ARMY MOVES AGAINST ZAPATISTAS MEXICO CITY, APRIL 10, 1995 On Sunday, April 9, represen- tatives from the Mexican government and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) met in San Miguel, Chiapas to discuss the possibility of resuming negotiations. At issue are both the place and the substance of future talks. The government wants talks to take place in Chiapas, and to be restricted to local and parochial issues-it will not negotiate indigenous or popular demands from other parts of the country based on EZLN proposals. It also wants to keep EZLN leaders potentially subject to arrest at any time. The Zapatistas, on the other hand, want talks to cover a broad range of national issues, and to be held in Mexico City. In Chiapas itself, an ominous situation has been unfolding. This past February, 13 months after the conflict erupted, the government apparently opted for a military solution. With surpris- ing resolution, it attempted to deal a spectacular blow to the insurgency with the simultaneous capture and assassination of Subcomandante Marcos, and a siege of pro-Zapatista villages reminiscent of U.S. operations in Vietnam. The operation was par- tially successful. The govern- ment failed to capture Marcos, but succeeded in forcing a gener- al retreat of the EZLN, and severely punishing the pro- Zapatista population. The government's successes include the infliction upon defenseless villagers of wide- spread starvation, sickness and exposure to the cold, the terroriz- ing of unarmed civilians, and the destruction of war-like arsenals consisting of rag dolls and card- board toys, jars and sacks of beans, and family stores of corn. The Mexican military destroyed and deactivated dangerous tor- tilla pans, family photos, chil- dren's drawings, and threatening religious images. Besides contaminating streams and other community water sources, the army deliberately destroyed the principal symbol of a peaceful resolution of the conflict: the temple of Aguasca- lientes, the open-air amphitheater that the Zapatistas built to hold last August's Democratic National Convention, the dramat- ic encuentro of civil society and the EZLN. The Mexican military also fomented a new wave of anti-Zapatista sentiment, sowing seeds of discord in many of the villages of the region. In the face of the military offensive, the EZLN-accompa- nied by entire village popula- tions-withdrew to the moun- tains. The Zapatista rejection of direct conflict was accompanied by a new call to "civil society" to stop the genocide. And, as hap- pened in January, 1994, interna- tional protest succeeded in tem- porarily silencing the govern- ment's guns. The Mexican Con- gress wrote and passed-with the approval of President Ernesto Zedillo-a resolution calling for dialogue and peace in Chiapas, and establishing the terms for the reopening of negotiations. All in all, the current situation does not allow for great opti- mism. In the first place, the gov- ernment continues to occupy important positions previously controlled by the Zapatistas, and maintains a siege of terror that contradicts all its rhetoric and promises. In the second place, the very congressional resolution calling for dialogue contains an onerous and humiliating condi- tion for the EZLN, namely that during the negotiation period, arrest orders against Marcos and other Zapatista leaders will be temporarily "suspended." In other words, the Zapatistas are still regarded as criminals. Moreover, the government can reconsider the "suspension" at any time it sees fit. Meanwhile, there has been an increase of violent evictions of peasants from "invaded" lands, continuing police attacks and threats against social leaders, and heightened attempts to turn peas- ant leaders against the EZLN. Zapatismo, however, has shown itself to be extremely adept at political maneuvering in the most difficult circumstances. And in the present Mexican cri- sis, things change from one day to the next. -Julio Moguel ON THE RUN FROM THE MEXICAN ARMY MORELIA, CHIAPAS, MARCH 15, 1995 E arly in the morning of February 10, the first of 800 Mexican Army troops and 90 armored vehicles were spotted advancing toward the small vil- lage of Morelia, in southeastern Chiapas. The night before, in a televised address to the nation, President Ernesto Zedillo announced the alleged identity of rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos, and ordered the advance of police and army troops inside rebel-held territory. In Morelia, families paced the mud floors of their homes all night, burning photos and ID, preparing food, and packing belongings. "Don't sleep, Michael, the army will come and kill you," shouted Juan, a lively four year old, shaking me awake from a fitful sleep at three in the morning. We beat the army by about eight minutes, a terrible exo- dus-sad and angry, but Vol XVII, N 6 AY/JNE 995 Vol XXVIII, No 6 MAY/JUNE 1995 1NEWSBRIEFS inevitable after the previous army invasion in January, 1994, which cost three lives. The care- fully laid evacuation plan, involving a roll call and an orderly retreat, was abandoned in favor of a simpler approach-- total panic. Women and men grabbed bundles of clothes, sacks of corn, machetes, blankets-the meager possessions of Chiapas indigenous families. Children were carried or dragged, the old and sick clambered onto the only available vehicle, and everyone raced along the paths that led to the surrounding, impenetrable mountains. The army, anticipating a Zapatista ambush, slowed to a crawl at the entrance to Morelia, ensuring our escape. We spent the next month roaming the region, helicopters hovering overhead, under the hot sun, with little food and constant sickness. Half-a-dozen villages packed up and joined us on the road, as our numbers swelled to over 2,000. We found refuge in small ham- lets and outposts of the Lacandon Jungle. A volunteer doctor saved dozens of lives, delivered four babies in a month, and testified to signs of malnutri- tion in 90% of the involuntary exiles. In an extraordinary show of solidarity, every family of our host villages accepted the call to turn up with 24 tortillas and a cup of beans each day, ensuring that everyone ate a little. Coughing, crying children slept under the sky, while their parents put on brave faces, wondering aloud if they would ever see their homes again. Meanwhile, 25,000 displaced villagers who fled rebel territory after the January 1994 uprising, were being trucked back into the rebel zone, armed with cash gifts, new cooking utensils, and pledges to report on suspected rebels still living in their com- munities. The "independent" refugees in the hills-now num- bering over 15,000-have been offered no incentives or security to return to their villages, as the army patrols and picks up sus- pects, rejecting calls for with- drawal from the zone. The people of Morelia face certain starvation, as the crop cycle has been interrupted, leav- ing them with no hope of pro- ducing any food for the next year. The good will of the tiny communities sheltering the des- titute indigenous refugees must eventually wear out. The occa- sional caravans of food and medical supplies from outside are generous demonstrations of solidarity from the Mexican peo- ple, and real boosts to morale, but they cannot substitute for a speedy return to farming among the impatient exiles. Bad as things are, Morelia and hundreds of communities in the conflict zone have decided to face death rather than surrender their strug- gle for basic rights, denied for over 500 years. -Michael McCaughan CIA LINK TO MURDERS IN GUATEMALA WASHINGTON, D.C.; GUATEMALA CITY, MARCH 31, 1995 ep. Robert Torricelli, the New Jersey Democrat prin- cipally known to NACLA read- ers as the chief sponsor of legis- lation tightening the embargo against Cuba, set off a Wash- ington furor on March 23 when Continued on page 46 I LF S 2NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 2 NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS Ministry questioned Alpirez for six hours and then let him go, saying that there was not enough evidence to charge him. The ministry pledged to investigate the allega- tions, but Guatemalan President Ramiro de Le6n Carpio said he was sure that Alpirez was inno- cent, at least of the DeVine mur- der. Alpirez remains in his post as second-in-command at the La Aurora military base in the capital. He denies being a paid CIA agent. -Laura Proctor The Chase Consensus FROM A CHASE BANK INTERNAL EMERGING MARKET GROUP MEMO WRITTEN BY RIORDAN ROETT, JANUARY 13, 1995: While Chiapas, in our opinion, does not pose a fundamental threat to Mexican political stability, it is perceived to be [sic] so by many in the investment community. The government will need to eliminate the Zapatistas to demonstrate their effective control of the national territory and of security policy.... The Zedillo administration will need to consider carefully whether or not to allow opposition victo- ries if fairly won at the ballot box. To deny legitimate electoral victo- ries by the opposition will be a serious setback in the President's electoral strategy. But a failure to retain PRI control runs the risk of splitting the governing party.... -CounterPunch Sources Julio Moguel is an economist at UNAM. He coordinates La Jornada del Campo in Mexico City. Michael McCaughan is a NACLA corre- spondent based in Chiapas. Laura Proctor works for the news agency CERIGUA in Guatemala City. CounterPunch is a biweekly newsletter written by Ken Silverstein and Alexander Cockburn. It is available for $40/yr. from IPS, 1601 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009.
