Forced Evictions in Montes Azules

Conserving Biodiversity – With or Against Indigenous Villages?

A Historic Outline for Understanding the Present and Thinking About the Future

The Montes Azules Integral Biosphere Reserve (RIMBA is its Spanish acronym) has a surface area of 331,200 hectares and is located in the heart of the Lacandon Jungle (see map).This reserve was created in 1978, overlapping (by 75%) the "Lacandon Zone" (614, 321 hectares), territory belonging to the Lacandon Maya. The Lacandon ethnic group which originally inhabited the Lacandon Jungle is in no way related to the current indigenous inhabitants of the jungle who bear the same name. The first group was annihilated during the first half of the 18th century. The indigenous people, the Lacandons, who currently live in this jungle are descendants of indigenous Maya who arrived from the Petén and Campeche during the 17th century.

In spite of these facts, the administration of Luís Echeverría awarded more than 600,000 hectares to 66 Lacandon families by means of a presidential decree in 1972. The decree did not take into account the 26 Tzeltal and Ch'ol villages that were relocated to this region during the 1950's and 1960's because of agrarian reform. The government drove the villages' relocation to this land so as to satisfy the communities' agrarian demands while avoiding disputes with landowners.

Later administrations were flooded by requests to legalize non-Lacandon ejidos located in both the Lacandon Zone and RIBMA.

Mistaken viewpoints held by members of the government, anthropologists, and even tourists, reinforce the image of the Lacandon families as descendants of the original inhabitants of the jungle. This false genealogy therefore confers upon them a supposedly legitimate ownership of the jungle land. By means of this "mythologizing," the government has received consistent support from the Lacandons for decades. In 1974, the Lacandon Forest Company, S.A. (COFOLASA) was created by presidential decree with the objective of controlling forest exploitation and halting the advance of private logging companies.

This natural paradise, therefore, has been inhabited for decades. Indigenous villages have coexisted next to the native flora and fauna and have developed techniques for using their natural medicines. Use of plant and animal life for human benefit has become an area of dispute; only the current indigenous inhabitants have traditional knowledge for the extraction and handling of natural medicines.

In 1994 a new social and geopolitical factor became evident: autonomous municipalities arose (see CIEPAC's map), territories controlled and governed by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). The strongest bastions of the EZLN are located within the Lacanon Jungle. Low intensity warfare in other parts of Chiapas, realized by militarization and the presence of paramilitary groups, has forced many communities to relocate to territory within RIBMA and the Lacandon Zone.

Chiapas: A Privileged and Coveted Land

Chiapas is a territory abundant with natural resources: minerals, hydrocarbons, genetic and hydrological resources. Historian Andrés Aubry noted that during the geological processes that formed our planet, "Chiapas became the hinge between the two Americas. As an isthmus, it is permeated by winds from both oceans, leading to beneficial exchanges; and its geographic location is a strategic one (speaking both ecologically and bióticamente*) between hemispheres. These facts explain the prodigious biodiversity of the resources in this corridor of the world. Since Chiapas has a central location on the planet close to the equator, the dominant winds converge toward Chiapas blowing from the northeast (arising from the Azores) toward Palenque, and from the southeast (arising from Amazonia and Colombia) toward Tapachula. These winds get stuck, colliding with mountains. This phenomenon causes the humidity necessary to create the jungle, leading to a sponge-like effect which stores the water-bearing richness. This is the ideal breeding ground for biological cultivation of diverse foliage which invites a variety of fauna" (La Jornada 30/03/02).

In this same vein, members of the Council of Traditional Indigenous Doctors' and Midwives' Organizations in Chiapas (COMPITCH, an organization that defends existing biodiversity in indigenous territories, and which in 2001 put a halt to a project of biopiracy) affirmed that within Chiapas they can find plant and animal life that are found on the rest of the planet only as fossils. The lakes within RIBMA that come from the ocean are actually "pieces" of ocean and therefore contain a panoply of bacteria from the depths of the sea.

The wood from the Lacandon Jungle, which has been exploited for decades, has ceased to be the most coveted resource in the region. In light of new developments with bacteria, large multinational biotechnology corporations have their eyes on the region's biodiversity.

"Environmental conservation" has been one of the strongest arguments for the displacement of villages located in natural reserves. This is the case in Montes Azules, where indigenous inhabitants are told that their relocation would be for "the good of all humanity" and are accused of destroying "our forests" through the felling of trees and 'slash and burn' agriculture.

According to the organization Village Woods of the Southeast, the case of the Montes Azules reserve is an example of the failure of Mexico's "conservationist" policies for natural areas which, in reality, mask numerous specific commercial interests.

The head of the Federal Commission for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA), Ignacio Campillo García, declared that the Mexican Army will combat organized crime and provide security against potential interventionists in Montes Azules. The official explained that there are nine zones that are considered "highly ungovernable," and he affirmed that, while it cannot be completely eliminated, new private investment is not welcome in these zones. He included among these zones "Chimalapas" (in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas) and "Montes Azules" (in the state of Chiapas), designating these as "regions of utmost priority in regard to the reinstallation of order and law" (El Universal 25/12/01).

Organizations such as the Independent and Democratic Rural Association of the Union of Unions for Collective Interests (ARIC-ID), the EZLN, and Xi'nich propose a different direction for Chiapas' natural resources, another way of coexisting with natural biodiversity that does not continue to destroy the environment that nourishes life.

Specifically, the members of ARIC-ID (which include some of the communities threatened with displacement) announced in November of 2001 that they refused to be characterized as "agrarian invaders" or "destroyers." They then reported on the Accord adopted in May of 2001 at the Forum in Defense of Life, Land, and Natural Resources, where it was agreed to "halt slash and burn agriculture, stop using agrochemicals, and to become protectors of the Reserve."

Within the announcement, ARIC-ID offered to dialogue and negotiate and showed that it was open to "searching for a definitive agricultural and ecological solution, in the interest of conserving the mountains of Montes Azules, that clearly respects our indigenous rights and with our full participation" (Communication from the ARIC-ID, November 30, 2001).

The Shadow of Neoliberal Development

In addition to the threats posed by projects of bio-investigation in the Montes Azules Reserve, the region will also be affected by Plan Puebla Panama (PPP). This plan includes development of land between the state of Puebla, Mexico, and Panama, in other words all of southern Mexico and Central America. PPP aims to create the infrastructure conditions necessary to implant an even more ambitious economic project which will convert both American continents into a free trade zone according to the neoliberal economic model: The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). (see www.ciepac.org.)

For state and federal government officials, PPP is synonymous with development and modernity, and it is the solution to the poverty and social marginalization found in Chiapas and other states in southern Mexico.

In the opinion of North American political scientist James Petras, PPP would signify continued and increased subordination of Mexico's national interests to the interests of the United States and its capitalist associates in Asia, Europe, and Canada, thanks to cheap labor provided by Mexico and Central America (La Jornada 9/05/02).

According to Subcomandante Marcos, the objective of PPP is to extend Central American geostrategy from the Panamanian border to the city of Puebla and the isthmus of Tehuantepec. He also considers it a form of control over a critical immigration zone, with the aim of decreasing poor people's access to the more developed countries in the north (in this case, the United States).

Today's economic interests unite decades of colonization, deforestation, and contradictory, populist official policies that are often times counterproductive. The Mexican government believed that the creation of the Montes Azules reserve alongside large landed estates would prevent the establishment of settlements. It did not realize that, to the contrary, this approach to land partitioning would increase disputes between the inhabitants of the "Desert of Solitude" (the name given to the Lacandon Jungle by the hunters in the 19th century).

Chronicles of Announced Dislocations

On March 25, 2002, authorities from the autonomous Zapatista municipality "Ricardo Flores Magón" denounced the attempts of the state and federal government to remove and relocate a number of the communities situated within RIBMA territory (see www.enlacecivil.org.mx)

The government's decision is motivated by lawsuits filed by the Lacandons against the rest of the communities that have settled within what the Lacandons consider "their" territory. Before the attempted displacements, 30 affected communities solicited cautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) through the Network of Community Defenders of Human Rights. The Network points out that the Lacandon lawsuits are supported by multinational corporations such as Conservation International, McDonald's, Exxon, Ford, Intel, and the Pulsar Group (Proceso Sur, No. 56)

In September of 2001, this conflict gave rise to the creation of the "environmental board to settle the issues of ecological damage and the possible relocation/indemnification agreed upon by the settlements," chaired by the governor of Chiapas. This inter-institutional board, established to coordinate state and federal governing efforts, announced the removal and relocation of some communities during 2002.

In December of last year, the first "peaceful and negotiated" removal took place when five families were moved from the community Lucio Cabañas. After their removal, the families were taken to a hostel in Comitán. On May 9, the families asked NGOs to accompany them to the new lands offered by the government. Ultimately, however, the families were not relocated. Tired of waiting, they decided to leave Comitán and travel to the region Marqués de Comillas, where other family members reside.

Nevertheless, public mobilization and solidarity at national and international levels halted the operation to displace the rest of the population during the following months. Before the first attempt at displacement, the EZLN affirmed that it would not permit the removal of any towns located within Montes Azules: "We have spoken with representatives from these Zapatista towns and with authorities from the autonomous municipalities to which the towns correspond. They have communicated to us their decision to stay where they are, though it may cost them their lives, as Zapatista demands have yet to be met" (EZLN Comuniqué 29/12/03, published in La Jornada 30/12/03. See also www.ezln.org).

Tension in the area increased in April of 2003 when Lacandon authorities from Lacanjá-Chansayab, accompanied by armed Ch'ols from Frontera Corozal and Tzeltals from Nueva Palestina came to the Zapatista communities of Nuevo San Rafael and Nuevo San Isidro (in the south of RIBMA). Joining them were officials from PROFEPA, the National Commission on Protected Natural Areas (CNANP), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Inhabitants of Nuevo San Rafael and Nuevo San Isidro were threatened and told to remove themselves from the disputed land, while the Ch'ols, Tzeltals, and Lacandons argued that they were the "legitimate" owners of the jungle (La Jornada 14/04/03). (To learn more about the specific intentions behind the attempted displacements of the Nuevo San Rafael and Nuevo San Isidro communities, consult http://chiapas.mediosindependientes.org)

It is important to point out that Frontera Corozal and Nueva Palestina are comprised of Ch'ols and Tzeltals who inhabited the territory before it was decreed the "Lacandon Zone" in 1972. Growing discontent between the two groups forced the government to recognize their right to communal property, a right already granted to the Lacandons in 1979. These Ch'ol and Tzeltal communities, therefore, also consider themselves the "rightful owners" of the Jungle, in addition to the Lacandons. Authorities from Frontera Corozal have threatened midwives from the same community who have spoken out against displacement.

Before the above incident took place, a civilian observation caravan was organized so observers could familiarize themselves with the situation in situ. The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center has since established permanent human rights observation camps in both of the Zapatista communities.

The Network of Community Defenders reaffirmed its conviction that "this conflict can be resolved only by a peace negotiated by the state and federal governments, with full respect for the human and indigenous rights of those involved" (Press Release, 13/04/03).

As far as the ARIC-ID is concerned, it pronounced itself opposed to the displacements in Montes Azules and the threats against community leaders; and it rejects those "agents of national and transnational corporations who want to patent the biological riches of the jungle" (La Jornada 14/04/03).

During the First Hemispheric Conference on Militarization, which took place in San Cristóbal de las Casas, May 6-9, two representatives from the Nuevo San Rafael and Nuevo San Isidro communities were invited to present explanations of their current situation. The representatives discussed the economic and counterinsurgency interests that are masked by "environmentalist" and international "conservationist" rhetoric, defended by the Lacandons and the communities of Frontera Corozal and Nueva Palestina.

On the same day, the state government and Lacandon leaders agreed in a truce to cease displacement of communities in RIBMA. State authorities were compelled to benefit all members of the ethnic group with diverse economic and development support mechanisms. These include participation in the Lacantún Reserve Management Program, while Lacandons stop their attempts to expel indigenous groups from the region (La Jornada 08/05/03).

An Uncertain Future

It is important to see the Lacandon Jungle as not only a natural space to be protected, but also as a refuge that for decades has housed migrating indigenous communities searching for land or, in more recent years, fleeing from violent paramilitary groups operating in other parts of Chiapas. The jungle has therefore been converted into a meeting place for the state’s diverse ethnic groups and in turn into a space that has fostered the appearance of political/social projects like neozapatismo.

It is essential to take these factors into account in a country such as Mexico, where a large portion of the rural population survives thanks to the land, and without forgetting the cultural importance of land to indigenous villages.

The conflict in Montes Azules forces us to reconsider the structural causes that provoked the Zapatista uprising in 1994 and, later on, the lawsuits which today maintain resistance to the offenses of state and local governments. We must also not forget that a large number of the communities threatened with displacement from RIBMA are bases of Zapatista support. Therefore, many analysts point out, announced displacements, in addition to having economic ends also act as counterinsurgency measures, explaining the strong military presence in the region.

Recognizing the complexity and the sociopolitical realities of the Lacandon Jungle, the solution to this conflict demands, before all else, respect for human rights recognized in international agreements. Such respect is a necessary condition for reconstructing peace in the region, so as to avoid a radicalization of the positions of the groups involved, potentially leading to more violence. We must avoid reducing the conflict to interethnic rivalries.

Following this mode of thought, the displacement option, if enacted for environmental reasons, still does not respect the collective rights of indigenous villages, which were recognized in Agreement 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO, the International Agreement on the "Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Villages in Independent Nations," ratified by Mexico in 1989, enforced since 1991).

Said text establishes that indigenous villages "must have the right to decide their own priorities regarding the processes of development to the extent that these processes affect their lives, beliefs, institutions, spiritual welfare, and the land that they occupy and use, so that they may control, to the greatest extent possible, their own economic, social, and cultural development" (article 7). The agreement also establishes their right to ownership and possession of land (which includes "the totality of the habitat in the regions which the villages occupy and use in any form"), and the right to the natural resources found on that land. Even in cases when ownership of the land corresponds to the state, the state is obliged to consult the villages and inquire into their interests to determine how they will be impacted. In all cases, villages have the right to a portion of any realized profits (articles 14 and 15). The agreement also prohibits displacement of indigenous villages from territories they inhabit except in situations of absolute necessity, in which case affected villages are required to give their full consent (article 16). Agreement 169 inspired the as yet unfulfilled San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture.

SIPAZ considers it necessary to take measures to protect and preserve natural resources (whether these are forests, biodiversity, water, or hydrocarbons), but conservationist rhetoric should not be used to hide the intentions of private interests looking to appropriate "goods for humanity" for commercial ends.

Even so, when there are natural resources within territory inhabited by indigenous villages, the autonomy of those villages must be respected so as to preserve and favor techniques that aid the protection and coexistence of the diverse natural resources.

In the context of a long-term conflict like the one occurring in Chiapas, it is necessary to promote a serious and profound dialogue regarding the protection and use of natural resources, which includes the interests of indigenous villages. The privatization of natural resources entails greater social injustice, an increase in internal displacements, and a worsening of interethnic conflicts, the radicalization of which could remain outside the control of state and federal governments.

Respect for biological diversity should go hand in hand with respect for cultural diversity as the only path toward a just and sustainable peace. It is therefore necessary to recognize the collective and human rights of indigenous villages, as articulated in the aforementioned Agreement 169 of ILO and in the San Andrés Accords.

Bibliography

- AUBRY, Andrés, "Plan Puebla Panama (Geographic Information from an Unnamed Country)”

- DE VOS, Jan "The Lacandón: An Introductory History" in VIQUERA, Juan Pedro and RUZ, Marion Humberto (Ed.) Chiapas: The Directions of Another History, Mexico, UNAM, CIESAS, Guadalajara University, 1998, PP. 331-361

- MADERAS DEL PUEBLO DEL SURESTE, A.C. "The Case of the Montes Azules Reserve in the Lacandón Jungle. An example of the repeated failure of "conservationist" policies in Mexico's natural areas and the interests hidden behind them (quasi-synthetic notes*)."

- RAMONET, Ignacio. Marcos. Rebellious Dignity Cybermonde, s.l., Valencia, 2001, PP. 55 and 57