Chiapas: “Day of Fasting and Prayer for Memory, Resistance, and Life,” 14 years after the Acteal massacre

(@SIPAZ)

14 years after the massacre in Acteal, municipality of Chenalhó, in which died 16 children, 20 women (4 of them pregnant), and 9 men, the Las Abejas Civil Society organized a series of activities to commemorate these acts and continue to denounce not only the impunity that continues to prevail in the case but also the violent situation lived in Chiapas and throughout the country.

After holding a two-day pilgrimage with flowers and religious imagery from San Cristóbal de Las Casas to Acteal, there was had a ceremony in this community in the presence of more than a thousand persons from the area, in addition to that of members of national and international organizations.

Mariano Peréz Vázquez, president of the directive table of Las Abejas, denounced that “14 years after Acteal, we see that the government of Felipe Calderón and Juan Sabines Guerrero has not done justice but rather has ridiculed our organization and our struggle.  The federal and state governments in no way want justice, liberty, peace.  Not only do they not want justice, but they also are continuing with the policies of previous governments, and even worse.”

After the reading of this communiqué, Las Abejas awarded a command baton to Bishop Vera López, bishop of Saltillo and president of the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights in Chiapas, in gratitude for his support and accompaniment.  In another communiqué they noted that “Totik Raúl, your mission here in this world we do not regard as nothing more than being a simple servant of the church; you go much farther than that.  A true servant has no limits; he thinks, walks, and struggles.  You, Totik Raúl, do not know how to silence yourself in light of injustice, above all now when our country is bleeding and impunity reigns.”

Raúl Vera acknowledged the recognition and reviewed the history of the massacre to date.  He recalled that 14 years ago, victims of low-intensity warfare used in a counterinsurgent strategy against the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) were killed.  He affirmed that to date the intellectual authors of this war have not been judged, and several material authors have succeeded in being released due to the intervention of the Supreme Court of Justice in the Nation (SCJN).  He added that “today as yesterday the police are complicit with those who commit crimes, murders, kidnappings, and forced disappearances.”  And now as before, “the criminals also have allies within the three levels of government; if this were not so, they would not have 98% impunity in the crimes they have committed.”  He also expressed that “in light of the panorama that we live in the country, one of an open war declared by the president, in which the principal victims come from the Mexican people, like here in Chiapas, justice does not matter.  In this so-called war against organized crime the Army is once again utilized, and it continues to violate human rights and carry out extrajudicial executions.  Its crimes too continue in impunity.”

On this 22 December, members of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity also protested in front of the representation of the government of Chiapas in Mexico City to demand justice for the 45 killed in Acteal.

For more information (in Spanish):

Ni Calderón ni Sabines quieren hacer justicia por la masacre en Acteal, señala Las Abejas (La Jornada, 23 December 2011)

Indígenas mantienen reclamo de justicia en Acteal (El Universal, 23 December 2011)

Acteal recuerda a sus muertos con misa (El Universal, 22 December 2011)

Prevalece impunidad a 14 años de la matanza de Acteal (Proceso, 22 December 2011)

‘Nunca más, Acteal’, pide Movimiento por la Paz (El Universal, 22 December 2011)

Comunicado de las Abejas de Acteal 22 de diciembre de 2011(Sociedad Civil Las Abejas, 22 December 2011)

Comunicado en el marco del Reconocimiento de las Abejas de Acteal a Totik Raúl Vera (Sociedad Civil Las Abejas, 22 December 2011)

PALABRAS DE FRAY RAÚL VERA LÓPEZ, O.P. EN ACTEAL CELEBRACIÓN DEL XIV ANIVERSARIO DE LA MASACRE DE ACTEAL (22 December 2011)

Boletín: La Memoria como construcción de dignidad e identidad (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, 22 December 2011)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: New denunciation by Las Abejas (28 October 2011)

Chiapas: Las Abejas of Acteal distance themselves from demand against ex-president Zedillo (27 September 2011)

Chiapas: Mexican ex-president Zedillo is denounced in US court for the Acteal massacre (26 September 2011)

Chiapas: Day of Action for Justice and Truth of Las Abejas of Acteal (19 August)

Chiapas: Thirteenth Anniversary of the Acteal Massacre

On December 16, as a part of the activities in observance of the 13th anniversary of the Acteal massacre in which 45 Indians were killed on December 22, 1997, the chorus of Acteal and Sak Tzebul, an indigenous rock group, gave a joint concert called “Voices that sow the seeds of peace” in the city of San Cristobal de Las Casas, in order to raise funds for the choir to record an album.

On December 20, 21 and 22, the civil organization “Las Abejas” held a Meeting named “Weaving the Resistance in favor of Autonomy and against Dependence and Counterinsurgency” in Acteal, Chenalho. Participants came from various regions of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Atenco and they explained in their final statement: “We understand autonomy as the right to live as we want, without asking permission and without others imposing on us to live as they want us to; as freedom for every people to make decisions about land, resources, organization and education; and to think for ourselves. Autonomy begins in the heart of every person, it is not just a goal, but the path in which we are already. ” They affirmed their commitment to “forge alliances as we want and to globalize our struggle from below, keeping with our own work, without relying on government aid and programs.” They reported: “Others are upset because we want to live free and they want to end our autonomy, to impose projects, to make us dependent on their programs. When that does not work out, they apply to you counterinsurgency strategies. But we keep up with the resistance. (…) [T] he government has changed color and discourse, but in reality it remains the same: it has changed its lead bullets with “bullets of sugar”, but without leaving the use of lead bullets. It has co-opted leaders, and sought to change the mind and heart of people. (…) We do not accept that because we have dignity. “

On day 22, a Mass was celebrated by the bishop of San Cristobal in the presence of hundreds of participants and many priests from different places of Chiapas. Moreover, young people and children from Acteal had prepared a play whose message was that holding memory may be something lively and promising: “Death will not have the last word but Life”, they said, and “we sing because despite the pain, joy is our strength. “

A few days before the anniversary of the massacre, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published a report on the admissibility of the Acteal case and found that 13 years is a long enough period to apply the exception to the criteria of “exhaustion of domestic remedies”.

Since March 2005, the Commission had received a complaint submitted by the civil organization “Las Abejas”, to which the victims belonged, and by the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center. It alleged the international responsibility of the Mexican State in the massacre. Considering the non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, it was until earlier this year that the IACHR admitted the case.

The CDHFBC stated that the Commission report confirms the value and proof of the testimony of the victims’ relatives and survivors of the Acteal massacre. He added that the documentation published by the IACHR confirms the responsibility, by act and omission, of the Mexican State in the Acteal massacre, as well as the subsequent denial of justice, leaving unpunished this crime against humanity.

For more information (in Spanish):

- Masacres como la de Acteal suceden ahora todos los días, denuncian Las Abejas (La Jornada, 24 de diciembre de 2010)

- Conmemora Las Abejas 13 años de Acteal con acto sobre autonomía (La Jornada, 23 de diciembre de 2010)

- “13 años de la Masacre de Acteal” (Pronunciamiento de la Organización de la Sociedad Civil las Abejas, 22 de diciembre de 2010)

- “13 años de la Masacre de Acteal” (Pronunciamiento de la Organización de la Sociedad Civil las Abejas, 22 de diciembre de 2010)

- Homilía del obispo de San Cristóbal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel en la misa en Acteal el 22 de diciembre de 2010

- Recuerdan con misa masacre en Acteal (el Universal, 22 de diciembre)

- “El gobierno apuesta al olvido en Acteal” (El Universal, 22 de diciembre de 2010)

- ONG: Acteal, 13 años de impunidad (La Jornada, 22 de diciembre de 2010)

- Pronunciamiento del Encuentro tejiendo Resistencia y Autonomia frente a la Contrainsurgencia y la Dependencia (Acteal, 21 de diciembre de 2010)

- Acteal bajo el signo de la impunidad (La Jornada, 21 de diciembre de 2010)

- CIDH: aún no se ha identificado a todos los responsables de la masacre de Acteal (La Jornada, 21 de diciembre)

- Boletín: CIDH presenta informe sobre la admisibilidad de la Masacre de Acteal (CDHFBC, 20 de diciembre de 2010)

• “Informe No. 146/10, Petición 212-05 sobre la Admisibilidad de la Masacre de Acteal”. (CIDH, 1ero de noviembre de 2010)

For more information from SIPAZ:

- Chiapas: “Las Abejas” present the event “Voices that sow the seeds of peace” (December 14, 2010)

- Chiapas: “Las Abejas” and Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center celebrate admission of the Acteal case in the IACHR (November 26, 2010)

- Chiapas: Las Abejas indignant over the release of 15 of those responsible for the Acteal massacre (October 26, 2010)

Chiapas: Letter of support from Las Abejas of Acteal to the Triqui region

On 22 September, during the monthly commemoration of the Acteal massacre, the civil organization Las Abejas published a communiqué in which they denounce the context currently prevailing in Mexico:  “We can mention many of [these] massacres, such as that of the 72 migrants killed in Tamaulipas that is nothing more than a demonstration that which happens every day but fails to make it to the news, or what is happening in San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, that reminds us of what happened in Chenalhó in 1997–that, despite all the denunciations, the government does nothing and, when a large massacre occurs, goes on to say, as did Emilio Chuayffet in 1997, that no one knew what was happening.”

They also stressed the case that “is taking place closest to us, one that shows how, for indigenous people, neither independence nor autonomy exist 200 years after the struggles of Hidalgo”: that of the Zapatista support-base families from the community of San Marcos Avilés in the municipality of Sitala, Chiapas, displaced following harassment carried out by PRI, PVEM, and PRD militants.  Las Abejas emphasized that “their only crime is to have constructed autonomous education from below and for the people, an education different from that of the government that seeks to destroy our roots and make us docile slaves of the neoliberal system.  The behavior of the members of these parties reminds us of the way paramilitaries acted in Chenalhó in 1997: death-threats, stealing of crops, charging of fines, and demanding that people renounce their organizations and struggles.  More than a decade after the Acteal massacre, it is not possible that the same acts be repeated with all the protection of the government.  Whatever it is that happens to our brothers and sisters, those responsible will be the governments of Calderón and Juan Sabines, ones that clearly are to be found on the list of repressive governments in the history of our Mexico.”

Las Abejas made a call to organize and engage in struggle, affirming that “we are convinced that, to effect actual change and bring about a new Mexico, the struggle must be as it is termed by our Zapatista brothers: from below, with a new system of government and a new constitution. This is not realized by miracles; instead what is needed are the action and efforts of all those who were born to struggle and to live freely in this world, which in our Tsotsil cosmovision we call ‘to live in harmony with the heart of the sky and the heart of the land.’”

In other news, on 24 September Las Abejas sent a letter to authorities expressing their concern regarding the situation in the Triqui region, especially with regard to San Juan Copala.  “We see that that which occurred with the Acteal massacre may soon be repeated.  Many times have been denounced the death-threats and human-rights violations in the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala by human-rights grops and some media sources.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Communiqué of Las Abejas in observation of the commemoration of the Acteal massacre (22 September)

Letter of support from Las Abejas of Acteal to San Juan Copala (24 September)

Chiapas: believers of San Pedro Chenalhó express their concern over the possible construction of a rural-city in their municipality

In a communiqué released by the parish of San Pedro Chenalhó on 8 August, parish-members expressed their rejection of the possible construction of a rural-city in their municipality.  They declared that “[i]t worries us that this rural-city project be imposed instead of consulted with the people to see if they agree or not.  If consultation is made, it is based on lies and omissions; the government does not clearly state that it will bring about this megaproject, whether or not it is for the good of the people.  For example, it does not explain what “productive re-conversion is,” or who would benefit from such. Rural cities were not invented by the state and federal governments during the past six years; it has its base in history from much earlier–for example, during the colonization of Latin America, when such things were not in fact called rural cities but rather land-parcels, with the objective of making easier and more efficient the control of the people to demand of them tribute (or taxes), to use them as labor in the mines and plantations (mostly sugar-cane), as well as for the construction of cities for the Spanish and political-military control.  It is true that then, as now, it was also said that advantages could be had for the directly affected, and that population-concentration allowed them ‘access to basic services of potable water, education, health, etc.–so as to combat poverty in Chiapas, in sum.”

They added that “[w]ith this brief explanation, we believers of Chenalhó are led to conclude in definitively rejecting the construction of rural cities, because it is clear that this plan encourages us to abandon our lands and allows transnational firms to occupy them.  Once we are concentrated, they can control us and demand that we cultivate crops other than the milpa, beans, etc.”

It should be remembered that more than 2000 people already live in more than 400 houses in the first rural-city constructed in the state, Nuevo Juan del Grijalva.  The second such city is being built in Santiago el Pinar, municipality located between Chenalhó and San Andrés.

For more information (in Spanish):

Letter of the believers of Chenalhó in full (8 August 2010)

Indigenous organizations oppose the construction of rural-city in Chenalhó (11 August 2010)

Integration for disposession: the Mesoamérica project, or the new appropriation of land (CIEPAC bulletin, 21 June 2010)

Sustainable Rural-City Institute (state-government web-site)

With the new sustainable rural-city, Santiago El Pinar will change your reality (press-release of the Institute for Social Communication of the state-government of Chiapas, January 2010)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Las Abejas’ communiqué denounces construction of rural cities in the Chiapas Highlands (22 de mayo de 2010)

Chiapas: Las Abejas’ communiqué denounces construction of rural cities in the Chiapas Highlands

During the monthly commemoration of the Acteal massacre, the civil organization Las Abejas published a communiqué indicating its opposition to the construction of new rural cities in Chiapas, like those that are being created in Santiago El Pinar; the communiqué also denounced the state’s plans to open another such project in Chenalhó.  Both Santiago El Pinar and Chenalhó are municipalities of the Chiapas Highlands.

The communiqué explains that “[the governments] believe that because we are poor they can intervene in our homes and in our lands without permission and later claim to bring development projects for our benefit [...].  If they truly want our best interests, the first thing they should do is RESPECT US–but no, they interfere and act as they like with our lands and our resources [...].  The government’s plan is for us very clear.  They want to control our organizations so as to gain control of our lands and negotiate with transnationals.  The counter-insurgency against independent organizations finds its basis in this.  For this reason Zedillo and later the Congress of the Union didn’t want to approve the San Andrés Accords, since these demanded that they respect us.  If the Accords had been passed, the Constitution would have had to include what is said in the ILO’s Convention 169: the governments cannot engage in projects or exploit the resources of the lands of the indigenous without first CONSULTING THESE COMMUNITIES.”

Las Abejas denounced also that in Chenalhó, “the brothers of the Puebla Colony, Chenalhó, are being obligated to accept PROCEDE.  This is another way the government acts to make it easier to later take our lands from us.” Las Abejas lament the role played “by our brothers who have left Las Abejas to join the government and its money [...].  To our brothers we say: if the government doesn’t respect us, you at least should.  If you no longer want to struggle against impunity and prefer to receive government programs, that’s all right; we respect you; it’s your decision.  But respect us, and don’t allow the government to manipulate you.”

Las Abejas close by expressing their support for other struggles–with the Triqui people of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, as well as the Civil Resistance Movement against high-electricity prices in Candelaria, Campeche.  They warn that “the government employs in other places the same counter-insurgency strategies that they use against us.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Complete communiqué of the civil society Las Abejas (22 May 2010)

Chiapas: Tzajalchen denounces health clinic

On June 4^th the Civil Organization of the Las Abejas from the community of Tzajalchen in the municipality of Chenalhó denounced for the second time “the lies and falsities of the medical directors of health clinics here in Chiapas”. This denouncement, which takes place in the middle of the swine flu pandemic in Mexico, condemns the situation in rural Mexico where people do not have access to healthcare as is common in cities. The denouncement specifically targets the “false promise” that was given in 2005 assuring “a clinic which would serve the surrounding communities” would be built in Tzajalchen. As the state government has yet to fulfill this promise, the community opted for this denouncement saying that “here in our state, promises continue to be Words without Actions”. We remind our readers that the Mexican Constitution, along with various other international treatises, single out health care as being essential to development and a life with dignity.

For more information, please visit:

“Segunda denuncia contra las mentiras de los médicos”, comunidad de Tzajalchen, (04/06/2009)

Chiapas: Concern about the coming Supreme Court decision in the case of Acteal

On April 20, the Organization “Civil Society of Las Abejas” protested the possibility that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) would grant appeals to 12 “paramilitaries” who were convicted after the massacre of Acteal, which occurred on December 22, 1997*. If they were given appeals, they would be released. In a press conference which took place in the offices of the Human Rights Center “Fray Bartolomé de las Casas” (Frayba) in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, representatives of the civil organization and witnesses of the massacre insisted that the 12 jailed men were among those who carried out the killing, which has been questioned by the legal defense of the jailed men.

Las Abejas denounced that the 12 prisoners accused 9 other men, among them Antonio López Hernández, who is a member of Las Abejas and a main witness because of his information about “how the arms were distributed among the paramilitaries, and because of this he was accused of being responsible”. According to the organization of the victims of the massacre, the legal defense has tried to involve the survivors, accusing them of having arms, and has made various contradictions, such as identifying members of Las Abejas as Zapatistas and accusing them of having planned and participated in the massacre of their own family members. Las Abejas reject the version proposed by the Mexican State and by various media sources that the massacre was the result of a religious conflict. In their press release, the stressed that the responsibility for the crime lies with those who occupied high public positions during the time of the massacre, such as the Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León; the Secretary of Government, Emilio Chauyffet Chemor; the Secretary of National Defense, General Enrique Cervantes; Commander of the VII Military Region (located in Chiapas) and Commander of Special Force Rainbow, Mario Renán Castillo; as well as various state and municipal level authorities.

In addition, Frayba, the legal representative of the survivors of the massacre, released an Urgent Action stating the risks involved if the 12 men are liberated. For human rights defenders, “the violent actions which took place as part of the massacre constitute a crime against humanity, which was part of a counterinsurgency strategy planned and carried out by the Mexican State”. They state that within the context of the counterinsurgency carried out by the Mexican Government, “the State created, financed, trained, and harbored paramilitary groups which carried out systematic attacks against the civil society”. Frayba asked that the civil society declare itself against the continuing counterinsurgency strategy and against paramilitary groups, because “there is now a risk that their violent actions will continue”. If the appeal were given to the 12 paramilitaries, they would be freed immediately without the possibility of challenging the decision. The SCJN is the highest institution in the Mexican judicial system, and according to the law no one can be judged twice for the same crime.

*It is important to remember that during the massacre in Acteal, in the municipality of Chenalhó, on December 22, 1997, 45 people were killed, the majority women and children, and that 4 of the women were pregnant. To date, Las Abejas continue calling for justice, because according to them, all of those involved in the crime have not been prosecuted, especially the intellectual authors of the crime.

For More Information (In Spanish):

Denuncia de Las Abejas (20/04/2009)

Acción Urgente: Riesgo de que liberen a paramilitares responsables de la Masacre de Acteal, Frayba (20/04/2009)

Impunidad y responsabilidad de las autoridades públicas en el caso Acteal, SIPAZ, Boletín de febrero de 2008

Audios de la conferencia de prensa (20/04/2009)

“ Pretenden liberar a 12 asesinos de Acteal: Frayba”, La Jornada (21/04/2009)

Chiapas: Good Government Committee of Oventic denounces a number of aggressions carried out by PRI members against members of the autonomous municipality of Polho

On October 29, the Good Government Committee (JBG, Junta de Buen Gobierno) of Oventic, of the Highlands of Chiapas, denounced through a communiqué a number of aggressions against members of the Zapatista autonomous municipality of San Pedro Polho. It deals principally with aggressions that occurred in the last two months: shots, the sale of high caliber arms, the movement of armed persons in a number of communities in the municipality of Chenalhó. According to the communique these actions occurred with the support of the municipal government and the army.

The communique also states: “As Good Government Committee, we strongly condemn the violent and irrational actions of the bad government carried out through its paramilitaries, its community authorities, as well as its municipal, state, and federal authorities.”

For More Information (In Spanish):

Comunicado integral de la JBG de Oventic