A-Infos (en) UK, AFED, Organaise - Prison, Persecution, and Resistance. The Case of Miguel Peralta Betanzos (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Miguel Peralta Betanzos, community organizer and anarchist, walked out 
from behind prison walls in Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, more than six years ago. 
He was originally arrested in April 2015, and sentenced to 50 years in 
prison in October 2018. Following a legal battle and political pressure 
from the streets, his sentence was thrown out. A year later, on October 
14, 2019, after nearly a month on a hunger strike, Peralta was finally 
absolved of all charges and released from prison. He spent just under 
four years and six months behind prison walls on charges fabricated 
against him.

Miguel's arrest came following a socio-political conflict which broke 
out into violence on December 14, 2014, in the municipality of 
Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, Oaxaca, when the community assembly was 
attacked by an armed violent group led by cacique, Manuel Zepeda Cortes. 
In the ensuing conflict, two people were killed and multiple people 
injured. This attack, although led and orchestrated by Manuel Zepeda, 
was used as a pretext to persecute members of the community assembly. 
Thirty-five community members were charged in case number 02/2015, with 
other charges coming later. Different community members, including 
Miguel Peralta, would end up spending years in prison, and while they 
are all now free from prison, the persecution against the community 
members continues over ten years later.

Miguel's father, Pedro Peralta, was previously arrested on August 10, 
2012, while participating in a collective communal work day in their 
community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magon, Oaxaca. When arrested, he was 
beaten and tortured. Pedro Peralta would spend almost three years in 
prison in Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, including a few weeks alongside his son 
behind prison walls, before being released on July 30, 2015.

Behind the repression and criminalization in Eloxochitlán is the direct 
link between local caciques and state power, including the weaponization 
of the justice system against community organizers. Municipal President 
from 2011-2013, local cacique Manuel Zepeda used municipal funds to 
enrich himself, in addition to extracting rock, sand and gravel from the 
community's river, materials that his own business sold to carry out 
municipal projects. When community members raised their voices against 
his authoritarianism, the theft of community funds, and the ecological 
destruction in the community, he turned to outright violence.

His daughter, Elisa Zepeda, used the conflict in 2014, as a political 
trampoline, scaling the hierarchy of public authority with a discourse 
of victimization. She was self-imposed as municipal president for the 
term 2017-2019, before abandoning the position to run for state congress 
for the political party MORENA. She has since served as President of the 
Commission for the Prosecution and Administration of Justice of the 
Congress of Oaxaca, Secretary of Women under the Salomon Jara 
government, and is currently serving her second time as State 
Congresswoman for the political party holding state and federal power. 
With her political contacts and power, she has mobilized the repressive 
apparatus of the state, including the judicial system, against members 
of the community.

Indomitable Resistance
The criminalization, imprisonment, and ongoing persecution of Miguel 
Peralta is a consequence of his struggle for communal autonomy and 
territorial defense in his community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magon. 
Miguel has been an important voice in denouncing the extraction of 
resources and caciquismo of the Zepeda Lagunas family. He has also been 
an important voice in pushing for autonomy and self-determination in the 
community, against the imposition of cacique and political party power. 
The criminalization against him is a direct consequence of his 
resistance, yet it has been unsuccessful in quieting his voice.

As a prisoner, Miguel Peralta was active in the struggle against 
prisons, in solidarity with other prisoners and communities in 
resistance, and for the freedom of his fellow compañeros from 
Eloxochitlán de Flores Magon. In September-October 2016, Miguel Peralta 
participated in intermittent fasts in solidarity with a hunger strike 
launched by anarchist prisoners in Mexico City denouncing prison 
conditions and the oppressive role prisons play in society. In October 
2018, following his first final hearing, Miguel Peralta launched a 
hunger strike demanding his absolute freedom and declaring his body as a 
weapon of war against imprisonment. In March 2019, Miguel Peralta 
carried out a fast in solidarity with Indigenous prisoners in Chiapas 
who had launched a hunger strike demanding their freedom from fabricated 
charges imposed by torture. Then in October 2019, on the day of his 
second final hearing, he launched another hunger strike which lasted 26 
days, and resulted in his release.

Beyond hunger strikes and fasts, Miguel participated actively in 
discussions and debates around struggles for Indigenous autonomy, 
territorial defense, and against prisons and prison society, 
participating in activities organized outside prison with audios and 
writings. He released statements and analysis marking the anniversary of 
the death of Ricardo Flores Magon; October 2 and the massacre of the 
Mexican state against students in 1968; June 11: the Day of Solidarity 
with Marius Mason and all Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners; along with 
others. He also organized activities in prison with other prisoners, 
seeking spaces of autonomy and self-organization within an institution 
that seeks total control and total submission.

Following his release in 2019, Miguel Peralta has continued denouncing 
the cacique-state criminalization of his compañeros from Eloxochitlán. 
He has continued demanding their freedom in events and activities. He 
has also maintained active in the struggle for the freedom of other 
political prisoners, both in Mexico and beyond.

Current Legal Situation
Currently, Miguel Peralta awaits another legal resolution from the 
Collegiate Court in Oaxaca, this time from outside of prison living 
beneath political persecution. On March 4, 2022, almost two and a half 
years after his release from prison, his freedom was overturned by an 
appellate court and his 50-year sentence reaffirmed. A warrant was put 
out for his arrest. Since then he has been displaced from his community, 
fighting for his freedom from political persecution.

His case even made its way to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation 
in January 2024, when they agreed to rule on the amparo 6535/2023 filed 
by his legal defense. On November 6, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled 
against the Collegiate Court in Oaxaca, yet fell short of granting 
Miguel his absolute freedom. Instead, the Supreme Court returned his 
case to the Collegiate Court in Oaxaca, ordering them to release a new 
ruling, this time ensuring respect for and recognition of the 
sociopolitical context of Miguel's Indigenous Mazatec community, their 
right to self-determination and autonomy.

Now, again at the Collegiate Court in Oaxaca, the appeal 631/2022 is 
soon to be ruled upon. Earlier this year, Miguel and his defense were 
successful in getting the court to admit anthropological studies 
regarding the context of the conflict in Eloxochitlán, one independent 
and another commissioned by the federal judiciary. This new evidence 
constitutes an opportunity for the judges to take into consideration and 
assess the evidence. The new ruling is likely to be handed down in early 
February. The judges responsible for the new ruling who can grant Miguel 
his absolute freedom or continue the persecution against him are: Victor 
Hugo Cortes Sibaja, Carlos Abel de los Santos Sánchez, and Jahaziel 
Reyes Loaeza.

The court has the opportunity to avoid the institutional racism that has 
been exercised in this case for more than a decade; making decisions in 
offices behind desks without looking at the realities of the communities.

In what follows, we publish a short interview done with Miguel Peralta 
to talk about life living beneath political persecution, awaiting 
another judicial resolution, in what seems like an endless maze of 
trials, appeals, sentences, new accusations, and charges.

Interview with Miguel
Hey Miguel, thanks for being here with us to share some of your 
thoughts. Let's go ahead and start this interview. Firstly, how you are 
doing? How have you been feeling?

MP: Hey, how are you all doing? Thanks for doing the work you all do. 
First off, I'm a little stressed. I'm not doing as good as I thought I 
would be, or as I was a few months ago. Yet, I'm feeling somewhat 
optimistic awaiting the date of the final hearing, waiting patiently, 
but with a constant feeling of tension.

We understand that persecution brings with it many consequences. We 
wanted to do this interview with that topic in mind, for you to share 
with us what it's like to live beneath political persecution. In the 
last decade, your case has passed through many different courts, 
including even reaching the Supreme Court of the Nation at one point. 
This has resulted in different legal resolutions, yet not one ordering 
your absolute freedom. The uncertainty has been constant. How does it 
feel to await a new court ruling that could determine your freedom or 
your imprisonment, and above all, your future?

MP: I think that persecution is often something we don't talk about as 
much in the struggle, as we are often thinking more specifically about 
physical imprisonment. But for compas who are being persecuted, or 
living on the run, it is difficult to articulate it all, every emotion. 
It is somewhat like existing without a clear identity. Being on the run 
means living constantly with tension. Being on the run means not 
sleeping well. Being on the run means living daily uncertainty, with the 
constant risk of being detained. Many things can happen along the way.

Regarding the legal resolutions, or how our legal process has progressed 
over the last decade. We, or at least I, have always doubted the system 
of justice in Mexico, in Oaxaca, in Huautla. We have always fought for 
our freedom with resistance, with the struggle of our community of 
Eloxochitlán, with the struggle of the compañeros and compañeras who 
have resisted day after day, in the city, in the streets, in the 
community, always raising their voices, always putting their bodies on 
the line and showing solidarity with other struggles.

It has also been something very difficult to navigate. It has been 
physically exhausting for everyone. We believe that this whole issue of 
justice is defective, especially with the judicial reforms this last 
year. Many of us already know how politics function, how they are 
driven, how the political party in power puts their chess pieces in place.

Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón isn't an exception. We have enemies who are 
in power in Oaxaca. The state congresswoman, Elisa Zepeda, is one of 
them. She has scaled the ladder of governmental power and we know what 
reality awaits us. We are also aware that it may be an undesirable 
resolution. Yet, with the resistance that there has been from the 
community, we believe that the truth is on our side. Reason is on our 
side. We believe that our community needs justice now. It is time that 
we have peace and harmony in our community.

With everything that is happening in the world-this world which is 
falling apart-for the same reasons but on a macro level. People are sick 
with power, with money, they want to extract rare earth minerals. Yes, 
but our earth is not rare, it is something beautiful that they are 
destroying. In a few years they will realize that they have ruined 
everything, even for their own children. They are not aware of what they 
are doing to the river, to our community. They don't have a communal 
consciousness.

Thus, we have resisted. I have been on this path not to rescue but to 
defend. To continue reconstructing the community. Capitalism and new 
technologies are decapitating forms of autonomy, self-organization, and 
self-production of products from the community. They begin to bring in 
new things. I think all of this is part of the same system that is 
destroying us. Capitalism goes hand in hand with militarization, with 
the entire system of justice, with the narco-state. We are struggling 
against all of this, and we hope to obtain the justice that is necessary 
for our community.

It has been a long journey in search of freedom. You have been 
persecuted since 2022 and before that you spent time in prison. 
Throughout these years-when you were in prison and during this period of 
persecution which has also been quite extensive-you have tried to remain 
involved in the struggle for your freedom, the struggle for the freedom 
of your community, and also the struggle against prisons more broadly. 
In texts that we have read, that you have written since when you were in 
prison, you have shown a clear position against prisons. Can you tell us 
about what it is like to participate in the struggle now while living 
beneath political persecution?

MP: It isn't easy being involved in the struggle while on the run 
because you have to be careful of many things. Security, for example, at 
least with your compas, with the people closest to you, you have to take 
care of them. But I think that in the end, in whatever geography, in 
whatever part of the universe, where there is a prison there will always 
be resistance, to inequality, repression, authoritarianism and 
capitalism, and these are the things against which we will be 
struggling. And I think that's what has happened in my situation.

I've slowly gotten more involved in smaller spaces, more closed spaces, 
trying to be present. Obviously, I haven't played a leading role, but 
rather tried to contribute my grain of sand to the struggle. It isn't 
easy because-well it's not necessary to say your name but-sometimes it 
feels weird to not be able to expose everything.

Regarding the struggle against prisons, something that I think is really 
important is international solidarity. We have many compas who are in 
prison throughout the world, and if we forget them, it is like burying 
them further in the hole they are already in. I think we must not forget 
them. That is why I participate, not 100%, as I would like to be 
physically present as well, but I try to participate, although sometimes 
in a very symbolic manner. For example, the case of the compañero Yorch, 
who was someone I knew and who I shared certain things with, and I'm 
filled with rage. I'm also nostalgic, feeling a lot of sadness for not 
having been able to even be present in his funeral.

I think these are also aspects that build us up in the struggle, in the 
resistance as compañerxs, bringing us together and making us complicit, 
strengthening confidence amongst us. Something I think that roots us in 
the struggle against prisons is confidence. Because there have also been 
cases, there will always be everywhere, of an infiltrator. There will 
always be a snitch, an informant, who will point there finger at us. So, 
it's important that we take care of those aspects as compañerxs, those 
who are present, because the struggle against prisons isn't that common, 
in spite of there being many prisons throughout the world. And I'm not 
only talking about political prisoners, because prisons are prisons, and 
I believe that all prisoners are the same. We are struggling against the 
same system, and thus it is important to develop that confidence in 
order to be able to resist.

In the end, being on the run isn't easy. It's hard to trust anyone or 
anything because there is always a risk. But yes, in a way I'm still 
involved in some struggles, thinking about all the anarchist compas who 
are imprisoned in the different dungeons around the world, continuing 
the battle every day and every night.

Another thing we think about with your case is that you pertain to an 
Indigenous Mazatec community, where community ties and collectivity are 
really important. You already mentioned something related to this just a 
moment ago, but we'd like to know, how has the persecution and forced 
displacement affected your life as part of a community?

MP: Well, firstly, it has taken from me a little bit of my communal 
identity, my collective identity, because often times I'm alone in many 
places. I haven't been able to build that community which roots me, 
which makes me who I am. I also remember very pleasant moments in my 
community: the Day of the Dead festivities, for example, or the planting 
season. Many things that are done collectively and that make you part of 
a collective entity, a common entity; things that at the same time 
transform the political, like collective work, sharing words, mutual 
aid. All of this has been taken away from me by the persecution.

It's a lot for me being away from my community; not being able to see 
the mountains makes me feel sad, it makes me feel melancholic. Yet we 
believe in freedom and we demand it and fight for it daily, which also 
strengthens us. The fact that there is a vision, a collective vision, 
something that we are continually working towards together as compañeros 
from my community, and we aren't going to stop until we wrest our 
freedom back, to be able to continue reconstructing ourselves as a 
community, as Naxinanda.

When compañerxs are in prison, there is usually a lot of activity and 
movement demanding their freedom. At the same time persecution has many 
consequences that are maybe not so visible, that sometimes go unnoticed. 
You've talked about emotional consequences, about the effects of 
persecution on your relationship to your community, but we'd like to 
delve a little deeper into those consequences that are less evident. 
Things like health, or economic consequences, social or family consequences.

MP: I think there are many physical and mental consequences. I am going 
to speak for myself, in my experience. Physically, I'm not doing that 
well. I've been through some stuff due to too much stress; stuff like 
insomnia, tinnitus, migraines, a lot of depression. Not having the 
freedom to be able to seek professional help that is needed to counter 
all these limitations in persecution. And of course the physical 
consequences as well. My eyesight is failing somewhat. Yet, I can still 
see the police, or at least sniff them out. My sense of smell is still 
impeccable. So, I can sniff out the police from near and far.

In order to survive economically, unfortunately, certain relations must 
be reproduced. Wage labor, for example, as we can't just rely on the 
compas for money. I think there are many ways to survive. I also make 
handcrafts and salsas, and I sell them. That's how I get by.

Another important element, or perhaps the most important one which I 
have always emphasized is solidarity. Someone who is living beneath 
persecution or living on the run, they need a support base, they need 
folks who can lend a hand, a hug, food, a book, or anything else, no 
matter how insignificant, and they will find it in solidarity. 
Solidarity is enacted by people, individuals, who often times don't even 
know you, but who are there present.

This is the case in the struggle against prisons. Many times, we do not 
know the compañerxs who are in prison, but we know about their 
struggles, we know their histories, and so we feel a connection. We feel 
affection, we feel anger too because they are imprisoned, and we 
struggle. That's how we survive day to day. It's putting into practice 
those concepts that many times we only read about like "mutual aid." We 
put them into practice at these moments. Complicity is also something 
very important, something that is present as well.

You've spoken to us about the importance of solidarity which often 
sustains you both emotionally and physically. To conclude this 
interview, we'd like to ask you two more questions. Firstly, what 
message would you like to share with the compañerxs or collectivities 
that have been following your case and who have shown their solidarity 
in some way over this last decade?

MP: Firstly, that I love you all, that I feel very close to you all. I 
believe that we think about each other having accompanied each other in 
some way, even though I am not present. I feel your presence, I dream 
about you all, I think about you all every day when my mind is 
wandering, and suddenly BAM, there is something there, there is a light 
there that is you all: individuals, friends, collectives, communities, 
comrades from many different places who are there to lend a hand, who 
show solidarity, who are present, who do something, who protest, who 
write something, who draw something, who organize a concert, who 
organize a raffle, who organize a party, who block a highway, who do 
something, who organize a radio broadcast. There are many things that 
make me say "WOW" that surprise me. I am often very surprised, I don't 
know how to repay you all for this effort of being attentive to the 
situation in our community.

Now I think we are reaching the long-awaited moment, which is the 
court's decision. We will be keeping you all updated. I send you all a 
fraternal hug, a handshake. From a distance, feel it, truly feel it, 
because it is with great sincerity, with much affection, with much love, 
and yes, a big hug.

Thanks for those words. Lastly, can you share with folks how can they 
continue supporting you, showing their solidarity so that you, as well 
as your community, can achieve that long-awaited freedom?

MP: I think that we need to continue denouncing the complicity of the 
state apparatus with the caciques. This relationship that has been 
forged there, of arrogance and repression against the community. We need 
to continue to bring to light the situation of injustice that our 
community is experiencing, by sharing information on the radio, with the 
media projects that you all have, with the different forms you all have. 
Of course, we can't tell you all what to do, right? We are compañerxs 
and we each have our own forms of struggle. Yet we must make it clear 
that we are struggling against a state apparatus in Oaxaca and Mexico 
that is working in collusion with the caciques of our community who are 
exploiting the river. I think that's the main thing. We need to denounce 
the systematic repression that our community has lived through, the 
imprisonment that we have lived through, the displacement, and the 
damage that our community has suffered to the community fabric. And you 
all have your own ways of doing that. You all are very intelligent, you 
improvise, and you have your own strategies.

Anything else that you want to add? Any words to finish this interview?

MP: Well, thanks to everyone who listens to or reads this. Also, I'd 
like to send my warmest regards to our compañerxs who are in prison, 
those who are on the run too, encouraging them to stay strong and keep 
fighting.

Thanks, Miguel, for this space to share these ideas, we will be awaiting 
the court's upcoming ruling. We send you a warm hug. We hope that this 
also in some way helps break the cycle of persecution, to establish 
communication and dialogue. We also hope that you feel the love and 
solidarity of all the compas who are here and who continue following 
your case. Thanks again, Miguel.

Nolan Peltz

https://organisemagazine.org.uk/2026/02/05/prison-persecution-and-resistance-the-case-of-miguel-peralta-betanzos/
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