Tequio Jurídico A.C. - 68275 Santiago Etla

“From below and in the soil we seed autonomy.”

WHO WE ARE

TEQUIO JURÍDICO A.C. conceives its internal process, as well as the articulation of the different efforts it makes towards the construction of rights of the indigenous people within a framework of autonomy.

In terms of our internal structure, we organize our work in “VET – veredas de trabajo” (working paths) that reflect our strategic areas of operation to accompany the processes and the way indigenous communities coordinate themselves. These paths are Collective Defense of Territory, Women´s Rights, Self-governance and Communitarian Participation and Administration and Good Management.

These “veredas” (paths) are  connected by instance called “COVET – Coordinación de Veredas de Trabajo” (Coordination of Working Paths), and furthermore by an external instance of consultation, advice and methodological and political support: the “COA – Comité de Acompañamiento” (similar to a Committee of External Supervision).

The Assembly is the principal authority in decision making, which provides constant feedback for the general process. It is formed by the associates of Tequio Jurídico A.C. and its staff.

It seems fundamental, although obvious, to highlight the fact that these methods are realized by and among persons with different biographies; conscious that we are women and men who collectively carry the burden of an ideology of domination, we are committed to each other in creating new forms of relationship and life that allow us to be part of the liberating process. Our vision, mission and objectives express this attempt to not act as mere “promoters” or “sponsors”, but as subjects and subject of constant transformation.

The Coordination (COVET) is under the direction of one person, who carries out this function for a period of three years, extendible if the assembly considers that the circumstances for a new election are not given. This decision is made on a basis of democratic mechanisms: rotationally and using collective agreements.

VISION

We struggle side by side with indigenous communities in the State of Oaxaca for the collective defense of their territory, the construction of their autonomy and equal relations between men and women.

MISSION

We are a non-profit and multidisciplinary non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with women and men of indigenous communities in the Sierra Sur (the southern mountains) and the coast of Oaxaca in the collective defense of their territories and the construction of their autonomy. We strengthen communal institutions and prioritize collective work with an emphasis on “educación popular” (a concept in favour of education “of the people”) and recognizing ancestral knowledge. We promote the recognition and practice of women’s rights from the perspective of their own culture.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To work with women and men of indigenous communities in the collective defense of their territories and the construction of their autonomy respecting communitarian forms of organization.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. Collaborate with indigenous communities in the political and legal education, conscious and organized, of the people who form part of their proper authorities, promoting the participation of women.
2. Promote the formation of communitarian and regional spaces (mixed and female only) where the practice of individual and collective rights of women and their participation in places of decision making in their proper community is promoted.
3. Strengthen places and promote their connection, for the analysis  and the collective defense of the indigenous territory,  promoting the construction of their autonomy and the equal relations between women and men.
4. Promote in the communities, where we work, the creation of instruments that enable the access to information of the political-social context, prioritizing the local level.

All of our work is directed towards indigenous communities of the Chontal, the Zapotec and Mixe of the District San Carlos Yautepec in the state of Oaxaca. We work with assemblies, local authorities, women, regional organizations, communitarian committees and promoters. We accompany organized processes like the “Unión de Pueblos y Comunidades Indígenas de Yautepec, Oaxaca – UPCIYO” (Union of indigenous people and communities of Yautepec, Oaxaca) of Chontal, Zapotec and Mixe in the Oaxaca State. We form part of the “Colectivo Oaxacaqueño en Defensa de los Territorios” (the Oaxacan Collective in Territorial Defense). To realize our objectives we interconnect with organizations that work in similar subjects.

For the realization of its activities, Tequio Jurídico A.C. has received funding from the Mexican government, national and international organizations such as the National Institute of Social Development (INDESOL), the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous People (CDI), EED (Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst), Oxfam America, Oxfam Australia, Redistribuir, Catholic Relief Services, Taides Foundation, Semillas, Federal Election Institute (IFE), Angelic Foundation, Pfizer Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme and Heifer International.