Sunita Chethik - Global Exchange Volunteer
Matthias Schmidt - Peace Camp Volunteer
(Fray Bartolome)
This report covers the period from 12/8/95-1/6/95.
Since the month of July, 1995, an increase in the amount of soldiers and military equipment in the military checkpoint in front of La Union (called El Jordan) has been observed. When Sunita was in La Union in July, she observed 2 soldiers and one jeep at the checkpoint. As of January 1996, we observed approximately 15 armed soldiers with a tank and two vehicles in the checkpoint, and on the other side of the road, a military encampment with 4 large trucks and some tents. At the checkpoint, they asked for our identification, our destination, how many days we were going to stay, and they asked some people if they worked with an organization. Everyone said they were tourists, being very selective about what information was given, and they recorded the information in a notebook. The soldiers behaved in a routine manner, and were not aggressive. During our stay in the peace camp, we observed regular flights over the canadas of small private planes, and surveillance flights of military helicopters 3-4 times per week. On 1/2/96, pairs of military helicopters were observed making surveillance flights over the area six times in one day. It is important to note that on this day,Ja week long Zapatista celebration was ending in the nearby community of La Garrucha, and many people were returning to their places of origin.
On Dec. 12, 1995, a pregnant woman from the community began to have severe abdominal pains but was unable to give birth, and it was necessary to send her in an emergency private plane to the hospital in Ocosingo. The observers paid for the plane because the community had no money. At 6:00 am on Dec. 13, the community called the pilot by radio to come for the woman, but the plane did not arrive until 11:00 am. The pilot was extremely rude, it didn't seen to matter that the woman was about to die, he only wanted his money, and became angry when he learned that 3 people were going to accompany the woman to the hospital. After receiving medical attention in Ocosingo, the woman died. She was the mother of 4 children. On December 23, the leaders of the community told us they were extremely worried that the army was going to enter into the community on Jan. 1, 1996 and look for weapons in people's houses. This was a rumor that was being passed on by members of ARIC Oficial (There are two ARICs--one, ARIC Independiente, that is sympathetic to the Zapatista movement, and one, ARIC Oficial, that is supported by the government.) and seemed to be circulating throughout the area. The men of the community were planning to leave on this day, and the community was planning to hide their medicines and valuables so that the soldiers would not steal them as they had done before.
On Dec. 30, we received the news from ARIC Oficial that the army was not going to look for arms, they were invited to come to a party and BBQ on the ARIC Oficial side (The town is literally divided between the two ARICs). The members of ARIC Oficial thought that the Zapatistas were going to attack them on Jan. 1, 1996 and so they invited the army to a party. The community on the side of ARIC Independiente was very alarmed and asked that each observer sleep in the house of one of the community leaders on the night of Dec. 31, 1995. On Dec. 31, both sides had their parties. The ARIC Oficial side spent a large quantity of money to hire a live band for 3 days, provide a cow for the BBQ, alcohol, a soccer tournament and a special ceremony to inaugurate the new president of ARIC Oficial, Antonio Mendez, who is originally from La Union. The army never arrived to either side of La Union. It is important to note here, according to reports from La Jornada, that the Mexican Army, receiving the news that the EZLN was planning military marches on Jan. 1, 1996 to commemorate 2 years since the uprising, interpreted this as a hostile intent, and indeed was planning to enter the communities on Jan. 1.
On Dec. 29, 1995, an agreement was signed between the EZLN leadership and the Mexican government that the EZLN would cancel their marches and the army would not invade the communities. Another concern that the community had was for the safety of one of the Mexican observers, Elsa, who has been staying in the peace camp since July 95, but left temporarily on Dec. 14. According to some family members of the community that were on the side of ARIC Oficial, the soldiers had asked them if Elsa had arrived to some of the other communities, that they suspected her to be a Zapatista Comandante because she was continually bringing new arrivals to the peace camp, and they were planning to enter into the peace camp to investigate and 'evict' the observers if Elsa was to return. We interpret these rumors, along with the current immigration sweep, as more intimidation tactics being used by the Mexican government to discourage observers, both national and international, from participating in the peace camps.
There is no formal schooling for the children in La Union. When Sunita was there formerly in July, about 15 children arrived daily for instruction which was provided by the peace camp volunteers. Now, only about 3-6 children arrive, and not one a regular basis. The observers worked with the children in basic math and literacy skills. The children asked regularly for math assignments but did not seem interested in reading or writing, even though new materials had just arrived. We also did special projects with the children including making our own maps of the world and of Mexico.
One member of the community has had formal training as a school teacher, and was teaching in Ocosingo before the uprising. He is bilingual in Tzeltal and Spanish, but is the only person in his family able to work the fields, and without the support of the community, chooses not to work in the school. The school lacks continuity of instruction, the volunteers come and go and are not trained in education. The majority of the children of La Union seem to have lost interest in attending school. The community member said he would teach the school if he had the support of the community and if material and economic support were provided for the school.
In July, over half of the community of La Union reported having symptoms of malaria. According to the leader of the community, after receiving the packages of requested medicines that were sent by Sunita in August, the affected people were able to cure themselves of the malaria, and they had also eradicated most of the skin diseases that were present during the summer. A large shipment of medicines from Conpaz had recently arrived which consisted mostly of different types of antibiotics. The community clinic still lacks medical equipment for physical examinations, and also may have to look for a new health promoter because the present promoter may leave the community.
The parents of a two year old girl that has been diagnosed by a Conpaz doctor as having Cerebral Palsy sent a request to Conpaz via the observers for economic support to take the child out of the community to a special hospital which can provide treatment for the child. The request has been granted by Conpaz, and Sunita has offered to accompany the child and a family member to the hospital in Mexico City when the arrangements are made.
On Dec. 15, 1995, the community of San Antonio (side of ARIC Independiente) requested that the observers from the peace camp of La Union come to help them fill out some forms that were sent to them by the electric company, regarding a request to bring electricity to the communities in the area that they had made prior to the uprising of 1994. The company wanted a map of the ejido with all of the names of the residents of the community and the names of the leaders of the community, supposedly in order to form an 'electricity committee.' The copies of the forms were going to go to the company, and also state and federal administration offices. When the observers saw the quantity of forms and the type of information that was being requested, they asked the community if they wanted this information to go to state and federal offices, and the community decided not to fill out the forms because of the security risk. The company has sent these same types of forms to other communities in the area and so far, nothing has been done. According to the members of La Union, before the uprising in 1994, a group of engineers had made plans to build a hydro electric plant on the river for the communities of La Union, San Antonio, and Las Tazas, but the plans were canceled when the conflict began because of the division of the communities, no one can agree on how to pay or how to divide the work involved.
On Jan. 6, 1996, Sunita and Matthias left the peace camp at 4:00 am, avoiding contact with the soldiers in the military checkpoint of El Jordan, and we had the luck to find an empty truck going to Ocosingo. When we arrived at the immigration check point outside of Ocosingo, we ducked down in the truck bed, and were not seen by the immigration officials, and were able to arrive safely without incident.
/* ---------- "Global Exchange Peace Camp Report" ---------- */ From: Global Exchange <globalexch@igc.apc.org>