July 9, 1999

ENGLISH VERSION OF "CHIAPAS AL DIA" BULLETIN No. 161

CIEPAC
CHIAPAS, MEXICO
(July 9, 1999)

THE OTHER CHIAPAS IN FIGURES

The situation in the indigenous communities in Chiapas is not a secret to anyone today. The state, national and international media, the Internet and electronic mail from all parts of the world are constantly reporting what we are describing here. We have reviewed the Historic Archives of the former National Intermediation Commission (CONAI), which is made up in very large part of letters from the different communities, who were always asking that body to use their good offices to act as an intermediary with the government for the withdrawal of the police forces from their communities. The analysis here is based on those letters, copies of which were usually forwarded to the corresponding government departments. It is therefore, not a secret to anyone. We are simple taking up the task here of ordering, writing about and interpreting the situation, according to the voices of those without voice.

We know that, as civil society, we have the right and the freedom to know and to write about what affects all of us, independent of whom it is about. That is why we are taking it upon ourselves to talk about the occupation of the chiapaneco land by institutions and police bodies foreign to the indigenous communities and their impact on them.

This is how we discovered that there are 257 military and police checkpoints in Chiapas, distributed in 63 municipalities, or, in 55.85% of all the municipalities in the state. They are distributed in the following manner:

MEXICAN ARMY: They are established in 161 locations in Chiapas, representing 62.64% in relation to the municipalities and places where other bodies are established in the state. It is very difficult to speak of an exact number of soldiers, since there are continuous troop replacements.

PUBLIC SECURITY POLICE: This force is set up in 57 locations in chiapaneco communities, representing 22.17% of the control points counted here.

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION INSTITUTE: This institution increased its level of activities following the Intergalactic Encuentros convoked by the zapatistas in August 1996. After April 11, 1998, however, they set themselves up at strategic points, as a result of the dismantling of the "Ricardo Flores Magon" Autonomous Municipality, in the constitutional municipality of Ocosingo. Twelve Spanish and US foreigners were expelled from there. Today, this body is located in 24 places, representing 9.33%, in relation to the total of the police and military forces present in Chiapas. It would appear that it has carried out the role assigned to it. According to the US organization Global Exchange, in its "Foreigners of Conscience" report: in 1998, 70 foreigners had been expelled from the country prior to the issuing of the report. 144 had been given official departure letters, that is, the official argument being that they had been invited to leave the country, which is nothing more than disguised expulsion. However, those expelled in 1994 should also be remembered, beginning with Frederico (without his last names being remembered today), a Belgian, who was in Chiapas in solidarity, helping the Guatemalan refugee camps. Among others to be noted would be those from 1995-1997 and thus far in 1999. There have been more than 200. The argument that has been used is that they were involved in the country's domestic policies, and Article 133 of the Constitution and the General Residence Law were applied.

PGR and PJE: These forces are present in 13 locations, strategically placed, representing 5.05% of the total. We will not deal here with their establishment in urban areas.

SPECIAL FORCES: Regarding these types of forces, we are referring to Force and Reaction, a dependency of the state Attorney General's Office. They are - according to what we have seen and to reports in the state press - located at the entrance to the Venustiano Carranza municipality and also at the Chivero in the San Cristobal municipality. That is, in two places and representing 0.77% of the total. It should be noted that the information regarding this force is from 1996 and was reported in the state press.

The total number of forces accounted for here is 257. It is possible that there are more forces in place, but this is what has been reported by the communities and reviewed today from the Historical Archive of the former National Intermediation Commission (CONAI).

According to descriptions from the communities - in their letters where they ask for the withdrawal of the army and of other police forces - there are 26 permanent checkpoints in the municipalities of Ocosingo, Las Margaritas, Chenalho, Larrainzar, El Bosque, Palenque and Frontera Comalapa. The other locations are barracks, camps or places from which flights, patrols, military supervision, etcetera, are controlled.

Public Security forces are established in sites throughout the area of zapatista support bases, that is, outside those municipalities taken by the EZLN on January 1, 1994, such as Chenalho in Los Altos, the municipalities of the Northern zone, and others in the Central. Meanwhile, in February 1995, the army took possession of the land that the EZLN had under its control, primarily in the Selva and Los Altos.

Some police and military forces are established in the Coastal and Isthmus zones, as part of the cordon set up to reinforce the containment wall for the undocumented in that zone, whose final destination is the United States. According to reports from the National Immigration Institute, there have been around 28,000 undocumented persons detained and deported to their countries of origin during the first six months of 1999, most of them Central and South Americans.

Some of the Central Valleys do not have as much police and military presence, but they do not need to be controlled politically, since they are already controlled through the Campesino Teachers Solidarity Organization (SOCAMA), that is tied to the PRI

(In order to better visualize what we are describing in this part, we suggest you look at the militarization map on our web page: www.ciepac.org. The green dots correspond to army positions in 1994, the red dots from February 1995 to the present; blue is the Public Security police and yellow the NII).

In June of 1999, a new strategy was begun regarding the conflict in Chiapas: the attempt has been made to destroy the EZLN as the interlocutor for national transformations, and reduce it to a state force, so that their demands would be dealt with locally. This is why the Public Security Police went into action in Las Canadas of the Selva, so that the army would not be so visible. The army has not withdrawn, it has rather formed a containment wall for the State Police. And thus the statement by Governor Roberto Albores, saying to Subcomandante Marcos that it is now "the time to negotiate." In addition to this there has been the federal government policy of promoting reforms in indigenous matters in all the states, in order to invalidate the San Andres Accords and to take away from the Federal Congress the Constitutional reforms regarding the accords signed between the EZLN and the government, in matters of Indigenous Rights and Culture.

OCCURRENCES FROM YEAR TO YEAR

From the time of the armed uprising in January of 1994, through February 1995, the communities reported 74 control points and locations where the army was established, especially around the area controlled by the EZLN.

From February 1995 through December 1996, as a product of the military offensive, the army set up in 94 places, primarily in territory the EZLN had under its control in the Selva Lacandona. There had been an increase of 127.02% since 1994. From January 1997 through June 1998, the army set up in 45 places, primarily in the months of January, February and March [1998], in the Chenalho area, following the Acteal massacre. This represented an increase of 40.69% in militarization and the establishment of police forces compared to the previously noted period. Thus far in 1999, the army and different police forces, public security police and the National Immigration Institute have established themselves in 20 more locations, primarily in the Selva Lacandona, the Northern zone and Los Altos of Chiapas, representing a 10% increase in relation to the previous period noted here.

It is true that the EZLN declared war on the Mexican army on January 1, 1994, and the government has justified the excessive militarization because of that. As long as the EZLN does not withdraw, the army will not be leaving the communities. The number of military personnel is excessive, and their actions are not helping find a solution to the armed conflict. The problem is that the government is not paying any attention to the demands that gave rise to the armed conflict: land, health, education, work, independence, democracy, justice, liberty, housing, food, autonomy, etcetera. The investments - of which there is so much talk - have more to do with counterinsurgency, political favoritism in the run-up to the next election and the feigning of the self disarmament by EZLN members. La Jornada recently revealed, on June 29, 1999, that the Alternative Consultancy A.C. (a purported NGO directed by the sister of Adolfo Orive, the former coordinator of advisors for the Department of Government, and now member of Francisco Labastida Ochoa's campaign team) will be investing 108,860,564 pesos for the Selva Lacandona ( loans from the World Bank to Mexico). This is nothing more than counterinsurgency taxes that hope to rebuild the PRI prior to the elections. It is also an attempt to take support away from the EZLN and to rebuild the Rural Association of Collective Interests (ARIC) Official. The latter have been the shock troops against the zapatistas, the ARIC Independent and Democratic and the Union of Unions, among others, who make up the Coalition of Autonomous Organizations of Ocosingo (COAO) and the CIOAC in the region of Las Margaritas.

THE MUNICIPALITIES WITH THE GREATEST PRESENCE

The municipalities with the greatest police and military presence are Ocosingo, with 37; Chenalho, 27; Las Margaritas, 20; Tila, 20; Venustiano Carranza, 10; San Cristobal de Las Casas, 9; Palenque, 8; Angel Albino Corzo, 7; Motozintla, 6; Altamirano, 5; Cintalapa, 5; Tapachula, 5; San Andres Larrainzar, 4 and Sabanilla, 4.

THE IMPACT OF A RECKLESS STRATEGY

In the Economic Arena:

Destruction of maize, beans, coffee harvests, and others. Creation of an artificial market for street vendors and for those women who wash clothes for the police forces; at the checkpoints, the continuous searches of basic needs items that the indigenous buy in the municipal seats; control of the sale of basic needs products in rural CONASUPO shops, that is, the store manager asks for identification and sells without any problems to those with PRI credentials; excessive felling of trees for the construction of military barracks and camps; invasion of communal lands without the indigenous having the opportunity to reclaim them; delivery of aid to communities who are identified with, or who are members of, the PRI; delivery of sweets and money to minors, in order for them to inform on those who belong to the EZLN or to independent organizations; transfer of the communities' coffee harvests to the municipal seats for their marketing, among other things; and the establishment of a police military encirclement of growing lands.

In the Political Arena:

Harassment and repression of communities who do not belong to the PRI; control of strategic roads and highways through permanent and intermittent checkpoints; location of leaders of opposition campesino organizations; intimidation of the communities' catechists and religious authorities; constant overflights and patrols; support for Public Security Police and PRI groups in the dismantling of Autonomous Municipalities, among other things.

In the Social Arena:

Introduction of alcoholism, drug addiction and prostitution into the communities; with the consequent resulting venereal and infectious diseases; the depositing of garbage and condoms in the streams; delivery of economic aid, food, haircuts, the painting of schools, medical services, etcetera, especially to PRI members; the inducement of girls and women in the rural communities into prostitution; accompanying PRI members and Public Security Police when they have taken over and destroyed Catholic Churches belonging to the Diocese of San Cristobal; there are various places where they are installed in schools, occupying a space where the classrooms should be being used by children, among other things. It is sufficient to mention the example of the Health Center in the municipal seat of Sabanilla, that is converted, today, into a Public Security Police detachment.

The consequences for the communities have been: the breaking of the community social fabric; the breaking of the unity of social organizations and worsening of internal conflicts; the creation of a military siege and a siege of hunger, that seeks to weaken the resistance of the indigenous peoples and communities; an attempt to control traditional and religious authorities, for the purpose of wresting strength and authority from the Diocese of San Cristobal; creating fear and terror among the people, for the purpose of undermining moral resistance; at the same time, destroying the values that give unity and strength to the communities; increase in human rights violations; increase in illiteracy; increase in crime rates and social backwardness in the communities, among many other things.

GENERAL COMMENTS

The problem of militarization has structural causes, that is, as the Mexican government and the PRI have been losing consensus within the population, there are more obstacles in place for implementation and operation of the neoliberal program. One of those obstacles is the struggle and resistance of the indigenous peoples in opposition to the Free Trade Treaty [NAFTA], signed between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Militarization is not just a problem in Chiapas. It exists all over the country, especially in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Puebla, Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potosi, Monterrey, and others. Whether or not insurgent movements exist, social discontent is increasing in the country, with the official response being the occupation of indigenous and non-indigenous lands. The military is increasingly occupying spaces in institutions responsible for public security. The clearest example of this is that of the 5000 soldiers recently transferred to the preventive police (Excelsior, 7/9/99).

Responding to the demands of social organizations and of various sectors of society with militarization is not the solution. On the contrary, it leads to polarization in society, the creation of vacuums that are filled primarily by criminals and organized crime. It is enough to mention the recent "assault" on the Presidential General Staff and a Public Security barracks. Militarization and the creation of more police forces will not do away with this problem. The culture of corruption must be eradicated, the repression, the deception and the lie, in all spheres and at all levels of government in the country. The measures taken up to now have been ineffective. On the contrary, they have caused a greater deterioration, not just in social relations, but also in the government police forces, such as the SEDESOL and the NII in the Selva. These groups are nothing more than white elephants, without credibility or trust, because they have only served to strengthen the PRI. One of the most serious threats is the underlying threat of a war of greater magnitude and its social consequences. Acting out of a thirst for revenge, or treating organizations and communities as enemies, is not the solution either. They are Mexican citizens, after all, who do not agree with the way of life they have. They want to change, and the solution to their problems should be effected without political cronyism. They should be treated as human beings, in all aspects. The disarmament show and the announcement of great investment programs are only cosmetics for the government's image, not solutions to the ancestral causes which have given rise to a series of conflicts.

Onesimo Hidalgo

Center of Economic and Political Investigations of Community Action, A.C.
CIEPAC
CIEPAC, member of the "Convergence of Civil Organizations for Democracy" National Network (CONVERGENCIA)

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Translated by irlandesa for CIEPAC, A.C.
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_________________________________________________________________________ 

CIEPAC, A.C.
Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Political Action
Eje Vial Uno Numero 11
Col. Jardines de Vista Hermosa
29297 San Cristobal, Chiapas, MEXICO

Telephone/Fax:  In Mexico:      01 967 85832
Outside Mexico:      +52 967 85832.

_____________________________________________________________________
CIEPAC, A.C.
Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria
Eje Vial Uno Número 11
Col. Jardines de Vista Hermosa
29297 San Cristóbal, Chiapas, MEXICO

Tel/Fax:        en México       01 967 85832
                fuera de México +52 967 85832
Página Web:     www.ciepac.org
________________________________________________________________________


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