SIPAZ Activities (April – June 1997)

Between April and June 1997 the team engaged in the following activities:

• Organization and accompaniment of a delegation of Christian Peace Teams from the United States and Canada.
• Participation and reporting on the peace process in the “Encounter of Analysis, Reflection, and Commitment for Peace, Tolerance, Dignity, and Justice in Chiapas,” sponsored by the Baptist Churches of Mexico and the Presbyterian Church of Chiapas, and by the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. Various Evangelical Churches participated as well as the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas.
• Participation in the “Pilgrimage for the Unity, Reconciliation and Peace” to Tila (Northern Region), promoted by the Diocese of San Cristobal and the Mexican Bishops’ Conference.
• Participation in the second workshop in Mexico City concerning “Managing Fear and Safety in Situations of Conflict.”
• Accompaniment of a delegation of Vietnam Veterans (Veterans of Foreign Wars Bill Motto Post # 5888) on their visit to Ocosingo, Chiapas.
• Participation as a member of a team in one of the Civilian Peace Camps in the municipality of Ocosingo.
• Observation group in the march “For Unity and Peace” in Bachajon, on the anniversary of the confrontation of May 5^th, 1996.
• Interviews with members of CONAI, COCOPA, the new governmental delegation for the Dialogue of San Andres, the National Commission of Human Rights in Mexico City and San Cristobal, Civic Alliance, representatives of International Observatory of Prisons, the Radical Philosophy Association of the United States, and other international visitors.
• Participation in the Encounter for Reconciliation and Peace, sponsored by the Commission for Community Reconciliation (CORECO) in Tuxtla Gutierrez.
• Accompaniment of a group of displaced persons from Maravilla Tenejapa to a negotiate their return home.
• Participation in two state meetings for women entitled “We walk together toward Dialogue and Peace”.
• Participation in a workshop hosted by Civic Alliance on “Citizen Education, Political Power, and Democracy”.
• Participation in a course on “The Transformation of Conflicts and Human Rights” at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
• Interviews with United States Congressional advisors, in addition to non-governmental organizations and churches in Washington, D.C.
• Presentations and radio interviews in California, U.S.A.
• Production of several Urgent Actions and the quarterly SIPAZ Report; distribution in Mexico and in the international community.
• Within the framework of the “Northern Station for Easing Tension and Reconciliation” prioritized attention to the political prisoners of the Northern Region in “The Voice of Cerro Hueco” and to the delegates of the displaced who were mobilized to Tuxtla Gutierrez.