Javier Sicilia

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Javier Sicilia on May 8, 2011 at the closing rally of the Marcha Nacional por la Justicia y Contra la Impunidad in Mexico City

Javier Sicilia Zardain (born May 30, 1956 in Mexico City ) is a Mexican writer who was mainly active as a poet , essayist , novelist and journalist . Since April 2011, as an activist and demonstrator, he has become a symbol of the peaceful resistance to the drug war in Mexico and has gained international fame.

Life

Sicilia - whose father was also a poet - studied philosophy , literature , political science and sociology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico . He then worked as an editor for various magazines. For example, he wrote articles for Los universitarias y cartapacios , La Jornada and Proceso . At the same time he worked as editor- in- chief at Poesía , was editor of the now discontinued Ixtus magazine and is the founder of El Telar . He currently heads the investigative magazine Conspiratio .

He has been a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte since 1995 and teaches at the campus of the Universidad La Salle in Cuernavaca as a professor of literature, aesthetics and screenwriting. Influenced by the writings of Teresa of Ávilas and John of the Cross , themes of Catholicism and Christian mysticism dominate Sicilia's work . He also excels as a screenwriter for cinema and television films and as an organizer of various literature workshops .

Activist against the drug war

On March 28, 2011, his son - the 24-year-old student Juan Francisco Sicilia Ortega - and six other men were found murdered in an abandoned car in Temixco near Cuernavaca - handcuffed, strangled with adhesive tape and with traces of torture on his body. The method of killing corresponds to the handwriting of the drug cartels , but it is unclear why these victims were specifically chosen. It is possible that they were merely collateral victims of the war that began in December 2006. Javier Sicilia, who received the news in the Philippines , subsequently decided to give up writing and keep his literary voice silent. His last poem, written a few hours after the death of his son, ends with the sentence “La poesía ya no existe en mí” ( de: “The poetry in me no longer exists”).

Sicilia called for large-scale demonstrations against the machinations of the cartels and the interdependence of politics. The Mexican government is too inactive and too often assassins do not even have to fear conviction. As a result, people took to the streets in over 40 Mexican cities on April 6 to protest for an end to the conflict, the withdrawal of the military from the streets, the partial legalization of certain drugs and the resignation of President Felipe Calderón . 50,000 people gathered in Cuernavaca and 20,000 people at an event moderated by Daniel Giménez Cacho in the capital. On April 3, he announced another protest in a "Carta abierta a políticos y criminales" (de .: "Open letter to politicians and criminals") published in the leading news magazine Processo . It should be a national march for justice and against impunity under the motto “Estamos hasta la madre” (de: “We are fed up”). In the middle of the month, the writer, who considers himself a libertarian , screwed 95 plaques on the governor's palace of the state of Morelos - one for every person murdered since the beginning of the year - and urged his colleagues to imitate this action in all states.

The announced silent march began on May 5, 2011 with around 600 participants in Cuernavaca. In the course of the following days, however, more and more sympathizers joined the 85-kilometer route , so that the final rally on May 8th in the central Plaza de la Constitución in Mexico City was attended by an estimated 150,000 demonstrators. At the same time, parallel events were held in 31 Mexican cities and 17 other cities around the world. Sicilia read out a 6-point plan to restore the social fabric of the population and again demanded the dismissal of the head of the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública Genaro García Luna , whom he considers incapable of solving the problems. He also accuses him of the ineffective but violent use of the army and collaboration with the Sinaloa cartel . Luna tries to be on good terms with the cartel in order to be able to crush the others. On June 23, Sicilia - who is accused from some quarters of focusing too much on politics in his protest instead of criticizing the drug traffickers - and other demonstrators met with Calderón and several government officials (including Luna) for an initial meeting.

Works (selection)

Volumes of poetry

  • 1982: Permanencia en los puertos , UNAM: Difusión Cultural (Cuadernos de Humanidades, No. 21) (January 1, 1982)
  • 1985: La presencia desierta
  • 1990: Oro
  • 1992: Trinidad
  • 1994: Vigilias
  • 1995: Resurrección
  • 2000: Pascua
  • 2004: Lectio
  • 2009: Tríptico del Desierto
  • 2013: Vestigios

Novels

  • 1991: El bautista
  • 1998: El reflejo de lo oscuro , Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City, ISBN 978-968-16-5112-1
  • 1999: Viajeros en la noche
  • 2002: A través del silencio
  • 2008: La confesión
  • 2012: El fondo de la noche

Essays

  • 1980: Cariátide a destiempo y otros escombros
  • 1998: Poesía y espíritu

Biographies

  • 2001: Concepción Cabrera de Armida - La amante de Cristo , Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City, ISBN 978-968-16-6448-0
  • 2007: Félix de Jesús Rougier - La seducción de la Virgen , Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City, ISBN 978-968-16-8507-2

Anthologies

  • 2009: La voz y las sombras
  • 2011: Estamos hasta la madre

Prices

  • 1990: Premio Ariel
  • 2009: Premio Nacional de Poesía de Aguascalientes

Web links

Commons : Javier Sicilia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Marcha por la paz  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Sicilia, Javier
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mexican writer and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Mexico city