Speeches and practices after the remunicipalisation process of Santiago Sochiapan, Veracruz

Abstract

Through a case study, an analysis of the conditions and obstacles faced by individual and collective actors is presented, in an area of ​​the lower Papaloapan, Veracruz, to build indigenous autonomy in local or regional spaces. The autonomous municipality of Santiago Sochiapa, which was considered as a possibility for the exercise of self-government, quickly vanished in the face of internal and external obstacles. The proponents of the project had to compete with the traditional authorities, organized under the cargo system, to achieve local consensus. Another factor that influenced the course of the action was the repression that the state government unleashed against the leaders, as well as the weakness of the networks established with solidarity organizations or sympathizers of the movement.