We were up and ready to get into the van by 8:00 am. One of the young missionaries accompanied us this day. We drove north and uphill through Chenhalo to Acteal. We drove past the Zapatista village and the Mexican military camp. Quick trip. What a contrast to 1998 when there were military roadblocks, and we had to show our passports and get out of the van.
The first thing I notice is that the steps down to the community are paved, when before they were dirt. The next thing I notice is that there is a new church. Fresh but not too well built. And the third thing is that there is an assembly area built above the crypts for the fallen.
I realize that this is the first time I have been to Acteal when it was not the 22nd of the month. This is the first time when it was not an assembly of remembrance, but that our group was essentially alone in the community to learn about the reality of the situation.
Our group was ushered into the church and we listened to a presentation about their situation. Our hosts were members of the leadership team of Las Abejas, the bees. This is a pacifist group who agree with the Zapatistas that the situation is intolerable for indigenous people in the area, but do not believe in violence or taking up arms. The massacre of Acteal took place on December 22, 1997. However, Antonio, our informant begins speaking about a land rights dispute that began in 1992.
After we were seated in the church we were asked to sign in and to give our internet address! They were happy to meet us and glad for international visitors. They asked who we are and we introduced ourselves as people from the United Church of Christ and also people from INESIN. They introduced themselves as Las Abejas of Saljalchel which was founded as a Catholic group in 1992. They were founded on the word of God, and always ask themselves, “What does God want us to do?” The Bible speaks for human rights. In 1992 President Salinas focused on land. There was a change in the constitution of Mexico in regard to land rights. This was a big change. We resisted. This land had been given to us by our forbears.
“We decided to use non-violent ways to settle land disputes.” On December 9, 1992 there was a community meeting on this topic. After the meeting some of our members played a little basketball after the meeting and then as they were walking home there was an ambush. Some (one, two)? Was shot but not killed. They went back to Chenalho to ask for help. The authorities said “no.” We carried them on a stretcher in the rain at night. Some went to Chenalho to accompany us and were put in jail for 86 hours. The justice authorities were against them. We contacted a private lawyer to seek justice but it was too much money, 8000 pesos. So we went to the Fray Bart human rights center. 2000 people fasting and praying. We did no work. In protest we walked the 70 kilometers to San Cristobal de las Casas to protest for the prisoners. We received lots of attention. We went to the offices of the government. This also received attention from Amnesty International. It took 27 days to get our people out of jail. This was reported to the Governor in the process too.
Then in April 1993 in the same community there was exploration for minerals in the area, and they destroyed our gardens, trees and houses. We said, “Who gave you this right?” We were getting no respect! “That’s our food,” we said. “We have orders from the government,” they said. “It is not necessary to ask the community. And if you try to resist I will have you put in jail.” They were from Campeche’. “We are not animals,” we said. There were a lot of us and very few of them. The mineral explorer began to recognize his situation. At the end the explorer was let go after he signed a document. With this document our people went to the authorities in Chenalho. “You should back the local people, because you are our local presence. It turns out that the people doing the exploration were from PMEX - the Mexican petroleum conglomerate.
This is how the case became public from the bottom up. PMEX looked all around Chiapas, and when these other communities heard what we had done they protested too.
In January 1994 there was the Zapatista uprising. We at Las Abejas are pacifist. While we support the goals of the Zapatistas we do not agree with the use of arms and violence.
Las Abejas also supported Bishop Samuel Ruiz in the 1996 Peace accords and on Indigenous Rights.
Eight days before the massacre here in 1997 we tried to start a dialogue.
Paz y Justicia. This name is ironic. It is a violent paramilitary group, but the name is Peace and Justice.
We asked, “What shall we do?” What if we just put ourselves in the hands of the paramilitaries?” Would a sacrifice change the discussion? Christ image? Just too scared about the whole people. .
People at the church knew something could happen. “Don’t be afraid, the bullets cannot take away your soul.” The people at the church were displaced persons from other communities. They were fasting and praying. We heard guns in the early morning. AK47s. People ran out of the church and went to the ravine. The paramilitaries shot at the empty church and then went hunting for the people. They shot at the people who were trapped in the ravine.
“They killed my friend Alonzo, and his wife and baby.” Alonzo’s last words were “Please forgive them.” These paramilitaries had red ribbons on their arms and their foreheads.
Altogether there were nine men, twenty-one women and fifteen children killed. The bodies stayed on the ground till night. Then the state government came and took the bodies to Tuxtla. We had to protest to the Red Cross to get the bodies of our community back. We feared that if we did not reclaim the bodies that it would be denied that this event had ever happened. Ultimately we prevailed and the bodies are buried in the ravine, where the people died. We had a funeral here on December 25, 1997. Bishop Ruiz was here.
We have had some divisions in the community recently. “Maybe we just will do God’s will.” So we just go back to our roots.
Analysis: The element that stood out for me hearing the account as given on this day was that it began with land. Disputed land. The impression for me was that what set this community, Las Abejas, apart was that they were organized and spoke up for their position. And that such uppity communities are seen as a danger, and that is why they were violently attacked.
When I asked about if this violent event was unusual my informants said, “no.” That such shootings had happened in several places. However, they usually happened between groups that have not forsaken violence. So if a group has had many members killed they are ashamed and do not want to admit it. They see this as revealing a strategic decline, and therefore it does not become widely known. What separates Acteal is that as non-violent pacifists they were ready to publicize widely what had happened. Because they were innocent.
After this we went to the crypts. Here there are photos and descriptions of all of those who were killed by the paramilataries that day in December, 1997.
After this we ate lunch in the car and drove back to San Cristobal. I, for one, was thinking what it would be like to walk the seventy kilometers to protest the imprisonment of my friends.
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