Troop action incites turmoil in Mexico: 100,000 protest indictments of rebel leaders

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 24, 1995 by Bill Coleman, Patty Coleman

100,000 protest indictments of rebel leaders

MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government stunned the nation Feb. 9 when it ordered troops into the southern state of Chiapas, breaking its yearlong truce with the Zapatista rebels.

True to the quicksilver nature of Mexican politics these days, however, President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon on Feb. 14 just as abruptly ordered the troops to halt their offensive into the Lacandon jungle.

That same day, Eduardo Robledo, the right-wing governor of Chiapas, resigned. His opponents have argued that Robledo's election was fraudulent and that he has been a major obstacle to the resumption of peace talks between the government and the EZLN, the Zapatista National Liberation Army.

But other basic issues - the army's presence in EZLN-held territory and the indictments of opposition leaders - remain unresolved.

Amid the latest turmoil, Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, the controversial Catholic leader who has mediated previous peace talks between the two sides, was initially criticized by some conservative church leaders. The country's Catholic hierarchy, however, later issued a statement supporting Ruiz.

At press time, rebel leaders were insisting they would not talk peace unless the government withdrew all troops from the dozen or so occupied villages, and unless it dropped charges against Subcommandante Marcos and his fellow EZLN leaders.

Some observers consider the government's reversal little more than a public relations blitz to ease worldwide pressure on Mexico's economic and human rights performance.

So intense was public reaction to Zedillo's original action and his call for Marcos' arrest that within 24 hours, 100,000 angry protesters marched 25-abreast down Mexico City's main boulevard into the city square chanting, "We are all Marcos."

Some of the protesters were poor, but most were middle-class: men in business suits, mothers carrying children and elderly people, some in wheelchairs.

Several marchers, all of whom refused to give their last names, were asked what the chant meant to them.

"We are Marcos because we are protesting the rape of our country by the rich," said Hector, a taxi driver. "The rich investors are safe with their Swiss bank accounts, but we, like Marcos, are suffering, and maybe we will be imprisoned like him, too. We have caught his courage."

Maria, a woman in her 50s, said, "Marcos is Mexico. He is our voice. Marcos speaks the truth while the government lies about everything and squanders our national patrimony."

Fernando, a government employee, said, "They say they know who Marcos is and they will arrest him, perhaps murder him the way they have murdered so many others. Even if they do, Marcos will live on as long as there is injustice to protest. He gave us our voice. Now we will speak for him."

Even as the marchers protested in Mexico City, the Mexican military claimed it was pushing deeper into the Lacandon jungle, but it refused to allow any media to cover its campaign or military attaches from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to enter the jungle.

Stories reported to human rights organizations told of dozens of bodies, many of them soldiers, being evacuated by helicopter out of the theater of action.

In San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Ruiz wept during his Sunday homily as he described the sufferings of the poor indigenous who had fled their villages and were living under the trees.

"The suffering of these communities is great, but it is contributing to peace," he said, choked with emotion. "Blessed are the poor, for it is they who bring the reign of God for themselves and for us all."

It was a time of suffering, not only for the indigenous people in Chiapas but for dozens of intellectuals, reporters and otherwise unnoticed people throughout the country who have been arrested and hauled off to prisons in a government attempt to silence all opposition. Among those charged were Jorge Santiago Santiago, a consultant to Ruiz and his national mediation commission, CONAI; and Fr. Javier Ruiz Velasco, pastor in the town of Teopisca, Chiapas. Townspeople there foiled attempts by police to arrest him as he said Mass.

Conservative forces within the Catholic hierarchy used the crisis as an opportunity to continue their attack on Bishop Ruiz. Cardinal Juan Sandoval of Guadalajara called for a civil investigation of any crimes Ruiz may have committed. He insisted Ruiz knew about the EZLN long before it became public yet did not report it to the government. Ruiz said he'd told authorities about guerrilla activity in the Lacandon jungle years earlier, but the government ignored him.

The bishops' conference, however, in a formal statement released Feb. 11, defended Ruiz and expressed its admiration for his defense of human rights and his concern for the poor.

The sudden crackdown on the EZLN and others opposed to government policies stunned the nation. On Dec. 13, 1994, Zedillo said, "I will be waiting 24 hours a day, every day, for weeks or months if that is necessary, to initiate a dialogue with the EZLN under conditions of respect and tolerance. `No' to violence. `Yes' to peace; `yes' to dialogue; `yes' to an understanding among all Mexicans."