A few weeks ago, I met our forced evictions campaign partners in Mexico and we traveled together to Temacapulín, a small community in the mountains of Jalisco state that has been fighting its own eviction for several years due to the construction of the El Zapotillo Dam.

We were reuniting after our first training in January, when we spent nine days together in a charming convent in Mexico City learning the basics of effective video advocacy and discussing how video could strengthen the participants’ campaigns against forced evictions.

This time around, we were excited to meet again and hear how our partners had been using video since January.  Over two days we heard about how youth activists from the CECOP campaign screened a video to the state governor asking him to cancel the La Parota Dam project; we heard about how our partners in Oaxaca used video to influence the local media, mobilize the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, and engage affected communities in the resistance against the Paso de la Reina Dam. We also heard about how activists in Temacapulín filmed their peaceful occupation of the El Zapotillo Dam site to halt construction and persuade local authorities to engage in dialogue with the community.

Here’s a glimpse of our time together (pls click here to watch a version with English subtitles):

At night, we all gathered in the community center with several other local residents to watch videos about the resistance in Temacapulín and other communities at risk of forced evictions because of large dams.  It was extremely powerful and inspiring to see these communities continue to rise up amidst such harsh circumstances like threats from local authorities, a complete lack of information about what may happen to their communities, and a flagrant disregard by local authorities of local court rulings (which have often sided with these communities).

The following day, we split up into campaign groups and reorganized our planning for the coming months.  So far, the three campaigns we are supporting have produced 7 advocacy videos, replicated video advocacy trainings in affected communities, and created innovative strategies for using video to foster community mobilization and increase the pressure on local authorities to refrain from conducting unlawful evictions.

Though the threat of the forced evictions continues to loom over these communities, these small but important victories show that video can play an important role in ensuring the voices of those affected are heard by decision-makers and influence-makers.

I’m excited to see what our partners will do next.

***

This is part of on ongoing blog series of updates from our global forced evictions campaign. Read more about our partnerships in Mexico in these earlier posts and watch all the videos already produced by our local partners in this YouTube playlist.

3 thoughts on “Mexico Partners Use Video to Pressure Governor, Influence Media, Document Protests

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    1. Hi, I check to make sure our RSS feed is working properly. Will post with more info shortly. Thanks.

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