Chiapas Update: On The Road To Peace?
Editor's Note: This story was filed from Mexico just before press time. It's an important update and companion piece to our cover story, "Seven Days in Chiapas" (see pages 4-7). AGENDA'S regular feature for this page, "Etcetera," will return next month.
On April 9, 1995, leaders of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and Mexican government representatives met in San Miguel Ocosingo, in the Chiapas Highlands, in what proved to be a significant step in advancing the peace process, and at the same time diffusing a potentially explosive situation.
The importance of the meeting and its results was that for the first time since the armed conflict began on Jan. 1, 1994, a time and place was agreed upon for the first face-to-face negotiations between the Zapatistas and the federal government. The meeting was set for April 20th and the site selected was the small mountaintop community of San Andres Larrainzar, situated in the heart of the Chiapas Highlands.
I arrived in the area on April 19th. All that day and night thousands of men, women and children from near and far away communities streamed down from the mountains. Some had journeyed on foot for as long as three days, leaving their homes in the lowlands and jungle in order to be present for what they perceived to be a very important event. But mainly they all wanted to come to San Andres to show their support and to help protect their "brothers and sisters in arms," the Zapatistas.
They had not forgotten that on another April day in 1919, Emiliano Zapata, the charismatic revolutionary leader of the Southern Army from whom the present movement gets its name, was lured into a government trap and assassinated by federal troops.
As they streamed into town from different directions on a bright, sunny day some of them carried Mexican flags and others held aloft the Zapatista colors. Others carried signs and banners as they walked in the direction of the central plaza. Others shouted in unison, "Viva Zapata! Viva la Revolucion! Viva el Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional!" It was indeed a sight to behold. The spirit of Emiliano Zapata was very much alive that day.
April 20th, the day set for the beginning of the negotiations, began as a crisp, clear morning. As I walked the narrow streets of San Andres I could see a kaleidoscope of colors - somewhere between six to eight-thousand Mayan natives standing, sitting or sleeping on every street and sidewalk.
Most of the people were wearing their traditional, distinctive, colorful dress. At a glance it was possible to tell which community they had come from. There were Tzotzil Maya from nearby Chamula and Zinacantan, as well as Tzeltzal Maya from the more remote areas of Tenejada and Oxchuc. But what they all seemed to have in common was that they all come from a region where extreme poverty and misery prevails. However, it was also very clear that what these people lacked in earthly wealth they more than made up for with an overflowing aura of spiritual richness which transcends the material plane.
Watching and observing the sea of faces, the entire scene left one with the impression that they had all come to San Andres to bear witness to an expected miracle or perhaps a magical moment in history. But thelr hopes and expectations were not to be. On the horizon was disappointment, frustratlon, hunger, heat and thirst, all of which they know all too well.
The festive mood turned into disappointment and gloom. What cast a dark cloud over San Andres was the arrival of a messenger sent by Mexican government negotiators who informed the Zapatista delegation that talks were suspended. Their position was that the government delegation felt threatened and intimidated by the presence of thousands of Zapatista supporters and mentioned "lack of security." The bottom line was that the talks were off "until all the Indians leave town."
For two days everyone waited for their fate to be decided in talks between Mexican government and Zapatista negotiators. But while the two sides talked and balked, these poor souls, many of whom had walked for days to help make up the human security cordons around the negotiating site, stood for hours on end in the hot sun without food. Only water passed out by Red Cross workers kept them going. And what made the scene that much more tragic was that most of the people were women and children.
The Mexican government, which has more than 50,000 heavily armed troops in the area, succeeded in using these poor people as pawns. The Zapatista leadership very reluctantly agreed to ask their supporters to leave in order to advance the peace process.
It was just beginning to get dark on Friday April 21st when the first columns of men, women and children began to descend down the mountain slopes leading out of San Andres. Many of them would have to walk the entire night and beyond in order to return to their homes in the remote jungle. Many left with no food or water. Then, to add to their misery, a very unexpected, massive thunderstorm with hail saturated and pounded the mountainous terrain as I watched them leave. There was a tragic sadness in the air as I watched the last of the travelers disappear in the dark, cold, rainy, mountainous mist.
The next day, April 22nd, the peace negotiations began. For two days both sides talked, but the discussions were limited to military positions and zones of control. The political, economic and social aspects, which must be addressed by the government in order to bring true peace to the region, wlll be discussed in earnest in the next session set for May 12 in San Andres Larrainzar.
The government delegation felt threatened and intimidated by the presence of thousands of Zapatista supporters and mentioned "lack of security." The bottom line was that the talks were off "until all the Indians leave town."