SIPAZ Activities (August – October 1998)

Between August and October 1998, team activities included the following:

Information

• Participation as election observer in October 4 elections.
• Interview with the State Electoral Council in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas.
• Interview with political candidates in Chilon, Yajalon, and Ocosingo.
• Interview in Ocosingo with evangelical and Catholic representatives regarding the political and religious situation.
• Dissemination through the SIPAZ website of information on the context of the recent elections and the requirements for being an electoral observer.

Contacts and Visits

• Visit of two staff members of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico seeking information about the Chiapas conflict.
• Tours by two SIPAZ team members in Europe, developing contacts with national and international NGOs in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and France.
• Visit of a representative of Amnesty International during her tour of Mexico.
• Participation in a meeting in Comitan of the NGO Forum: Let’s Stop the War.
• Meeting with several NGOs and church representatives in Comitan.
• Participation as observers in evangelical gatherings on the theme “Evangelical interpretations of the origin, development and current situation of the Chiapas conflict” and “Protestantism at the dawn of the Twenty-first Century.”
• Participation in a conference on “Neoliberalism and the Indigenous.”
• Presentations on the current situation in Chiapas to several delegations from Canada, Germany, and the U.S.
• Interviews with staff of the U.S., Canadian and Swiss embassies in Mexico City.

Education

• Workshop on Reconciliation, in collaboration with CORECO.
• Two workshops on Negotiation-Mediation and one on Active Nonviolence for NGO and church workers.
• Workshop on Managing Fear and another on Human Relations for the ecumenical Bible School of Holistic Formation.
• Collaboration on a workshop on Conflict Resolution in the community of Morelia.
• Organization and coordination of an exposition, including photos and text, on Mahatma Gandhi in San Cristobal de las Casas. A series of other activities in conjunction with the exposition included conferences, meditations, theater, films, music, and poetry.