Chiapas crackdown continues
By Dara MacNeil
The Mexican regime seems determined to continue its crackdown on
dissident communities in the rebel territories of Chiapas. On 12
April the Mexican army dismantled a newly-constructed rebel
community, which was founded and run by supporters of the
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN).
The EZLN launched a revolt throughout the southern Mexican state
of Chiapas, on New Year's Day 1994. Much of the territory remains
in the hands of EZLN communities, despite the huge military
presence in the area and the army's ongoing campaign of
low-intensity warfare.
Central to EZLN strategy since the January 1994 uprising has been
the construction of a network of alternative settlements, wherein
the inhabitants have withdrawn recognition from the regime in
Mexico City and transferred their allegiance to the broader
Zapatista movement.
Although existing within the broader EZLN construct, the
settlements are frequently autonomous and self-governing. They
are self-declared liberated zones. As such the very existence of
the settlements poses both an ideological and physical threat to
the authority of Mexico's one-party state.
The gravity of this threat is made clearer by the fact that the
settlements are frequently inhabited and run by indigenous
peoples - the poorest and most discriminated against section of
Mexican society.
The new settlements also weaken the hold of the authorities over
the people of Chiapas where, traditionally, control of towns and
villages was in the hands of the local `cacique' - an officially
backed boss who kept the area safe for the authorities in return
for undisputed local control. Many caciques are large landowners,
or members of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
In the latest attack on this parallel society, the Mexican army
moved against the newly-established town of Ricardo Flores Magon
on 12 April detaining 19 people, the majority being overseas
observers and supporters of the EZLN.
The town had been founded a mere two days previously, on 10
April. In excess of 800 soldiers and police were involved in the
operation.
Eight of the arrested were Mexican, while the remainder were
Belgian, Spanish, Canadian and North American citizens.
Mexican authorities classified the settlement as ``illegal''
because it had been established without official authorisation.
It is expected the 11 foreigners arrested will be deported from
the country. The fate of the eight detained Mexicans remains
unknown, though it is likely they will be subjected to far a
harsher sanction than that meted out to the 11 non-Mexicans.
The government's dirty war against the Zapatista movement has
ranged from simple harassment of EZLN activists, to the
destruction of local communities and the murder of suspected
sympathisers.
Most notorious was the 22 December massacre of 45 indigenous, in
Acteal, Chiapas. The massacre claimed the lives of nine men, 21
women and 15 children. All were unarmed. Many were refugees from
previous army assaults.
Those that had fled their homes for the relative safety of the
area around Acteal knew their exile was, in all likelihood, a
permanent one. It is the practice of the military to seize the
possessions of the refugees and distribute them among the
paramilitary death squads run by local landowners, with the
support of the military.
Cattle, clothes, domestic utensils - anything left behind by the
refugees is divided up among their persecutors.
This form of wealth redistribution - from poor to rich - has long
been a characteristic of Mexico's one-party state. It serves both
as a reward for the paramilitary death squads for their fealty to
the state, and an object lesson in state power for those who may
behave otherwise.
It was the members of one such paramilitary band which carried
out the 22 December massacre, another more salutary example of
the power of the state.
Given the heavily-militarised nature of Chiapas it would be
laughable to suggest the military knew nothing of the planned
massacre. Indeed, so widespread was the belief of official
complicity in the killings that the authorities were forced to
act.
On 2 April, the Mexican army `handed over' a soldier accused of
training the paramilitary gunmen that carried out the Acteal
massacre.
This is the first occasion on which the army has admitted,
implicitly, its involvement in the establishment and maintenance
of the locally-recruited murder squads. The Acteal massacre had
been attributed to a grouping which operated under the cover name
of Red Mask.
No doubt the soldier will serve as a scapegoat for the activities
of his superiors and those that direct the campaign of attrition
from the safety of Mexico City.
Meanwhile, as the authorities attempt to present the Chiapas
insurgents as the greatest threat ever faced by the regime,
recent occurrences would tend to suggest that the real threat
emanates from within the ranks of officialdom itself.
In late March, four members of the staff of the country's
Attorney General were arrested and charged with membership of a
highly-organised and lucrative criminal gang. One of the four was
a senior member of the Attorney General's staff.
The four were accused of robbery, extortion and kidnapping. The
latter activity was perhaps their most lucrative and involved the
abduction of wealthy businessmen, who were released only upon
payment of a large ransom.
The kidnapping racket also appeared to have involved the security
staff at Mexico City's international airport. The security staff
had also developed their own drug-smuggling operation at the
airport.
Meanwhile, at least 12 senior members of the Mexican military are
suspected of involvement with the country's powerful drug
cartels. The twelve are the subject of arrest warrants, issued
from the same Attorney General's office. Also wanted are members
of the police force.
The military members are accused of cooperation with the Juarez
drug cartel, based in the north of the country. Already jailed in
General Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo, for his part in drug-smuggling
operations. The military and police facilitated the transport of
drugs, in return for protection money.
In addition, several family members of former Mexican president
Carlos Salinas are also serving time, both for drug related
activities and embezzlement. Salinas fled Mexico shortly after
his term of office finished, in 1994. He later turned up in
Dublin, where he has been living since. Although Salinas faces no
formal charge, millions of Mexicans have signed petitions
demanding he be returned home to face allegations similar to
those that have landed family members in jail.
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