Copyright 1994 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 10, 1994, Monday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa and Latin America; LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN; MEXICO; AL/1891/L ;
HEADLINE: [1]; EZLN reportedly proposes dialogue; president sets up
commission in Chiapas State
SOURCE: Mexico City, in Spanish 1332 gmt 7 Jan 94; (a) EFE news
agency, Madrid, in Spanish 2041 gmt 8 Jan 94
Excerpts from report (AL/8190 L/1 [1])
Mexico City, 8th January: Alleged members of the rebel Zapatista
National Liberation Army (EZLN) have sent a communique to the Mexican
daily 'La Jornada'in which they claim to be ready to engage in a
written dialogue with the government.
The communique states that the rebels will engage in dialogue with the
government with the mediation of Guatemalan indigenous leader
Rigoberta Menchu, Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who has worked on behalf of
indigenous peoples, and Julio Scherer, director of the weekly '
Proceso', "whom they have never been able to silence" .
The document was faxed by the "Clandestine Committee of the Struggling
Indigenous Peoples of the EZLN" and states that the decision to begin
a written public dialogue with the government "does not imply a
surrender" ...
The communique notes that the first phase of the struggle "has been
carried out" , although it does not state what phases will follow the
armed struggle that seeks to change the government in the country.
"We do not have enough quality weapons to defend ourselves without
starving. We have only sticks and cunning to face the enemy," the
rebels state, appealing to the Mexican people to join their movement.
(b) Editorial report
Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, chairman of the National Human Rights
Commission (Comision Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH), who was
in Chiapas State, had begun to receive complaints of alleged civil
rights violations filed by the residents of San Cristobal de las Casas
and other towns, Radio ACIR (Mexico City, in Spanish 1332 gmt 7 Jan
94) reported. He was cited by the radio as having said that all
complaints would be investigated, including the case of corpses found
in Ococingo with signs of having been tortured.
On the 9th AFP news agency (Paris, in Spanish 0048 gmt) reported that
President Carlos Salinas had appointed a commission of Chiapas
residents to "contribute to restoring coexistence and normality to
Chiapas" . The agency added: The commission "will have complete
independence to evaluate the situation and the problems that need to
be resolved as well as to make suggestions about options and actions
to efficiently face the problems in the conflict areas."
Copyright 1994 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 10, 1994, Monday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa and Latin America; LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN; MEXICO; AL/1891/L ;
HEADLINE: [2]; Actions carried out by reported EZLN sympathizers
outside Chiapas State
SOURCE: Mexico City, in Spanish 0435 gmt 8 Jan 94; Paris, in Spanish
1504 gmt 7 Jan 94
Editorial report
Armed clashes in Chiapas State were continuing on 8th January, XEW TV
(Mexico City, in Spanish 0435 gmt 8 Jan 94) reported. On the 7th, the
television reported (0438 gmt) that the Federal Electricity Commission
had announced that unidentified persons had brought down two masts
carrying high tension transmission lines. AFP news agency (Paris, in
Spanish 1504 gmt 7 Jan 94) said that the attack had apparently been
carried out by sympathizers of the Zapatista National Liberation Army
(EZLN) and added that this was the first action by the EZLN outside
Chiapas. On the 8th XEW TV (1300 gmt) reported that a car bomb had
exploded in Mexico City; no group had claimed responsibility for the
attack, the television said.
The Revolutionary Workers' Clandestine People's Union Party (PROCUP)
had claimed responsibility for a grenade explosion at the office of
the mayor of Acapulco on the 8th, AFP reported (0107 gmt 9 Jan). The
agency said that a telephone caller had said that the attack was an
act of solidarity with the EZLN.
Copyright 1994 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 10, 1994, Monday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa and Latin America; LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN; MEXICO; AL/1891/L ;
HEADLINE: [4]; Government produces 28-page document on EZLN
SOURCE: (a) XEW TV, Mexico City, in Spanish 0435 gmt 8 Jan 94
Text of report from the "24 Hours" news bulletin
Socorro Diaz, deputy secretary for civilian protection at the
Government Secretariat, today read out a 28-page document with
important information on the armed groups that have provoked violence
in Chiapas State. She said the so-called Zapatista National Liberation
Army [EZLN] was an extremist organization.
[Diaz - recording, intercepted in progress] - violent, professional
and well trained. Its profile is highly ideological and uses a
language that is characteristic of extremist guidelines. [End of
recorded]
The armed group includes ideologists and clergy; there are medics and
transmission technicians, and it is comprised of Mexicans and
foreigners. Its operation strategy for 1993 consisted of advocating
the invasion of lands and provoking an overall violence. In certain
cases it kidnaps children to force their parents to join the armed
group.
Referring to the group's weapons, Diaz said it had machine guns,
shotguns, revolvers and sophisticated weapons that were suited for
guerrilla warfare. The weapons were manufactured mainly in the United
States, Russia and the UK.
[Diaz - recording] The so-called EZLN appeared in 1993 in five
municipalities of Chiapas State - Ococingo, Las Margaritas, Comitan,
Altamirano and Chanal. It has an organized network of activists cells
that are in permanent contact with civilian band radios. It has 15
training centres in various municipalities; six of them are located in
Las Margaritas, five in Ococingo, two in Sabanillas, one in Altamirano
and one in Chanal. [End of recording]
The report read by Mrs Socorro Diaz is based on information that was
provided by the National Defence Secretariat and the Attorney-General'
s Office. She said the group had martial arts instructors and health
promoters. Each squad of activists is comprised of one sergeant, one
corporal, one radio operator, one health promoter and 20 activists.
The group has 172 civilian band radio stations in its camps, and
authorities have found propaganda of the Revolutionary Workers'
Clandestine People's Union Party [PROCUP], which the group supports by
distributing its publications.
The aggressor group is comprised of and supported by various extremist
organizations. They have safe houses and assembly centres where they
show political-revolutionary films to the people. Diaz said many of
its leaders had already been identified.
Copyright 1994 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 10, 1994, Monday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa and Latin America; LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN; MEXICO; AL/1891/L ;
HEADLINE: [4]; Government produces 28-page document on EZLN
SOURCE: (b) XEW TV, Mexico City, in Spanish 1300 gmt 8 Jan 94
Excerpts from report by Saul Sanchez; from the "Upon Awakening" news
bulletin; passages within quotation marks recorded
Socorro Diaz Palacios, deputy government secretary, stated yesterday
that the government had information on the identity of the individuals
leading the armed group operating in Chiapas State.
[Diaz] "Concerning the Mexicans, some are activists linked to
guerrilla groups dismantled in the 1970s."
Commenting on leaders who are foreigners, she said they might have
gained experience of guerrilla warfare in countries south of Mexico.
Diaz said the capture of individuals who came from that region and
their level of training led to that suggestion, saying that a
Nicaraguan and, apparently, a Guatemalan were under arrest.
[Diaz] "The aggressor armed group has received the support of certain
ideologues and clergymen from different denominations that act on
their own. They have organized cadres and the structures of their
villages, allowing them to go from convincing rural residents to
recruiting and training them subsequently in subversive and terrorist
practices." Diaz reported that summonses were being issued for people
allegedly linked to these criminal activities...
[Diaz] "They have regulations and internal discipline, as well as
different instruction handbooks covering the use of weapons, planning
of attacks, combat strategies, security and communications systems,
and disciplinary measures. PROCUP [Revolutionary Workers' Clandestine
People's Union Party] literature was found in their camps, which they
support by distributing its publications."
The rebels accompany their methods to recruit personnel with threats
to the effect that they will take away properties or expel from the
community those who are reluctant to join criminal activities. The
official said there were instances in which children were kidnapped to
induce their parents to join the guerrillas.
[Diaz] "Coopted or pressured groups devote their efforts to the
building of training centres These families prepare food to meet the
needs of this radical and violent group."
She added that, based on existing information, it was believed there
were three kinds of operation bases.
[Diaz] "They are located in inaccessible terrain, hidden by foliage.
Reaching those sites requires walking for three or four hours on
partly exposed paths in areas densely vegetated."
Militants have been strategically deployed to penetrate all of
southern Chiapas. When they take control over a region, municipal,
productive and
educational activities are neglected.
[Diaz] "The so-called militia or militant squads operate as a
paramilitary apparatus. Each squad consists of one sergeant, one
corporal, one radio operator, one health provider and 20 militants."
These rebels possess .22-calibre rifles, 5.56-mm AR-15 rifles, .30-
calibre M-1 carbines and different kinds of shotguns, pistols and
revolvers... Diaz said they were operating with sophisticated radio
communications equipments.
[Diaz] "Their radio communications equipment has between 23 to 40
transceiver channels, and they operate from 2400 to 0600." The
official said it has been possible to detect part of their key code
and record transmissions.
[Diaz] "The transmissions base station from the subversive general
garrison goes by the identification code name of Cicara, which
apparently stands for the so-called El Caracol Instruction Centre
[Spanish: Centro de Instruccion El Caracol], located in the town of
Las Margaritas of that same name."
The deputy government secretary said that, although social demands
hade been met, the subversive groups'operations had increased, adding
that last year on three occasions Mexican authorities learned that
aggressor groups were preparing violent actions. She acknowledged that
authorities acted with unusual calm and flexibility. Diaz read a 28-
page report prepared with information supplied by the National Defence
Secretariat and the Attorney-General's Office...
Copyright 1994 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 10, 1994, Monday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa and Latin America; LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN; MEXICO; AL/1891/L ;
HEADLINE: [5]; Electoral council meeting: politicians of various
parties discuss Chiapas events
SOURCE: Radio ACIR, Mexico City, in Spanish 1900 gmt 7 Jan 94
Excerpts from report; passages within quotation marks recorded
Officially opening the election campaign for the 21st August 1994
elections, Government Secretary [Jose] Patrocinio Gonzalez Garrido [he
is Interior Secretary], acting as director of the General Council of
the Federal Electoral
Institute [IFE], has called for respect for the law.
Without mentioning the Chiapas conflict, he issued his first statement
since the beginning of the armed struggle in that state. He said that
violence was the negation of politics and represented backwardness,
disorder, anarchy and the destruction of democracy.
The government secretary appeared gaunt, nervous and worried. He said
only the law could guarantee legal security and democratic life. He
noted that, within a state of law, it was always possible to punish
criminals. Gonzalez also insisted that violence did not permit the
reaching of agreements...
After this message had been delivered, the meeting turned into a
debate on the situation in Chiapas. The political parties represented
at the IFE General Council have rejected violence, but there is
criticism of the methods the Mexican army and the federal government
have used to put down the uprising.
A calm and articulate Porfirio Munoz Ledo [leader of the Party of the
Democratic Revolution, PRD] engaged the attention of his listeners by
charging that the government controlled the public forces and that the
Indians had become cannon fodder. Munoz Ledo, speaking as the PRD
representative, said the inefficient and segregationist policies of
the regime should be questioned. He denied that the political forces
had a common position on the Chiapas events. We, he said, demand
moderation, legality, dialogue, timely information and effective
support and help for the people. We also demand respect for human
rights and basic solutions, as well as an end to the impunity of
government officials and political agents. Here is what Porfirio Munoz
Ledo said:
[Munoz] "The executive branch has the constitutional obligation to
determine when, how soon and in what way officials under its
jurisdiction should be changed. Our responsibility is to continue
struggling for the renewal and purge of the electoral authorities at
all levels."
Alberto Carrillo Armenta, representative of the Cardenist Front for
National Reconstruction Party, also called for a nonmilitary solution
in Chiapas. He said this year's elections process could not be
initiated if there was a state of emergency. He demanded security
measures for candidates who, like the Cardenist Front's candidate -
Rafael Aguilar - would be carrying out a political campaign in that
state of the republic.
The Popular Socialist Party, represented by Jesus Carlos Hernandez,
called for common sense in the debates on, and in the solution to, the
Chiapas conflict. He rejected foreign meddling in the region.
The National Action Party [PAN] also participated in the debate. Juan
de Dios Castro spoke in a very emotional tone. He tried to stir the
political awareness of the Institutional Revolutionary Party [PRI],
the federal government and all Mexicans. He said the conflict in
Chiapas could extend to other regions of the federation because there
was poverty in all of them. He explained that the individual
guarantees of the Mexican people could not be violated because of what
was happening in Chiapas.
He recalled, quoting a South American leader, that changes would take
place with or without politicians - they just come...
The PRI had three of its militants at the meeting. Two of them are
official IFE representatives - Santiago Nate and Amador Rodriguez
Lozano - and the third one, Miguel Gonzalez Avelar, is an adviser to
the Chamber of Deputies. The PRI representatives said their party was
not evading a debate, but they asked that the issue be discussed at a
forum other than the IFE...
Miguel Gonzalez Avelar said there should be no confusion concerning
the Mexican army's involvement. He said that communities had the right
to demand, as in the case of Chiapas, the presence of national forces.
He said it would not be right for members of the federation not to
expect to demand and receive help from the forces of the federation.
Gonzalez added that our duty was not to dull our awareness. He
recalled that in Chiapas there were rebel minorities, just as those
who killed [Mexican independence hero Miguel] Hidalgo had also been in
the minority, as had been those who brought a foreign prince to Mexico
and those who killed [Mexican patriot Francisco] Madero. Here is what
Gonzalez said:
[Gonzalez] "Today there is this faceless violence from a well-
organized group that unfortunately and tragically includes young
people armed with wooden rifles who remind us of the Cristera War
[between government forces and Catholic militants] when young people
charged federal soldiers to silence their rifle barrels with little
wax balls, believing this could be done because the little wax balls
had been previously blessed by their pastors.
"In any event, these groups are proposing substituting the party
system for the unalterable will of rifles."
The first regular IFE session is continuing. It has officially opened
the 21st August elections process to renew the Senate, the Chamber of
Deputies, the Presidency and the House of Representatives. The session
continues. The members will be discussing other issues. Discussions on
the Chiapas events concluded at 1200.
Copyright 1994 The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
January 10, 1994, Monday
SECTION: Part 5 Africa and Latin America; LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN; GUATEMALA; AL/1891/L ;
HEADLINE: [13]; President comments on peace talks with URNG, rebellion
in Mexico
SOURCE: Teleonce TV, Guatemala City, in Spanish 1900 gmt 7 Jan 94
Excerpts from report
On Thursday [6th January] night, President Ramiro de Leon Carpio
commented on the first preliminary meeting between government and URNG
[Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity] representatives [in Mexico].
On this topic, the president said he trusted that these first
rapprochements would yield good results in order, later, to insist on
a peace agreement [as heard].
[De Leon - recording] We have learned that the first stage of the
preliminary meeting, a discreet meeting, was held today, aimed only
and exclusively at establishing the mechanisms, procedures and frames
of reference for establishing a formal dialogue. This means that this
preliminary meeting is not meant to analyse the plan. The plan is
being carried out in its first two stages: the national reconciliation
here in Guatemala and the struggle against poverty, which is the
second stage, or a response to economic and social needs, which is
also being developed. The third stage, however - the dialogue between
the government and the URNG to end the internal armed conflict, which
is more than 30 years old - is the one that today, in the first
session or meeting, was started through a preliminary meeting.
[Paragraph as heard].
I know today's meeting agenda was thoroughly discussed; that is why we
said the meeting was not successful, but just normal, I would say. The
URNG representatives and the representatives of the government I head
talked about and completed the agenda for today; tomorrow, the meeting
continues, and, I can say, with great hope and faith that the
political will of the parties will be presented and demonstrated at
this first meeting and, of course, in the others too... [End of
recording]
The president added that the armed rebellion in Chiapas State, Mexico,
would not have a negative influence on the peace talks with the
Guatemalan guerrillas.
[De Leon - recording, in progress] - favourable in a way, because I
believe that this, pressures - to use an adequate and simple term -
the URNG to speed up the peace process, mainly taking into account the
fact that one Guatemalan has already been captured after participating
in those subversive activities, those illegal actions, outside the law
of Mexico; and therefore, I think this in no way damages the peace
talks. On the contrary, I think it speeds up the process. It is
another external matter that contributes to the fulfilment of that
political will by the URNG.
[Unidentified reporter] Mr President, the Mexican army, however, has
repeatedly accused Guatemalan refugees in Mexico of starting that
rebellion. What is your opinion on this?
[De Leon] We respect the events that take place in other countries,
the treaties and the sovereignty of other countries, and therefore, we
limit ourselves to commenting on what we know, what the Mexican
government has stated, and what the media has reported to us.
Later, we will be able to provide official statements from the
Guatemalan government, but, for the time being, we only know what the
Mexican government has stated, and we stick with that because we
respect their statements.