On Tuesday, July 6, a group of members of the CIVIL OBSERVATION NETWORK (RECIO Against the War) visited the indigenous community of La Trinidad, in the Canada of Las Tazas, Municipality of Ocosingo (San Manuel Autonomous Municipality). This brigade was organized for the purpose of visiting that community which had been subjected to a new police-military action on Friday, July 2. According to the information we had, there had been searches of houses without the proper orders, as well as the destruction of some of the residents belongings.
Our trip to La Trinidad was without any incidents more major than the usual hostile attitude on the part of the soldiers at the military checkpoints: Nueva Estrella and El Jordan, where they demanded identification from those who were "freely," as Mexicans, travelling on those roads.
We arrived at La Trinidad at 8:30 AM (rebel time), and we saw two Public Security policemen at the entrance, accompanied by Vicente Perez Castellanos, who, according to people in the area, is the leader of the false zapatista deserters who "purportedly" turned in their weapons to Albores Guillen last March 29. Upon seeing us, they set off towards the inside of the community.
Once we were in the community, the checkpoint established there by Public Security police and others - who were wearing the same colored berets with the same gold insignias - tried to tell us where we should park. We told them, however, that we would see where we would do so. And so we circled around the checkpoint and, crossing the football field, we parked at one side of the ARIC Independent school. There we saw approximately 75 Public Security police officers, doing their training exercises, but they quickly left.
Later, two Public Security policemen approached us, one of them dressed in black, and the other in civilian clothing, and they insisted we identify ourselves, in addition to demanding that we tell them what office we belonged to, and what we had come to do there. The observers group refused to give them that information, arguing that there was no legal basis for them to demand it. One of them responded to this in a threatening manner: "good, now we'll see about the authorities when they talk to you," and they left.
Then, a man of about 40 years of age, and visibly intoxicated, who had a bad injury to his right eye, approached us, and, among the little that could be understood, he said that: "when that van leaves, I know a bridge, and when they see it, the shots will follow." It is worth noting that that man had come from where the checkpoint was installed, and he returned to the same place. While this was going on, we observed Vicente Perez Castellanos, who was going quickly from one house to the other, and he began gathering up some men.
We remained there while waiting for some residents (with whom we had met during the last brigade, that had gone to that community on June 12) who had gone to talk with the families who had been attacked during the previously mentioned operation, in order to see if they wanted to meet with us. They returned shortly and they said there would be some risk if we met with them in their homes or where we were parked. So we proposed meeting with the aggrieved persons in a house on the road right at the entrance to the community.
We got into the van and drove to the place that had been agreed upon, passing the police checkpoint once more that had already questioned us. We could see that several men from the community were gathered together there. We continued on our way, and, some 200 meters past the checkpoint, we stopped in front of the house where we were to have the interviews. While we were waiting for them to let us know we could come in, we saw a group of men from the community armed with sticks. One of them was Vicente Perez Castellanos, and they began rapidly coming towards us.
We proceeded to get back in the van, and the men armed with sticks began running towards us. At the same time a young man - identified by the residents as Vicente Perez Castellanos' son - was hanging around the vehicle without appearing to be suspicious. However, once we were in the van, this young man stopped in front of it with a huge rock in his hands, letting us see that he would block our way, and threatening to throw it through the windshield.
We signalled to the young man to stop, and, when the van started, he stepped to one side and did not throw the rock. Meanwhile, the men armed with sticks were running more quickly towards us. It should be noted that all of this could be seen easily from the police checkpoint, since the distance was very short. We abandoned (we fled) the place then, and we headed towards the neighboring town of San Marcos, where we saw the people we had been unable to interview in La Trinidad.
Given the probability that the people in La Trinidad would have been besieged because of our presence, we decided to withdraw, in order to not cause any problems.
During the 6 hours we remained in San Marcos, we had the opportunity to talk with their residents in order for them to inform us of the situation in that Canada. Their comments were as follows:
- The residents of San Marcos had abandoned their plots that adjoin La Trinidad, because of the constant threats they had received form soldiers, to the effect that they were going to grab them while they were working. We were even able to bear witness to a visibly abandoned field almost at the entrance to La Trinidad, but which still belongs to the people of San Marcos. They were also afraid to leave their communities, because of the threats they had received: "after La Trinidad is trounced, your community is next on the list."
- There are continuous patrols by the army, Public Security and Vicente Perez Castellanos, who, accompanied by his uncle, travels around the area in an ambulance they received when they purportedly turned in their weapons on March 29. These patrols have been going on for a month, and they are carried out by helicopters and by vehicles taking turns. They also inforned us that every night, from 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM, Public Security vehicles are parked close to San Marcos, and they are keeping the area under surveillance.
- This situation has led to the people of the community not being able to carry out their daily activities, including the children's school activities. They also informed us that the police have introduced great amounts of alcohol into La Trinidad, leading to an increase in alcohol consumption in this community.
- Also, while in San Marcos, a man from Las Tazas arrived, in a truck, who, upon reaching La Trinidad, was surrounded by people saying: "Here come the zapatistas." Later, some people from the ARIC said it was not true. He said he had been detained by judicial police in La Trinidad and interrogated as to his person, his origin and his destination. Even when he said he was going fishing, they asked him why he wanted to fish. He also said they questioned him about a rumor that there had been mobilization in Las Tazas and that 500 EZLN insurgents would be arriving. He also added that the people who detained him in La Trinidad - who are in agreement with the judicial police - were all gathered together and very upset by the presence of our observers' group. They even told him they had chased us with rocks. He added that, following the interrogation, they told him: "You can go, but be careful that they don't attack you in the road."
1. It appears evident to us that there is a civilian group in La Trinidad, protected by different governmental forces, that is acting with impunity, stopping people from exercising freedom of movement, interrogating them, threatening them, and even attacking them, as in our case. Also, according to the information we received, they are capable of laying siege to a group of residents and patrolling the roads.
2. We also noticed that the atmosphere in the region - provoked by the establishment and by the hostile attitudes of the various repressive forces of the government, as well as by the threats and patrols by paramilitary groups - are causing great fear among the residents. It has created a constant tension that is seriously affecting the daily life of the region's residents: abandoning their plots; the impossibility of freely travelling the roads; high school absentee rate of students and teachers; an increase in alcohol use; breaking of the social fabric inside the communities because of the polarization of various groups; the fear of being violently interrogated.
3. Lastly, we believe all the above falls within the government's counterinsurgency strategy, thus contradicting their false talk of seeking peaceful solutions to the chiapaneco conflict. It is obvious that there is no other purpose for the progressive and accelerated establishment of military and police forces in the different regions in the state, other than that of creating and giving cover to the illegal actions of PRI-affiliated paramilitary groups. These groups are unilaterally trying to take control of the communities, for ends that serve high level government people.
4. We are demanding of the federal and state governments the immediate withdrawal of police and military forces from the conflict zone in Chiapas, as well as the punishment of those organized civilian groups responsible for committing various criminal acts, and who are subjecting the peole to an atmosphere of terror. We are also demanding that they set aside their strategy of dirty war, abandon their repressive attitudes, uphold the law, and not ignore the Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and a Dignified Peace in Chiapas, that obligates them to negotiate a peaceful solution to the chiapaneco conflict.
5. To the COCOPA, we are demanding that they undertake actions aimed at halting the shameless government offensive and carry out their responsibilities of helping to preserve the peace and the dialogue between the parties in conflict.
6. To national and international Civil Society, we are making an urgent call to carry out any kind of peaceful acitons in protest of the warlike actions being carried out in the indigenous regions by the federal and state governments.
For RECIO Against the War:
Junax; CDH Fray Bartolome de Las Casas; K´inal Antzetik, AC; Coordinadora Regional de Los Altos para La Consulta; Formacion y Capacitacion, AC; Enlace Civil, AC; Aprendamos, AC; Boletin Quincenal Resistencia, Jolom Mayaetik, AC; Colectivo Educacion para la Paz, AC; Alianza Civica, AC; Casa de la Luna Creciente; FZLN-San Cristobal; Brigada Guadalupe Mendez; BrigadaBatik
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Originally published in Spanish by Enlace Civil A.C. <enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org> ____________________________ Translated by irlandesa Date: Thursday, July 8, 1999 18:25:46 -0500 Email: enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org CONSULT OUR WEB PAGE, WITH NEW INFORMATION EVERY 15 DAYS: http://www.enlacecivil.org.mx http://laneta.apc.org/enlacecivil