Zapatista Comunities and their allies have faced several attacks organized by para-military groups who have support from the federal and state governments. Just a few days after a forced eviction attempt, community members in the Zapatista Support Base Community of Bolon Ajaw were ambushed by several groups of the OPDDIC para-military.  One man, a member of the OPDDIC, was killed in the shooting. Then on the 28 of February, there was a conflict in the Ejido de Mitzitón caused by members of the para-military "Army of God".  The violence continues to increase and make the situation more and more tense for communities in Chiapas.

Mitziton: a community in Chiapas resisting the government road by Jessica Davies     

Community Mitzitón, municipality of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

March 3, 2010 



To the Good Government in the Highlands of Chiapas, 

 To our comrades who adhere to the Other Campaign,

 To national and international media,

 To the international Zezta, 

 To the alternative media, 

 To non-governmental human rights organisations, 

 To the people of Mexico and rest of the world,

 Comrades: 

Greetings from the men and women adherents to the Other Campaign from our community Mitzitón.  We want you to know what is happening in our community at the hands of the paramilitaries of the "Army of God, Wings of Eagle". 


 Also to the different versions reported by journalists of  newspapers where they post news and pictures of what happened in our community on 27 and 28 February; such as the Milenio newspaper and on the internet where they say we do justice by our own hands, that we are criminals, that the conflict is due to smuggling of migrants or wood, that it is religious conflict, that we are savages; we clarify that we are only defending our right to be a pueblo, to take and respect our agreements in community life on our territory. It is clear that the provocation comes from the army of god to create more violence and divide us, thus weakening our community assembly and our people. They also have the complicity of the government who always goes to their aid to pay their fines, damages and protects them.  They want to weaken us in order to carry out their megaproject of the San Cristobal Palenque motorway. 



But we say to them that we remain steadfast in this fight for our rights and we make known our word in order to provide true information. 



 On Sunday 28th of February the ejido assembly met in the community to discuss the felling of five trees by Andres Jimenez Hernandez 2nd. Based on an agreement made by the general assembly and to care for our forests, when a person needs to fell a tree for their service, you have to ask permission with authorities.  He who does not respect this agreement has to pay a penalty of a fine of two thousand dollars for each tree cut without permission. 





However, on February 27, 2010 Andrés Jiménez Hernández 2nd, who eight months previous ceased to meet his community obligations and is also a member of the group Wings of Eagles and the Army of God, did not seek permission from our community authorities to fell five trees.  So the ejidal authorities met in order to remind them of the community agreement.  Andres accompanied by Carlos Heredia Jimenez, Emilio Jiménez Heredia, Manuel Jiménez Hernández, Luis Jimenez Perez, Celestino Perez Hernandez and Juan Gomez Heredia, were invited to present to the Casa Ejidal to fix the situation, but soon began to get aggressive saying "If you want trouble, we are well organized and we have government support." 



By agreement of the Assembly on the 28 February to 11:40 am, the timber was seized and taken to the courtyard of the Casa Ejido, because if the community authority does not intervene to enforce the agreement of the assembly, the authorities must pay the fine. 



The Loggers of the Army of God, instead of going to the Casa Ejidal to fix the problem, they organized to kidnap the community authorities. At 4pm on the 28th of February 2010, a group of 20 people arrived in two trucks at the house of the Rural Municipal Agent, Siliano Pérez, who, just three weeks ago, we pointed out when we protested the illegal appointment that the non-cooperators (or the ones who aren’t cooperating) made, in agreement with the Municipal President of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, who had officially recognized the appointment using forged signatures and going around the majority agreement of the assembly.  At that time, Francisco Gomez Diaz was punished by the Assembly for having participated in such actions against Community agreements.



 Now, they violently raided his house of the agent, ousting Siliano who was with Isidro Heredia Jimenez , a community police officer, and were made to board one of the vans and were then taken to the house of Francisco Gomez Diaz.  Near this house, they also arrested Julio Heredia Hernandez, who was in his three-ton truck; they covered the road, beating him down and took him to Francisco’s house.  The men Vergil Hall and Agustin Diaz de la Cruz Perez were also  injured and beaten due to wanting to help Julio.  There they were beaten by Raul Jimenez Jimenez, who is police sector and the main provokers of violence in the army of God. 



 Arriving at the house of Francisco Gomez, they left the 3 kidnapped and then at 4:10, a group of about 90 people came to the house of the Ejido Commissariat also trying to kidnap him, but the commissioner was able to escape, taking refuge in the house of their fathers, women began to scream, and more colleagues ran to defend the commissioner, but the group of attackers who were armed with stones, sticks and weapons, attacked the family and fellow ejido members who arrived on the scene. 



 There, the group of aggressors, including Miguel Jimenez Lopez began firing their weapons, wounding our partner Agustin Jimenez Hernandez who was shot in his left buttock. 

On the international highway passed the truck of Tomas Jimenez Vicente firing his gun at the place they were beating us up and we defended ourselves.  That left two wounded by gunfire from his own group Messrs. Roberto Heredia de la Cruz and Manuel Jimenez Lopez.  Due to being severely beaten up,  Fausto López and Pedro Diaz Jimenez Perez were also wounded. . 



 And our fellow Andrés Jiménez Hernández who they also forced out of his truck and beat him with sticks and stones, making a 6-inch wound in the head.  His truck was left unusable.  They also hit with his comrade Carmen Diaz Jimenez with stones right in front of him, making a 5 cm wound and kicking him all over his body, the comrade is the father of the deceased comrade Aurelio Diaz Hernandez was killed on July 21, 2009 by the paramilitary group . 



 State police was already in place, they heard the bullets and did nothing, when the assault ended, the police came and saw just as we attacked. 



 The ambulance did not arrive quickly, so that we ourselves were going to move to the hospital for our wounded comrades, but at the height of Las Grutas, we found the ambulance, which took them away. 



 While in the community, the wife of our partner Julio went looking to see how he was.  Arriving at the house of Francisco Gómez Díaz she saw our comrade tied to  posts, blindfolded, tied also to at the toes and hands, and her husband Julio lying on the floor. 



 They removed his shirt, and they were tied up from 4 pm until the 3 am when they let them down from the pole and then threw them into the house of Francisco Gomez Diaz.  There they hung their hands tied with ropes, They were left  hanging from the rafters of the house of Francisco Gomez Diaz for half and hour. 



 When the assailants could not stop the commissioner, our colleagues were brutally beaten and physically tortured by the aggressors of the Army of God.  The comrades were sprayed with gasoline and threatened all the time saying "one of these posts is for the commissioner; here we are going to tie him up and burn you alive.  We're going to kill you, we will burn you alive, because you're the heads of the community and you're the one who handles the people. " 



 Given these facts, and to prevent the transit from the paramilitaries and continue abducting our comrades, at 5 pm on Sunday 28 February, the communal farmers of the community agreed to block the highway, to demand that we surrender and that they freed our comrades alive.  





Moments later the patrol PP379 number of the State Preventive Police who were carrying four people wounded members of the paramilitary group, was arrested at the blockade.  The injured Roberto Heredia de la Cruz who had been shot in the back and Manuel López Jiménez, Pedro Diaz Perez and Fausto Jimenez Lopez who had been beaten, were there.  They punctured the tires of the patrol and then remained caught in the blockade.  Moments later,  the passage of Roberto Heredia de la Cruz to be treated at the Hospital was allowed. 



 However, the attacking group, said that their comrade wounds were serious and that if he died they would also kill our comrades.  On this pretext he spent Sunday night and Monday morning.  Although the authorities intervened, they did nothing to resolve the conflict and only gave statements to the press to confuse people. 





When the situation of our comrades was in desperation due to the death threats, we thought of going to their rescue.  It wasn’t until this moment, 1pm, Monday the 1st March when the authority intervened that our comrades were handed back.  At 3.30 pm they were released and the government paid the fine and the damage made by the paramilitary of the Army of God. So  we could clearly see that the government protect them and sends the paramilitaries to provoke and create all this violence.  If the government does not respect our assembly and our agreements, and does not relocate the responsibility to the paramilitaries or even punished them, how do they think that they can help to restore the calm in our community? 



 We have denounced the army of God who traffic migrants and timber from the community, and are engaged in illegal activities. We have shown them to the authorities and they are never investigated or punished.  So it is the government who wants to continue assaulting us and to continue confusing to everyone. 



 We are an indigenous people who are going to continue to defend our motherland, our culture and our agreements organised  with the Other Campaign and all the people who are in solidarity with our struggle.  All and all we ask them to spread our word about what happened to clarify the truth and to not be misled by the confusion that comes from bad government.  Also, that they are aware of what may happen in our community in order maintain our fight. 



The highway from San Cristobal Palenque will not pass through our territory 

No to megaprojects  of the bad government

The land is not for selling, it is to be worked and defended 



 Viva the Other Campaign and the dignified resistance  of the pueblos,

 Stop the repression against the Zapatista communities and autonomous 



 Political Prisoners, Freedom
 

Yours Sincerely,
 The community of Mitziton

----
Attack on Bolon Ajaw, February 2010

The Zapatista Council of Good Government (Junta de Buen Gobierno), based in Morelia, clarifies what happened in the past few days in Bolon Ajaw, Chiapas

Zapatistas reclaim and defend “Mother Earth”

10th March
A member of Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group writes:

I have just returned from the Zapatista village of Bolon Ajaw, Chiapas, where on 6th February 230 civilian Zapatistas took part in an action to retake control of their “reclaimed lands” which had been invaded and taken over since 20 January by the paramilitary group OPDDIC.

Thanks to inspiring solidarity from Zapatistas from many different communities the Zapatistas continue to control the land, and are carrying out collective work there.

The situation is very tense and the Zapatista villagers of Bolon Ajaw stressed the vital importance of international solidarity, urging us to spread the news of their struggle around the world.  Human rights observers from Fray Bartolome are now present to act as a deterrent against more violence from the OPDDIC paramilitaries, who have a base in nearby Agua Azul.

The 32 Zapatista families of Bolon Ajaw, part of autonomous municipality Comandanta Ramona, live close to beautiful waterfalls.  These falls are coveted for tourist developments by government and business interests, who are using OPDDIC as tools to try and rob the Zapatistas of their land.

In contrast to the rich natural resources of Chiapas, the villagers of Bolon Ajaw, like the majority of indigenous villagers in the state, live in real poverty.  There is no electricity in the village, and water has to be carried from wells half a mile away.

DEFENDING MOTHER EARTH

These latest events at Bolon Ajaw are noteworthy not only for the scale of the threats facing the Zapatistas, but for the exemplary solidarity, courage, self-organisation and self-discipline displayed by the Zapatistas in taking collective direct action to defend “Mother Earth and its natural resources”.  

In Bolon Ajaw, in Montes Azules, in Mitziton, in Sebastian Bachajon, in Chicomuselo and throughout Chiapas and Mexico a war is being waged by the state, paramilitaries and big business to once more rob the indigenous and poor peasant peoples of their land and destroy Mother Earth for money. 

In Chiapas, and also in other Mexican states like Oaxaca and Guerrero, the peasant and indigenous peoples’ resistance and struggle for autonomy continues - international solidarity is needed.

As the Fray Bartolome centre state:
“We issue an URGENT call to civil society, in Mexico and internationally, to all those committed to the defence of human rights, to come out and denounce the clear increase in the actions of violence against the civilian, peaceful process of autonomy being developed by the Zapatista “bases of support” (civilian suppporters) and their Councils of Good Governments which are civil authorities.”

***NOTES

If interested in solidarity with the Zapatistas and people of Chiapas and Mexico contact Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group  edinchiapas@yahoo.co.uk
Plus UK Zapatista site

Supporters world-wide will be organising solidarity activities with the Zapatista communities under attack on 20th March.

Fray Bartolome site, in English

Regular reports from Chiapas, mainly Spanish, some English, on Indymedia Chiapas

Full report by Fray Bartolome human rights group on the events at Bolon Ajaw on 6th February, in Spanish

Letter of protest to Mexican government about the eviction of Zapatista community in Montes Azules, Chiapas, in Spanish