LA JORNADA, December 30 1995
WASHINGTON DISCARDS POSSIBILITY OF ARMED CONFRONTATION;
THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT IS PREPARING FOR WAR IN CHIAPAS: GROUPS
IN U.S.
Jim Cason and David Brooks, correspondents, New York, December 29. North
American supporters of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
convoked a series of caravans in support of "zapatista communities" and
denounced the "efforts (of the Mexican government) to provoke a war", but
the reports about renewed tensions in Chiapas did not generate much alarm in
the official circles of this country.
"It is an internal matter", declared a high official in the administration
of President Bill Clinton, interviewed today by La Jornada. "We are
watching the situation, the embassy has a couple of people in that area", he
said, although he emphasized that the United States does not expect battles
to break out. "It's pretty calm", he stated.
However, the Chiapas rebellion continues to inspire a small movement of
local activists in this country. It has generated the publication of a
number of books by national presses, and has attracted dozens of "solidarity
trips", caravans, and material aid shipments, as well as uncountable
cultural celebrations in U.S. high schools and universities.
Various solidarity groups this week organized protests against what they
perceived as a rising level of tension in Chiapas. But perhaps the most
widely seen event regarding Chiapas will take place this Sunday, when 60
Minutes, the most popular news program in the United States, announces that
it has selected Subcommander Marcos as one of three "outstanding men" around
which the program, airing on December 31st, will be centered, and will
replay the interview with Marcos which originally aired in March of 1994.
In Washington, however, Chiapas is not a priority. A large part of the
federal government either finds itself immersed in the debate to resolve the
federal budget crisis, or is not working as a result of the crisis which has
partially paralyzed the government itself for the last 14 days, or is on
year-end vacation.
La Jornada managed to speak with a high Clinton administration official, who
was not one of the ones furloughed by the budget crisis. Interviewed about
the tensions in Chiapas which have been reported in the Mexican press--a
subject hardly recognized by the main news media in the United States--,
this official replied, "We expect that there will be some protests, some
speeches...but we don't expect combats (in Chiapas)." After saying that the
Mexican Army had "pretty well surrounded" the conflict zone, this source
suggested that it is not likely that the EZLN would reinitiate actions.
"And I can't imagine that the military would initiate aggressions", he
concluded.
Representatives from Amnesty Interational as well as from Human Rights Watch
Americas, organizations which have monitored the events in Chiapas since
January of 1994, reported that their central offices here do not have any
declarations regarding the current situation.
CHIAPAS ALERT
The National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, identified as the
representative organization of the EZLN in the United States, sent out an
"immediate action alert" this week recommending the organization of
demonstrations and protests to denounce the "growing efforts (of the Mexican
government) to provoke a war" in Chiapas.
In a communique released yesterday, the group asserted that "the United
States is an accomplice of what is happening (in Chiapas) by offering
financial and military aid without question to the government of (Mexican
President Ernesto) Zedillo".
The organization did not offer specific information about what type of
military aid the U.S. is giving to Mexico, although it suggested in its
letter that it is analyzing the possibility of resorting to the Freedom of
Information Act in order to publicize the character of U.S. involvement in
Chiapas.
The National Commision reported that at least three delegations from the
United States, including one organized by them, would arrive in Chiapas this
Friday to participate in the inauguration ceremonies of the cultural
centers, in the so-called New Aguascalientes.
The organization stated that the original proposal of the solidarity
delegation was to participate in the celebrations of the second anniversary
of the EZLN, but projected that now "it will also function as a human rights
observer team to document the provocations and violations of human rights
laws on the part of the Mexican Army".
A spokesperson for the group, Adriana Manjarrez, informed La Jornada today
about mobilizations planned for this Friday in the city of Los Angeles in
front of the Mexican government installations and the beginning of a vigil
outside the Mexican consulate, as well as numerous protest actions planned
over the next few days in other parts of the United States. Throughout
1995, Chiapas has continued to generate interest in various circles in the
U.S. Artists and moviemakers such as Oliver Stone, Susan Sarandon, and
Edward James Olmos, among others, have expressed their concerns about the
situation in the region. Community leaders, activists, farmers, and
indigenous organizations have participated in activities dealing with the
Chiapas situation and many have taken solidarity trips as well.
Churches on a local level, Catholics as well as Protestants, have promoted
educational activities and efforts to collect material aid. For academics,
journalists, and international relations analysts interested in Mexico, the
evolution of the Chiapas situation has become a key reference point. In the
most recent meeting of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), an
important number of the topics discussed were about that state in the
Mexican southeast, and a resolution was approved supporting a peaceful
resolution of the conflict.
Although the level of attention toward Chiapas in the official circles of
the United States has diminished this year, and the mass media has dedicated
much less attention to the events in that region in recent months, one
cannot deny that to speak of Mexico in the United States--two years after
the Zapatista uprising--is also to speak of the Chiapas conflict.
(Translated by Joshua Paulson)
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