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La Jornada 3 de abril de 1998
Preocupa a alta comisionada de la ONU la ``militarización'' en ese estado
ZKyra Núñez, especial para La Jornada, Ginebra, 2 de
abril ¤ La situación en México ``es claramente de gran
seriedad'' y con ``una aparente militarización del sistema de
justicia'', por lo que la oficina del Alto Comisionado de los Derechos
Humanos de la ONU verá con atención el desarrollo de futuros
acontecimientos en ese país, señaló la titular del organismo
internacional, Mary Robinson.
En lo que fue el primer reconocimiento oficial de la funcionaria de la
ONU de que el estado de los derechos humanos en México debe ser
atendido, Mary Robinson escuchó ``con suma seriedad'' las exposiciones
que sobre el tema hicieron representantes de más de 60 ONG mexica-
nas, con quienes se reunió en esta ciudad la noche del miércoles,
mostrándose particularmente inquieta por la ``situación de
militarización'' en Chiapas, explicó el vocero de la funcionaria, John
Nills.
``La alta comisionada considera que la situación de los derechos
humanos en México es claramente de gran seriedad, por lo que su
oficina verá con atención el desarrollo de futuros acontecimientos en
ese país, pues se encuentra precisamente en lo que el secretario
general de las Naciones Unidas, Koffi Annan, ha delineado como
elementos para aplicar una política de prevención'', adelantó
Nills.
Agregó que las inquietudes de Robinson, quien hasta ahora había
evitado emitir un juicio sobre México, se extienden ``a lo que
aparenta ser una militarización del sistema de justicia en ese
país''.
La funcionaria se ha reunido hasta el momento con el procurador Jorge
Madrazo Cuéllar, con la vicecanciller Carmen Moreno y con
representantes de organismos internacionales de asuntos indígenas.
Nills dijo que Robinson se mostró satisfecha de haber tenido el
encuentro con las ONG mexicanas, entre las que se encontraban la
Comisión Mexicana para la Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos,
la Red Mexicana para los Derechos Humanos, el Centro Las Casas y el
Centro Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez.
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DELICADA SITUACION DE LA PAZ EN MEXICO; EL GOBIERNO DESCONOCE A LA CONAI.-
Mexico D.F 31/03/98. Hoy dio a conocer un plan de pacificacion el secretario
de gobernacion Francisco Labastida Ochoa en el que desconoce explicitamente
a la Comision Nacional de Intermediacion (CONAI). Segun opinion del senador
Carlos Payan miembro de la Comision de Concordia y Pacificacion (COCOPA)
este es un paso mas para desconocer toda mediacion.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidente del Partido de la Revolucion
Democratica (PRD) mismo que gobierna la ciudad de Mexico, declaro hace dias
que la ley que el presidente mandaba por su cuenta, sobre la paz en Chiapas,
al congreso era el inicio de una ofensiva total del gobierno contra los
indigenas de Chiapas, y que era un virtual desconocimiento de la COCOPA y lo
que seguia era el desconocimiento de la CONAI -mismo que se dio hoy- tambien
apunto que tenia conocimiento que despues de la ley se enviaria otra de
amnistia -la cual incluiria a los paramilitares- por la cual habia que
entregar las armas, y que seguramente los grupos del gobierno las
entregarian, con lo cual se llamaria al el EZLN a entregarlas, a lo que de
no hacerlo se le someteria militarmente. Los hechos advertidos por Lopez
Obrador se han cumplido cabalmante, hasta el dia de hoy.
El desconocimiento de la CONAI -y por lo mismo de la Curia de San Cristobal-
como mediador y luchador por la paz, lo coloca como parte del conflicto
-razon misma por la que fueron masacrados los Martires de Acteal- y polariza
a la iglesia e incrementa la hostilidades contra la Iglesia de an Cristobal
e incrementa las posibilidades de agresion contra la misma.
Segun especialistas y expertos en la situacion chiapaneca, el estado de
cosas es en extremo delicado, toda vez que el gobierno, rompio de facto las
platicas y esta tomando una serie de medidas, unilateralmente, que reactivan
las causas y motivos que originaron el levantamiento indigena de enero de 1994.
Todo parece indicar -aseveraron- que el gobierno camina hacia una salida
militar al conflicto chiapaneco, el desconocimiento de los mediadores y de
lo acordado en las platicas de San Andres, el incremento de la presion
militar, del numero de efectivos en la zona, la ofensiva xenofobica contra
observadores extranjeros y el franco estado de sitio y persecucion que estan
viviendo ONG's y movimientos sociales en Chiapas, indican los movimientos
previos a una ofensiva militar de gran envergadura que con rapidez intente
aniquilar al EZLN, pero advirtieron que el costo pude ser una hecatombe para
todo Mexico y una de las mas grande masacre de indigenas de la historia.
***
Alimentos, Medicinas y Equipos para la PAZ es una organizacion civil y
movimiento social internacional (Mexico, EU y Canada) dedicada a tareas de
gestion de ayuda para la paz en Mexico. Para mas informacion sobre nosotros
envie un EMail a info@amelapaz.org y recibira una respuesta de inmediato,
para informacion general a info@amelapaz.org y contacto personal a
webmaster@amelapaz.org, http:\\www.amelapaz.org.
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MESSAGE FROM THE DIOCESE OF SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS IN THE FACE OF THE
PRESENT SITUATION
"A great sign appeared in the heavens: a woman robed in the sun, with the
moon beneath her feet and a crown of 12 stars above her head. She was
pregnant, and in labor, crying out in the pain of childbirth." (Apocalypse
12:1-2)
To All Brothers and Sisters in the Catholic Faith
To All Brothers and Sisters from the different Christian traditions
To All Brothers and Sisters, believers in the God of Life
To the Civil Society throughout the world
To All Men and Women of good will
Today, as another storm of persecution calls at our door, we feel we have
to, from conscience, share with you reflections from our faith:
In the text from the Book of the Apocalypse, cited above (which for we
Mexican Catholics is profoundly evocative of the delicateness of the
goodness that divine Providence has overflowingly provided us), we see
today a reflection of our own experience as the Church. Thus it is well
that our tradition, since the holy fathers, has witnessed, in the figure of
the Holy Virgin Mary, the giving to us of light in the midst of
contradiction, the Word that was made flesh. We are also aware that in its
original meaning it refers to the mystery of the Church which through its
labor of evangelization, realized in the midst of persecutions, continues
to give light to a new humanity, free as Christ, from the slavery of the
ancient Serpent.
We clearly understand that the situation that we live in is a direct
consequence of the options that over the course these latest decades, in
full use of our freedom of conscience, we as a Diocese have maturely
undertaken in the bosom of the Universal Church, in communion with other
Dioceses of Mexico and of Latin America. From this fate we cannot feel
ourselves as victims today, since the option for the poor - evangelical and
ecclesial - if it is serious, takes for granted experiencing the same
suffering that those who are constantly vanquished live through.
"Let one who glories, glory in the Lord," the Apostle tells us (1
Corinthians 1:31). Today we, conscious of our unworthiness, feel ourselves
nevertheless moved by the action of grace, since, although humanly it is
difficult and overburdening for us to suffer such defamation and injury, we
recognize the splendid gift of grace. "Rejoice and be glad," the Lord tells
us (Matthew 5:12).
He who "conferred on us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians
5:18), has laid before us this declaration: Only the truth will make you
free (cf. John 8:32). And that Truth is destined "to be a sign of
contradiction, for the falling and the rising of many, so that their secret
thoughts will be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35).
Our standard of action, in this ministry of reconciliation, is the truth.
Not a truth that cleverly presents events in order to uncover an error (cf
Ephesius 4:14), but an ethical truth that explains results from the
perspective of the plan of God and the construction of God's rein. For this
we have been sent - by Jesus and with Jesus - to give testimony to the
truth (cf. John 18:37). We know that if our adherance to the truth isn't
firm and constant, we will stumble upon it. Similarly, we know that the
truth inconveniences, and gives rise to violent responses. This we assume.
We have been forewarned.
That which we have seen and heard, that which we have contemplated and
touched with our hands (1 John 1:1), that which we proclaim and and can't
do without is the luminous image of Christ in the life of our indigenous
brothers with their valor, their capacity for self-sacrifice, their
communal spirit, their survival in the midst of their marginalization, and
their confident hope in the establishment of the Reign of God in justice,
in truth, in love and in peace.
That which we have seen and heard, that which we have contemplated and
touched with our hands, is also is the visage of the suffering Christ in
the indigenous people who undergo systematic aggression against their
fundamental rights. That which we have seen and heard are the pernicious
effects of the crushing presence of the Military. That which we have seen
and heard is the virus of a war artificially inoculated from outside, into
thousands of our brothers who get lost in the illusions of arriving at last
to the end of centuries of distress.
That which we have heard and seen with profound sadness, is in Acteal and
its 45 innocent deaths … and so many more deaths, whose deaths are inviting
the entire the world to come and see (cf. Lamentations 1:12). Solidarity
with the suffering knows no boundaries, and goes far beyond the concept of
sovereignty based on the interests of privileged groups, on behalf of the
dominant power of a region or country.
For our part, we can't conceive of not proclaiming this enduring Gospel
that has been for us a constant fount of conversion to the God of Life, and
so "we proclaim it to you that you may be in union with us" (1 John 1:3).
"If we keep silent, the stones shall cry out" (Luke 19:40), and would
reveal us as imposters. Because "we believe, thus we speak, knowing that
the one who rose up the Lord Jesus from the dead, will raise us as well
with Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:13-14).
We are not ceasing in hoping against all hope (cf Romans 4:18) that one
day in our beloved Chiapas, and in our beloved Mexico "no more will there
be children who live only a few days, and old ones who are not able to
live out their years" (Isaiah 65:20). And all the indigenous people "will
build homes and live in them, will plants vines and eat their fruits"
Isaiah 65:21-22. And from the metal smelted into AK-47s they will forge
themselves tractors (cf. Isaiah 2:4) and in place of sending taxes, the
fruit of our labor, to pay tuition for the military at the School of the
Americas, we will see classrooms, operating rooms, storerooms, laboratories
as well as dignity in the ravines and the jungles of Chiapas, in the
valleys and in the mountains of our Homeland.
Each and every one of the pastoral agents of this beloved Diocese of San
Cristóbal de Las Casas, we trust and hope in the resurrection of Christ in
this our history.
May the grace of Jesus be with you all. Amen! (Apocalypse 22:21).
+Samuel Ruiz
Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas
+Fr. Raúl Vera López, O.P.
Assistant Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas
Pbro. Felipe Toussaint Loera
Vicar General
For the Council of Priests
Pbro. Felipe Ramos Ozuna
For the Council of Episcopal Vicars
Prbro. Eugenio Alvarez Figueroa
For the Pastoral Council
R.P. Oscar Salinas Nájera, S.M.
For the Diocesan Curate
Hna. Esther Lorenzana Camacho D.P., Chancellor
Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas
20 de Noviembre y 5 de Febrero 6
Tel (967) 8 00 53 Fax 8 31 36
curiasc@laneta.apc.org
http://www.laneta.apc.org/curiasc/index.htm
--Translated by Wes Rehberg
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MENSAJE DE LA DIÓCESIS DE SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS
ANTE LA PRESENTE SITUACIÓN
"Una gran señal apareció en el cielo: una mujer vestida del sol, con
la luna bajo sus pies y una corona de doce estrellas sobre su cabeza.
Estaba encinta y las angustias del parto le arrancaban gemidos de
dolor" (Ap 12, 1-2)
A todos(as) nuestros(as) hermanos(as) en la fe católica:
A todos(as) nuestros(as) hermanos(as) de las diferentes tradiciones
cristianas:
A todos(as) nuestros(as) hermanos(as) creyentes en el Dios de la vida:
A la sociedad civil de México y del mundo:
A todos los hombres y mujeres de buena voluntad:
Hoy, que otra escalada de persecución llama nuevamente a nuestra puerta,
sentimos como un deber de conciencia compartir con ustedes algunas
reflexiones desde nuestra fe:
En el texto del Libro del Apocalipsis, arriba citado (que para nosotros
católicos mexicanos tiene profundas evocaciones de la delicadeza con
que nos ha colmado de bienes la Providencia divina) hoy vemos reflejada
nuestra propia experiencia como Iglesia. Pues si bien nuestra tradición
desde los santos Padres ha visto en él la figura de la Santísima Virgen
María, dando a luz en medio de la contradicción, al Verbo que se
encarna; también sabemos que en su sentido originario se refiere al
misterio de la Iglesia que con su labor evangelizadora, realizada en
medio de persecuciones, va dando a luz a la humanidad nueva, libre como
Cristo, de la servidumbre de la Serpiente antigua (Cf. Ap 12,3-18) .
Entendemos claramente que la situación que vivimos es una consecuencia
directa de las opciones que maduramente, a lo largo de las últimas
décadas, en pleno uso de nuestra libertad de conciencia, como
Diócesis hemos vendo asumiendo en el seno de la Iglesia Universal, en
comunión con otras Diócesis de México y de América Latina. De esta
suerte hoy no podemos sentirnos como víctimas, pues la opción por los
pobres -evangélica y eclesial- si es seria, supone experimentar los
mismos sufrimientos que viven constantemente ellos, los siempre
derrotados.
"El que se gloríe, gloríese en el Señor", nos dice el Apóstol
(1Cor 1,31 ). Hoy nosotros, conscientes de nuestra indignidad, nos
sentimos sin embargo movidos a la acción de gracias, pues, aunque
humanamente nos es difícil y agobiante sufrir tanta difamación e
injuria, las reconocemos como espléndido don de la gracia. "Alégrense y
salten de Contento", nos dijo el Señor (Mt 5, 12).
Quien "nos confirió el ministerio de la reconciliación" (2Cor 5,18),
nos ha puesto sobre aviso: sólo la verdad hace libres a los hombres
(Cf. Jn 8,32). Y esa Verdad está puesta "para caída y elevación de
muchos, y para ser señal de contradicción, a fin de que queden al
descubierto las intenciones de muchos corazones" (Lc 2,34-35).
Por ello, nuestro criterio de acción, en este ministerio de
reconciliación, es la verdad. No una verdad que astutamente presenta
los acontecimientos para encubrir el error (Cf. Ef 4,14), sino una
verdad ética que lee los sucesos en la perspectiva del plan de Dios y
de la construcción de su Reino. Para eso hemos sido enviados -por Jesús
y con Jesús- para dar testimonio de la verdad (Cf. Jn 18,37). Sabemos
que si nuestra adhesión a la verdad no es firme y constante,
tropezaremos con ella. De igual forma, sabemos que la verdad incomoda y
suscita respuestas violentas. Lo asumimos. Habíamos sido advertidos
(Cf. Jn 16,4).
Lo que hemos visto y oído, lo que hemos contemplado y tocado con
nuestras manos (1Jn 1, 1) lo que anunciamos y no podemos dejar de
hacerlo es el rostro luminoso de Cristo en la vida de nuestros hermanos
indígenas con sus valores, su capacidad de inmolación en el servicio,
su espíritu comunitario, la supervivencia en medio de su marginación y
su esperanza confiada en la instauración del Reino de Dios en la
justicia, la verdad, el amor y la paz.
Lo que hemos visto y oído, lo que hemos contemplado y tocado con
nuestras manos es también el rostro sufriente de Cristo en los pueblos
indios que padecen agresión sistemática a sus derechos fundamentales.
Lo que hemos visto y oído son los efectos perniciosos de la presencia
aplastante del Ejército. Lo que hemos visto y oído es el virus de una
guerra artificiosamente inoculado desde el exterior, a miles de
hermanos nuestros que ven esfumarse sus ilusiones de salir por fin de
siglos de postración.
Lo que hemos oído y visto con tristeza profunda es a Acteal y sus 45
inocentes muertos... y tantos muertos más, quienes están invitando a
que el mundo entero venga y vea (Cf. Lam 1,12). La solidaridad con el
sufrimiento no tiene fronteras, y va más allá del concepto de soberanía
basado en los intereses de grupos privilegiados por el poder dominante
de una región o país.
Por nuestra parte, no tenemos pensado dejar de proclamar este Evangelio
vivo que ha sido para nosotros una constante fuente de conversión al
Dios de la vida y "lo anunciamos a ustedes para que también ustedes
estén en comunión con nosotros" (1Jn 1,3). Si calláramos, las piedras
hablarían (Lc 19,40) y seríamos tenidos por impostores. Porque "creemos
por eso hablamos, sabiendo que quien resucitó al Señor Jesús, también
nos resucitará con Jesús" (2Cor 4,13.14).
No dejaremos de esperar contra toda esperanza (Cf. Rm 4,18)... que un
día en nuestro amado Chiapas, y en nuestro amado México, "ya no habrá
niños que vivan pocos días, ni viejos que no colmen sus años" (Is
65,20).
Y todos los pueblos indios "construirán casas y vivirán en ellas,
plantarán viñas y comerán sus frutos" (Is 65,21.22). Del metal fundido
de muchos AK-47 se forjarán tractores (Cf. Is 2,4) y en lugar de enviar
los impuestos, fruto de nuestro trabajo, para el pago de colegiaturas
de militares a la Escuela de Las Américas, veremos aulas, quirófanos,
bodegas, establos, laboratorios y dignidad en las cañadas y la selva de
Chiapas, en los valles y en las montañas de nuestra Patria.
Todos y cada uno de los agentes de pastoral de esta amada Diócesis de
San Cristóbal de Las Casas confiamos y esperamos en la resurrección de
Cristo en esta nuestra historia.
Que la gracia del Señor Jesús sea con todos. ¡Amén! (Ap 22,21).
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis., 27 de marzo de 1998
+ Samuel Ruiz García
Obispo de San Cristóbal de Las Casas
+ Fr. Raúl Vera López, O.P.
Obispo Coadjutor de San Cristóbal de Las Casas
Pbro. Felipe Toussaint Loera
Vicario General
Por el Consejo Presbiteral
Pbro. Felipe Ramos Ozuna
Por el Consejo de Vicarios Episcopales
Pbro. Eugenio Alvarez Figueroa
Por el Consejo de Pastoral
R.P. Oscar Salinas Nájera, S.M.
Por la Curia Diocesana
Hna. Esther Lorenzana Camacho D.P.
Canciller
______________________
Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas
20 de Noviembre y 5 de Febrero 6
Tel (967) 8 00 53 Fax 8 31 36
curiasc@laneta.apc.org
Visita nuestra página
http://www.laneta.apc.org/curiasc/index.htm
y
http://www.cem.org.mx/cem/SCLC/inicio.htm
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(AME LA PAZ-News Service 28/III/98 0022-e)
Zenaida from Acteal
By Miguel Garcia Ramirez
We knew about Zenaida through the newspapers, the little girl with a bullet in
the brain, who survived her mother and father in the massacre of Acteal. The
miracle of surviving, the age of the little girl- four years old-, the
magnitude and vileness of the massacre, those were the things that made us
center our attention on her.
We contacted many persons that were also closely following the health of
Zenaida. From New York, Mexico City and Boston, offers to help her appeared: a
hospital here, a committee of support there, and an ambulance-plain for her
transfer… Nothing was necessary; Zenaida was healing from her wounds but was
not seeing. The diagnosis was done in Tuxtla and the Sisters, who had her in
custody, took her to Mexico City for a second opinion. Only appointments but
not hope beyond miracle: she was definitely blind.
Acteal is settled on an irregular terrain as every community in the mountain.
There are ravines, pronounced slopes and there is a road where fast military
convoys are passing. Those are the day by day elements to which Zenaida would
not survive, especially without rehabilitation.
Her wounds were beginning to heal when I met her. After letting go the shyness
of every girl of her age, she smiled and played with a ball. She was beginning
to use her senses of hearing and touch as auxiliaries to her lack of sight. A
little blue cap was hiding her head that was shaved for the surgery and from
the wounds. An aunt who appeared to be some place else and an uncle were
taking care of her. Her uncles and the Sisters showed us a letter where they
asked for the bodies of her parents and another beautiful letter where they
reclaimed the guardianship of the survivors, specially the orphans.
One should see the certainty that the people of Acteal and Polho have about
the participation of the government in the massacre, to be able to understand
their denial to the help from the officials; it is coming from the same hands
than the murderers. For them, it is a truth, an evidence daily confirmed, that
the paramilitaries are from the government.
On that time that we met Zenaida, she was not externalizing her sorrow and
sadness. There was the hope that by being wounded at the beginning of the
massacre, she did not remember anything. There are several versions on how the
first aid workers found her and took for granted that she was dead. There were
also incredible forensic descriptions. We would like to mention that not only
Zenaida was saved, her little sister, few months old, was hidden under de
petticoat of her mother and remained still under the lifeless body. They found
her the next morning, with the mouth infected. She was very serious, without
tears, blue from cold, black from death. It was only when she arrived to the
refugee's camp of La Nueva Primavera (The New Spring) that she cried and
talked when she saw her sister.
A month hardly passed after the massacre when the help from Cancun arrived,
coordinated by Tulio Arroyo, a professional photographer who made an excellent
illustrated feature about the orphans of Acteal and the women refugees. We saw
and intelligent, sensitive and alert girl, an uncle with that equanimity of
the people of Las Abejas, or from the highs. He told us that the girl was
getting used to eat well, to have shoes but then after she would not be able
to eat meat, soup, sweets or have soft drinks, because the people only eat
beans and tortillas and from time to time chicken or meat.
We returned after a month to see her. We were with the pilot and Doctor Bob
and the copilot Tom. They were bringing medicines from Massachusetts and
Atlanta. They came in a small plane from thousands of miles and rough days
of trip. Many people worked to lead those ambassadors of solidarity to La
Nueva Primavera. Zenaida was not there. She went to the doctor in Tuxtla.
Two other wounded were with her, one of them a little boy that had the jaw
destroyed by a bullet and was going to be operated. The public ambulance
that took them would return on that day with Zenaida and the next day, the
little boy newly operated would have to travel by regular bus.
Zenaida remembered now. She recounted how her mother and father were killed,
her last sight. She had sometimes of muteness and then became very angry. She
was living and externalizing her sorrow. She returned to Acteal after two
months and found her brothers. She is mainly missing her older sister who was
taking care of her and her little sister who survived. She is one among nine
children and when she returned to Acteal, she pointed to her heart and said:
"it hurts, it is hurting me because of my parents and brothers."
A specialist talked about the advantages of Zenaida externalizing her sadness.
Others were trying to find a psychological support for her and the other
little survivors. What is being done for Zenaida? Medically speaking, she has
two options and two treatments with the option of a third one in America, but
she does not have physical or psychological rehabilitation for the traumatic
event that she lived. Her rehabilitation and fair compensation does not
arrive, will probably not come and the survivors declined the misery offered
by the state: "a better justice" was their response and reason.
Zenaida is the symbol of the life that is reborn, of a miracle for the
believers, of the indigenous people who fight for their dignity, for justice
and democracy. She represents not only the oppressed but also the most
oppressed. Zenaida is a girl, an indigenous, a peasant and, to crown it all
she is blind. However, she is not needy, she is the cause for her people and
an ignominious remembrance of the identity and reasons of the criminals of
Acteal, of those who ordered and caused the crime.
The orphans of Acteal are 9 girls and 4 boys without father and mother and 32
under age without mother.
www.amelapaz.org VISITE www.amelapaz.org VISITE www.amelapaz.org VISITE
Alimentos, Medicinas y Equipos para la PAZ es una organizacion civil y
movimiento social internacional (Mexico, EU y Canada) dedicada a tareas de
gestion de ayuda para la paz en Mexico. Para mas informacion sobre nosotros
envie un EMail a info@amelapaz.org y recibira una respuesta de inmediato,
para informacion general a info@amelapaz.org y contacto personal a
webmaster@amelapaz.org.
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Equipo Nizkor
Derechos Human Rights
Información
8mar98
INFORMACION SOBRE EL GRUPO PARAMILITAR MEXICANO "MASCARA ROJA"
MA'SCARA ROJA
Grupo Paramilitar prii'sta
Grupo organizado en comandos, que emplea armas de uso exclusivo del
Eje'rcito. Adiestrado por militares o ex militares.
TIENEN PRESENCIA Y SE LE ATRIBUYEN HECHOS VIOLENTOS EN:
Zona: Los Altos
Municipios: Chenalho', Larra'inzar, Chamula, Pantelho'
Se tienen las primeras noticias de Ma'scara Roja en noviembre de 1996,
en el municipio de Larra'inzar, al aparecer las primeras pintas rumbo a
Oventic, en el segundo Aguascalientes zapatista, en contra del gobierno
municipal donde se desarrollaba el dia'logo de paz entre el Gobierno
federal y el EZLN.
Es el grupo que perpetro' la masacre de Acteal, el 22 de diciembre de
1997.
El 19 de septiembre de 1997 tortura a 13 indi'genas zapatistas, quema
60 viviendas en Miguel Utrilla y Puebla, municipio de Chenalho'.
Acribillan, el 21 de septiembre de 1997, a los indi'genas tzotziles
Mariano Va'zquez Jime'nez, de
Polho', y Joaqui'n Va'zquez Pe'rez, de Los Chorros, en Chenalho'.
Atacan Aurora Chica, Tulantic y Tachquil, en Chenalho', el 18 de
noviembre de 1997. Matan a 6
personas, hieren a otras 2 y queman ma's de una docena de casas.
El 20 de noviembre de 1997 queman por lo menos 50 casas de "no
prii'stas" en Tzajalukun, la Esperanza, Acteal, Chimix y Pechiquil,
municipio de Chenalho'.
El 21 de noviembre de 1997 ejecutan a 2 tzotziles en Chimix,
Chenalho'.
ADHESIO'N POLI'TICA
Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) y Partido Cardenista (PC).
APOYOS
Cuerpos de Seguridad Pu'blica estatal Jacinto Arias Cruz, ex
presidente municipal prii'sta en
Chenalho', esta' acusado de ser el puente que canaliza los recursos para
la compra de armas y el
adiestramiento de tipo militar que recibe este grupo.
Dirigentes indi'genas del ayuntamiento auto'nomo de Polho' en diversas
ocasiones han implicado al ex Gobernador Julio Ce'sar Ruiz Ferro en la
compra de armas para Ma'scara Roja.
NOTA-CONTEXTO:
En Chenalho' "cada trienio se elige al presidente municipal en una
competencia en donde el candidato con mayor nu'mero de gentes es el que
se registra ante la Comisio'n Electoral como
candidato del PRI, mientras no molesten, engan~ando a la poblacio'n, se
permite la militancia de otros partidos poli'ticos", indica una ley
tradicional en Chenalho'. De acuerdo con esta costumbre, quien
desobedezca esta norma seri'a castigado con prisio'n, expulsado o seri'a
ejecutado en una emboscada, donde nunca sabri'an el nombre de los
responsables.
Indi'genas, seguidores del movimiento zapatista, conformaron por usos y
costumbres un Ayuntamiento auto'nomo, que preside Domingo Pe'rez
Paciencia, creando sus propias leyes en ma's de un 55% de las 33
comunidades habitadas por 28 mil 122 tzotziles.
"De esta forma desconocieron al alcalde prii'sta electo de Chenalho',
Jacinto Arias Cruz, acusado de ser el puente que canalizari'a los
recursos para el adiestramiento y compra de armas del grupo paramilitar
prii'sta Ma'scara Roja con la anuencia del Gobierno del Estado de
Chiapas" (REFORMA 22/nov/1997, p. 9A; SIDIDH 24/nov/1997, p. 2).
CARACTERIZACIO'N:
Las acciones que realiza Ma'scara Roja se orientan a generar terror en
la disidencia poli'tica de Chenalho', y a destruir la base social
zapatista y sus medios de supervivencia. Obliga a los mismos militantes
prii'stas a usar armas y colaborar en sus acciones violentas; obliga a
trabajos forzados a las familias que secuestra. Es notable el
adiestramiento militar que ha recibido. Ha
provocado, sobre todo en el segundo semestre de 1997, desplazamientos
masivos de poblacio'n que huye de esta violencia. Su consigna de guerra
es: "Vamos a terminar con la semilla zapatista". Es considerado uno de
los grupos paramilitares ma's sanguinarios por su caracteri'stica de
aplicar el tiro de gracia o cercenar parte del cuerpo de sus vi'ctimas.
MA'SCARA ROJA
MUNICIPIOS y comunidades del estado de Chiapas, Me'xico donde se ha
detectado su presencia:
* Municipio de CHENALHO':
Los Chorros Chimix Yabteclum Pechiquil Puebla Miguel
Utrilla La Esperanza Yaxjemel
Acteal Polho' Nueva Aurora Chica Tachquil Tulantic
Tzajalukum Santa Martha
*Municipio de SAN ANDRE'S LARRA'INZAR:
Oventic
* Municipio de PANTELHO':
Canolal
* Municipio de CHAMULA
-----------------------
MAS INFORMACION:
Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, A.C. (Prodh)
Serapio Rendón No. 57-B, Col. San Rafael - CP 06470, Mexico D.F.,
Mexico.
Tel: +(52 5) 566 78 54 y 546 82 17 - Fax: +(52 5) 535 68 92
Email: prodh@laneta.apc.org -
Web:
http://mixcoac.uia.mx/~prodh/default.htm
-------------------
NOVEDAD: Un documento imprescindible en la lucha contra la impunidad:
**La cuestión de la impunidad de los autores de violaciones de los
derechos humanos (civiles y políticos) Informe final elaborado y
revisado por M. Joinet en aplicación de la decisión 1996/119 de la
Subcomisión (Traducción no oficial al español)
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/doc/joinete.html
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[The following is from The Prism, an independent monthly
published in Chapel Hill, NC. Contributors include independent journalist Mark Cook, and Maria
Darlington, who was expelled from Mexico last month for alleged
political activities in Chiapas. -- Weekly News Update on the Americas]
MASSACRE IN MEXICO: THE NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTION
by Michael Steinberg
The massacre of 45 unnamed civilians in Chiapas by
paramilitary death squads on December 22, 1997, brought the
brutal fury of Mexico's low intensity warfare in southern Mexico
to the world's attention. Though local officials were arrested,
and the governor of Chiapas and the federal interior minister
were forced to resign, does the responsibility for this atrocity
extend to the top of the Mexican government, and to the masters
they serve?
Does the origin of this strategy of repression lie across
Mexico's northern border, at the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania in
Washington DC, within the bowels of the Pentagon, the torture
manuals of the School of the Americas-and inside the counter-
insurgency training centers of Fort Bragg, North Carolina?
Laying Bare the Lie
As the low-intensity war in southern Mexico developed since
1994, the US and Mexican governments forged closer military
relationships in counter-insurgency, under the guise of anti-drug
operations.
In October 1995 William Perry became the first US
Secretary of Defense to visit Mexico in modern times. His meeting
with his Mexican counterpart, General Enrique Cervantes Aguirre,
brought immediate results. "Within months [after Perry's visit] ,
a first group of young Mexican officers were training in anti-
drug operations at Fort Bragg, NC", according to a front page
story in the New York Times (12/29/97).
Cervantes Aguirre reciprocated by visiting William Perry
in Washington in April, 1996. At that time they signed a military
aid package to Mexico. The agreement gave $50 million to Mexico
for arms and training.
Equipment included 73 Huey helicopters, 4 C-26
reconnaissance planes and 500 armored personnel carriers
(bringing Mexico's total to 7000), as well as high tech spy
hardware, rifles, grenades and flame throwers.
Military education, according to the Los Angeles Times
(1/19/97), "provided for training of Mexican soldiers in counter-
narcotics at Fort Bragg."
The January 1996 issue of the Fort Bragg magazine Special
Warfare discussed training of Mexican special forces. The report
stressed "Grupo Aerotransportado de Fuerzas Especiales (Airborne
Group of Special Forces) or GAFE" as an important component of
the development of Mexican special forces. It went on to state
that, "[a] particularly heavy emphasis is being placed on those
forces that will be located in the states of Chiapas and
Guerrero, where 'special airborne forces' will be set up."
A September 1997 report to the US Congress by the
Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug
Control Policy, stated that "In FY 96, approximately 300 Mexican
military personnel completed counterdrug training provided by DoD
[Department of Defense]. In FY 97, more than 1500 military
personnel will be trained in an expanded counterdrug training
program, including courses in . . . Special Forces instruction .
. . "
The report also stated that, "Central to the development
of Mexico's counterdrug capability is the training of GAFE . . .
elite Mexican Army units that have received Special Forces and
air assault training for use in counterdrug interdiction
operations . . . . Training of GAFE's is scheduled to continue
through FY 99."
Notice that the Special Warfare report mentions nothing
about anti-drug training, and admits the special emphasis on
operations in southern Mexico. Since both US and Mexican
authorities concede that Mexican drug activity is concentrated in
northern Mexico, this lays bare the lie of US militarization of
Mexico in the name of the war on drugs.
If this still isn't clear enough, consider the following.
SOAW states that in December '97 the Mexican newspaper La Jornada
reported that Lt. Col. Julian Guerreros Barrios, trained in
commando operations at the SOA in 1981, "was charged with the
murder of Salvador Lopez, one of a dozen young men in Jalisco
that were kidnapped and tortured by the Airborne Special Forces
Group [GAFE]."
The 12/29/97 New York Times article by Tim Golden reported
that "3000 Mexican soldiers . . . are expected to have passed
through Defense Department training courses by next fall." Golden
also said that, of this number, "328 young officers will have
completed special 12- and 13-week programs intended to create a
corp of anti-drug specialists." These personnel "are being sent
in turn to train air-mobile special forces units" stationed
throughout Mexico.
Golden reported as well that the DoD identifies these
units as GAFE. He also wrote that "Mexican and US military
officials said there was nothing to stop the transfer of
American-trained army officers to similar special forces units
that might be deployed against leftist insurgents in southern
states like Guerrero and Chiapas.
Anything, Anytime, Anywhere
It appears that the majority of US-trained Mexican military
personnel in recent years have passed through Ft. Bragg here in
North Carolina. Who might be training them?
Fort Bragg in Fayetteville is the headquarters for the US
Army's Special Operations Command, specialists in counter-
insurgency. Fort Bragg-based special forces are designed to
protect the US elite's political and economic interests wherever
they are ordered to intervene. Thus they are only too well suited
for training the Mexican military in combating insurgents in
southern Mexico, those desiring land and freedom, "Tierra y
Libertad."
The John F. Kennedy School of Special Warfare at Bragg
includes the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Special Warfare
Group. The 1st Battalion's mission, according to its website, is
to "Assess, Train, and Qualify US and allied personnel in
selected entry-level special operations forces skills . . . ."
Instruction includes "special reconnaissance, direct action,
unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency," as well as weapons
training and air operations.
The 2nd Battalion provides advanced training and "deploys
MTTs [Mobile Training Teams] world-wide in support of . . . DoD
missions."
Mexican soldiers trained at Fort Bragg can also draw on
the vast experiences of the 7th Special Forces Group, experts in
low intensity warfare and counter-insurgency.
For Fort Bragg is also headquarters of the 7th Special
Forces Group, whose global responsibility and field of action is
Latin America.
The 7th's Web page provides its imaginative version of its
history. This included "advising the South Vietnamese Army in
1961," as well as being "actively involved in Laos and Thailand"
during the US intervention in Southeast Asia.
During the early '80s the unit "drafted the initial plan
for US Military trainers in El Salvador" and "played a critical
role in helping the Salvadorean military grow . . . to a
counter-insurgency force of 55,000 men under arms."
In addition, the 7th SFG "played a very important role in
preparing the Honduran Military to resist and defeat an invasion
from Nicaragua" and "also assisted the Honduran forces in
conducting their own counter-insurgency operations and ultimately
defeating the Honduran communist-supported insurgency."
Later in the '80s the 7th "became involved in counter-
narcotics operations in the Andean Ridge countries of Venezuela,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia," then " participated in
Operation 'Just Cause' to restore democracy in Panama."
But the 7th Special Forces Group isn't content to rest on
these laurels. Its official history tells us that, "Today we are
continuously engaged in Foreign Internal Defense throughout
Central and South America wherever SocSouth [Special Operations
Command South] and SouthCom [US Southern Command] may direct."
The history concludes that, "Those who wear the Red Flash
of the 7th Special Forces Group continue the proud tradition of
'Lo que sea, Cuando sea, Donde sea.' 'Anything, Anytime,
Anywhere.' "
Unfortunately this history seems to be repeating itself,
at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, throughout the wartorn indigenous
communities of southern Mexico and the secret planning rooms of
Washington.
*To become a Friend of the Prism and receive 10 copies/year by
first-class mail, send $20 to The Prism, PO Box 16025, Chapel
Hill, NC, 27516.*
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COMUNICADO DE PRENSA
Año del Espíritu Santo
27 de febrero de 1998
La Diócesis de San Cristóbal de las Casas y el Centro para la Justicia y
el Derecho Intenacional, (CEJIL -Center For Justice and International
Law), presentaron el día de hoy una demanda ante la Comisión
Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), cuya sede está en Washington,
D.C.
1. Se pide a la CIDH que solicite al Gobierno Mexicano una explicación de
las causas de la expulsión y un informe de los procedimientos que se
entablaron contra el Padre Michel Henri Jean Chanteau Desillieres el día
de ayer 26 de Febrero de 1998.
Se explica a la CIDH la gravedad del asunto, ya que apenas el martes
pasado (24 de Febrero de 1998) la Comisión había oído en audiencia las
condiciones en que se negó el derecho de audiencia a los padres Loren L.
Riebe, Rodolfo Izal Elorz y Jorge Alberto Barón Guttlein. Es muy grave el
hecho de que habiendo la Diócesis aceptado en principio la mediación de
la CIDH para llegar a una amistosa composición en el caso de los tres
sacerdotes expulsados en 1995, el Gobierno Mexicano vuelva ahora a
realizar exactamente los mismos actos violatorios de los Derechos Humanos
que cometió hace tres años. Mientras se muestran señales de buena
voluntad de parte de la sociedad civil, Migración prefiere demostrar su
actitud impenitente una vez mas en contra de la iglesia de San Cristóbal
de Las Casas.
2. Se pide a la CIDH pedir al Gobierno mexicano medidas cautelares para
proteger la situación de los agentes de pastoral y otros trabajadores
extranjeros de la Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
3. Se pide a la CIDH que solicite informes acerca de otros procedimientos
que estén en camino de concluir en la expulsión de otros extranjeros de
la Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
Vale la pena señalar la gravedad del caso desde la perspectiva del
Expediente Acteal: El padre Chanteau era un testigo de los delitos de
conspiración y amenazas perpetrados por el ex-presidente municipal de
Chenalho, Jacinto Arias Pérez. Oficiales de la Policía Judicial Federal
(PGR) buscaban al padre Chanteau para que ampliase su declaración
ministerial sobre el delito de amenazas. Sea que la PGR colaboró en la
expulsión del padre Chanteau (sea por omisión o por comisión), sea que la
PGR haya sido ajena al arresto migratorio, el hecho es preocupante:
señala la falta de voluntad y la incapacidad del Gobierno Mexicano para
mantener las condiciones mínimas de distensión, respeto a quien considera
como contrincante social y político, respeto al orden jurídico nacional e
internacional, y coherencia entre discurso y practica gubernamental,
todos ellos elementos indispensables para avanzar en el estropeado
proceso de paz en Chiapas.
Consideramos que al solicitar la intervención de la Comisión
Interamericana de Derechos Humanos ratificamos el Derecho que cómo
Iglesia tenemos de admitir en nuestro seno a misioneros provenientes de
otros países. Derecho que la ley Mexicana reconoce pero que en la
práctica ha sido negado por distintas autoridades, a pesar de los
diálogos que se han sostenido con los tres últimos Secretarios de
Gobernación y los Subsecretarios de Asuntos Jurídicos y Asociaciones
Religiosas y del Instituto Nacional de Migración, no se ha logrado
respuesta que actualice la situación Migratoria de los misioneros y
misioneras extranjeros, en lugar de ellos, durante los tres últimos años,
hemos sufrido la expulsión de tres sacerdotes, el impedimento para que
retornen otros dos y la inseguridad de permanencia de 14 religiosas, un
sacerdote y un religioso.
Lamentamos que como mexicanos tengamos que acudir a instancias
Internacionales y solicitarles protección por las arbitrariedades que se
han venido realizando en contra de Nuestra Diócesis y sus miembros, estas
son un claro intento de desmantelar el trabajo que venimos realizando en
favor de la población Indígena.
Rechazamos toda interpretación del conflicto mexicano que se realiza en
Chiapas como si este fuera consecuencia de la intervención de un grupo de
extranjeros civiles, ello sólo es un intento por desviar la atención de
los problemas que venimos sufriendo los mexicanos y especialmente los
indígenas y desconocer el interés de la sociedad civil Nacional e
Internacional por una solución a favor de los Indígenas de manera
pacífica y digna.
Como Pastores de un pueblo no podemos quedar callados ante las vejaciones
a que, autoridades o cualquier otra persona, someta a la población que
Dios nos ha encomendado, dicha manera de actuar es totalmente
independiente de la nacionalidad que por nacimiento tengamos. La Dignidad
de Hijos e Hijas de Dios no conoce fronteras y si debe ser defendida por
todo aquel que se reconoce a sí mismo como persona humana, cuanto más
para quienes han optado por seguir a Jesucristo.
Atentamente
Pbro. Felipe de Jesús Toussaint Loera
Vicario General
--
Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas
20 de Noviembre y 5 de Febrero 6
Tel (967) 8 00 53 Fax 8 31 36
curiasc@laneta.apc.org
Visita nuestra página
http://www.laneta.apc.org/curiasc/index.htm
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CPTnet
Chiapas: Priest expelled from Chenalho county
February 26, 1998
URGENT
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico -- The parish priest of the
municipality where 45 pacifist Catholics were massacred December 22 was
apprehended in Mexico City and flown out of the country at 6:00 p.m.
today, according to the human rights center of the Catholic diocese of
this town.
French priest Michel Chanteau was the Pastor of Chenalho parish in the
Chiapas highlands for thirty years. Today's government action, on the
eve of an ecumenical gathering in this town to address the conflict in
Chenalho, follows a string of expulsions of foreigners in recent weeks.
A CPT delegation interviewed Pablo Romo of the Fray Bartolome de Las
Casas Human Rights Center yesterday, before there was any hint of
today's expulsion. He recalled the deportation of three priests in June
1995 from Chiapas' Northern Zone. Within months, the paramilitary group
Paz y Justicia ("Peace and Justice") appeared in the same municipalities
from which the priests had been expelled: Tumbala, Salto de Agua and
Yajalon.
Paramilitary activity in Chenalho municipality has displaced thousands
of Zapatista supporters and members of the nonviolent opposition group,
The Bees. All 45 dead in the December 22 Acteal massacre were Bees.
Most were already refugees there, having fled paramilitary sieges in
their home communities.
Since the Acteal massacre human rights groups have leveled two main
criticisms against the Mexican government: that it has used the
massacre as a pretext to tighten its control over self-governing
communities opposed to the PRI-party dominated government; and that it
has not taken sufficient actions against paramilitaries (or illegally
armed civilians) to enable the return of the displaced to their
communities.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative among Mennonite and Church of
the Brethren congregations and Friends Meetings that supports violence
reduction efforts around the world. CPT P. O. Box 6508 Chicago, IL 60680
tel:312-455-1199 FAX 312-666-2677 To join CPTNET, our e-mail network, fill
out the form found on our WEB page at http://www.prairienet.org/cpt/
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Enlace Civil
Press Bulletin
San Cristóbal de las Casas: February 16, 1998
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INTENSIFIES ITS CAMPAIGN OF HARASSMENT AGAINST
FOREIGNERS IN CHIAPAS
The harassment of foreigners on the part of the National Institute of
Immigration has intensified since the massacre in Acteal, municipality of
Chenalhó, on December 22 of last year. This harassment has taken many
shapes and forms part of a more extensive strategy to reduce the
international presence in Zapatista communities.
In recent days, various tourists have been intercepted in the streets of
San Cristóbal de las Casas by immigration agents who have demanded
documents. Whoever doesn't have them, or only have photocopies, are
summoned to come to immigration offices where they are threatened with
expulsion. During interrogations, tourists are questioned about their
activities in the country and whether they belong to social organizations
in their home countries.
The denunciations that we have received from foreigners indicate that
immigration agents can be encountered on the streets pursuing tourists and
visiting places where tourists are staying, violating Article 16 of the
Mexican Constitution which denotes that "no one shall be molested in their
person, papers or possessions unless there is a written order from a
competent authority."
The government has been laying the groundwork for these drastic measures
through its long campaign to foment hatred against foreigners in Chiapas.
Attacks against internationals by high functionaries of the state and
federal governments - including the president, the interior secretary, the
foreign secretary, and the attorney general of the republic - appeared
daily in the local and national press.
These attacks culminated with the speech by President Zedillo in Yucatan on
January 23, in which he said: "For Mexicans, and for the federal
government, it is an inadmissible outcome that there may be persons even
transgressing our laws, although alleging humanitarian reasons for their
direct involvement in the Chiapas conflict."
We express our preoccupation regarding the campaign of lies and
misinformation that is being carried out through the pro-government media
about the role of foreigners in the conflict, and along with this
generating a climate of violent xenophobia in Chiapas. In the municipality
of Chenalhó, for example, PRI militants have carried out demonstrations in
recent weeks requesting an increase in the military presence and demanding
the immediate expulsion of foreigners from the country. In San Cristóbal
there have been cases in which foreigners are not admitted into public
restaurants or in lodgings.
The most serious attacks are those that have occurred against
internationals who accompanied survivors of the Acteal massacre. Since the
massacre, civil camps have played a very important role in preventing
illegal military incursions in the community. On February 13, members of
the state PRD advised that the government's "campaign of hatred against
foreigners" would provoke the same human rights abuses against them that
have been experienced other areas of conflict such as the Northern Zone.
On the 15th of February, the television channel TV Azteca, through its news
program "Events," united itself with the campaign of disinformation by
transmitting a report that asserted in an irresponsible and speculative
manner a role for foreigners in the leadership of the EZLN. This report was
based on an imprudent and disrespectful incursion by helicopter into
Aguascalientes La Realidad. The only foreigners they came into contact with
were members of the Civil Camps for Peace, who questioned their intrusion
into the community. While carrying out their reporting, the TV Azteca
helicopter clipped a school roof, resulting in the wounding of two children.
It's evident, with all these actions against foreigners in Chiapas, that
the government seeks to prevent the dissemination of reliable information
about the human rights situation in Mexico.
It's important to point out that the presence of international observers in
the communities has averted, in not just a few occasions, attacks by the
federal army against community inhabitants and the perpretation of even
greater violations of their human rights. These are the same communities
that have been relentlessly persecuted by the military and who have
requested international accompaniment to prevent attacks.
To the authorities of the federal government, we say that it is not valid
to argue that the foreigners who monitor the human-rights situation in
Chiapas are meddling in Mexican political matters. We remind them that
human rights are universal and their applicability belongs to all without
regard to nationality.
Translated by Wes Rehberg
---------
ENLACE CIVIL A.C.
Calle Ignacio Allende 4
29200 San Cristóbal de Las Casas
CHIAPAS-MEXICO
Tel y fax: (52) 967-82104
e-mail: enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org
CONSULTA NUESTRA PAGINA ELECTRONICA CON INFORMACION NUEVA CADA 15 DIAS
http://www.laneta.apc.org/enlacecivil
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BOLETIN DE PRENSA
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas; 16 de febrero de 1997.
EL GOBIERNO FEDERAL INTENSIFICA SU CAMPAÑA DE HOSTIGAMIENTO CONTRA
EXTRANJEROS EN CHIAPAS
El hostigamiento a extranjeros por parte del Instituto Nacional de
Migración en Chiapas se intensificó desde la masacre de Acteal, Municipio
de Chenalhó, el 22 de diciembre del año pasado. Este hostigamiento ha
tomado muchas formas y forma parte de una estrategia más amplia que se
realiza para reducir la presencia internacional en las comunidades zapatistas.
En los ultimos dias, varios turistas han sido interceptados en las calles
de San Cristóbal por agentes de Migración, quien les han exigido la
presentación de sus documentos. Quienes no los portan consigo o solo
tienen fotocopias son emplazados para acudir a las oficinas de Migración o
son amenazados con su expulsión. Durante los interrogatorios, los turistas
son cuestionados sobre sus actividades en el pais y si pertenecen o no a
organizaciones sociales en sus países de origen.
Las denuncias que hemos recibido por parte de extranjeros indican que los
agentes de Migración se encuentran por las calles persiguiendo turistas y
visitando domicilios donde se hospedan, violando con ello el articulo 16 de
la Constitución Mexicana, que señala que "nadie puede ser molestado en su
persona, papeles o posesiones sino es con orden escrita de autoridad
competente..."
El gobierno venía preparando el terreno para estas medidas drasticas
através de su larga campaña de fomento al odio contra los extranjeros en
Chiapas. Ataques contra internacionales por parte de altos funcionarios del
gobierno estatal y federal - incluyendo el Presidente, el Secretario de
Gobernacion, la Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, el Procurador General
de la República, y el Gobernador Interino de Chiapas - aparacen a diario en
la prensa local y nacional. Estos ataques culminaron con el discurso del
Presidente Zedillo en Yucatan el pasado 23 de enero en el cual dijo: "Para
los Mexicanos y para el gobierno federal resulta inadmisible que haya
personas que incluso transgrediendo nuestras leyes, aunque alegando razones
humanitarias estén directamente involucrados en el conflicto de Chiapas".
Manifestamos nuestra preocupación por la campaña de mentiras y
disinformación que se esta llevando a cabo através de los medios
pro-gubernamentales sobre el papel de los extranjeros en el conflicto, y
que con ello se este generando un clima de xenofobia violenta en Chiapas.
En el municipio de Chenalhó, por ejemplo, militantes del PRI han realizado
manifestaciones en semanas recientes pidiendo un aumento en el numero de
militares y que los extranjeros sean expulsados de inmediato del país. En
San Cristóbal se han dado casos en que los extranjeros no son admitidos en
lugares publicos como restaurantes o casas de hospedaje.
Los ataques más graves se han presentado con los observadores
internacionales que acompañan a los sobreviventes de la massacre de Acteal.
Desde la masacre, los campamentistas civiles han jugado un papel muy
importante para evitar que los militares incursionen illegalmente en la
comunidad. El 13 de febrero, integrantes del PRD estatal avisaron que la
"campaña xenofobica" del gobierno pudiera provocar los mismos abusos de los
derechos humanos de extranjeros que ya se han experimentado en otras zonas
de conflicto como la Zona Norte.
El día 15 de febrero, el canal de television TV Azteca, a través de su
programa de noticias "Hechos", se unió a la campaña de desinformación
realizando un reportaje en que acusó de manera iresponsabile y especulativa
el papel de extranjeros en el liderazgo del EZLN. Este reportaje se basó en
una incursión imprudente e irrespetuosa por helicoptero en el Aguascaliente
de La Realidad. Los únicos extranjeros que entraron en contacto con los
reporteros fueron civiles integrantes de los Campamentos Civiles por la
Paz, quienes questionaron su intrusión en la comunidad. Mientras
realizaron su reportaje, el helicoptero de TV Azteca arrancó el techo de
la escuela comunitaria, e hirió a dos niños.
Es evidente que con todas estas acciones en contra de los extranjeros
solidarios en Chiapas, el gobierno busca evitar la difusión de información
confiable sobre la situación de los derechos humanos en Mexico.
Es importante destacar que la presencia de observadores internacionales en
las comunidades ha evitado, en no pocas ocasiones, que el Ejercito federal
agreda a sus habitantes y perpetre mayores violaciones a sus derechos
humanos. Tambien que han sido las propias comunidades acosadas por el
Ejercito federal quienes han pedido la presencia de acompanantes
internacionales para evitar que sean agredidas.
A las autoridades del gobierno federal les decimos que no es válido
argumentar que los extranjeros que constatan la situación de los derechos
humanos en Chiapas, se inmiscuyen en cuestiones politicas de los mexicanos.
Les recordamos que los derechos humanos son universales y su vigencia nos
compete a todos sin importar la nacionalidad.
ENLACE CIVIL A.C.
Calle Ignacio Allende 4
29200 San Cristóbal de Las Casas
CHIAPAS-MEXICO
Tel y fax: (52) 967-82104
e-mail: enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org
CONSULTA NUESTRA PAGINA ELECTRONICA CON INFORMACION NUEVA CADA 15 DIAS
http://www.laneta.apc.org/enlacecivil
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The following are perspectives on the severity of conditions in Acteal, compiled by Duane Ediger, forwarded by José de Bettencourt:
From: Duane Ediger: duane.ediger@internetMCI.com
Subject: Acteal under a virtual state of siege
Dear friends:
After my attempt to visit Acteal last Sunday was thwarted by Mexican
immigration officials at a nearby army checkpoint, I was not alone in
surmising that someone had a reason to keep out any foreigners wanting to
visit this village inhabited by nonviolent "Bees," survivors of the 45
martyred December 22, together with supporters of the Zapatista rebels,
most of whom had fled December 21.
The ongoing activities this La Jornada
article illuminates are most efficiently carried out in secrecy; and in
public, easily enough as well, provided the aware public is sufficiently
complacent, distracted, self-absorbed, resigned, apathetic or unorganized.
If time is short now, just read the relatively short article. The bulk of
this message consists of three addresses of people you could write to if
you are so moved, along with some comments and quotes that may be of help
in composing one or more such valuable letters.
-Duane Ediger, 2/14/98
__________________________
La Jornada February 13, 1998
Acteal under a virtual state of siege; police fire into the air
(translated by Duane Ediger)
Hermann Bellinghausen, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, February 12 -
The situation in Acteal, Chenalho municipality, has worsened considerably
in the latest hours. The refugee camp is under a virtual state of siege by
groups of openly hostile PRI party members (PRIists), evidently with the
collusion of military roadblocks at the edges of the village.
This morning a State Police vehicle passed in front of the camp of
survivors of the December 22 massacre, shooting rounds of automatic gunfire
into the air.
The hostility against international observers and representatives of
Mexican civilian organizations by groups identifying themselves as PRIists,
at times acquires the character of an authentic threat.
According to authorities of the Polho autonomous municipal council, members
of the paramilitary group that perpetrated the attack a month and a half
ago have been identified within or around the population of Acteal, almost
completely surrounding the refugees in the camp.
Reports from the neighboring municipality of Pantelho refer to an evident
collaboration of Mexican Army troops encamped there and PRIist groups which
the farmers identify as paramilitaries.
In the last few days PRI members have been seen frequently entering Army
installations for breakfast and lunch. They have also been seen traveling
aboard military vehicles.
Also in recent days, the PRIists of Chenalho have intercepted Mexican and
foreign visitors who come to bring aid to the displaced of the region,
threateningly insisting to them, "We don't want you here."
While Justice officials conduct severe interrogations of the indigenous
refugees of Acteal, using dogs to instill fear in them, and this without
benefit of a lawyer being present, fear is growing that the PRIist groups
may block the road, leaving thousands of displaced people -- both Zapatista
support bases and members of the group, The Bees -- isolated and in evident
danger.
(END OF LA JORNADA ARTICLE)
-----------------------------
Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
Presidente de la Republica
Residencia Oficial "Lazaro Cardenas"
Los Pinos, Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec
C.P. 11850 Mexico D.F.
Fax: 011 (52 5) 2 71 1764 o/or 5 15 1794
Following are a few brief excerpts from an interview with President Ernesto
Zedillo in the February 12th edition of the New York Times. Any letters
addressed to President Zedillo may refer to his statements here, and
reports from Acteal (Chenalho municipality) and Pantelho municipality in
the Jornada article, above, in order to offer a corrective balance to his
views. Words contained within brackets [ ] are my clarifications. -Duane
"What is new, indeed totally new, is that whenever we have caught a member
of the Army committing a crime, he is prosecuted," Zedillo said. "That is
new. The accountability is what is new." [Note: the context here was drug
corruption in the Army, not Chiapas. However, the President may be invited
to clarify whether his commitment extends to illegal Army collusion with
civilian armed groups. -Duane]
He [President Zedillo] said the [Zapatista] rebels have adopted a
strategy of harassing troops in order to provoke a violent response that
could further radicalize Indian peasants.
"All along they have tried to provoke the federal government, sometimes
through violence," Zedillo said. "You should see my army there. They are
exemplary. They are insulted, hit, they [Zapatistas] send little children
and women to hit the soldiers -- and they withstand all that situation."
Zedillo said he regretted a decision early in his government to withdraw
troops and civilian officials from Zapatista strongholds, and signaled his
intention to send them back now to re-establish a more forceful federal
presence. That is a tactic that opposition politicians say is likely to
provoke further confrontation.
(END OF NYT EXCERPTS)
(N.B. President Zedillo's words in the third paragraph above are very
telling. They constitute a rare if oblique admission by a head of state
that relatively nonviolent techniques are a powerful weapon against an
unwanted military presence. Although one may be tempted to laugh at such
statements, it is the duty of those who pursue justice through (relatively)
nonviolent means to acknowledge that the power they wield is both effective
against evil and subject to abuse, and that its proper exercise is capable
of being accurately perceived, misperceived, or maliciously misrepresented
by the opponent as a threat. What is important to communicate is that
means are chosen with the intent not of hurting people, but of clearly
delineating unacceptable behaviors. In this way, sympathy can remain with
the taunted soldier, but not with the wholesale intimidation of
communities. If official words criticize, official action admires.
Chiapas' new governor, Roberto Albores Guillen, recently announced that he
is forming a 500-member, unarmed, anti-riot police force composed entirely
of women. I am leaving all of this in parentheses because, if I understand
correctly, the residents of Acteal have not engaged in the kinds of actions
President Zedillo here terms harassment or provocation.) -Duane
________________________
Dr. Jorge Madrazo Cuellar
Procurador General de la Republica (Attorney General)
Procuraduria General de la Republica
Violeta y Reforma s/n 2=BA piso
Col. Guerrero, C.P. 06300 Mexico D.F.
Fax: 011 (52 5) 626 44 26
ZAPATISMO NEWS UPDATE--January 1998
THE OFFICIAL "INVESTIGATION" CONTINUES...
One month after the brutal massacre of Acteal, the Attorney General's
Office (PGR) has recognized the existence of paramilitary activity in
Chiapas--but continues to insist that the causes of the massacre were "age-
old hatreds" and "personal vengeance". And while important state and
federal officials, such as ex-interior minister Emilio Chuayffet, ex-
governor Ruiz Ferro, and ex-state interior minister Homero Tovilla
Cristiani, have either been forced to resign or have been fired in the wake
of the killings, none are currently facing criminal charges for their
alleged negligence or participation.
The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), meanwhile, issued a 220-page
report on the massacre in early January, concluding that state authorities
on December 22nd acted "with negligence and lack of interest", as well as
unjustifiable passivity, even when they knew people were being killed in
Acteal.
The CNDH also proposed three hypotheses to explain the lack of action on
the part of security forces: a) that the police forces nearby heard the
gunshots, but did not intervene because they themselves were afraid of
being shot; b) that state government officials knew of the attack
beforehand, and ordered the police not to intervene; or c) that the Public
Security police had received instructions to protect the paramilitary
aggressors and allow them to escape.
On January 22nd, Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar gave his own
preliminary report on the massacre to members of Congress, reiterating his
claim that part of the blame for the massacre lay with the victims and the
opposition Autonomous Municipal Council of Chenalho, and that the attackers
were acting out of "clear personal vengeance" in the culmination of a
series of "reciprocal" crimes.
Madrazo also announced that accusations had been made against 267 people,
60 of whom had been detained, and said warrants would probably be issued
for the arrests of 35 others.
Then, on January 23rd, the PGR finally seemed to be making real progress
when Madrazo Cuellar officially recognized the existence of paramilitary
activity in Chenalho, announcing on television that his office was
investigating "twelve armed groups independent of the EZLN in Chiapas".
However, he then rejected calls for the army to leave Chiapas, repeating
President Zedillo's erroneous assertion that "violence only occurs when the
army is not present". He further added that the PGR was investigating
"eleven established and armed encampments" of the EZLN in the Chenalho--
without mentioning why he was investigating a group with immunity from
prosecution under the Law for Dialogue, or what this had to do with the
massacre of Acteal.
(ZAPATISMO NEWS UPDATE Primary sources for all news articles: La Jornada,
Proceso, El Universal, El Excelsior, independent human rights reports,
personal observations, and press statements of the Zapatista Front of
National Liberation. The primary responsibility for the content of this
news page lies with its author, Joshua Paulson, and not necessarily with a
commission, civil committee, or other dependency of the Zapatista Front of
National Liberation. Redistribution and publication of these articles is
permitted and encouraged, as long as the source is cited. joshua@peak.org)
____________________________
Lic. Mireille Roccatti Velazquez
Presidenta de la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos
Periferico Sur No. 3469, Col. San Jeronimo Lidice,
Deleg. Magdalena Contreras, C.P. 10200, Mexico, D.F.
Fax: 011 (52 5) 681 71 99
Correo electronico: cndh@laneta.apc.org
I would encourage letters to the Mexico's National Human Rights Commission
(CNDH) to be of the inquiring and encouraging, rather than the challenging
type. What recommendations have been made to prevent further abuses or
even massacres like Acteal? Have they been implemented by the
corresponding government bodies? Are CNDH representatives present to
observe purported illegal actions of armed civilians and/or police and
soldiers in the Acteal area? -Duane
(See 2nd and 3rd paragraphs under Dr. Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, above.)
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MEXPAZ CHIAPAS #160
ARMED PARAMILITARY AND PRI GROUPS IN
CHIAPAS
As we have pointed out in prior reflections, after the Acteal
massacre, many concepts hitherto rejected by the government
and sectors unconditionally loyal to the government have
regained social and political legitimacy. Thus,
"ungovernability", "civil war", "militarization", "displaced"
and "paramilitary", among others, have become categories to
analyze and diagnose the events we are living through. The
word "paramilitary", in the strictest sense, refers to groups
officially armed, trained, uniformed and commanded
by military officers and state police forces.
The fact that none of this occurs officially suffices for the
Mexican Army to deny roundly that "paramilitary" groups
exist in the strict sense of the word. Nevertheless, they do, in
fact, exist. Many community and peasant organizations
accuse the Army --directly or indirectly-- of training
personnel that in turn train other peasant groups. Similarly,
the participation of state Public Security Police in crimes,
arms trafficking, etc., leads to suppositions of Army
involvement, since state police corps are under Army
command.
It is public knowledge that the Army tolerates and covers up
the Public Security Police's relationship with armed groups,
allowing them to set up checkpoints such as those in the
northern zone of Chiapas. There is also testimony concerning
direct association of the Army with armed groups, including
the presence of soldiers or ex-soldiers in the ranks of police
forces and armed groups. Furthermore, officers who bade
farewell to the outgoing commander of Military Region VII,
thanking him for his support, also appeared as "honorary
witnesses" when the government handed over resources to
Peace and Justice.
Several officers now involved in counter-insurgency work
were trained in the School of the Americas, in the United States.
Now, using the Federal Firearms and Explosives Act as a
pretext, the Army is attempting to disarm the EZLN,
although the rebel army is protected under the Dialogue,
Conciliation and Fair Peace in Chiapas Act, which safeguards
the EZLN as long as negotiation and dialogue are underway.
This excuse allows the Army to continue its incursions into
Zapatista regions, in spite of a governmental discourse that
disowns these deeds and the protest of diverse social sectors.
The fact that the Dialogue Act fails to include other regions --
such as the Northern Zone, the Highlands, the Border, the
Mountains and Soconusco-- within the "zone of conflict" (and
thus subject to the protection afforded under the act) furthers
governmental arguments in favor of disarmament, despite
obvious Zapatista organizational headway in those zones.
There has been much talk about the profusion of armed PRI
and paramilitary groups in the state --and consequently, great
confusion concerning how many and what kind of groups
there are: "paramilitary", "white guards", "hired gunmen",
"armed groups" affiliated with one or another party, civil or
criminal organization. Nevertheless, the groups are not the
same. Below is a brief summary and update on the different
groups:
1. PEACE AND JUSTICE: Operates in the municipalities of
Salto de Agua, Tila, Sabanilla, Tumbala' and Yajalo'n. The
group was formed in 1995 and is affiliated to the official party
(PRI) and is directed by state legislative deputy Samuel
Sa'nchez Sa'nchez. The group controls the northern zone by
means of checkpoints, ambushes, closure of churches, control
over production, displacing populations in opposition to the
government, etc., with a tally of dozens of deaths and
thousands of displaced. Many members belong to the
organization Teacher-Peasant Solidarity (SOCAMA) and a
great number profess the Evangelical and Presbyterian faiths.
Their principal target of attack has been the Catholic church
in the northern zone, catechists, priests and other pastoral
workers, arguing that they have provided cover for the
organization AbuiXu ("Arriera Nocturna", or
Muleteers in the Night), which coordinates factions of the
PRD, organized civil society and EZLN support bases.
2. THE CHINCHULINES ("GUTS"): There has been
knowledge of this group since 1988. Under the institutional
cover of the CROC, the ex-interim governor of Chiapas and
native son of the region, Elmer Setzer Marseille, backed the
group heavily. They were known publicly as the "Luis
Donaldo Colosio" Revolutionary Youth Front, having taken
this name at a May 23, 1995, meeting in the community of
Temo'.
The group grew strong in 1994, but in May, 1995, carried out
its first attacks under the aegis of federal deputy Rafael
Ceballos. The Chinchulines operate basically in the
municipalities of Chilo'n and Yajalo'n, with headquarters in
the community of Bachajo'n (municipality of Chilo'n).
When the group stormed the town hall of Chilo'n on April 18,
1996, it established alliances with city leaders of the Party of
the Cardenist Front for National Reconstruction (PFCRN), the
Chiapas Democratic Party (PDCH) and the National Action
Party (PAN) to ask for removal of mayor Manuel Go'mez
Moreno, militant in the Party of the Democratic Revolution
(PRD).
On May 5, 1996, on the first anniversary of the Chinchulines'
attack in Bachajo'n, the groups in conflict reconciled--except
for the Chinchulines' main leaders, who were left without
support from the majority of their rank and file. These leaders
then began anew and gained new support, moving the
center of operations to the community of Guaquitepec
(municipality of Chilo'n). The group is presumably
continuing to rebuild itself. Press reports have made public
that they have a paramilitary training center on parcels of land
in Joibe', Chilo'n.
This group has attacked PRD militants, the Jesuit Mission in
Bachajo'n and the Peasant Organization "Muleteers in the
Night" (OCAN).
3. RED MASK: Knowledge of this group has existed since
1994, but they revealed themselves publicly after the
suspension of negotiations between the EZLN and the
Government, spreading graffiti against Bishop Samuel Ruiz
and Subcommander Marcos that stated, "If you want to know
who I am, we'll see each other in hell." These signs appeared
between Oventic and the municipal seat of San Andre's
Larra'inzar, signed by the "Red Mask".
Inhabitants of the zone have denounced members of this
group in the community of Tivo', Santiago El Pinar, in the
municipality of San Andre's, and in the isolated area of
Callejo'n, municipality of San Juan Chamula.
Community denunciations in this region mention that this
group has mainly acted against EZLN support bases and
against the Rebel Town Council of San Andre's Sacamche'n
of the Poor. Red Mask members are PRI militants.
4. THE BEHEADERS ("DEGOLLADORES"): This group
is well known in the municipality of San Juan Chamula, and
its actions are related to matters of "witchcraft". Some of the
groups' members are located in the municipal seat. At
present, the group is presumed to have scattered, and some
speak of its dissolution.
5. SAN BARTOLOME OF THE PLAINS ALLIANCE: To
understand the reasons behind the formation of this group, it
must be noted that the system of land ownership in this
municipality is communal, administered by the organization
House of the People Communitarians ("Comuneros de la Casa
del Pueblo"), which are in turn members of the Emiliano
Zapata Peasant Organization (OCEZ). The communitarians
have experienced internal conflict, since some
peasants have been convinced to advocate changing land
ownership schemes from a communal regimen to small
property holdings or "ejidos" (non-transferible individual
parcels). The dissenters have been expelled by the
communitarians in the course of conflicts that date back to
1964.
Those expelled affiliated themselves to the OCEZ-CNPA
(which splintered off from the OCEZ-House of the People in
1988), while others joined the OPEZ (a 1994 offshoot of the
OCEZ-CNPA). The OCEZ-CNPA and the OPEZ aren't
paramilitary organizations, but some of their members in the
municipality of Venustiano Carranza have allied themselves
at strategic junctures with the San Bartolome of the Plains
Alliance, in which the principal nucleus of paramilitary
organization comprises communitarians of Parai'so el
Grijalva. This organization perpetrated the massacre of nine
House of the People communitarians on October 6, 1984.
The San Bartolome of the Plains Alliance embraces: the
Communitarians of Parai'so El Grijalva; the township 3 de
Marzo (OCEZ-CNPA); some shop owners in the municipal
seat, PFCRN militants; property owners and landholders in
the region, among which stand out the Orantes, Gordillo,
Avendan'o, Hipo'lito Pedrero and Dari'o Borraz (ex-mayor)
families, among others; Communitarians of the San Pedro
Barrio (Los Ban'os) and the Armed Forces of the People
(FAP), which the OCEZ-CNPA has recognized publicly as its
militants. It should be recalled that at the beginning of 1995,
when this organization was founded, the local press reported
that federal PRI deputy Eucario Orantes was at the presidium.
Thus, he is assumed to be the mastermind of the group, since
he represents powerful ranching interests. The groups public
spokesmen are: Bartolome' Mendoza Hidalgo (president of
the organization), Bartolome' Va'zquez Solano, Jose'
Manuel Solano Gordillo and Manuel Espinosa Marti'nez.
This group has acted principally against the House of the
People communitarians organized by the OCEZ, a member of
the FAC-MLN.
6. ANTI-ZAPATISTA REVOLUTIONARY INDIGENOUS
MOVEMENT
(MIRA):
The first news of the group came out during the
second half of 1997; its center of operations is said to be
Oxchuc, between the communities of San Fernando, 20
de Noviembre and Santa Rosa, municipalities of Huixta'n,
Oxchuc and Chanal.
Denunciations in the urban zone of Oxchuc assert that this
group's training grounds are located in the sports facility at the
Agricultural Technical School (ETA). The group has made
written threats against the city's PRD members. This group
has been publicly identified with federal PRI deputy
Norberto Santiz Lo'pez, originally from this municipality.
The communities of the Independent ARIC and Tzoman have
denounced recruitment activities undertaken by MIRA in the
municipalities of Altamirano, Ocosingo and in the rebel
municipality of Tierra y Libertad, on the Guatemalan border.
7. TOMAS MUNTZER: Tomas Muntzer is the name of a
community located off the highway between Cuxulja' and
Altamirano, within the municipality of Ocosingo, and
founded by ex-Governor Patrocinio Gonza'lez Garrido. Then
Secretary of Agrarian Reform in Chiapas, Jorge Obrador
Capellini, threw his weight behind the foundation of the
community. The idea was to separate the communities of
Chulna', Campo Virgen, El Carrizal, San Agusti'n and others
in the zone, as well as divide militants in OCEZ faction that
later became part of the FAC-MLN. The community acted as
a shock group constituted by PRI militants and financed
mostly by landowners in the region, including Ernesto Ortega,
Roselia Lie'vano and Sebastia'n Lo'pez Me'ndez ("El Pepsi"),
the latter a wealthy rancher, merchant and Pepsi-Cola
concessionaire in the municipality of Tenejapa. After
Patrocinio's term of governor was up, this group was left
without the protection of the Chiapas government, and was
further weakened by the assassination of its main leader,
Ernesto Ortega.
Some members went over to the EZLN support bases, another
fraction became OCEZ militants, while a minority that
refused to affiliate itself with any group was kicked out of the
community and formed another township, still without
affiliation to any organization.
This group never achieved paramilitary status, but was rather
a nest of hired guns and white guards in the region, who
belonged to the National Peasant Confederation (CNC), an
affiliate of the PRI that became part of the Citizen Defense
Committee of Ocosingo. The Committee was formed
principally by ranchers and merchants in the region.
8. LOS AGUILARES (THE EAGLE'S NEST): This group
has been present in Chilo'n since 1994. It is presumably a
group of criminals and families created to defend local power
and private interests. The group is also assumed to have a
relationship with Peace and Justice and the "Chinchulines",
although Los Aguilares doesn't possess traits typical of
paramilitary groups. Up till now, they have wounded and
killed peasants in some communities and renewed their
harassment activities in January of this year.
9. OTHER ARMED PRI GROUPS IN CHIAPAS:
9.1. Simojovel, El Bosque and Huitiupa'n: In these
municipalities, the struggle with the opposition --whether the
PRD, OCEZ or CIOAC-- has gone on for many years. But
since 1994, private gunmen and white guards have left
the PRI and reorganized through the Popular Peasant-Worker
Organization of the State of Chiapas (OCOPECH), a Labor
Party (PT) affiliate that has ambushed catechists and EZLN
militants since 1996. Beginning in 1997, a series of
assassinations carried out by PRI members took place in the
region; the PRI militants have threatened to deny entry of
priests into some communities, including Chavinal and
Cacateal, both in the municipality of Huitiupa'n. In
December, 1997, the warned Father Joel Padro'n (parish
priest of Simojovel) that if he entered, he would be killed.
These groups' have centered their action against the Catholic
Church, EZLN supporters and the CIOAC.
9.2. Frontera Comalapa-Chicomuselo: In these two
municipalities, armed thugs have attacked peasant
organizations such as the OCEZ-CNPA, the OCEZ
and the Peasant and Indigenous Organizations Front (FOCI),
an organization which has declared rebellion against the
government and set up branch offices in the municipality of
Tierra y Libertad, and Paso Hondo (municipality of Frontera
Comalapa). These groups of PRI members and gunmen
have formed an alliance with a charismatic religious group in
the community of Tres Maravilla in Comalapa, which has
propagandized against the Catholic church and priests of the
Diocese of San Cristo'bal.
According to young men who have been offered paramilitary
training, Paso Hondo and Ciudad Cuauhte'moc are control
centers for armed groups in the area.
9.3. Chenalho': Since August 4, 1996, the production
cooperative "The Bees" has denounced the formation of
armed groups in the zone. The groups' centers of operation
are located in the communities of Yabteclum, Los Chorros
and Puebla. The PRI militants in the zone began
organizational work as Peace and Justice members, later
become "First Force". Ultimately, though, there is no single
name that identifies them; the perpetrators of the Acteal
massacre have even been identified as belonging to "Red
Mask", but this can't be confirmed. Thus, they are identified
as armed PRI groups, although there are also members of the
Party of the Cardenist Front (PFCRN) --which is, in any
event, the same as the PRI.
9.4. Sitala': This municipality, which witnesses an
indigenous massacre in 1980, is now governed by the PRD;
therefore, its communities are entirely supporters of the
opposition and thus subject to aggression on the part of
armed PRI groups, mostly in the communities of Goloncha'n
Nuevo and Goloncha'n Viejo. Although many of those
displaced last year have returned, there is no end to
harassment against communities.
9.5. Amatenango de la Frontera: Since November of last
year, a conflict has arisen in the community of El Pacayal,
where the majority of small farmers belong to the PRD, but a
PRI minority is attempting to impose a land commissary.
Due to these conflicts, PRI members armed themselves and
have kidnapped several families that are PRD members.
Fifty-seven PRI members were jailed at Cerro Hueco because
of the kidnappings and the PRI state committee paid 283,000
pesos in bail bonds to free its militants. After being freed,
they continued to threaten the population constantly. In this
PRD-governed municipality, the municipal president has
interceded to call for peace with the PRI.
Given the foregoing, there are presently five paramilitary
groups (Peace and Justice, MIRA, Chinchulines, San
Bartolome' of the Plains Alliance and Red Mask). Armed PRI
groups registered up till now cover at least another seven
municipalities, on top of the organized crime group known as
"Los Aguilares".
By H.O. Mendoza
MEXPAZ
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Acteal: Minuto de Silencia
Acteal: Minute of Silence
9 de febrero: February 9
[english version follows]
La Red Ciudadana de Apoyo a la Causa Zapatista propone:
Guardar un minuto de silencio por nuestros hermanos asesinados en Acteal,
el próximo 9 de febrero a las cuatro de la tarde.
Sería una ciudad
completamente inmóvil durante sesenta segundos, para decirle a nuestros
muertos que están vivos.
La idea es que el metro se detenga. Las oficinas
públicas suspendan sus labores. Las fábricas se llenen de quietud. Las
universidades se paralicen. Las estaciones de radio interrumpan sus
transmisiones.
Todo por un minuto.
Mientras nuestros compañeros del
Congreso Nacional Indígena realizan un acto afuera del edificio de la ONU.
Al cálido movimiento de solidaridad internacional con el pueblo mexicano
le pedimos que ese día coloque afuera de las embajadas mexicanas 45
veladoras por Acteal y 1 por Ocosingo.
Una ciudad en completo silencio
durante sesenta segundos, no le devolverá las madres a sus hijos, no nos
devolvera la risa de nuestros hermanos muertos, pero será un silencio que
dirá muchas cosas.
Sería solo un minuto, del mundo detenido para honrar a
los muertos y a los vivos. ¿Nos ayudas a organizar este minuto eterno?. Es
tiempo de expresar nuestro repudio y nuestra esperanza. Viva la vida. Ni
un muerto más.
gracias
Translated for Nuevo Amanecer Press by Susan Rasco'n:
The Citizen Support Network of the Zapatista Cause proposes:
That we observe a moment of silence, on February 9th at 4:00 p.m., for our
brothers and sisters massacred in Acteal.
The city will be completely
motionless for sixty seconds, in order to tell our dead that they are alive.
The idea is that the subway will stop, public offices will suspend their
work, factories will fall silent, universities will be paralyzed, and radio
stations will interrupt their broadcasts.
All of this for a minute, while
our indigenous compan~eros conduct an action outside the UN building.
We
ask the generous movement of international solidarity with the Mexican
people on that date to set up outside the Mexican Embassies 45 candles for
Acteal and one for Ocosingo.
A city in complete silence for sixty seconds,
it will not bring back the mothers of orphaned children, nor will it return
to us the laughter of our dead brothers and sisters, but it will be a
silence that will say many things.
It will be just one minute of the world
stopped to honor the living and the dead. Will you help us organize this
eternal minute? It is time to express our repudiation and our hope. Long
live life! No more deaths!
Thank you.
Back to the top
Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional
Mexico
29 de Enero de 1998.
A la Sociedad Civil Nacional e Internacional:
A las Organizaciones Politicas y Sociales honestas de Mexico y el Mundo:
Hermanos y hermanas:
Habiamos pensado que bastaria un comunicado donde dieramos respuesta a
lo
que dice y hace el gobierno mexicano en Chiapas. Habiamos pensado que seria
suficiente un escrito que reflejara nuestro descontento por la persistencia
gubernamental en usar un doble lenguaje, algo que nuevamente desnudara la
incongruencia entre su discurso de "paz" y el hostigamiento y avance
militar contra las comunidades y montaNas del sureste mexicano.
Eso habiamos pensado, pero entonces vimos al avion militar y a los tanques
de guerra paseandose con ostento y soberbia sobre nuestros pueblos, como
diciendonos "esta es la respuesta a tus demandas, mirame, escuchame,
estan
atrapados, rindete". Vimos el avion y los tanques y entendimos que ellos
quieren eso, que solo les hablemos a ellos, que nos olvidemos de ustedes,
que entremos en su juego de "toma y daca". Quieren solo respuestas agrias a
sus burlas, respuestas que les permitan decir: "ya ven, el EZLN no quiere
el dialogo, esta usando el conflicto para su provecho, son unos
intransigentes, no les crean cuando dicen que luchan por democracia,
libertad y justicia, solo quieren el Poder y seguir provocando
inestabilidad".
Asi que el avion y los tanques nos hicieron entender que ellos quieren que
despojemos a la palabra de su valor y calidad, que entremos en un
intercambio de calificativos, que los cansemos a ustedes con nuestras
acusaciones y reiteradas advertencias de que el gobierno nos esta
engaNando. No quieren que expliquemos ni que nos hagamos escuchar.
Por eso decidimos, ademas, darles a conocer a ustedes nuestro pensamiento
y
nuestra postura en esta carta.
Como se ve, esta carta no es solo para la sociedad civil, ahora incluye a
la sociedad politica. Y es que sabemos que no son pocas las organizaciones
politicas en Mexico y en el mundo, algunas ya son gobierno, que tienen una
actitud honesta, respetuosa y consecuente con lo que las demandas
zapatistas significan. Asi que salud a aquellos y aquellas que tratan de
darle a la politica la renovacion que reclama.
Pero bueno, aclarada la razon de los destinatarios, sigue la palabra.
La estrategia del gobierno consiste en conseguir que la opinion publica
traslade el descredito y la ilegitimidad del gobierno a todos los demas.
La
estrategia actual busca que el escepticismo frente a todos los actores y
posiciones, neutralice a los intelectuales y artistas, a los politicos
independientes, a las organizaciones sociales, a la sociedad civil
organizada, y al ciudadano "de a pie".
Vayamos al discurso del seNor Zedillo en Yucatan, que fue, sobre todo, el
punto de arranque de un nuevo diluvio de declaraciones y ultimatums. Son
tres los ejes fundamentales de este discurso gubernamental.
1.-Renegociar los Acuerdos de San Andres.- La posicion del gobierno frente
a los Acuerdos de San Andres es muy clara: no los va a cumplir. La
discusion sobre si la primera o segunda iniciativa de la Cocopa es "la base
de la negociacion" ( no habia jurado y perjurado la Cocopa que no
negociaria acuerdos porque no era propio de su papel de coadyuvante?), es
solo una argucia del nuevo secretario de gobernacion.
Cumplir lo firmado y reconocer el derecho indigena a la diferencia, son
algunas de las cosas "en las que el gobierno federal no esta de acuerdo" y
que, por supuesto, no aparecen ni en el discurso del Yucatan, ni en los
desplegados de plana entera.
Detras de la estratagema con que Labastida quiere embaucar a la Cocopa y a
la Conai, esta el intento de alargar mas la solucion del conflicto.
Pretende, por ejemplo, que la Cocopa le sirva de mensajero para comunicarse
con el EZLN via la Conai. No es excesivo pretender que una comision
legislativa del Congreso de la Union (con representantes de 5 partidos
politicos nacionales) sirva unicamente de mensajero entre el gobierno y
la
Conai? Es ese el trabajo de la coadyuvancia?
Nuestra posicion respecto a los Acuerdos es la misma. No queremos "todo",
solo que se cumpla lo que el gobierno firmo y es del conocimiento publico.
Solo queremos que la Cocopa haga honor a su palabra y defienda su
iniciativa. Solo queremos que el reconocimiento de los derechos indigenas
se haga ley y realidad.
Miles de voces en Mexico y el mundo han respaldado, a lo largo de todo un
aNo, la iniciativa de ley de la Cocopa. Esta propuesta ya no solo le
pertenece a los legisladores. Hoy hay, habemos, muchos miles que estamos
dispuestos a defenderla.
2.- El uso de la fuerza para solucionar el conflicto.- Dice Zedillo que el
gobierno no ha usado ni usara la fuerza para tratar de resolver el
conflicto en Chiapas. Y la traicion del 9 de febrero de 1995? No fue
con
el uso de la fuerza con el que rompio el dialogo que mantenia con nosotros
(a traves de su entonces secretario de gobernacion, Esteban Moctezuma
Barragan)? No fueron miles los soldados que atacaron comunidades indigenas
tratando de capturar a los dirigentes del EZLN? No es cierto que, por
ejemplo, los indigenas de Guadalupe Tepeyac viven ahora exiliados en la
montaNa porque su pueblo es una mezcla de cuartel, burdel y cantina para
las tropas federales? No fue con el uso de la fuerza que decenas de
ciudadanos fueron tomados prisioneros por el delito de ser zapatistas?
El gobierno "no ha usado ni usara la fuerza" para resolver el conflicto
en
Chiapas? Y la preparacion, equipamiento, entrenamiento y activacion de
escuadrones paramilitares ("Al menos 12", dice la PGR)? Fue la masacre de
Acteal una muestra de la voluntad de dialogo y negociacion del gobierno
mexicano?
Y la persecucion de zapatistas que, desde el 1 de enero de 1998 y hasta
la
fecha, mantiene el ejercito federal "cumpliendo ordenes del comandante en
jefe" (Zedillo)? Otro "hecho de distension" gubernamental?
Despues de todo, la historia del regimen de Zedillo es la historia de la
palabra incumplida. Esos aviones militares que dia y noche hacen maniobras
de "picado" sobre comunidades indigenas en la selva, que palabra
tienen?
Sin legitimidad alguna, el gobierno solo tiene de su lado la razon de la
fuerza. De nuestro lado estan la historia, la razon y la verdad. A las
demandas de los pueblos indios las respaldan ahora estas tres fuerzas, les
faltaria la ley para que la justicia coronara su lucha, pero ya se ve que
la fuerza hara todo lo posible por escamotearle el cobijo de la ley a
derechos que la historia grita, que la razon fundamenta y que la verdad
anima.
La ley, si no es acompaNada de la historia, si no se construye en la razon
y si no se fortalece en la verdad, termina provocando aque
