Indigenous governor rejects SCJN's injunction against Córdova and denounces re-victimization of Indigenous people

GUANAJUATO, Gto., (apro).- The multicultural governor of Guanajuato, Mauricio Mata Soria, considered that the injunction granted by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) to Lorenzo Córdova Vainello, former president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), is "a stab in the back to indigenous peoples and communities."

"The Court has old flaws, but we want a new conscience. They're the same as always. Who are they protecting? Those in the elite," he criticized.

Mata Soria announced that she will seek legal advice to take the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, stating that Lorenzo Córdova's statements in 2015 were an act of discrimination that the Supreme Court now seeks to erase from Mexico's history.

"Lorenzo Córdova discriminated against us. He didn't discriminate against just one Indigenous person, he discriminated against all 68 ethnic groups across the country, and the Supreme Court upheld him. I'm dissatisfied. When did they consult us to say whether we agree... My dissatisfaction is because he relied on lies."

In the ruling of the Second Chamber of the SCJN, the Ministry of Public Education is ordered to remove from sixth-grade textbooks the reference to Lorenzo Córdova, when he was president of the INE (National Institute of Statistics and Census), mocking indigenous peoples after a meeting with Mauricio Mata Soria.

The indigenous representative in Guanajuato mentioned that the ruling by the Second Chamber of the SCJN re-victimized the indigenous people by treating Córdova as a victim.

"He wants them to say he didn't say what he said, and that he did say it, that some Chichimeca bastard from Guanajuato thought I was a bullfighter. So, if that isn't racism and discrimination, what is?" the indigenous authority questioned.

At a press conference, Mauricio Mata asked Lorenzo Córdova to retract his statements in the media, alleging that the Guanajuato indigenous group had attempted to blackmail him.

"I categorically deny the blackmail and the demand for money. We never asked for anything. We wanted to be included at that time."

The indigenous multicultural governor of Guanajuato recalled that he has been one of the promoters of affirmative action so that indigenous peoples and communities have representation in government bodies, but now anyone can identify themselves as indigenous to reach Congress or City Councils.

"Affirmative action came about, but it turns out that tall, blond people with green eyes and bank accounts are now the indigenous people," he claimed.

The 2015 incident, when Lorenzo Córdova mocked Mauricio Mata's remarks in a leaked phone call, occurred after the meeting with the former INE president, when the indigenous authority was seeking to open up spaces for representation.