Among the stories we find the one of Marichuy, spokesperson of the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG)
“Women have always been present. The aim is to tell at first hand the stories of ten women that are representatives of the Council and also make reference to the role of the Council, which is to “visibilize the struggles from the bottom up and organize them”, said journalist Gloria Muñoz, author of the multimedia project “Flores en el desierto”.
“They told us about their personal lives and their stories of racism, classism and machismo. They talked to us about the neoliberal attacks against Mexican indigenous people and how communities are resisting”, said Muñoz in the interview with Real World Radio.
She also said that the idea of the project was raised after a woman was appointed as spokesperson of the Council and as presidential candidate (who did not participate in the elections due to a lack of signatures), with reference to Marichuy.
“They never leave men aside, they are very inclusive in their practices, but they give a central role to women. In my opinion this is extremely important because we´ve always been present, but not in a central position, and the March meeting was a reflection of this initiative to put women at the forefront”, said the director of Desinformémonos news website.
These are women who had to overcome different obstacles and barriers in their families, communities, the Mexican society in general, to have a space in the defense of natural resources. Women who practice community feminism, although they don´t call it this way, based on their “emancipation and struggle for their rights, so that their role is not limited to cooking rice and beans for the men in the trenches, but to be in the trenches themselves, making decisions”, added Muñoz.
With the recent electoral victory of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the existence of the CIG and this project make more sense, said the reporter. “In a Mexico where it seems that nothing is growing, these struggles are flourishing, especially women struggles”.
The stories of Rocío, Gabriela, Guadalupe, Osbelia, Bettina, Sara, Myrna, Lucero, Magda and Marichuy are available online (in Spanish) here: (https://floreseneldesierto.desinformemonos.org/ [1]).