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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2007 
Chiapas: Paramilitary Violence Continues
 Bill Weinberg - WW4Report
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Land conflicts between communities loyal to the Zapatista rebel movement and the state's traditional political machine continue to generate violence in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatista Good Government Junta (JBG) Corazón del Arcoiris de la Esperanza announced that on Nov. 24, the community of Bolom Ajaw, Autonomous Municipality Olga Isabel, was attacked by members of the OPDDIC paramilitary group. The force of some 80 men armed with pistols, rifles, clubs and machetes arrived when the community's men were working in the fields, with only women, children and elders at home. They briefly held the community hostage, beating one ill resident unconscious with clubs. (La Jornada, Nov, 26)
Sebastián Espinoza Martínez, director of the "Paz y Justicia" peasant organization—named as a paramilitary group by rights obervers—threatened to organize roadblocks in Chiapas if Gov. Juan Sabines does not address the organization's land claims. (Noticias Palenque, Nov. 17)
Meanwhile, rights activists joined with members of the Emiliano Zapata Campesino Organization (OCEZ) from Venustiano Carranza village in a march on the state capital Tuxtla to protest the "restructuring and reforming of paramilitary groups and White Guards" in the region. (La Jornada, Nov. 20)
Mexico's Congressional Commission on Pacification (COCOPA), convened ten years ago to broker peace with the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), has announced that the long-moribund peace process must be revived, and that the Commission will be opening an office in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. (Real Jovel, Nov. 20) COCOPA president Martha Cecilia Díaz Gordillo said the question of constitutional reform must be re-opened, and that the issue of indigenous rights represents an "outstanding debt" of the Mexican state. (Proceso, Nov. 27)
Visit Bill Weinberg's blog HERE.
Chiapas: Accused Mastermind in Acteal Massacre Dies
Bill Weinberg - WW4Report
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Antonio Vázquez Secum, named by Mexico's Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) as the author of the December 1997 Acteal massacre, died Nov. 17 at his home in the village of Quextic, Chiapas. Secum, who was over 70 years old, was freed from Cerro Hueco prison last year when he contracted pneumonia. The PGR's "white book" on the affair said he led a group of eight men from Miguel Utrilla Los Chorros hamlet in the attack on nearby Acteal (both in Chenahló municipality) in retaliation for the slaying of his son, Agustín Vázquez. He was among the first arrested for the massacre early in 1998. (La Jornada, Nov. 20)
According to the investigation findings posted on the website of the Mexican Presidency, Agustín Vázquez was killed in an ambush by masked men on Dec. 17, 1997, and the powerful "cacique" families of Chenalhó identified the perpetrators as residents of Acteal. ("Chiapas: Cobertura Especial," Presidencia.gob.mx)
The Chiapas state government has opened a new investigation into the Dec. 22, 1997 slaying of 45 unarmed Toztzil Maya peasants—including children and pregnant women—at Acteal. The announcement said the investigation will be "objective, scientific and, above all, without prejudice." Las Abejas, the Maya Catholic pacifist group targeted in the massacre, has long been demanding a new investigation. (La Jornada, Nov. 23)
Las Abejas continue to protest the militarization of the Chiapas Highlands. Massacre survivor Roberto Pérez recently said that the permanent military presence has led to a growing incidence of prostitution among the Maya women of the zone. (CMDPH, Nov. 20)
Las Abejas has announced that they will be hosting a "National Encuentro Against Impunity" at Acteal on the anniversary of the massacre this year. (Zapateando, Dec. 1)
Visit Bill Weinberg's blog HERE. |
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