REPORT FROM MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK
DELEGATION TO CHIAPAS

SEPTEMBER 21-28, 2002
This report is the result of a delegation organized by the
Mexico Solidarity Network in response to a call to action
by the Network of Community Human Rights Defenders. As
members of national and international civil society, we
investigated the rising tide of violence directed against
autonomous indigenous communities in the state of Chiapas,
Mexico. The twenty five members of our delegation
represent seven countries: Mexico, United States, Canada,
Germany, England, Denmark, Japan, and Turkey. We are
journalists, documentary filmmakers, photographers,
teachers and students, biomedical researchers and sisters
of the church. Our findings are based on observations
gathered in the autonomous municipality of Olga Isabel,
where we visited the communities of San Antonio de las
Cruces (the municipal capital), K´a Anakil and San Ramon.
We draw the following conclusions from our firsthand
observations.

IMPUNITY
It has been one month since the assassination of Antonio
Mejia Vasquez, a Deacon in the Mission of Chilon, and a
leader in the community of K´a Anakil. Despite public
denouncement of the crime by the community, NGOs and human
rights organizations, the case remains unresolved. Mejia
Vasquez was murdered on August 26, 2002, as he returned
from a meeting of local religious authorities in a
neighboring community. To date, no arrests have been made,
no investigations have been carried out, and eyewitnesses
from K´a Anakil have not been given an opportunity to give
their testimony. Two pieces of evidence implicate the
paramilitary group los Aguilares:

• An eyewitness to the murder identified the assassins as
  three members of the paramilitary group Los Aguilares -
  Sebastian Aguilar, Oscar Aguilar and Nicolas Aguilar.
• A collection of shell casings from the bullets that
  killed Antonia Mejia includes those used exclusively with
  AR-15 rifles. Possession of these weapons is strictly
  limited in Mexico to the army. The leader of Los
  Aguilares, Sebastian Aguilar, is himself a former army
  officer, demonstrating a strong link between Sebastian
  Aguilar and the military.

The crime followed eight months of threats from local
paramilitaries. In conjunction with the lack of response
from local authorities, this illustrates the systemic
impunity enjoyed by paramilitary groups. As a result of
this impunity, autonomous communities live in constant
fear of violence, as evidenced by three other murders of
Zapatista supporters in the past six weeks. The majority
of crimes go unreported due to disillusionment with the
government.

AUTONOMY
Daily life in the autonomous communities of the
municipality of Olga Isabel provides ample evidence that
the system of autonomy is functioning. Staffed by
promoters trained at the regional Aguascalientes,
autonomous schools provide children with an education that
reflects their identity both as Mexicans and Indians,
respecting indigenous forms of knowledge. Local and
regional councils elected by consensus convene regularly
to make decisions impacting the well being of the
communities. Even in this most recent period of rising
violence, the communities continue to demonstrate
incredible resilience in mobilizing collective support in
the face of organized terror.
While the government has failed to acknowledge the murder
of Antonio Mejia, the network of autonomous communities
provides daily support through rotating patrols in the
community of K´a Anakil. Every four days, 15 men from
neighboring autonomous communities arrive in K´a Anakil
with food from their local communities to sustain the
victims of violence and provide constant outside presence
to deter future violence. Facing threats of more violence,
these communities continue to demonstrate their ability to
provide an effective support network that sustains
communal autonomy.

PARAMILITARIES
Despite continuing government assertions that armed
paramilitary groups do not exist in Chiapas, recent
activity in the communities; a Anakil and
Crucero San Antonio indicate that paramilitary groups pose
an active and constant threat to the survival of
autonomous communities. Witnesses to the murder of Antonio
Mejia have identified the perpetrators as members of the
paramilitary group Los Aguilares. Los Aguilares maintain
constant patrols in the area surrounding a 'Anakil',
regularly firing gunshots and threatening to attack
community members should they return to their fields to
work. As a result, community members cannot work their
fields. Los Aguilares patrol the road leading to
'Anakil' between 5 pm and 6 am, rendering it impassable for
community members. They also threaten members of
neighboring autonomous communities who come in support to
'Anakil'. The paramilitaries are contributing to a
perpetual environment of civilian targeted warfare,
designed to wear away the social fabric of autonomous
communities through violence and psychological
intimidation.

MILITARIZATION
The military maintains a constant presence in the
Autonomous Municipality of Olga Isabel. In spite of
numerous demands by indigenous communities and civil
society, demilitarization has not taken place in Chiapas.
We witnessed regular movements of army vehicles on the
road between Bachajon and Chilon during our visit, and
passed several military installations on the roads leading
to these communities.

ECONOMIC CONTEXT
Civilian targeted warfare and destruction of the social
fabric can be understood in the context of transnational
economic development plans such as Plan Puebla Panama.
Federal and state authorities are working closely with
transnational corporations to open Chiapas for development
of transportation corridors, constrution of maquiladoras
and exploitation of natural resources. These developments
benefit international investors at the expense of local
communities. In the autonomous community of Crucero San
Antonio, government trucks arrived on July 2 to pave the
dirt road running through community property. This was
done without consulting the autonomous authorities. They
quickly concluded that the road was not being paved to
benefit them, since none of them own cars, but instead to
facilitate military patrols and those who wish to extract
their natural resources. The community is maintaining a
24-hour roadblock to bar any government or construction
vehicles from entering.

Private ownership of communally controlled lands is key to
the transnational development scheme. In the case of Olga
Isbabel, the most violent disputes can be traced to
control of the land and water recources. While
communities demand respect for their traditions and
customs, including communal ownership of land and natural
resources, governmnet officials promote privatization and
individual land titles through assistance programs
designed to divide traditional community structures.
These programs ultimately benefit transnational
corporations at the expense of the needs of local
communities.