What was once one of the primary military counterinsurgency camps in the Selva Lacandona was left, at noon today, a mountain of old wood, garbage bins and ashes, scattered over two hectares of the military settlement, which is located just 15 kilometers from the zapatista community of La Realidad, municipality of Las Margaritas, and which had been occupied for four years by the 9th Regiment of Motorized Cavalry.
In a surprise move, some 200 members of the Mexican Army dismantled 15 homes, offices, a kitchen and lookout posts, and they rapidly abandoned the Ri'o Euseba military camp, one of the seven military points that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has demanded for the resumption of peace talks with the federal government.
In two days, the houses disappeared, bathrooms were dismantled, General Carlos Valle's provisional office went up in smoke, and the kitchen was still burning on Wednesday afternoon. Some 30 soldiers were keeping watch on the other side of the river - in front of what had been the military camp - over more than a dozen military vehicles who were preparing to depart for the municipal seat of Ocosingo.
A reduced group of soldiers will keep watch for the next few days over the cement buildings built by the Mexican Army on the opposite side of the camp for the use of commanders and administration. These facilities will be handed over in the next few days so that they can be converted into the principal headquarters of the Rio Euseba indigenous development center, according to the military.
In contrast, there were no troop movements noted at the Guadalupe Tepeyac camp, and the facilities remain intact. According to military sources, La Garrucha camp, a military settlement which is located in the Patihuitz ca~ada, will be abandoned before the weekend.
Ri'o Euseba, the Fifth Camp Abandoned
There is not one single soldier in the entirety of what had been the Ri'o Euseba camp. Silence has taken over the corners, transformed into a great garbage dump.
The sign which announced the Ri'o Euseba camp, which had hung from a small tree which had served as an arch, has disappeared. Some 12 condoms made in Dothan, Alabama stand out among the trash which has not been consumed by the fire. The ashes are still hot.
A group of reporters managed to penetrate the camp for the first time. The Ri'o Euseba camp has been being dismantled for the last two days.
The soldiers did not have time to take various cooking objects. They abandoned a dozen toilet bowls. The main part of the paneling used for General Carlos Valle's living quarters and offices were piled up at one end of the military settlement.
During the trip, it could be verified that most of the barbed wire used for the trenches had been scattered throughout the two-hectare area. The soldiers destroyed the water system that had been built for their use, but they left intact what could be a small rest area.
Three hours after the camp had been abandoned by some 200 soldiers, indigenous in the area began visiting it - as did journalists - surprised by the sudden departure of Mexican Army forces. Crossing the river, some 12 Hummer artillery vehicles and two trucks loaded with furniture from the administrative offices would be abandoning, at dawn on Thursday, the only building made of cement.
The Ri'o Euseba military camp is one of the last camps established by the Mexican Army during its uninterrupted advance made during President Ernesto Zedillo's government. It was created four years ago by the Canador Group. Its occupants were soldiers from Ninth Regiment of the Motorized Cavalry.
Life Goes On the Same in Guadalupe Tepeyac
The Mexican Army is maintaining the military facilities at Guadalupe Tepeyac intact. Daily life in the military facilities of this town, which was abandoned by its residents six years ago, "is normal," according to the soldiers themselves and some of the new nurses who have arrived at the Mexican Social security Institute, with great activity now.
None of the areas in which the Guadalupe Tepeyac military camp - located on the highway which joins this town with La Realidad - is divided have experienced any modifications.
At the main facilities, located outside the town, some ten Hummers are being checked by mechanics. A dozen soldiers are watching the main entrance to the most important military facilities - the other is San Quinti'n - established in the Selva Lacandona.
At the other end, the improvised wood housing is still standing. Some thirty soldiers are playing, and others are preparing food. Nothing in Guadalupe Tepeyac has changed. Here, everything goes on the same.
Of the seven positions demanded by the EZLN in order to return to the negotiating table, the military barracks of Guadalupe Tepeyac, in the municipality of Las Margaritas, is the only one which the Department of National Defense is still studying as to whether or not it will be abandoned, because of its strategic location. It is located 18 kilometers from the zapatista community of La Realidad, considered to be the zapatistas' headquarters.
Guadalupe Tepeyac was, for 13 months - from January of 1994 to February of 1995 - the main headquarters of the Clandestine Committee of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Its residents abandoned it when the Mexican Army penetrated zapatista towns in the conflict zone in February of 1995. Its residents are currently living in the mountains, in the area of the Montes Azules biosphere.
Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada ______________________ Translated by irlandesa