Professor Celedonio Luis Santibáñez, a prominent member of the Political Commission of the Red Sun People's Current, passed away on March 30, 2025 in Oaxaca, Mexico, at the age of 72 after a prolonged battle with cancer. His illness had kept him from participating in political activities since December 2024.
Professor Santibáñez was a long-standing activist and educator known for his involvement in Marxist-Leninist-Maoist political movements and for his adherence to the ideological contributions of Chairman Gonzalo. He was widely recognized for his decades of experience in political organization, his engagement in ideological debates, and his commitment to grassroots mobilization.
In January 2025, the General Assembly of the Red Sun People’s Current paid tribute to Santibáñez, honoring his contributions to the organization and his role in shaping several generations of activists. His funeral, held in the Zapotec region of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, was attended by colleagues from democratic, educational, cultural, and human rights organizations. The ceremony included symbolic elements such as a red flag, a red-starred cap, musical tributes, and a collective singing of the "Internationale."
Celedonio Luis Santibáñez was born on October 18, 1952, into a poor peasant family in the Zapotec indigenous community of Buena Vista, in San AgustÃn Loxicha, Oaxaca. He balanced academic pursuits with agricultural labor, eventually completing his basic education and enrolling at the Oaxaca Regional Center for Normal Education (CRENO) to study primary education. During his time there, he became involved in student activism amid the state repression of the "Dirty War" era (1960s–1980s).
As a student, Santibáñez briefly joined the Mexican Communist Party and later aligned with the Mexican Proletarian Revolutionary Party (PRPM), which he described as a formative experience. Upon graduation, he began teaching in rural communities while organizing farmers and laborers into unions. He also earned a Master’s degree in Basic Education and served as a secondary school teacher and supervisor.
Santibáñez was active in the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), collaborating with educators in efforts to democratize the SNTE (National Union of Education Workers). He also engaged in political work with indigenous communities in Oaxaca, opposing state violence and advocating for human rights.
Following the 2006 Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) uprising and subsequent government crackdown, Santibáñez played a key role in founding the Red Sun People’s Current. This group operated semi-clandestinely to support marginalized communities, particularly in Oaxaca.
Throughout his career, he contributed to the formation of multiple unions and community organizations, such as the Independent Union of Health Workers and Professionals (SITYPS), and supported efforts like the Francisco Villa Community housing occupation. He also led efforts to distinguish the Red Sun People’s Current ideologically from other leftist currents, including Hoxhaism and Guevarism.
In 2016, the Red Sun People’s Current held its first public demonstration. The following year, Santibáñez co-chaired its First Political Congress and helped establish related organizations, including the Classist Current of Education Workers (COCLATE), the League of Communities for the Agrarian Revolution (LCRA), and the Mexico chapter of the Anti-Imperialist League.
He contributed to ideological and political training efforts through institutions such as the Cultural Center and Studies of Science for Proletarian Revolution and the Commission for Ideological and Political Training (CFIP). In his final years, before his illness worsened, he focused on a Rectification Campaign that aimed to lay the groundwork for a broad revolutionary front.
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*Freelance journalist
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