SIPAZ Activities (December 2001 – February 2002)

Contacts and information

• Visits to the jungle and northern regions to dialogue with diverse religious and political actors Receiving various international delegations to inform them about the current state of affairs in Chiapas, SIPAZ’s work and that of the Network for Peace: Dominicans of North America, NISGUA (accompaniment project in Guatemala), Cloudforest, JEM (Jubilee Economics Ministries) and the International Civil Commission for the Observation of Human Rights.
• Visit from Mr. Baur, of the Federal Ministry of German Economic Cooperation.
• Receiving journalists from France to inform them about the conflict in Chiapas.
• Meetings with international groups which are members of the SIPAZ coalition that have projects in Mexico: Global Exchange, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), Witness for Peace and Peace Brigades Internationals (PBI).

Inter-religious Dialogue

• Meetings with religious actors from the county of Chenalho and with the Pluralistic Ecumenical Group. Visits to various communities in the region.
• Continuation of the Peacebuilding Exchange Project between religious leaders from Chenalho and the Nicaraguan Peace Commissions.
• Participation in ecumenical prayers for peace in San Cristobal de las Casas.
• Meeting with state government officials in charge of religious affairs.

Education for Peace

• Participation in the Network for Peace, a space for action and reflection that seeks to support processes of reconciliation and peace at the organizational and community level in Chiapas.
• Meeting with various peace education organizations in Chiapas and with members of the German Foundation for International Development.

International

• Participation in the seminar: “Human Rights and the Challenges of the XXI Century” (Santiago de Chile, November, 2001) and in the Second World Social Forum (Porto Alegre, Brazil, Feb. 2002).