2. Communities

The Centers provide assistance to Otomí, Náhuatl and Tlahuica ethnic groups.

2.1 COMMUNITY CONTEXT

Click on the points to see the different centers.
CPD Pueblo Nuevo 1

Pueblo Nuevo

Municipality:

Acambay de Ruiz, Castañeda

Location (km from Toluca):94 km from Toluca
Population:

70,814 inhabitants: 48.5 % men 51.5 % women

Indigenous population:15.6 % (11,090 indigenous people)
Ethnicity(ies) with greater presence:Otomí
Degree of marginalization

Medium degree of marginalization 50.8% live in poverty, 42.5% in moderate poverty and 8.3% in extreme poverty.

 Economic activities:Corn, wheat, barley, beans, lima beans, pear, peach, sapote, prickly pear, prune, and plum trees grown for self-consumption and trade.

CPD San Miguel Almaya 2

San Miguel Almaya

Municipality:

Capulhuac de Mirafuentes

Location (km from Toluca):31 km from Toluca
Population:

16,635 inhabitants, 48.6 % male and 51.4 % female

Indigenous population:

0.83 % (138 indigenous people)

Ethnicity(ies) with greater presence:

Otomí, Mazahua, Náhuatl

Degree of marginalization

Very low degree of marginalization; 60.0 % live in poverty, 54.2 % in moderate poverty and 5.8 % in extreme poverty.

 Economic activities:

Sale of tacos, clothes, and other products in tianguis; and as agricultural activities, planting corn.

CPD San Juan Atzingo 3

San Juan Atzingo

Municipality:Ocuilan
Location (km from Toluca):58 km from Toluca
Population:

37,446 inhabitants, 40 % male and 51 % female

Indigenous population:

0.81 % (305 indigenous people)

Ethnicity(ies) with greater presence:

Tlahuica

Degree of marginalization

Low degree of marginalization; 64.6% live in poverty, 52.5% in moderate poverty, and 12.1% in extreme poverty.

 Economic activities:

Corn, beans, peas, oats, and beans are grown. Almost seventy percent of the population are merchants, bricklayers, laborers, carpenters.

CPD Zinacantepec 4

Zinacantepec

Municipality:

Zinacantepec

Location (km from Toluca):14 km from Toluca
Population:

207,236, inhabitants, 49.3% male and 50.7% female

Indigenous population:

0.48 % (1,005 indigenous people)

Ethnicity(ies) with greater presence:

Otomí, Mazahua, Náhuatl

Degree of marginalization

Very low degree of marginalization 52.5% live in poverty, 42.7% in moderate poverty and 9.7% in extreme poverty.

 Economic activities:Grow potatoes, corn, lima beans, corn, squash, and quelites for their own consumption and trade; a large part of the population is involved in commerce, seafood, and other businesses.

2.2 COSMOVISION

Although we were unable to go deeper into the worldviews of interviewed individuals, three important elements were mentioned and emerged: language, sense of community, and history. Language, though fewer people speak it, is an important component of identity, and also a factor for cohesion in communities.

Marcelino Domingo Barragán, Grand Chief, Pueblo Nuevo

A sense of community transcends much of the community’s social and cultural organization. An example of this becomes evident through chores, which consist of community work distributed among members of the community, ranging from planting trees caused by illegal logging to improving roads. The tasks are seen as an obligation and reflect a sense of cooperation according to Grand Chief, Marcelino Domingo Barragán López. These sanctions reflect a sense of community, as they are focused on giving back to the community, either by planting trees in locations registering illegal logging, or by cutting the grass at the school. 

Laureano Bibiano y Hortensia Martínez

Laureano Bibiano and Hortensia Martínez, Delegate and Subdelegate (Barrio II) of the Peace and Dialogue Center of Pueblo Nuevo, speaking in Otomí.

These interviews addressed the history of our country, particularly with regard to the periods from the Conquest and Colonization, highlighting, significantly, the ancestral presence of native people, who inhabited these lands before the Spanish arrived. The native people, according to Grand Chief Lucina Hernández, have plenty of history to recover, what was taken from them, in addition to what continues to be prevailing discriminatory treatment and violation of their rights.

Lucina Hernández

Lucina Hernández, Grand Chief, Capulhuac.

2.3 INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

Community authorities

Delegates

Duration: 3 years
Type of charge Honorary
Elected by: Community Assembly
Main tasks Liaison with City Council to carry out different programs (infrastructure and education);

Grand Chiefs

Duration:Lifetime in some communities
Type of chargeHonorary
Elected by:Community Assembly
Main tasksRepresentative of each native people; looks after life and interests of the people.

Council of Elders/Seniors

Duration:Lifetime in some communities
Type of chargeHonorary
Elected by:Community Assembly
Main tasksSupport the Delegate and the Grand Chief

* Another relevant authority for the San Juan Atzingo PDC is the Commissary of Communal Property, as they oversee the entire land-related nucleus that belongs to the community, from territories to forests and water.

2.4 INTERSECTIONALITIES

People from indigenous communities face structural discrimination and have been marginalized in areas such as health, education, justice and employment. This discrimination creates significant barriers to guaranteeing their rights (CONAPRED, 2023).

Hortensia Martínez

Hortensia Martínez Subdelegate (Barrio II), Peace and Dialogue Center at Pueblo Nuevo.

During the interviews, community leaders frequently emphasized their experience of discriminatory treatment, as indicated by Lidia Ángeles Doroteo: “they address us as 'Indians' and 'guarines' and so on”, referring to people from the municipal seat of Ocuilan who address them in a derogatory manner.

In addition, women face multiple discrimination due to their gender and the roles they play in their communities and in society in general. Interviewees noted that there are often no options for addressing violence against women, and that key rights are frequently denied. For example, in Mazahua communities, women are denied land tenure, while in Otomí communities, they are denied the right to inheritance.

From an intersectionality approach, indigenous women face greater barriers to exercising their rights, since gender and ethnic inequality reinforce each other.

Nevertheless, some women serve as Grand Chiefs or hold other leadership roles in indigenous communities, which has highlighted their right to participate in decision-making. This involvement has been crucial to the progress of Peace and Dialogue Centers. Because of different factors, there was no access information related to other populations, including those who are Afro-descendants or the diversity community, because of the challenge entailed in identifying them and openly addressing issues of sexual and gender identity.

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