Date: Tue, 20 Dec 94 19:13:51 mst
From: samuel ruiz <mexpazdf@uibero.uia.mx>
BULLETIN 4: SOLIDARITY
MESSAGE FROM THE DIOCESE OF SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS
1. A BROTHERLY/SISTERLY GREETING
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us
in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who
are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves
are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are
abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through
Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and
salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation,
which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings
that we are also suffering." (2 Cor 3-6)
2. LATEST EVENTS
In the early hours of December 19, 1994, the fourth week of
advent, (a penitential but joyful time when we celebrate the Birth
of Jesus Christ in history), we learned about certain incidents of
great concern: municipalities that were declared rebel territory;
municipal seats occupied without bloodshed; the takeover of
highways in different parts of the state of Chiapas; the appearance
of armed persons, declarations, flags and symbols that identified
such persons as members of the EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation
Army).
Today's communiques of the EZLN, issued as war dispatches,
leave no doubt in our minds about the meaning of "positioning"
troops in 38 municipalities of Chiapas.
3. A SERIOUS APPRAISAL
In the simplest analysis, an appraisal of these events within
the framework of the explosiveness of the living situation in
Chiapas together with the war preparations lead us to believe that
there is a definite move of our state and country towards
irreversible war and violence.
We do not want an ethnocidal and fratricidal war to become
inevitable. And we cannot avoid war only by proclaiming that we
have opted for dialogue and peace. We must show that we are ready
to exchange ideas and listen, over and above any positions of
power. We must act out of reason, but without rendering reason
historically viable through violence.
4. A SIGN WHICH CALLS ALL PERSONS TOGETHER
In meditation, we look to the Lord as a person of faith and as
pastor of a flock in which we see the outlines of the geography of
marginalization. As someone who knows and witnesses the questioning
of the system which comes from the process where there are actors
aware of their historic responsibility...As one who has perceived
attitudes of peace on both sides together with an incongruence
between words and deeds, between statements and uncorrected
mistakes... where there is a joining of different actors interested
in peace,
IN FULL CONTROL OF MY MIND AND WITH COMPLETE FREEDOM,
I HAVE DECIDED TO RESORT TO THE USE OF PENITENCE AND PRAYER
AND BEGIN TODAY A PERMANENT FAST
IN THE DIOCESAN CATHEDRAL OF SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS,
THE CATHEDRAL OF PEACE.
I INVITE ALL MY BROTHER BISHOPS, THEIR CHURCHES AND
ALL BELIEVERS
TO JOIN IN THIS PENITENTIAL ACT,
TO ASK GOD TO MOVE ALL THE ACTORS INVOLVED IN THIS CONFLICT,
TO LOOK FOR WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING
THAT LEAD TO AN AGREEMENT FOR A LASTING CEASE-FIRE,
SO THAT BY A JOINT ACCORD,
WE MAY ESTABLISH THE CONDITIONS FOR
MUTUAL PARTICIPATION
IN THE NEXT DIALOGUE FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
WITH JUSTICE AND DIGNITY.
We begin this fast and accept its radical significance: as
penitence and purification; in protest for the hunger that our
brothers and sisters must suffer; as a prayer to God to purify our
hearts; as an instrument of struggle against evil; as a cry for
justice and as a move towards a brotherly/sisterly society; as a
call to begin a series of actions that reward the actors who are
working for justice; as a reminder of the cause of justice; as a
sign that peace can never be achieved through violent ways, but
rather through the giving of oneself that builds justice and makes
real the demands of brotherhood/sisterhood.
5. COMFORT AND HOPE
We resort to the valuable intersession of Mary so that she
goes to the mountain with haste (Luke 1.39) and listens to our
troubles and sufferings just as she promised Juan Diego on the
Tepeyac hillside.
If year after year Christmas brings us a message of true
peace, will this Christmas bring us the realities and actions
leading to war in Chiapas and in the country in general? Will our
land again be stained by blood?
We hope, on the contrary, that this will be the historic
opportunity to continue the ways of understanding and agreement...
That Chiapas will become the visible model for a state and a
country where all hearts in harmony become the seed for the harvest
of peace.
We urgently call on all men and women of good will so that
through their solidarity we avert war and establish a true peace.
Samuel Ruiz Garcia.
Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas
San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas,
December 19, 1994
NATIONAL INTERMEDIATION COMMISSION (CONAI)
PUBLIC DECLARATION TO THE NATION
TODAY, MEXICO AND THE REST OF THE WORLD AWOKE TO THE NEWS THAT
THE ZAPATISTA NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY HAD BROKEN THE SIEGE IMPOSED
BY THE MEXICAN ARMY ON JANUARY 12. IT HAS ADVANCED WITH PART OF IT
TROOPS INTO 38 MUNICIPALITIES OF THE STATE OF CHIAPAS.
NEVER BEFORE AS TODAY WE FACE THE IMMINENT DANGER THAT THE TWO
ARMIES WILL BEGIN A FRATRICIDAL WAR WITH THE INCALCULABLE LOSS OF
HUMAN LIVES BOTH FROM THE MILITARY AS WELL AS THE CIVILIAN
POPULATION. SUCH WOULD ALSO DESTROY NATURAL, MATERIAL AND CULTURAL
WEALTH.
THUS, WE PUBLICLY DECLARE TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO:
WE MUST STOP THE WAR.
ALL MEXICANS MUST MOBILIZE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COUNTRY TO
FIND THE WAYS FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE AND DIGNITY.
WE MUST ACT SO THAT THE CEASE-FIRE WILL NOT BE BROKEN. NOT
ONE BULLET SHOULD BE FIRED BY EITHER ARMY.
WE MUST STRUGGLE AND DEMAND THAT A MEANS FOR COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PARTIES BE RE-ESTABLISHED. THEY MUST
NEGOTIATE BASIC MINIMAL CONDITIONS THAT WILL ASSURE A STABLE TRUCE,
A PERMANENT CEASE-FIRE.
ALL THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL FORCES OF MEXICO MUST WORK AT
THIS MOMENT TO AVERT WAR. WE MUST NOT LEAVE OUT ANY ACTION THAT
BRINGS US CLOSER TO THE PATH OF PEACE.
ONCE THERE IS A TRUCE AND A PERMANENT CEASE-FIRE, WE WILL
FIND THE APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS TO BEGIN A TRUE AND EFFECTIVE
DIALOGUE TO ACHIEVE THE URGENTLY NEEDED SOLUTIONS FOR DEMOCRACY,
JUSTICE AND FREEDOM.
THE NATIONAL INTERMEDIATION COMMISSION CALLS ON DR. ERNESTO
ZEDILLO PONCE DE LEON, CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, TO
MAINTAIN THE COMMAND GIVEN TO THE MEXICAN ARMY TO OBSERVE THE
CEASE-FIRE AND TO AVOID A ETHNOCIDAL AND FRATRICIDAL WAR.
TO THE EZLN:
WE ALSO ASK YOU, WHO ARE AT THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN PEACE AND
WAR, TO STRONGLY OPT FOR PEACE AND TO BUILD BRIDGES OF
UNDERSTANDING AND POLITICAL NEGOTIATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT, SUCH
THAT THE OFFERING OF YOUR LIVES AS WELL AS WAR WILL BE UNNECESSARY.
TO THE NATION:
THERE IS STILL TIME: LET US AVERT WAR!
LET US FIGHT THROUGH CIVIC ACTIVITIES AND THROUGH ALL
POSSIBLE MOBILIZATIONS TO AVOID A BREAK IN THE CEASE-FIRE, TO
NEGOTIATE A TRUCE AND TO BEGIN A TRUE DIALOGUE!
AS MEMBERS OF CONAI TOGETHER WITH ALL OTHER MEXICANS, WE DO
NOT WANT WAR. OUR BASIC PURPOSE IS TO STOP ALL MILITARY ACTION.
WE CONTINUE TO BE OPEN TO ALL POSSIBILITIES OF MEDIATION AND
DIALOGUE IN KEEPING WITH THE SPIRIT WITH WHICH WE WERE FOUNDED AS
A PART OF CIVIL SOCIETY.
A POLITICAL SOLUTION WITH THE PEOPLE AND ITS ORGANIZATION
WILL PREVENT WAR.
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS
DECEMBER 19, 1994
FOR CONAI,
SAMUEL RUIZ GARCIA
THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL INTERMEDIATION COMMISSION PROCLAIM
THEIR SOLIDARITY WITH THE PROPHETIC ACT OF DON SAMUEL RUIZ GARCIA,
BISHOP OF SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS IN HIS PERMANENT FAST TO AVOID
WAR.
CONCEPCION CALVILLO VIUDA DE NAVA, JUANA DE GARCIA ROBLES, JUAN
BAN~UELOS, OSCAR OLIVA, RAYMUNDO SANCHEZ BARRAZA