Sample letter:

Send us an e-mail to sign on: make sure you provide your name, address, city and e-mail.

To Governor Pablo Salazar Mendeguchia
To President Vicente Fox
To International Civil Society

We, the undersigned members of international civil society, express our deep concern for the recent resurgence in paramilitary violence in Chiapas, particularly in the autonomous communities and municipalities which are Zapatista support bases. We also wish to express our outrage that the recent violence has served as a pretext to re-militarize the autonomous zones of the state while the perpetrators of these violent acts live in impunity.

The following are a few cases that have been brought to our attention:

On July 31, forty armed men affiliated with the paramilitary group
Organization for Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDIC) entered
the Culebra Ejido in the autonomous municipality of Ricardo Flores Magon and
seriously wounded seven Zapatista supporters who were building a school.
While the wounded were able to identify their attackers, no official
investigation has been opened.

On August 7, Jose Lopez Santis, an autonomous authority, was assassinated in
front of his children. The children identified the killers, but no official
action has been taken.

On August 19, 200 people affiliated with OPDIC attacked a Zapatista
checkpoint set up to intercept illegally felled trees and stolen vehicles.
Four Zapatista supporters suffered gunshots wounds and one was kidnapped.
No official investigation has been opened.

On August 25, Lorenzo Martinez Espinosa, a spokesman for the Ricardo Flores
Magon autonomous community, and Jacinto Hernandez Gutierrez, an autonomous
agrarian expert, were killed by paramilitaries. Authorities have not
arrested anyone.

On August 26, paramilitaries from with the PRI-affiliated “Los Aguilares”
(the Eagles) murdered Antonio Mejia, identified as a Zapatista leader.
While his wife was able to identify the killers, none have been arrested.

We demand:

• Prosecution of paramilitary groups for the above-listed attacks and
  murders.
• Respect for autonomous municipalities, communities, ejidos, ranches and
  the elected authorities that represent them.
• Passage of an Indigenous Law that reflects the original spirit of the San
  Andres Accords and respects international norms with regard to the national
  treatment of indigenous groups.
• Immediate removal of Mexican army troops from autonomous municipalities and the rest of Chiapas.

Respectfully submitted,
Mexico Solidarity Network