15 January 1998 Edition
Mexican Army carries on work of death squads
THE December massacre of 46 unarmed people in a Church by death squads armed and trained by the Mexican Army has been followed by further actions in the government's dirty war against the Zapatistas in Chiapas.
An estimated 12,000 supporters of the indigenous rebels have now been driven from their homes by the government-backed paramilitary groups, and Federal troops are invading EZLN communities under the pretext that they are searching for arms. They are destroying houses and crops as they go, and terrorising the inhabitants.
And in many cases they have only been stopped by local women brandishing sticks, stones and the machetes they use for work in the fields. Army patrols are now pushing ever closer to EZLN positions in the mountains, clearly trying to provoke the guerrillas into a violent response.
This leaves the Zedillo government in clear violation of its own Law for Dialogue, passed in 1995 after a huge outcry halted the last attempt to crush the indigenous revolution by military force. The Law specifically excludes any military or police incursion into the rebel communities until a dignified peace can be reached through negotiation.
But the ``San Andres Accords on Indigenous Culture and Rights,'' which were a product of this so-called peace process, have never been implemented in law.
The military invasions are being interpreted as an attempt to discredit negotiation by forcing an all-out war, in which the EZLN will be portrayed as the aggressors. Local bishops Samuel Ruiz and Raul Vera have also warned that the government's barely-concealed financing and protection of death squads is likely to result in a brutal civil war reminiscent of the genocides in Guatemala.
Just as in January `94 and February `95, only massive pressure from ordinary people in Mexico and around the world will force Zedillo back to the negotiating table.
The Mexico Irish Group has organised a series of protests in Dublin against the attacks. A spokesperson said, ``The Mexican government is using a dual strategy of paramilitary death squads and harassment by Federal troops to push Chiapas into full scale civil war. This can only be prevented by immediate pressure from all around the world.''
Calling for the death squads to be disbanded and Federal troops withdrawn, the Group is asking for people to write to the Mexican Embassy at 43 Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4, to register their protests at the situation.
The Irish Mexico Group/Meitheal Meicsiceo na hEireann can be contacted c/o LASC, 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2. Ph. 01/6760435.
An estimated 12,000 supporters of the indigenous rebels have now been driven from their homes by the government-backed paramilitary groups, and Federal troops are invading EZLN communities under the pretext that they are searching for arms. They are destroying houses and crops as they go, and terrorising the inhabitants.
And in many cases they have only been stopped by local women brandishing sticks, stones and the machetes they use for work in the fields. Army patrols are now pushing ever closer to EZLN positions in the mountains, clearly trying to provoke the guerrillas into a violent response.
This leaves the Zedillo government in clear violation of its own Law for Dialogue, passed in 1995 after a huge outcry halted the last attempt to crush the indigenous revolution by military force. The Law specifically excludes any military or police incursion into the rebel communities until a dignified peace can be reached through negotiation.
But the ``San Andres Accords on Indigenous Culture and Rights,'' which were a product of this so-called peace process, have never been implemented in law.
The military invasions are being interpreted as an attempt to discredit negotiation by forcing an all-out war, in which the EZLN will be portrayed as the aggressors. Local bishops Samuel Ruiz and Raul Vera have also warned that the government's barely-concealed financing and protection of death squads is likely to result in a brutal civil war reminiscent of the genocides in Guatemala.
Just as in January `94 and February `95, only massive pressure from ordinary people in Mexico and around the world will force Zedillo back to the negotiating table.
The Mexico Irish Group has organised a series of protests in Dublin against the attacks. A spokesperson said, ``The Mexican government is using a dual strategy of paramilitary death squads and harassment by Federal troops to push Chiapas into full scale civil war. This can only be prevented by immediate pressure from all around the world.''
Calling for the death squads to be disbanded and Federal troops withdrawn, the Group is asking for people to write to the Mexican Embassy at 43 Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4, to register their protests at the situation.
The Irish Mexico Group/Meitheal Meicsiceo na hEireann can be contacted c/o LASC, 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2. Ph. 01/6760435.