,

However, even with its great virtues, Oaxaca suffers from historic poverty and extreme inequality, caused by the neo-colonial and neoliberal governments that are still in power.

From 2020 to 2023, as a result of the pandemic, production activity has been reduced and poverty has increased; the number of people with educational challenges have increased; the lack of access to health services has worsened; and the lack of nutritious and quality food has gone up. The struggle for social justice, for the elimination of poverty and inequality, and for the realization of human rights is an urgent necessity for Oaxaca.

In 2021, Mexico paid 687 billion pesos as interests on the debt. In 2023, the financial implications will be more than one thousand billion pesos, which far exceeds the budgets of the Ministries of Education, Health, Agriculture, Labour, Welfare and National Defence, as well as the budgets of the 19 priority social programs, for a total of 480 billion pesos.

Efforts are being made to revive economic growth, but it should not happen at the expense of the country’s poor states for the benefit of the national and international financial lenders. This year, the public debt amounts to 13,300,000,000,000 pesos.

It is not fair that the interest payments on the debt exceeds the growth of the national economy. The sacrifice in the face of the crisis we are suffering is not equal: the Mexican people are sacrificing but the financial lenders are not sacrificing, they are profiting.

Therefore, as the NATIONAL PROMOTORA FOR THE SUSPENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT PAYMENT,

we call on the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators to join the social movements throughout the country; the economic crisis forces them to raise the flag for the suspension of debt payments in our nation.

As our spokesperson, comrade Eric Toussaint, said, we are in a situation where the arguments of international law, viz. “state of necessity”, “force majeure” or “fundamental change of circumstances” must be applied, because when a country, or when a government, is faced with a situation where the life of its population is in danger, its international trade obligations do not have to be respected or applied. Therefore, debt repayment can be suspended so that government revenues can be redirected towards urgent expenditures responding to the health and economic crisis.

We also call for a tax on the wealth of the richest, as well as on their income. We are talking about a small sector of society, the top 1-10% of income earners. This would be a one-off, exceptional tax to fight the crisis and generate very important revenues that would really help to respond to a critical situation, to be able to make important investments in the health system and to help the victims of the crisis. And above all, to revive the collective and solidarity economy.

It is not a question of reactivating the economy so that it can function as it has done until now. Of course, we must help small and medium-sized enterprises and also micro-entrepreneurs. In general, these are people who are heavily indebted.

And finally, central banks must provide loans to public authorities at 0% interest. These are all fundamental measures. Citizens’ participation is absolutely fundamental in a debt audit. Although debt must be suspended, whether it is illegal or legal, legitimate or illegitimate, in the end it will be necessary to know whether to repudiate or cancel the debts, beyond the suspension of payments. And in order to do so, it is necessary to carry out an audit with citizens’ participation in order to determine whether the debt is illegitimate, odious, unsustainable and illegal.

Let us remember that a debt is odious if it is contracted against the interests of the population and that the international creditors are aware of this situation. A debt is illegitimate if it is contracted to favour the particular interests of a privileged minority.

FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE FATHERLAND: SUSPENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT PAYMENT!

DOWN WITH CORRUPTION!

YES TO THE AUDIT OF THE PUBLIC DEBT!!!!

FOR THE REVIVAL OF OUR ECONOMY!

YES TO BETTER LIVING CONDITIONS WITH DIGNITY FOR ALL!!!!!

LONG LIVE OAXACA!

LONG LIVE MEXICO!

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLES AND COUNTRIES IN RESISTANCE!!!!!