Okupa Cuba Monumenta Viva is a radical feminist collective that since 2020 had taken over a building of the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), located on República de Cuba Street in the Historic Center, and which used to ask for donations from motorists who circulated in the area. Many of the drivers who refused to donate reported being violated by the hooded women, joined by women who have denounced violence, authoritarianism and mismanagement of donations inside the building occupied by the black bloc, through social networks.
A Twitter user (@mareademarte) shared a thread in which she recounted her experience inside the CNDH facilities, which were recovered by the Government of the City of Mexico (CDMX) on April 15, after a teacher from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) reported being assaulted by squatters. The woman who opened the debate on social networks denied that it was a place where “anyone could go, be a refugee, agree and have a home there”, since only those who knew someone inside accessed and denounced the terrible conditions in which those who took refuge in that place lived.
According to his testimony, donations of up to half a million pesos were administered by a group of 5 people who led the collective and were responsible for buying food for those who lived in the building. In order to have access to medicines, personal hygiene products, pantries and food, women had to obey the leaders without questioning.
At some point, those in charge of the collective stopped buying basic supplies with the money obtained from donations and used it for personal expenses. User @mareademarte, who claimed to have lived with them, denounced that the chamber of the leaders “had a refrigerator, oven, a cupboard full of pantry and almost all the instruments to operate together with stationery. The other rooms had nothing but blankets and pillows.”
Also, they assured, they spent the money on parties with mariachis, DJs, drugs and a large amount of alcohol. Conflicts during meetings were common and sometimes led to the expulsion of some groups of refugees who were accused of committing misconduct against the group, testimonies reveal that: “One night there was a fight between the different factions and at midnight they ran to a group of girls, accused them of theft for grabbing cereal from the pantry”.
In addition to the complaints of women being violated during their stay in the building taken by the “squatters”, there are also complaints by those who say that Okupa Monumenta Viva delegitimizes the feminist movement. Among the unjustified acts they have committed are the “seizures of different institutions only to loot computers, stationery and scholarship money.”
Among the comments made by women who disagreed with the collective, there are some that had great support such as: “When they broke the news that they were going to evict the squat, I applauded, not because of the theater that the cops made, but for the farce that was the squatting when the pseudo feminists took control. There you realize when it's NOT activism, just protagonism.”
It is worth mentioning that the occupation of CNDH facilities in 2020 was initially a form of protest against a case of a 4-year-old girl, who was raped in 2017 by the psychologist at the school she attended. Marcela Alemán, mother of the victim, publicly demanded justice by strapping herself to a chair inside the building owned by the commission, after which feminists called for the taking of the place as a sign of support for women.
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