Cecilia Rodriguez
US Representative of the Zapatistas
601 N. Cotton Street, #A103
El Paso, Texas 79902
Phone/fax: (915) 532-8382
Email: moonlight@igc.apc.org
PRESS RELEASE
June 7, 1996
Yesterday's release of two men accused of being Zapatistas is a
welcome sign of relief for the fragile peace process in the state
of Chiapas. It should be clear to the media and to the general
public that these men as well as the remaining sixteen prisoners
never had any clear evidence against them. Those who remain in
prison for the past 16 months as a result of irregular
detentions, forced confessions and obvious use of torture, should
be immediately released as well.
The Mexican government's effort to sentence the EZLN as terrorist
has failed. In its public history the EZLN has kept its word,
adhering to the peace process, attempting by all means to avoid
what promises to be a disastrous war. The singular goal of the
thousands of indigenous people who remain beseiged by hunger and
an intense process of militarization is not a war, but the right
to a democracy in Mexico. The EZLN has never claimed nor is it
interested in being in the seat of power in Mexico or proving its
military capacity. The interest of the EZLN is that the system
of dictatorship that has held Mexico captive for 70 years come to
an end. This is the root of the conflict in Mexico; the right to
have a government accountable to its own people and not to the
interests of Wall Street investors, drug traffickers and corrupt
politicians.
This remains a mystery to the government of the United States.
By refusing to acknowledge the demise of this dictatorship, and
providing military aid to Mexico, the United States government
indirectly subjects the people of the United States to an
unstable neighbor to the South wracked with drug trafficking and
the growing need for immigration. If peace is to remain a viable
possibility, the thousands of indigenous people still imprisoned
by the destructive presence of the Mexican Army, must also be
freed.
We thank Bishop Samuel Ruiz and his intermediation body in San
Cristobal for their extraordinary efforts to preserve the peace
process, as well as the thousands of civilians in Mexico and in
the world, who with their letters and demonstrations of concern
proved to governments all over the world, that peace in Mexico
remains a primary concern.