San Crist
During the month of August, new incursions have been reported, as well as an increase in federal army troops in the municipality of Ocosingo. At the same time, there have been incidents of violence against zapatista communities in several Autonomous Municipalities, with zapatista civilian authorities being particularly targeted as victims.
Source : Chiapas Indymedia
August 30, 2002.
Press Bulletin #3
The incidents which have been reported in the last month against the Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities have followed similar patterns.
There are political interests involved in these actions involving various parties.
During the month of August, new incursions have been reported, as well as an increase in federal army troops in the municipality of Ocosingo. At the same time, there have been incidents of violence against zapatista communities in several Autonomous Municipalities, with zapatista civilian authorities being particularly targeted as victims. These incidents form patterns of activities which point to political interests at their core.
The Incidents
Ricardo Flores Mag�n and San Manuel Autonomous Municipalities, in the municipality of Ocosingo.
July 31, 2002, La Culebra Ejido.
At about 11 AM, 40 men, armed with handguns and machetes, entered La Culebra Ejido, in the Ricardo Flores Mag�n Ejido, in two Nissan vans, in search of Autonomous Authorities from the municipality. When they were unable to find them, they wounded 7 support bases who were engaged in building a school, leaving them seriously injured. The attackers were from the San Antonio Escobar Community, and all of them belonged to the Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDIC). Some of them were recognized as being:
Julio G�mez L�pez, Jos� G�mez L�pez, Antonio P�rez L�pez, Sebasti�n P�rez G�mez, Nicol�s G�mez Santiz, Manuel Guzm�n P�rez, Jos� Hern�ndez Cruz, Lorenzo P�rez Cruz, Sebasti�n P�rez Cruz and Fidelino G�mez L�pez. Prior to this action, they attempted to kidnap an autonomous authority, who managed to escape. His identity is being withheld for matters of security. No investigation has been opened concerning these incidents.
August 19, 2002, Quexil Crossroads, Poblado Nuevo Guadalupe.
At 6:30 AM, 200 persons from Taniperla, Monte L�bano, Perla Acapulco and Pe�a Limonar, arrived in 22 vehicles (Nissans, microbuses and 3-ton trucks), who stopped at the Quexil Crossroads, Nuevo Guadalupe, in the San Manuel Autonomous Municipality, where EZLN support bases were maintaining a security checkpoint for stolen vehicles, introduction of alcohol into the communities and trafficking in precious woods. The 200 persons, recognized as belonging to OPDIC, attacked people from the village with rocks, machetes, pistols and rifles. Four persons received gunshot wounds: Marcos M�ndez S�nchez, with a 22 caliber gunshot to his stomach; Felipe G�mez S�nchez, one bullet wound to his arm and another to his back; Juan M�ndez S�nchez, one gunshot in his arm, and Francisco M�ndez V�zquez, shot in the foot and with several blows to his head. Irma M�ndez G�mez, 11, was kicked, as was an elderly woman from the community. There was an attempt to run over several women, and to kidnap three persons, two of whom were able to escape. Rigoberto S�nchez G�mez was kidnapped and taken to the San Miguel ranch, where he was threatened with being burned alive. He was badly beaten, and some of his clothing was removed. He was later transferred to the Prosecutor뭩 Office in the city of Ocosingo, from where he was taken to the public jail. He was released several hours later.
No investigation was opened, nor were the attackers even interrogated. Pedro Chul�n, local PRI deputy and OPDIC leader, and Omar Burguete, the municipal president of Ocosingo, among others, were present at the Prosecutor뭩 Office.
August 25, 2002, Amaytik ranch, Ricardo Flores Mag�n Autonomous Municipality.
Prior to 10 AM - during a meeting which had been arranged by autonomous authorities and non-zapatista persons from the Amaytik ranch four days previously - the following persons were assassinated:
Lorenzo Mart�nez Espinosa, acting spokesperson for the Ricardo Flores Mag�n Autonomous Municipality, with a 16 mm shotgun blast and Jacinto Hern�ndez Guti�rrez, autonomous rural agent from the Amaytik ranch, by blows to the head. There were several wounded: among the zapatistas, with machetes. Among the self-styled 밅ivil Society� there were injuries from blows of several kinds, and one of them, Nicol�s Hern�ndez Guti�rrez, is in the city of Villa Hermosa, wounded in the face from a 뱑ound� from a 16 mm cartridge which killed the zapatista authority, given that no other gunshot wounds or shots were reported during the attack. The above demonstrates that it was not a confrontation and that the zapatistas were not armed.
According to the Commander of Public Security in Ocosingo, Te�genes L�pez Toledo, the body of Lorenzo Mart�nez Espinosa was picked up on August 25, along with the Public Ministry [MP] agent and the State Investigation Agency [AEI]. They arrived at the scene of the incidents before 3 PM. The body was taken to Ocosingo, and they returned it to his community of origin, Nueva Esperanza, on August 27, after performing an autopsy on it. The expeditious manner in which the three above-mentioned institutions acted on the day of the incidents is suspicious, given, at least in the cases of the AEI and the MP, that they had to come from the city of Ocosingo, which is 4 to 5 hours from the scene of the incidents.
Jacinto Hern�ndez Ballinas has been recognized as being the material author of the assassination of Lorenzo, and Santiago Hern�ndez P�rez for the death of Jacinto. Acting along with them were Alfredo Hern�ndez Ballinas, Gaspar Hern�ndez P�rez, Jacinto Hern�ndez P�rez, Santiago Hern�ndez Ballinas, Camilo Hern�ndez Ballinas, Nicol�s Hern�ndez P�rez, Nicol�s Hern�ndez Espinosa, Sim�n Hern�ndez Guti�rrez and Nicol�s Guti�rrez Espinosa, among others who are yet to be identified. Nicol�s Hern�ndez Gutierrez, who is hospitalized in Villa Hermosa for a wound, had to have been present, at a close distance, during Lorenzo Mart�nez Espinosa뭩 execution, making him a witness and probable accomplice to the assassination.
An investigation was opened into the assassination of Lorenzo Mart�nez Espinosa, but not into that of Jacinto Hern�ndez Guti�rrez.
17 de Noviembre Autonomous Municipality in Altamirano.
August 7, 2002, 6 de Agosto Nuevo Centro de Poblaci�n.
At about 10 PM, Jos� L�pez Santiz, who was a local responsible in that community, was assassinated by three persons, after receiving eight shots from a 16 mm caliber shotgun, in his own milpa. The assassins also threatened his two children, 10 and 12 years old, with death, who were accompanying Jos�. Since they were quite well known to the victim and his family, the assassins were readily recognized as being Baltasar Alfonso Utrilla, who fired the shots, Benjam�n Montoya Oceguera and Humberto Castellanos G�mez. The latter is still enjoying Constitutional privileges because of his position as alderperson. After a petition by the governor himself to have his privileges suspended, the state Congress failed in their duties, hampering the ministerial investigation. The Municipal Police and Public Security wanted to pick up the corpse without the presence of the Public Ministry agent, or any forensic physician, at the request of Armando Pinto Canter, the Municipal President of Altamirano. The support bases were ultimately able to prevent such an action. The three persons responsible had been collaborators in the campaign for the former PRD candidate for the presidency of Altamirano, Gabriel Montoya Oceguera, who today is a local deputy for the Marqu�s de Comillas region. Benjam�n Montoya has been located, but there are no indications of any investigation whatsoever.
Olga Isabel Autonomous Municipality, in the Municipality of Chil�n.
August 26, village of K뭓n Akil.
At close to 5 AM, Antonio Mej�a V�zquez was assassinated, as he was returning to his house from a religious celebration. He and his wife were ambushed by 4 persons, who were clearly recognized by the victim뭩 wife as Oscar, Sebasti�n, Efra�n and Nicol�s Aguilar, members of the well-known armed group 밚os Aguilares.�
Se�or Mej�a, 50, was found with at least three gunshot wounds. One in the back and another in the thorax from an R-15 weapon, and another in the head from a 16 mm shotgun. His face was found disfigured and his ears had been cut off. At least 14 shells from an R-15 and one from a 16 mm shell were found at the scene of the incident. The Secretary of Indian Peoples, Porfirio Encino, the second councilor of the Chil�n council, the state government뭩 commissioner for conciliation, Juan Gonz�lez Esponda, and Alberto P�rez, who introduced himself as a political (sic) operative, promised swift action in clearing up the case and an operation to detain those responsible, which began by patrolling the attackers� house. Antonio had left a position in the Autonomous Municipality a few months previously.
Acts Which Determine Patterns of Activity
The Victims: All of the above cases were attacks, and not confrontations, against zapatista bases. Notable among the victims have been zapatista civil authorities from Autonomous Municipalities.
The Materiel: In those cases in which OPDIC was responsible, 24 vehicles were used, the majority of them Nissan, which are widely used as public transportation in the area. The attackers carried firearms of various caliber, in addition to machetes, rocks and clubs. In no instance were the zapatistas who were attacked armed at the time of the incidents.
Those Responsible: Although the attackers� political identities would appear to be diverse, we have been able to identify them. OPDIC, as a sister organization to MIRA [a well-known paramilitary group], has a PRI identity, as well as ties with the military, especially from the operations bases at Monte L�bano and Santo Domingo. The attackers at Amaytik identified themselves, rather imprecisely, as 밹ivil society.� It is well-known, however, that the attackers received advisement from Ricardo D�az Demesa, who, according to his own statements, is the OPDIC representative in Palenque. The members of Los Aguilares have been soldiers or Public Security agents, and the Army often camps in their lands, in the municipality of Chil�n. The attackers at Altamirano identified themselves as being members of the local PRD, with ties to well-known rancher Constantino Kanter and to the municipal president, Armando Pinto Kanter, both of them affiliated with the PRI and protagonists in the incidents.
Context: The geographical links of the actors in the incidents during the month of August in the Ricardo Flores Mag�n Autonomous Municipality.
We have found operational and geographical links in the above-mentioned incidents. The lines of operation represent a symbiosis of complicity in the attacks perpetrated over the last month.
Geographical line of military positions in the Ricardo Flores Mag�n
Autonomous Municipality�
1. Military camp. Pen�nsula.
2. Military camp. Monte L�bano Crossroads.
3. Military camp. 밎uzm�n Group� Taniperla. Location: at one end of the town at the top of a hill.
4. Second military camp. Taniperla. Location: inside the town. It occupies a school lot.
5. Military camp. Ocotalito.
6. Public Security position. Pe�a Limonar.
7. Military camp at San Jer�nimo Tulij�.
8. Military camp at Cintalapa.
9. Military camp. San Caralampio.
10. Military camp. El Calvario (Carival).
11. Military camp. Lacanj� Tseltal.
12. Military camp. Pi�al Crossroads.
13. Military camp. Palestina Crossroads.
14. Military camp. Ojos Azules.
15. Military camp. Chanacal�.
16. Military camp. Chocoljaito.
Geographic lines of OPDIC뭩 operations in the Ricardo Flores Mag�n Autonomous Municipality:
1. El Calvario
2. San Caralampio
3. Taniperlas
4. Monte L�bano
5. Pl�cido Flores
6. Yaxoquintelz
7. Ocotalito
8. Lacand�n
9. El Tumbo
10. Cuauht�moc
11. Pe�a Limonar
12. Arroyo Granizo
13. El Limonar
14. Cintalapa
15. Manuel Velazco Su�rez
16. San Antonio Escobar (where the pincers close at El Calvario)
Geographical lines where persecutions and assassinations have been reported inside the Ricardo Flores Mag�n Autonomous Municipality during the month of August (with the exception of Quexil, located in the San Manuel Autonomous Municipality):
1. Antonio Escobar
2. La Culebra Ejido
3. Monte L�bano
4. Lacand�n
5. Nueva Esperanza
6. Yaxala
7. Jard�n
8. Santo Domingo
9. Arroyo Granizo
10. Quexil
11. Amaytik
The military positions, the locations of OPDIC operations and the reported incidents of harassment and assassination during the month of August make up a circuit within one single geographic line.
One of the Possible Reasons
One, among other possible, hypotheses as to what might be behind this escalation is one that has been constantly present for several years concerning the environmental focus-excuse. There have been repeated demands from various conservation organizations, which are funded by USAID, PULSAR and various interested corporations, to the Mexican government to expel, and relocate, the indigenous populations which have settled along the margins of the Selva Lacandona, but especially to clear out the lake region. This was done again on September 12 when, in the framework of the anti-terrorist fight and Mexico뭩 entrance into the Security Council under the theme of environmental security in protected natural areas, the Carib commissioner of communal property demanded the expulsion of the zapatistas from the Northwest part (the Lakes) and from the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. A delegation from the United States Embassy in Mexico (including their military attach�) went in to the area on October 3 and 4 of 2001. On December 18, Deputy Pedro Chul�n, speaking for his party, remonstrated to the Secretary for Indian Peoples, Porfirio Encino, who belongs to ARIC, concerning the demand of all demands, that of dislocating the zapatista populations from that Biosphere Reserve. On Monday, March 25, of this year, the same individual gave a press conference, where he warned that the forests, especially the Montes Azules reserve, were the oxygen and heritage of Humanity, and that was why the zapatista populations settled in that region should be expelled. In addition to this being a change from his previous position concerning the assets of Chiapas, it had come out of the Monterrey summit, even though it had not yet been published in any of the media. This advance could only have been obtained through high level officials of the federal Government.
Following the denunciation of this evidence and alibi, Pedro Chul�n, while not giving up his objectives, did, in fact, move away from this talk and demand, which he has subsequently abandoned. The same thing most likely occurred several weeks earlier, with the PFP option, when he also denounced its presence in Los Altos of Chiapas, then doing somersaults a week from the Monterrey summit, like we are doing today in Johannesburg.
Masked, thus, by the cited bio-sustainable excuse since last year, it is nothing other than a provocation in the shape of the hydrographic drainage perimeter denounced in April (and which drains from the western portion of the Selva Lacandona to the Lacant�n River, the Mexican tributary of the Usumacinta), as well as in the Northwestern region of the area of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (region of the coveted and very diverse lakes). This is also, and most especially, where the Ricardo Flores Mag�n Autonomous Municipality has been warning since February that the Mexican state and its creditor transnational corporations are interested parties who have been attempting, through undercover counterinsurgency actions, to militarize and paramilitarize the region in order to dislocate them. The positioning of camps at El Ocotalito, Monte L�bano, Taniperla, San Caralampio and Calvario by Army units who have entered the state over the last two weeks - and which this Autonomous Municipality is denouncing today - are a sign that this escalation of violence has barely begun, and that it, among other actions, has to do with the mega-resources of regions vital to the PPP [Plan Puebla-Panama] and FTAA [Free Trade of the Americas] [see CIEPAC bulletins for more information on the above - www.ciepac.org ].
The Demands
In response to the incidents cited above, the signatories demand:
To the government of Pablo Salazar - to stop going along with impunity, to stop denying the existence of paramilitary groups which he recognized when he was a legislator, and to fully investigate the denounced incidents, within the framework of common patterns and of responsible parties.
To the government of Vicente Fox - to withdraw the soldiers, who, far from keeping the peace, are encouraging the attacks against the Autonomous Municipalities, and to end the patrols in the area. To not promote foreign investments and environmental protection political budgets within the indigenous territories, which, without the constitutional recognition of the collective rights of the Indian peoples, will only lead to a situation of confrontations, of dislocation and of more discrimination.
To the Congress of the Union and to the Judicial branch - to reverse the indigenous rights and culture law which was approved, in order to make way for the San Andr�s Accords in the form of the COCOPA proposal, recognizing the Peoples as entities of public right, particularly regarding their natural resources and their territories, in the face of the voracity of transnational economic interests who have their eyes on this part of the country.
To the media and civil society in general - to join in the denunciation of the incidents presented, which constitute an attack on the human rights of the indigenous peoples. Silence is an accomplice to discrimination and impunity.
Network of Community Human Rights Defenders
Los Altos Regional Coordinator for Civil Society in Resistance
Promedios
The Voice of Cerro Hueco
Compitch
Education Collective for Peace
Enlace Civil
Junax
Miguel Agust�n Pro Human Rights Center
Fray Bartolom� de las Casas Human Rights Center
Capise
Ocomich
Maderas del Pueblo
Ciepac
Coreco
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