In answer to the famous Zapatista cry of "Land and Freedom!", the government has once again responded with destruction, looting and bloodshed. The autonomous municipality of San Juan de la Libertad, peacefully established in 1995 by inhabitants who wished to take control of their affairs out of the hands of the PRI, is the latest victim on an infamous list of opposition communities and municipalities scourged by mixed deployments of soldiers and police.
At midnight on June 9th a military/police convoy of over 1000 men departed from Tuxtla Gutiérrez. They assembled at Puerto Cate, in the Northern Zone, to await the dawn and to launch the attack on the rebel municipality that had been announced by the issuing of arrest warrants against 15 local residents, a move seen as a pretext for just such an operation. One unit took the municipal seat at El Bosque, while the rest advanced on the communities of Chavajeval and Unión Progreso, backed up by helicopter cover and a small number of PRI paramilitaries. It was to prove the government's most savage action since the massacre at Acteal in December last year.
CHAVAJEVAL: The confrontation here lasted from six until ten in the morning. After an initial stand-off, military reinforcements arrived at 9am and began machine-gunning the surrounding hills. 56 people were detained and one agent died, with others injured. The operation was brought to a close by heavily armed helicopters and Hummer jeeps raking the hillsides. One of the helicopters was forced to land after a bullet damaged its fuselage.
UNION PROGRESO: Events in this community were clearly influenced by the fact that there were no journalists present at the time of the attack, though a peace caravan did visit later on. On their way into the community the observers met women fleeing, who told them that the attack had begun when state security forces, judicial police, soldiers and members of paramilitary groups entered the community of Los Platanos and began firing shots. They were accompanied by two people with covered faces, who began pointing out individuals to be arrested. More trucks arrived and a total of 47 vehicles headed on towards the community of Unión Progreso. On their arrival the police and army allowed the women to escape through the coffee fields, though the men were detained and held for some time before the majority were allowed to catch up with their families. Returning to the outskirts of the community at 8.30 PM in order to look for water, they were too frightened to return to their houses and spent that night outdoors.
The observers testified that all of the houses of the community had been destroyed and that cattle had been killed. They found the heads of chickens scattered about on the ground. The small community stores had been ransacked and parts from the 3-ton truck - their only transport - had been stolen, making it unusable. Large sums of money to the value of approximately £1000 were also stolen from the stores, and the church and school were destroyed.
8 of the local men were reported by official sources to have died during the raid, but the community categorically affirms that although one man was shot while fleeing, the other seven were taken prisoner with only minor wounds. Their bodies were finally returned to the community 3 days later, so badly mutilated that many of them were unrecognisable even to their own families. "Los Federales" have clearly begun executing their prisoners.