Mexico is covered in impunity and the blood of the martyres of Acteal
Today, the 10th of August, the civil society "Las Abejas" pronounced their opposition to the impending release of 40 paramilitaries who were detained following the massacre of 45 indigenous people on the 22nd of december 1997 in Acteal, Chenalho. The massacre was the culmination of part of the Mexican government’s counter insurgency strategy developed together with US military support in order to isolate the Zapatistas and create local opposition to their political movement. A movement which calls for their human rights to be respected above the economic interests Mexico’s elite and those of international capital.
Las Abejas members announced their fear that the release of these paramilitary members who have been identified a number of times by survivors of the massacre will reignite violence in this time of escalating tensions in Mexico. Many testify that the paramilitaries haven’t been disarmed and that they have vowed that when they are reunited they will massacre again.
The supreme court’s impending release of the paramilitaries, under the pretext of legal irregularities in the processing of the perpetrators has been taken by some media in Mexico as an opportunity to pronounce the innocence of the perpetrators of the massacre. These pronouncements are congruent with the Mexican government’s recent militarization of the country under the pretext of the "war on drugs" and the acceptance of increased US military assistance within Mexico.
These actions to create a totalitarian state under the guise of democracy are part of a preventative clamp down in the real underlying struggle, the struggle against social movements in Mexico and the civil society who are suffering under brutal economic conditions and a cultural takeover. The level of unemployment, inequality and cultural destruction in Mexico continues to draw a growing response from the Mexican people who manifest their disagreement in a number of forms.
In 2006 Partido Revolucionario Democratico candidate Lopez Obrador was elected by the Mexican people but denied power by one of the most open abuses of democratic processes in modern history. Obrador’s election along with the Zapatista uprising which captured Mexico and the worlds imagination in 1994 from Chiapas, the most violated corner of Mexico, and the 2006 revolt in Oaxaca are just a few examples of the powerful attempts to change Mexico that continue to develop. The sum of these two forces in the context of a Latin American continent in revolt have created a time bomb situation where the people and those who hold power today (private media, big business and their government) are set to collide.
On wednesday the supreme court will release 40 paramilitaries who were armed and trained by the Mexican government to maintain its dictatorial control over the country. This act should be recognized as part of the Latin American elite and US power structures plans to eliminate opposition to its capitalist neo-liberal doctrine. These actions are part of the same doctrine which caused the coup in Honduras and the constant tensions between the US client leadership in Colombia and revolutionary governments of Ecuador and Venezuela. The Monroe doctrine continues to fight to maintain control and unequal wealth.
The release of these paramilitaries, along with the aggressions against the people of Honduras, Venezuela and the rest of the ALBA nations should serve as further motivation in the struggle for a new just world which continues in Latin America and beyond.
Widow of the massacre who lost a number of relatives speaks out in the regional centre of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
I passionately believe in and am trying to create radical change from capitalism to a system where the needs and well being of society are the priority for the economic and political system. I follow Latin American politics with keen interest and think a lot can be learnt from the new world which is being created. I have great hope for the Bolivarian Revolution and the positive trends some of it's less progressive allies are taking.
I am working with an indigenous community in Chiapas at the moment. I plan to own land and produce because I think it is one of the most important acts of rebellion.
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