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rdom: The Army is Trying to Close Military Encirclement ofZapatistas |
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <nettime-l-temp@material.net> is the temporary home of the nettime-l list while desk.nl rebuilds its list-serving machine. please continue to send messages to <nettime-l@desk.nl> and your commands to <majordomo@desk.nl>. nettime-l-temp should be active for approximately 2 weeks (11-28 Jun 99). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 16:12:24 -0700 From: rdom <rdom@thing.net> To: "nettime-l@Desk.nl" <nettime-l@desk.nl> Subject: re: The Army is Trying to Close Military Encirclement of Zapatistas Dear sisters and brothers, It seems that once more we must prepare our selves to help support what little freedom remains in La Selva. Therefore we ask each of you as you keep your eyes on the War in the East, that you turn one eye to the South. But, remember to close yours eyes for a few minutes each day to rest them....you don't want to end up Double Crossed. Do send a note to President Zedillo: webadmon@op.presidencia.gob.mx I am sure he will be most happy to hear from each you. Zapata Vive!! rdom _________________________ La Jornada Tuesday, June 8, 1999. The Army is Trying to Close Military Encirclement of Zapatistas New Operations and Incursions Reported Jesus Ramirez Cuevas Special for La Jornada Zapotal, Chiapas June 7. At the entrance to the Taniperla canada, a written warning can be seen: "The selva belongs to us: Mendoza Group of the Mexican Army." Next to it there is a picture painted of a tiger with a helmet. A military helicopter set down in the Nueva Esperanza community a few days ago. The soldiers warned the indigenous who live there: "Get out of the selva, look for another place to live, because the Army is going to go into the Montes Azules reserve," noted Manuel Lopez, human rights promoter in this region. "We know the government wants to dislocate us, but we are never going to leave the land that belongs to us," the residents responded, according to the activist. Another resident from Las Canadas region reported: "Many people are coming to La Garrucha [seat of the Francisco Gomez Autonomous Municipality] which is why the Army wants to come in." Military troops, meanwhile, were continuing to assemble this afternoon at the barracks established at the entrance to that town. The new military and police operations seem to be heading towards the Montes Azules, heart of the Selva Lacandona, geographic rear guard of the guerrillas. According to the Fray Lorenzo de la Nada Human Rights Center, the objective would be "to close the military encirclement of the zapatista positions, and to make the towns that are supporting the armed group move out of the selva." During a trip through the Taniperla canada, La Jornada was able to confirm that soldiers and police had made incursions into, or carried out operations, in the towns of San Jose, El Censo and Taniperla. Zapatista representatives from Zapotal, which belongs to the Ricardo FLores Magon Autonomous Municipality, also mentioned attacks against the communities of Nazareth and Francisco Villa. Rumors are circulating that other incursions are being planned into Guanal, Dolores Hidalgo, Zapotal and San Jeronimo, and that, if the military operations continue, there could be confrontations between zapatistas and soldiers. Zapatista representatives from various communities of the River Perla and San Miguel canadas denied that they are blockading or maintaining checkpoints on the roads. "There is normal traffic, it's not true that we're preventing it, those are the excuses the government is using in order to attack the towns that are supporting the EZLN struggle." In various communities of the Autonomous Municipalities visited by La Jornada, such as Francisco Gomez, San Manuel and Ricardo Flores Magon, zapatistas denied the existence of these checkpoints. 100 Soldiers Entered San Jose on Sunday This Sunday, some 100 soldiers entered the ejido of San Jose, in the Amador Hernandez region. They deployed throughout the town and searched several houses, while the campesinos, zapatista sympathizers, withdrew to nearby mountains in order to avoid a confrontation. "They were there for several hours and they returned in the afternoon to El Calvario, where they have a military camp with 300 troops. We don't want them here, we don't know what's going to happen if they come back, because we're not going to leave," noted Jose Raul, zapatista representative interviewed in Zapotal, a community that is a three-hour walk from San Jose. The ejidal commissioner of Zapotal, a member of the Independent-ARIC, noted: "Despite the rumors that the army also wants to enter our town, we will not abandon our homes. We are going to resist, because we don't want the soldiers setting up here. We reached an agreement in Assembly with the entire community that, if they enter, we are going to resist peacefully." The Army made an incursion into Francisco Villa several days ago and has been patrolling the town of Las Tazas: the EZLN has a strong presence in both towns. Located in the Amador Hernandez region, San Jose is a community surrounded by the military camp of El Calvario on one side, and by San Caralampio on the other. In the Taniperla canada, there are military camps in Monte Libano and Taniperla. The Patihuitz and La Soledad canadas have military camps in San Quintin, La Soledad, La Sultana and La Garrucha. In the region of Las Tazas, there are three camps. Every 20 kilometers there is a barracks and several Army control points. Translated by irlandesa *********************************** La Jornada Monday, June 7, 1999. Six Communities Now Occupied by Army: NGO Denounces Military Incursion in San Jose, in La Canada of Taniperla Juan Balboa, correspondent Ocosingo, Chiapas June 6 The Army entered the town of San Jose, located in La Canada of Taniperla this morning, the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center confirmed today, as did the Fray Pedro de la Nada Human Rights Committee. The town became the sixth community virtually seized by the military and Public Security, having done the same in Nazareth, El Censo, Betania, Francisco Villa and Santa Lucia. This has led to the displacement of thousands of EZLN sympathizers to other communities and to the mountains of Las Canadas. Three other communities - among them La Garrucha, seat of the Francisco Gomez Autonomous Municipality - are being threatened with seizure by Army troops and state police forces, since hundreds of those forces are concentrating on the outskirts of the towns. The NGO confirms the incursions by the soldiers into the conflict zone, and they made an urgent call to federal officials to stop these actions. They noted that, in Nazareth alone, 50 families fled from their homes after asking the Army for an explanation of their presence and being met with ten shots fired into the air. The displaced lack clothing, food, cover and conditions of security. Representatives of the Francisco Villa community today denounced the Army's entrance into their community: "We are opposed to the opening of more roads, because they serve for the entrance of more soldiers and for the installation of more camps, once more violating the San Andres Accords and provoking more division." Two days ago, some 400 Army and Public Security Police troops also entered the community of Santa Lucia, where "they provoked a confrontation between us and the PRI's." Meanwhile, the communities of the Autonomous Municipalities of Ricardo Flores Magon, San Manuel, Miguel Hidalgo and Francisco Gomez set up 'sporadic' checkpoints in Ocosingo, Chilon and Palenque, to prevent PRI's from receiving "crumbs" sent by the Federation or by Albores Guillen's government. Translated by irlandesa ********************************** Albores [Governor of Chiapas] Building Highways in the Selva For Army June 5, 1999 To civil society and the national and international media: We publicly denounce the intervention of the Federal Army in the defense of highway projects being promoted by Albores Guillen, and which go against the will of the communities, if we do indeed believe that roads are very necessary, we are opposed to the opening of more roads, because they will serve for the entry of more military forces and for the establishment of more military camps within the zone, making from them an encirclement, and once more violating the San Andres Accords, in addition to the fact that these projects are provoking inter-community problems. We denounce: The events that occurred this May in the Francisco Villa community, when progress on the road was prevented, the entry by the Federal Army and Public Security, who have remained in the community since then, provoking problems, such as blocking the passage of women in order to embrace them. The events which occurred on June 4 in the Santa Lucia Community, where the planning of another road was prevented, the Federal Army guarded the engineers in charge and set about confronting us with PRI's, in order to make the public believe that the conflict is between campesinos or between communities, and is no longer with the bad government. Through these actions, the Federal Army is distorting its true duties, and it is setting about helping and protecting the different programs promoted by Albores Guillen. We also denounce the actions taken by the government of Albores Guillen of taking to the communities - through brigades that come from Tuxtla Gutierrez - offering cattle, highway diversions, housing improvements and organizing groups to dress up like zapatistas, and with that to make people believe that we are surrendering, but from here, we are saying to them: WE WILL NOT SURRENDER, NOR WILL WE WILL SELL OURSELVES, WE ARE HERE AND WEWILL CONTINUE RESISTING. The Support Bases of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation of the Selva Region