EYEWITNESS REPORT ON THE ATTEMPT BY THE MEXICAN ARMY TO ENTER MORELIA

by Christopher Day

The rocks rained down on the soldiers in their trucks as the women and children called them murderers, devils and sons of whores. The women and children of Morelia, armed only with sticks, rocks and determination, chased over a hundred US armed Mexican Federal Army soldiers from the outskirts of their community on Thursday January 8.

Morelia is a Zapatista community and the site of one of the five "Aguascalientes" constructed by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) as a center for popular democratic assemblies of the Zapatista communities as well as for regional, national and international gatherings. Since an incursion by the Army earlier in the week most of the men in the community have fled to the mountains leaving the streets quiet and the women in charge of defending the community from further incursions. There had been a false alarm the night before. January 7 was the fourth anniversary of the summary execution of three members of the community by the Army in 1994. The people have good reason for calling the soldiers of the Mexican Army "murderers." The community was gathered in the Aguascalientes for a somber commemoration when it was announced that the soldiers were approaching. The Zapatistas have an effective communications system that gives them considerable advance warning whenever the army approaches. Within minutes a crowd of about 70 women and children armed only with sticks and stones was gathered at the entrance to the town where they blocked the road and prepared to face down the army. After a couple hours no soldiers had appeared and it was announced that they had turned around and returned to Altamirano. People returned to their homes and went to sleep.

The second alarm that soldiers were approaching Morelia was sounded at about 8 in the morning. Within minutes the women and children had gathered again at the entrance to the community. For two hours we allwaited for the 7 trucks full of soldiers en route from Altamirano that had been spotted by the Zapatistas. Finally it was announced that they had stopped their approach and parked in a soccer field outside Altamirano. The women and most of the children returned to the community, leaving the observers from the Civil Encampment for Peace on the road with a handful of young boys. Shortly before 11:30 we were told that the soldiers were approaching again. The boys ran back to the community. While they were gone the military trucks arrived and stopped about 100 meters from the entrance to Morelia where we were standing.

Within minutes the women and children of Morelia were running down the road. Their fury was palpable. Women no more than 4'8" with babies on their backs waved sticks of all sizes. The children gathered stones. They cursed the soldiers in Spanish that would make a sailor blush. Their eyes were filled with rage. The army would not be entering Morelia without a serious fight. As soon as they had all gathered at the entrance to the community the trucks began to turn around. This was a victory but the people of Morelia were not going to let the Army get away with this naked provocation so easily. They immediately began to charge the trucks, waving their sticks and throwing their stones even though the trucks were well out of range and beating a hasty retreat.

The road into Morelia is in terrible shape and the military trucks could only move so fast. They were faster than the people but they remained in sight for a very long time. For about a kilometer and a half the women and children of Morelia pursued the trucks filled with soldiers, all the while cursing them at the top of their lungs and waving their sticks. Then the military convoy stopped. It took a while for the women and children to regather their forces, but once they had a group of about thirty the assault on the soldiers began. The women began to surround the trucks at the rear of the convoy and beat on them with their sticks while a barrage of rocks came down on the soldiers. As more and more people from the community arrived the assault continued.

At about this time some representatives of the Zapatista-sympatheitic PRD municipal government in Altamirano arrived. They sought to calm down the people of Morelia while attempting to get the Army to withdraw again. It was at this point that we were first able to determine the rough size of the convoy. It included three large trucks with 21 soldiers each and six smaller trucks with 7 soldiers a piece. There was also a Seguridad Publica pickup truck with a member of the Federal Judicial Police (PJF) and about four other men wearing civilian clothes but carrying rifles. The PJF officer was wearing a jacket that read "NARCOTICO" on the back. After a brief standoff period the military convoy began to drive off again. For a second time the women and children pursued the trucks, shaking their sticks and pelting the soldiers with rocks. They pursued the convoy for another kilometer and a half where it stopped again. The scene repeated itself. By this time a small group of men from Morelia who had come out in trucks were taking up the rear of the crowd, but it was the women who carried out the offensive. Again municipal officials from Altamirano (apparently including the municipal president) attempted to calm the situation. Finally it was agreed that if the Army withdrew the community would stop pursuing them down the road.But the crowd chased the departing trucks a few dozen yards before stopping their pursuit.

Exhausted and with half a days worth of work to catch up on, the crowd turned around and began the long trek back home.

The attempt by the Army to enter Morelia is part of a intensifying campaign of military harrasment of Zapatista communities that began on January 3. The army has entered many Zapatista communities in blatant violation of the Federal law on the peace process that strictly prohibits such actions. These actions seem designed to eventually provoke some sort of military response from the Zapatistas that would then serve as a pretext for even more aggressive military action. It also seems that international human rights observers are being targetted by these actions. On January 7 the Army entered the community of La Union and attempted to take two human rights observers with the Civile Encampment for Peace into custody. They were only prevented from doing so when the members of the community came out with sticks, stones and machetes and experessed their determination to fight to keep the observers in their community.

The presence of a PJF officer wearing a NARCOTICO jacket is also significant. The government is attempting to construct some sort of grounds for defining its actions against the Zapatistas as anti-narcotics actions. For example, they claim to have found a small quantity of marijuana along with a supposed Zapatista arms cache in Altamirano. Since much of the new weaponry, vehicles and other equipment being used in these actions is from the US and may have been provided exclusively for use in anti-drug operations, the presence of Mexican narcotics agents in these actions should be seen as serving propaganda purposes. As anyone who has visted the Zapatista communities knows they are probably the most drug free areas in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to demanding an end to all US military assistance to Mexico, activists in the US should demand an investigation into the use of equipment provided for anti-drug opeartions in the current military operations against the Zapatistas and a return of all such aid if evidence of misuse is discovered.

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