:: ANALYSIS

Mexico/Chiapas: On the Road to the Elections

Presidential Elections: At the Climax of the Battle

On July 2 the Mexican Presidential Elections will be held. For several months now, the main political parties have been campaigning, defending their respective candidates:

• Roberto Madrazo, representing the Alliance for Mexico, which includes the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI- which was in power for 70 years until the 2000 election) and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).
• Andrés Manuel López Obrador, representing the Alliance for the Good of Everyone, which includes several center and left parties: Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Convergence, and the Labor Party (PT).
• Felipe Calderón, for the National Action Party (PAN, the current party in power).
• Roberto Campa, for the New Alliance (a recently formed party, an offshoot of the PRI, supported by the National Union of Education Workers).
• Patricia Mercado, for the Social-Democratic and Campesino Alternative, another recently formed party made up of various political movements.

Since the start of the campaigns, it has been clear that the true competition would be between the first three candidates on the list. Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the best situated of the three, though his advantage over the other candidates has been diminishing as the campaigns advance. After him, Felipe Calderón and Robert Madrazo follow in that order.

On March 12, local elections were held in the State of Mexico for 125 city governments and the local Congress. Generally, this political process is used as a sort of gauge for the presidential elections. Nevertheless, this process illustrated, more than anything else, the volatility of the Mexican electorate: 76 of the 125 city governments changed parties. The PRD was the main victor of the day, with 37% of votes (compared to 33% for the PRI). Eight months after winning, by a wide margin, the election for governor of the State of Mexico, the PRI saw its percentage of voting decline by 14.5 points. One possible explanation is the recent bout of scandals involving, on one hand, the Governor of Puebla, Mario Marín, and on the other hand, Arturo Montiel, presidential pre-candidate for the PRI, who, as a result, withdrew his candidacy (see the previous SIPAZ Report). The PAN maintained a stable voting percentage.

In the federal competition, it has come into question whether the presidential campaigns are more centered on verbal attacks and mutual disqualification than on genuine debates of clearly defined proposals. While some analysts consider the most likely outcome a victory for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, as the polls are also predicting, there is still a high percentage of undecided voters. The “abstentionism” factor could also be an element that affects the final results. In a scenario of low voter turnout, the hard-core vote of the PRI could give them the advantage. While on the other hand, in more than half of the states of Mexico, the PRD does not exceed 10% of the total voting in any type of election. Certainly, as was seen in the elections in the State of Mexico, the “hard core vote” of the PRI has been increasingly eroded by internal divisions and desertions, the most notable being Elba Esther Gordillo, the former party secretary.

State Elections: Blurry Lines and Power Games

In addition to the federal elections to be held on July 2nd (for President, Senators, and Deputies), in Chiapas, on August 20th, there will also be elections for state Governor. Until recently, it was assumed that the PRI would triumph without great difficulty, since no coalition of other parties was formed in opposition.

Nevertheless, the context has become more complex with changes and ruptures that were not foreseen initially. Even more so than at the national level, the PRI is divided following a decision made by the party at the national level, and later ratified, which named the current senator, José Antonio Aguilar Bodegas, as the candidate for Governor of Chiapas.

Roberto Albores Guillén (interim governor of Chiapas from 1998-2000) took advantage of support form the majority of the PRI electorate in his attempts to present himself for candidacy, started a movement of resistance and consultation of citizens with regards to the structure for the selection of candidates of the state government. Albores affirmed in the press that José Antonio Aguilar Bodegas was elected as the “candidate of unity” in a process that was “antidemocratic, representing a return to the old PRI, a feared, authoritarian party, linked to its prejudices and political fears.” If it comes through, this rupture could affect not only the electoral context, but could also bring about broader consequences along the way.

At the end of April, the municipal president of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Juan Sabines Guerrero, announced his resignation to the PRI. A few days later he was named as candidate for the PRD with 159 votes in his favor (221 of the current 278 existing states councilors attended the meeting). This movement could further divide the PRI electorate. In announcing his resignation, Juan Sabines affirmed: “I am separating myself from the leadership of the party and from the party, but I will never separate myself from the PRI supporters of Chiapas, which are its strength, its base, its support. I invite them all to accompany me in the construction of a new project where we can all fit and where doors are not closed the way they were by the leaders yesterday, Monday, in the State Political Council” [referring to the meeting in which Aguilar Bodegas was selected as candidate].

The federal deputy Emilio Zebadúa (secretary of the government of Pablo Salazar Mediguchía, the current governor, in the first two years of his administration, who has publicly expressed his disagreement with the internal state process of the PRD and with Pablo Salazar) has announced that he will challenge the process.

The Conflict in Chiapas: A Relegated Issue in the Political Agenda

The unresolved armed conflict is not an issue of high priority in the electoral agenda. Nevertheless, various candidates have made reference to the San Andrés Accords, signed in 1996 by the federal government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), particularly in the context of campaign visits to the state.

A number of recent declarations made by the Executive are also of interest in the following sense: in February, the commissioner for peace in Chiapas, Luís H. Álvarez, affirmed that the EZLN no longer exists as a group; and that Subcomandante Marcos is seeking to “oxygenate the movement that had its time and place” with the Other Campaign.

In March, the secretary of government, Carlos Abascal Carranza, met with the legislators that form the Commission of Concordance and Pacification (COCOPA, the commission created to carry out the dialogues between the government and the Zapatistas). He affirmed that “other than the circumstances of exception in Chiapas, the area referred to as the ‘grey zone’ has ceased to exist.” He announced that the Federal Army is only working in Chiapas around issues relevant to its position as a border state.

From Aguascalientes, Subcomandante Marcos refuted these statements affirming: “The Federal Army maintains its invasion of indigenous communities, not only those that are Zapatistas, throughout the state of Chiapas. (…) The Federal Army has not withdrawn from the state of Chiapas, or the zone of conflict, it has simply withdrawn from a few areas in order to strengthen its position in other areas, specifically Las Cañadas and the Highlands of Chiapas.”

Various civil organizations with a broad trajectory in Chiapas also issued statements regarding these claims. For example, the Center of Political and Economic Research and Community Action (CIEPAC) stated: “During Vicente Fox’s administration, a total of 53 military positions and 17 Sectorial Police positions have been withdrawn (…), but those spaces have been covered by the presence of other police groups and new forms of vigilance have been developed, contracting people from indigenous communities who are now informants for the National Investigation and Security Center (CISEN). Furthermore, following the military withdrawals, members of the military intelligence return to the communities in civilian dress and they stay in the homes of PRI-supporters to observe, watch, and report the actions of Zapatistas.”

The Center for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Research A.C. (CAPISE) affirmed that: “The Seceretary Carlos Abascal lacks the truth. (…) Up until last February, this Center identified 97 permanent military positions (camps) in the state of Chiapas (only those camps that have been physically verified are counted). Of the 97 identified camps, 73 are located in clearly indigenous territory, that is to say, 75% of the military occupation in the state of Chiapas is in territory of Zapatista influence.”

CAPISE also made reference to another part of the statement made by the Secretary of Government: “…the tour that is currently being carried out by the EZLN throughout the nation, is being done in the context of full respect, from the Federal Government, for free speech by organizations and movements that form the national political mosaic.” At the end of March, CAPISE had documented 82 cases of aggressions against adherents to the Other Campaign in 15 states of Mexico.

In the case of Chiapas, the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center has reported 14 cases of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders between November 2005 and March 2006 (see summary).

OTHER CAMPAIGN: Following its Path

Parallel to the context of the electoral campaigns, the EZLN continues to promote the initiative of the “Other Campaign,” a process that, in the words of the EZLN: “is long term and at the margin of the electoral process” seeking “the construction of another form of politics, of a national, leftist struggle, for a new Constitution” (Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona). From January to June, the Subcomandante Marcos, now renamed the Subdelegate Zero, is touring all the states of Mexico. At the end of April, he had passed through Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Tabasco, Campeche, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, Michoacán, Morelos, Guerrero and the State of Mexico (for more information see: http://www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/).

On February 19, in the context of the Meeting of Other Communication, Other Information, Other Culture, and Other Art held in the indigenous community of Zacatelco, Tlaxcala, the Subdelegate Zero explained, once again, the objective of this first tour: “instead of listening to those from above, those from below have chosen to listen to each other. Above, a transitory scene. Below, an incomplete heart and growing indignation, looking for the steps, the path, the direction and the destination.”

In the face of the informational void of the majority of the major media, the Subdelegate Zero has, on more than one occasion, had to explain what the Other Campaign is and what it isn’t. The movement has been accused of calling for absenteeism when they have explicitly said that it is not abstentionist. For example, in February, in Puebla, Marcos explained: “We have never asked people not to vote and we aren’t doing that now. We are inviting you to look in a new direction, not towards above; that you exercise your intelligence and your dignity, that you think about what those from above are offering and what is happening here, below, and with that in your mind and your heart you decide to vote or not on July 2nd.”

The Other Campaign is also accused of playing for the right by dividing the leftist movements and seriously questioning Andrés Manuel López Obrador, when he has a real chance of winning the Presidency. Some have questions the very idea of a “union of the left”: “The division of the left and especially the division between party and movements is a tendency that frames a systemic crisis in forms of selecting representation and the gradual and progressive decomposition of the political classes practically throughout the world” (Boletín “Chiapas al Día” No. 504, http://www.ciepac.org/). Whether or not you agree with this position, it is important to also signal that no member of the political class –left or right- has been spared the severe critique of the Subdelegate Zero.

A final question for the Other Campaign is regarding the absence of concrete proposals for the problems that afflict the country. It seems that what is expected of the Other Campaign are programmed proposals in the vein of what the candidates could be addressing. Nevertheless, as Marcos explained in Campeche in January, it is more about the collective construction of “new structures of power that work for the good of the marginalized and which will promote regional accords which can then be converted into a National Plan of Struggle.”

CIVIL SOCIETY: Gatherings

In March, the fourth World Water Forum was held in Mexico City, with 148 countries represented. At the same time, activists from social movements, non-governmental organizations, and international networks met, all of who work in the defense of water, of territory and of communal land. At the end of the gathering, the following three points were emphasized:

“1. Water is not merchandise. For this reason we reject all forms of privatization, including the public-private association that has proved to be a total failure all over the planet.

2. The administration and control should remain within a sphere that includes the public, social, community needs and interest, through a participative form with equality and without profit.

3. Solidarity between present and future generations should be guaranteed, and for this reason we reject the development, neo-liberal, consumerist model that promotes the overexploitation of the mother nature.”

On March 10, 11, and 12th, a statewide meeting was held against PROCEDE (Program of Certification of Parcel and Titleling Rights of Urban Lands) and PROCEDECOM (Program of Certification of Communal Rights) in Petalcingo, in the municipality of Tila. More than 600 people from different social organizations in Chiapas participated. The objective of this meeting was to share the situations of different ejido and communal lands affected by these programs, as well as alternatives to halt them. Manuel Cruz, of the organization Yomblej, in the municipality of Chilón, explained in an interview: “consciousness-raising about this problem that we encounter in our ejidos and communities is very important, because if not we will lose our land. Accepting PROCEDE is a betrayal of the land, of life and of ourselves.”

In March, members of various civil and social organizations, and adherents of the Other Campaign held a march and rally in San Cristóbal de Las Casas to protest against persecution by the police and the abuse of authority by state and municipal governments. On April 9 and 10th, a State-wide Meeting Against Repression was held, with 144 participants from 21 municipalities throughout the state. They denounced “aggressions and repression because of the resistance to paying overpriced power bills, for not wanting to join PROCEDE which deprives us of the land, for rejecting the privatization of water, for continuing to be fishermen, for demanding better conditions for prisoners who are forced to live in inhumane conditions, for the liberation of thought and expression, for the liberty of our brothers and sisters being held as political prisoners, against the use of the judicial system to persecute social activists, the excessive use of public force in the taking of land, the negation of women’s rights to land, and many other ways used by the state and federal governments and the groups in power in our regions.”

:: FOCUS

Tenth Anniversary of SIPAZ: Making the Path While Walking

“SIPAZ,
10 years of hope,
10 years of effort,
10 years of experiences and experiencing,
10 years showing that dreams come alive through those who share them.

SIPAZ, or rather, the men and women who form it, have taught me so much. Among other things, the importance of taking small, steady steps to reach a distant destination (“making the path while walking”).

And to get there, it is more important to believe in the destination that to believe in oneself.”

(Testimony of Corinna, Germany, SIPAZ team member from 1998-1999)

On March 4, 2006, SIPAZ celebrated 10 years of presence and accompaniment in Chiapas with an open forum for reflection on the “Current Challenges in International Accompaniment.” Among the participants were a number of our local counterparts, as well as international organizations working in this area in Mexico and Guatemala. It was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned along the way as well as to affirm our commitment.

SIPAZ Step by Step…

The International Service for Peace emerged from a petition, issued by Mexican religious leaders and human rights organizations, presented to an international delegation that visited Chiapas in February 1995. With the goal of responding to the demand for a permanent international presence in the region, various organizations working in the area of peace, human rights and the peaceful transformation of conflicts, from the United States, Europe and Latin America decided to create a coalition united by a shared concern for the situation in Chiapas.

From 1995 to 1997

In its first phase, SIPAZ responded to a more “classic” strategy of intervention, mainly combining the international presence with the dissemination of information outside of the area of conflict.

The work of international presence and accompaniment has sought to limit and/or halt direct violence by raising the political stakes of repression against indigenous populations, through an international presence in the areas and moments of greater conflict. It is a question of playing a dissuasive role (the logic of “human shields”) in the face of possibly violent responses to the conflicts. A testimony from a resident of an indigenous community in the Northern Zone of Chiapas, in the first years of SIPAZ, directly reflects this function: “It is good that you visit us. If you visit us, they cannot repress us so easily, because the world will find out.”

To protect the work environment for human rights defenders, as well as the physical presence and observation, lobbying and political networking efforts have been carried out, with national authorities, embassies, and multilateral agencies.

The informative work has also played a complimentary role in terms of sensitizing and mobilizing the international community, which can, in turn, pressure those actors directly involved towards a solution through dialogue. Beyond limiting direct violence, by identifying the causes and consequences of the conflict, there is the goal of having an impact on the structural and systematic aspect of the conflict.

In the context of the anniversary, Ricardo Carvajal (Mexico, SIPAZ coordinator 1995-2001) recalled the example of the “North Station” project developed in collaboration with CONPAZ (Coordinator of Non-Governmental Organizations for Peace), the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, the Indigenous Rights Center (CEDIAC) and Global Exchange (USA). This joint initiative, which maintained a physical presence in the area in 1996 and 1997, was able to compile a broad range of information regarding the increasing cases of human rights abuses. More than anything, however, it drew national and international attention to what was occurring in the region.

Jelle (Holland, SIPAZ team member from 1997-1998) still recalls intensely his participation in an observation mission carried out in Chenalhó in the weeks before the Acteal massacre in 1997: “We followed a muddy path across the hillside. It rained again. An hour and a half later, we arrived at a path where we encountered many people. Two wooden houses and hundreds of meters of plastic and leaf rooftops. The faces of discouraged people, eyes with distant gazes, into space, not seeing us. Shivering from the cold. There were hundreds of people under these roofs, who had been forced to flee their homes without clothing, without food, with nothing. All they had saved were their lives. When I returned home, I could not find the words to describe what I had seen. All I could find was the pain. A few days later we saw these images on a documentary on TV…” To be effective, it is important to make the situation known as broadly as possible, so that no authority can claim that they did not know what was happening.

In this first phase, the highest level of actors in conflict or track 1 (using the terminology of a multidirectional strategy) was apparently working or at least reinitiating it seemed possible. This is what occurred during the San Andrés Peace Dialogues until mid 1996 and, in the intermediary period that followed, a return to a similar format, with the implementation of the San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture, was considered. The efforts of the primary and secondary actors were aimed in this direction.

From 1998 to 2000

With the stagnation of the peace process and the context of a strategy of Low Intensity Warfare, local conflicts multiplied. In the face of this situation and with the increasingly remote possibility of the reinitiation of the dialogue between the EZLN and the government, SIPAZ decided to open two new areas of work, more in the vein of track 2 (intermediary actors and towards the base). The idea was to limit the direct violence in the secondary community conflicts and to transform the context of cultural violence that could sustain them.

In the area of Education for Peace, SIPAZ implemented a program with the goal of strengthening the capability of local actors in the construction of peace, particularly through workshops about the Transformation of Conflicts and Active Non-Violence. In this program, the participants included members of NGOs, indigenous organizations, and church groups, many of whom were able to increase their experiences in the communities in which they worked.

In the area of Inter-religious Dialogue, the goal was to see how religion could serve as a point of connection and dialogue between actors, rather than as another factor in the conflict. The ecumenical program of SIPAZ sought to encourage the local religious leaders, who so often had great influence, to take on the reconciliation effort as an imperative of their faith.

Miguel Alvarez, former member of the CONAI (National Commission of Intermediation, which mediated the dialogue between the EZLN and the government, and disappeared abruptly in 1998) recalls a lesson learned in these past 12 years: “We delayed in realizing that the work for peace was not simply at the negotiation table.” The strategic tour carried out by SIPAZ in 1998 aimed to address this issue. It became increasingly clearer that the strategy had to be more long term, in the truest sense of the “construction” of peace.

From 2001 to the Present

SIPAZ has continued to reinforce its progress from a logic of negative peace (absence of violence) to the construction of positive peace with intervention that seeks to continually become more thorough, and long-term, addressing the various dimensions of the conflict.

Today we have three areas of work:

• International presence in Chiapas and Mexico;
• Promotion and training for a culture of peace (Education for Peace, Inter-religious Dialogue, Networking);
• Sensitization about the causes, consequences and responses to the conflicts in Mexico (Information and Lobbying).

SIPAZ also maintains the areas previously explored, but with greater emphasis and a stronger connection/network in the national and international area. This change is due to a structural analysis that led us to understand the necessity of responding to national and international factors in the conflict. In this sense, it is worthwhile to mention the fact that starting in 2005, SIPAZ has worked to provide more direct coverage of the issues affecting the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. In the international arena, we are seeking to build connections with other networks and processes such as the Social Forums.

Lessons Learned Over 10 years

There are many lessons that we have learned over the past ten years: some came from moments of joy and hope, others from difficult and painful experiences.

Essential First Step: Halt the Violence

The pressure from the national and international civil society in distinct moments of the conflict in Chiapas have permitted the halting of violence and the opening of spaces in which to develop initiative for dialogue and the construction of peace at the local, national and international level. Even when the dissuasive effect had its limits (“negative peace”), the story would have been very different without this intervention (see, for example, “The Bridges of Words Constructed between the Civil Society and the EZLN,” SIPAZ Report, December 2003).

A Lesson in Humility

SIPAZ proposes itself as a “support agency” (SIPAZ Mission Statement). SIPAZ has never tried to explain to others how to resolve their conflicts. Nevertheless, the lesson of life often goes further, deconstructing the concept of “help”: Miriam (Holland, SIPAZ Team Member 2000-2001) wrote in her contribution to the tenth anniversary: “So many people, so much love, so many experiences that have helped me to find a direction and fulfillment in my life, up till now. I came to share my talents, my abilities, my training. Then I came back to my country, modest, realizing that it had been the other way around: the people there that had shaped me, that had taught me what is real, what love is, perseverance.”

“We should be the change we want to see in the world” (Gandhi)

During the celebration, Gustavo Cabrera (Costa Rica, Service for Peace and Justice –SERPAJ- in Latin America, and member of the SIPAZ Board of Directors) made reference to this necessary congruence with the changes we propose to make outside “Adolfo Pérez Esquivel told a story: to distract his son, a man rips a piece of newspaper that has a picture of the world and asks his son to put it back together. The son manages to do so very quickly, because on the back there was a picture of a person. To fix the world, first we have to fix the people.”

Elena (France, SIPAZ team member 2005-2006) takes up this same point in a text she wrote for the anniversary: “That is what I will take with me from SIPAZ, in a corner of my heart. The sense that hospitality comes first. I do not know how they got to that. In our western cultures, it is not really something that we are taught. On the contrary, you first have to finish all your work, whatever it takes, spending the day in front of the computer until you see the world as pixels… I suppose that this sense of hospitality comes from a lot of acculturation, the sensitivity of each person, from their ability to listen to their heart, from many things really, a little of everything all at once… The relation comes first.”

Patience: Give Time Some Time

Heike (Germany, SIPAZ team member 1999-2005) insists on this issue a great deal, a very important part of the semi-permanent presence maintained in the Northern Zone. It all comes down to intercultural differences between, primarily western, team members. With a destroyed social fabric and in the face of the enormity of the violence that has occurred more in this area, relationships are built over time, until people feel the trust to be able to speak.

Phil McManus (USA, founder and president of the SIPAZ Board of Directors from 1995-2002) emphasizes: “An international team for peace that works in a polarized and violent situation has to confront a number of obstacles. It is one thing to be in a community, but it is another thing to gain entrance. In the particular case of the indigenous communities, who have survived 500 years after the conquest, it is, in part, because of their ability to close themselves off from outsiders. When the work requires that we talk with people on both sides, distrust increases and the challenge is greater.”

“A world where all the worlds can fit”: From Theory to Practice

In the various teams as well as in the work in the field (particularly if they are present in different places) we have seen the importance of everyone being able to express what they have lived, their version of the facts, even if it contradicts someone else’s version. John Paul Lederach (significant author in the School for the Transformation of Conflicts) often states that all those who are part of the problem have to work to find the solution. Once a meeting space of greater trust is established, it is easier to respect those who are we are faced with, without assuming a defensive attitude based in fear: “either you are with me or you are against me.” On the other hand, it is not about thinking everyone is the same, but rather the ability to work together, uniting efforts, within and from the differences.

The Mustard Seed Lesson

SIPAZ accompanied the dialogue process between Catholics and Evangelicals in Chenalhó (municipality where the Acteal massacre occurred) from 2000- 2004. It took a long time before the participants were able to realize that they are “brothers” of the same ethnicity and they are all Christians. It was possible to surpass the apparent victim/victimizer dichotomy to recognize that one way or another everyone has had their own pain in the conflict (the family members of prisoners, for example).

An anecdote that we often recall took place after the many difficulties of getting the parties to sit down and “break the ice”: all of a sudden, we saw Catholics and Presbyterians laughing together and talking enthusiastically. When we asked a translator what they were talking about, he responded “about ways to cook beans.” A trivial example but very reflective of the fact that we are never as far from the other as we think… José (Tzajalchen), one of the Catholic representatives participating in the process, commented after the workshop: “We shared how our lives have been since 1997. The closeness between brothers helps. Before we did not even greet each other.” Change starts there, in the “little things.”

Here… There…

Gustavo Cabrera (SIPAZ Board of Directors) emphasized the following point at the beginning of the celebration: “SIPAZ has developed new concepts of cross-culturalism, of joint actions between organizations and communities, in religious and communitary issues. An these contributions are valued throughout the world, they have been extended to experiences in Colombia and in North America. It is very important to value that this concrete experience, though apparently small, can have much greater significance in a broad context and it can contribute to the exercises for peace in other parts of the world.”

Marco (Italy, SIPAZ Team Member in 2000), sent us a greeting for the anniversary saying: “The international identity of SIPAZ and its commitment to the local presence are a prefect example of what global citizenship should be.”

Simply: Believing

In the 2003 SIPAZ Team we still recall, with great emotion, an interview with Jorge Santiago (former director of DESMI- Economic and Social Development of Indigenous Mexicans- and SIPAZ advisor) in which he gave us the strength to continue advancing despite a series of financial crises, with one simple word: believe, believe, despite everything. Marina (France, SIPAZ Team Member in 1997 and SIPAZ Coordinator since 2002) often cites John Paul Lederach, adapting his words to the Chiapan context: “Working for peace is like listening to the milpa (corn field) grow.” You do not necessarily hear it or see it. Nevertheless it is about continuing to sow seeds…

In light of the many lessons learned, SIPAZ is committed to following its path knowing it is surrounded by many others. Cecilia and Javier, close friends of the project, wrote to us from Spain: “Today the people of the Mesoamerican lands are walking ahead of us and behind us, they are walking beside us and their steps and our steps get confused but we do not get confused, our steps are the path, the path in which hope and happiness walk. That is to say, the best of what we have as humans, because the worst we have is what we go on breaking down everyday together with the people of Mesoamerica, we break it down with our hearts. This is why you and Chiapas have met and are walking together, and this is why it is important and necessary to continue walking together.”

:: TESTIMONIAL

Following the Path of Hurricane Stan in Chiapas

In January, we received an appeal from the Fray Matías de Córdoba Human Rights Center in Tapachula, in the coast region of Chiapas, asking for support in carrying out an observation mission in the areas affected by Hurricane Stan. Last October, Stan ravaged cities and communities of Mexico and Central America. In the Coast and Sierra Region of Chiapas, severe flooding left more than 22,000 homes entirely destroyed and about 19,000 people affected. Although SIPAZ does not normally work in these regions, as we generally focus our attention on the “area of conflict,” we decided to respond to the call sent out by the Fray Matías Human Rights Center because the effects of Stan in Chiapas will continue to be seen far into the future, affecting the totality of the state.

The observation effort was carried out from January 8-15, three months after the disaster. While the most difficult moments had passed, the landscape continues to be devastated: with areas that seemed like oceanless beaches, of sand and rocks, large extensions that show the channels that the rivers occupied… From the heights of the Sierra, despite the predominant grey and blue tones, I could not keep from thinking of the title of the well known book by Galeano: “Open Veins of Latin America”…

We heard diverse testimonies, from the best to the worst, as is so often the case in emergency situations. The people told us of how once their town, their home, and their small crop of mango or banana was here. In the actual moment of the hurricane, many people helped each other to survive. In a number of smaller, more isolated communities, they continue to share the little food they have, as well as the hunger and the cold. They have begun the process of rebuilding.

In the populations most accessible by highway, the aid supplies arrived much faster. Many people spoke of how the churches and Caritas provided the first assistance, and of the aid that came from the civil society throughout Mexico. We also heard reports of how “they gave me incomplete supplies” or “my animals were stolen.” Individualism and a lack of solidarity were more noticeable in urban areas, especially in the region’s largest city: Tapachula. Groups, often armed, looted houses and stores, and held-up trucks carrying aid supplies. Others defended their goods with force. Some stores took advantage of the situation and drastically raised the prices of basic products.

Following the Observation Mission, we also held interviews with the Junta of Good Government in La Realidad, which covers the two affected regions. “Many of our base support communities were affected,” they said, “Some lost their homes, their crops, their lands. They gathered in shelters in Huixtla, Belisario Domínguez, Motozintla, and Comalapa. There has been a lot of solidarity from the international and national civil society as well as from our own communities (…) We also sent out health care brigades. Doctors in solidarity and health care providers from other communities participated.” They stated that advances have been made: “The majority of those affected have returned to their homes or have been reunited with their families. We have provided supplies to those who want to rebuild their houses.” Nevertheless, the difficulties continue in the communities: “Many of them live in areas of risk. We invite them to leave those areas and come here, to the Selva, where we have lands that we have recovered. But it is very difficult, the “compas” (comrades) are used to their lands and they do not want to leave. So if they want to rebuild there, well, we will respect their decision.”

The authorities recognize that Stan’s effects exceeded their expectations. Along the road, we came across many people and machinery working to rebuild the roads and bridges. There is little progress to be seen so many months after the hurricane. The majority of the victims with whom we spoke told us of the many unfulfilled promises made by the government. We also heard testimonies and rumors of aid and rebuilding supplies being sold and secretly hoarded by local politicians. “I saw bundles of aid supplies in the police station,” recounted one woman from Mapastepeque, “they scolded me for looking…” It is concerning to see that the aid could be used to manipulate voters in the context of the upcoming elections. The area is seen as a coveted pool of exploitable votes given the extreme vulnerability of the majority of the region’s population.

The local authorities defend themselves. For example, in Acacoyagua, where rumors circulated about a plan to take the municipal president hostage, we were told: “We have already distributed a lot of aid, but there are always people who don’t agree.”

There is also concern that some might take advantage of the situation to advance other economic or environmental agendas. One group of hurricane victims in the Sierra told us how “The government wants to relocate us to the Coast. We suspect that they want to remove us from the lands of the reserve because of the natural resources there.”

The discrediting is mutual. The authorities are questioned; the various organizations and churches only help their own people. The rebuilding will certainly take much longer. Those who have friends or family in the United States try to go there themselves. “Coyotes” charge $20,000 - $30,000 Pesos (US$1= approx. 10.5 Pesos). Unfortunately, for many, migration to other parts of Mexico or to the US seems to be the only way out.

:: SIPAZ ACTIVITIES

January 15 – March 2006

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE & ACCOMPANIMENT

CHIAPAS

In March, we spent one week in various communities and cities of the Northern Zone of Chiapas to interview various actors from the region: displaced, leaders of various political groups, government agencies, church members, zapatista base support, as well as social and campesino organizations.

In January, we visited the municipality of Chenalhó with a delegation from the USA. In February, we met with members of the board of directors of Las Abejas, an indigenous group in the same municipality.

On March 14, we attended, as observers, the events related to the Forum Against Police Repression, an activity organized within the framework of the Otra Campaña in San Cristóbal.

On March 24, we attended the pilgrimage of the Pueblo Creyente (People of Faith) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. At least 5,000 people were present.

In the past months, we met with 4 of the Juntas of Good Government of the 5 Zapatista Caracoles.

GUERRERO

In March, we held meetings in Chiapas with members of the Peace Brigades International team from Guerrero and with representatives from theTlachinollán Human Rights Center of the Mountain. Both groups participated in the celebrations we held for our tenth anniversary.

OAXACA

From February 5-10, we accompanied, as observers, the “Delegado Zero’s” tour of Oaxaca.

At the end of March, we met with various social and human rights organizations in the city of Oaxaca.

INFORMATION

We received visitors, delegations (12 in this period), students and journalists, primarily form the USA and Europe, with whom we shared information about the current situation in Chiapas and the work of SIPAZ.

In February, in collaboration with the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, Alianza Cívica, PROPAZ (Swiss Program of Observation and Promotion of Peace in Chiapas) and Peace Watch (Switzerland), we initiated a program of observation and monitoring in Chiapas with regard to popular political and civil rights during the electoral process and the Otra Campaña, expected to continue through December 2006.

In February, we published a pronouncement regarding the acts of intimidation against members of the SIPAZ team (see http://www.sipaz.org/avisos/denuncia/den0602_eng.htm).

In February, we met with Jaime Prieto (Colombia) sent by Amnesty International to create a current publication about the situation for Human Rights Defenders in Mexico.

From March 27- 31, members of SIPAZ and PROPAZ met with various embassies, the Mexico Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and government agencies to present a document about recent incidents of harassment and intimidation against human rights defenders.

We continue to participate in the seminar series “The Works of Immanuel Wallerstein: A Grammar for Understanding the Current World From a Critical Perspective,” coordinated by the Immanuel Wallerstein Center for Study, Information and Documentation.

PROMOTION OF PEACE

PEACE EDUCATION

In the second half of January, the puppet group “Diversity” presented their shows in about 20 schools in San Cristóbal.

In February, we held a workshop titled “Power and Leadership” organized with artisan cooperatives of women in the Highlands and the Selva region.

NETWORKING

The last week of January, we attended the Social Forum of the Americas in Caracas, Venezuela. We participated as presenters in three panels on Mexico, peace processes, and negotiation. A meeting was held with the Latin American Network of Peace Builders.

We continue to participate in the Network for Peace, a space for reflection and action that includes 16 organizations that support processes of peace and reconciliation in Chiapas.

On March 4, we celebrated out tenth anniversary and organized a space for reflection on the current challenges in International Accompaniment. A number of our local partner organizations participated, including Peace Brigades International Guatemala and Guerrero, Witness for Peace (USA), the Chiapas Peace House Project (USA), CAREA (Germany), SWEFOR (Sweden), the Coordinator for Accompaniment in Guatemala (CAIG) and Peace Watch (Switzerland). We edited a video about the event and are in the process of compiling a memoir that we hope to publish soon. The following week we met with the SIPAZ international Board of Directors for our yearly planning.