Contents

1. Introduction
   
2. Visas and Travel by Foreigners in Mexico
   
3. Background
   
4. Eyewitness Reports
   
5. Afterword
   

Introduction

On July 2, 1998, eighty-six members of the Tri-National Friendship Delegation arrived in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Mexico's southern-most state of Chiapas. The Mexico Solidarity Network, a coalition of 58 organizations from the United States and Canada, organized the delegation. The group spent one week in Chiapas.

The delegation represented a diverse cross-section of communities across North America, spanning 23 US states and two Canadian provinces, and included ten Native Americans from the United States and Canada. Representatives from the religious community included a Catholic priest, two Sisters of St. Francis, the director of the Strategic Pastoral Action Network, and two members of the Michigan Faith and Resistance Peace Teams. Four Canadian delegates came from Montreal and British Columbia. Also included were two Professors from Northwestern University; a professor from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa; a professor from Princeton; a father-daughter-son team from Boulder, Colorado; a representative of Doctors for Global Health from Syracuse, NY; and a doctor from Berkeley, California.

Visas and Travel by Foreigners in Mexico

The delegation arrived in Mexico during a government campaign against foreigners in Chiapas, which began shortly after the December, 1997 massacre by paramilitaries of 45 unarmed peasants in the town of Acteal. PRI officials and police were implicated in the massacre, resulting in the arrest of the mayor and the forced resignation of the state governor. Rather than address the issue of paramilitary violence, the Zedillo administration has blamed the problems in Chiapas on the continued presence of foreign human rights observers.

Since January of 1998, about 150 foreign nationals have been expelled from Mexico, including at least seven from the US, and the Mexican government has tightened restrictions on visitors involved in human rights or humanitarian aid work. Human rights observers are required to provide copies of previously published human rights reports, be members of recognized human rights organizations with a history of at least five years, and provide a detailed itinerary of planned meetings including the names of intended interviewees. Human rights observers must request special FM-3 visas to enter Mexico 60 days in advance of their trip and are allowed to spend only ten days in the country in groups no larger than ten people.

According to instructions published by Mexican Consulates throughout the US, the FM-3 visa is "a 365 days (sic) multiple entry visa for business or technical support." As of this writing, the Mexican Assembly of Deputies has not approved the use of FM-3 visas for human rights work, yet the Mexican government requires that foreigners involved in such work apply for these visas.

The Mexican government uses FM-3 visas to drastically reduce access by foreign human rights observers to Chiapas, with the intention of hiding human rights abuses from world opinion. In recent months many established human rights workers have been denied visas, including Ted Lewis of Global Exchange, Tom Hansen of the Mexico Solidarity Network and dozens more. In some cases FM-3 visas are issued 24 hours or less before the intended departure date, allowing the Mexican government to claim that the visas are being issued but effectively preventing the recipient from traveling to Mexico.

The Tri-national Friendship Delegation abided by Mexican immigration laws, paying particularly close attention to article 33 of the Mexican Constitution, which prohibits foreign involvement in Mexico's internal politics. As a friendship delegation traveling at the invitation of the indigenous communities visited, the delegates utilized standard tourist visas, which allow participation in cultural and educational exchanges.

Although no members of the Delegation were deported, the expulsion of foreigners continues. Two weeks after the return of the delegation, Mexican authorities deported Peter Brown, a 56-year-old school teacher from San Diego, for helping to build a school in an indigenous community, an act which the Zedillo administration found in violation of the Mexican constitution. Delegates Visited 34 Indigenous Communities At the invitation of indigenous peoples throughout the state of Chiapas, delegates visited 34 communities in 14 municipios (the rough equivalent of counties): Moises Gandi, Colonia Virginia, Morelia, San Pedro Guerrero, Jalisco, 10 de Abril, Nueva Esperanza, La Garrucha, Patihuitz, San Antonio de las Delicias, Palenque, Roberto Barrios, Nueva Merida, Nicolas Ruiz, Navil, Chilon, Bachajon, Taniperla, Pimientas, Santa Rosalina de Comitan, Albores de Zapata, Seis de Marzo, Chicomuselo, San Jose, Oventic, San Antonio el Brillante, El Bosque, Union Progreso, Polhó, Acteal, Tzajalchen, Tinitaria, Chihuahua, and La Realidad.

The delegation divided into ten groups of approximately eight people, with each sub-delegation visiting several communities. Delegates were able to visit all of the communities on their itinerary; however, after receiving threats from PRI-affiliated villagers in Taniperla, one group decided not to spend the night in the community as planned.

In addition, delegates visited Cerro Hueco, the state prison in Tuxtla Gutierrez, but were denied entry. Prison officials stated that foreigners were not allowed in the prison, although three days previous a delegation of five US citizens led by Congressmen Gutierrez and Rush were able to visit the prison.