Stoking the FireUpdate on the Case of Mazatec Anarchist Miguel Peralta
In Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón, deep in the Sierra Mazatec mountains, there is no forgetting and there is no surrender. There is memory, rage, and a community that doesn’t ask for permission to exist. In the face of a system of “justice” that seeks to destroy the community, the response has been resistance and solidarity, weaving the pathway of freedom.
For more than a decade the community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón has been standing up to institutional racism, wresting from the state little by little what belongs to them: freedom. Because nothing has been a gift. Everything achieved has been through struggle in the streets, in front of the court houses, in the tribunals, in front of the prisons, in the protest encampments that resist attrition, in the autonomous spaces, collectives, and individuals who have joined the call for freedom.
As is already well-known, this case derived from manipulation. It was fabricated from the positions of power of Elisa Zepeda, Manuel Zepeda, the Public Prosecutor of Huautla, and an entire network of interests of the government of Oaxaca in 2014. It was not an error, but rather a strategy.
And nonetheless the community and many others who are part of this struggle continue resisting.
Today, April 30, we remember the day that Miguel was detained. Eleven years ago, they snatched from him his freedom. Today, more than 11 years later, despite favorable rulings, the legal situation remains bleak.
On February 20, 2026, the First Collegiate Court of Oaxaca, which in 2023 issued a timid ruling, recognized this time what we have always sustained: this is a fabricated case with witnesses planted for personal interests in exchange for political favors. This victorious sentence is historic because it also recognizes that the testimony of Elisa Zepeda is implausible.
On March 3rd, the Third Circuit Court—the same that revoked Miguel’s freedom in 2022—was obligated to recognize his innocence against all accusations, confirming that the crimes of homicide and attempted homicide do not exist.
What has been achieved isn’t a favor granted by the system, but the result of years of struggle, of refusing to remain silent, of refusing to give up.
Recently, the State Congresswoman Elisa Zepeda has been moving her pieces with cold calculation, activating her networks of influence and her financial machinery of misinformation to try to consolidate her lies and position herself. She has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the recent resolution from the Collegiate Court in Oaxaca, despite lacking the standing to do so. The Supreme Court already ruled on the case and the State Congresswoman never before presented an appeal to defend the arguments that she is now putting forth. She lost that opportunity. Furthermore, according to the constitution, there is no issue on which the Supreme Court can rule. The Collegiate Court only did what the Supreme Court ordered them to do in 2024.
The decision on whether or not to proceed with Elisa Zepeda’s appeal falls on the President of the Supreme Court, Hugo Aguilar Ortiz. Since there are no legal or sociopolitical grounds for granting yet another judicial favor for the cacique family, the appeal must be dismissed.
Yet, we are not ignorant of the relations of power and influence that exist between Elisa Zepeda Lagunas, her lawyers from the organization Litigio Estratégico Indígena, and the President of the Supreme Court, Hugo Aguilar Ortiz. We are not ignorant of the Mexican State’s ongoing war against Indigenous community organization, autonomy, and territorial defense. If the appeal proceeds at the Supreme Court, we know that it is a consequence of these relations of power and influence, and not of any legal merit.
Regardless of the outcome, the resistance will continue. We know that this still isn’t over.
#MiguelPeraltaLibre #Eloxochitlán #EloxLibre #Oaxaca #Autonomía
axolotl solidario
