Paxton Orglot<p>Miguel Peralta Betanzos is a community organizer and anarchist from the Mazatec community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, Oaxaca. Together with his family and community members, for more than a decade, Miguel has faced criminalization, imprisonment, and persecution from the Mexican State for his struggle against cacique-political party power in defense of the autonomy and self-determination of his community.</p><p>Following a sociopolitical conflict that exploded into violence in Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón in December 2014, caused by a cacique attack on the community assembly, Miguel was detained in April 2015 on fabricated charges. In October 2018 he was sentenced to fifty years in prison. </p><p>Following an appeal and nearly a month on a hunger strike, in October 2019, Miguel was absolved of all charges and released. During the four years and six months Miguel was in prison, he was active in the struggle against prisons and for the freedom of the other political prisoners of Eloxochitlán. </p><p>More than two years after his release, on March 4, 2022, the Collegiate Court in Oaxaca revoked Miguel’s freedom, confirming again his original fifty-year sentence and issuing an arrest warrant against him. Since then, Miguel has been displaced from his community, living beneath political persecution. </p><p>On November 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled on an appeal in Miguel’s case. Instead of ordering his absolute freedom and ending the political persecution against him, the Supreme Court returned the case to the Collegiate Court in Oaxaca ordering that court to rule again on the case. The new ruling is expected sometime in late 2025. </p><p>It is important to mention who is responsible for the repression in Eloxochitlán: the cacique Manuel Zepeda and his daughter, the state representative, Elisa Zepeda Lagunas. Occupying positions of power and mobilizing the repressive apparatus of the state, they have terrorized the community for more than ten years. We continue calling for solidarity with Miguel Peralta and the community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magon, Oaxaca. </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MiguelPeralta" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MiguelPeralta</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EloxLibre" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EloxLibre</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Oaxaca" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Oaxaca</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mazateca" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mazateca</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/M%C3%A9xico" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>México</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PoliticalPersecution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PoliticalPersecution</span></a></p>