We have asked ourselves many questions concerning the repercussions from Pope John Paul II's fourth visit to Mexico, from January 22 to 26, and, in the case of Chiapas, the possible repercussions for the state over the short, mid and long term, having to do with the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the situation of the dialogue and the peace negotiations, poverty, marginalization and misery.

During his stay in Mexico, the Pope made 7 public speeches: 1) in the Welcoming Ceremony at the International Airport in Mexico City, 2) at the Mass for the Conclusion of the Special Assembly for the Americas of the Bishops' Synod, 3) at the Meeting with the Diplomatic Corps, 4) at the Mass at the "Hermanos Rodríguez racetrack," 5) at the end of the Mass, 6) at the "Lic. Adolfo Lopez Mateos" Hospital, and, 7) at Aztec Stadium. He also held private meetings with President Zedillo, businesspersons, Bishops and religious persons, among others.

His statements were directed to: young persons, the ill, Catholics and non-Catholics, to businesspersons, to public officials, to representatives of governments and to families, among others.

In all of these statements, he mentioned the following themes and concepts: pastoral activities of the future, human dignity, social justice, ethnic plurality, indigenous peoples, fraternity, peace, progress, concordance, solidarity, street children, immigrants, marginalization, dialogue between peoples, poverty, priestly vocations, violence, terrorism, drug trafficking, torture, the death penalty, exploitation, racial discrimination, hunger, loneliness, ignorance, human rights, cooperation, personal and community liberty, democracy, comprehensive progress, the human being, technical and economic development, moral and civic values, conversion of minds, the arms path, corruption, individualism, fraternity, respect, harmony, human unity, ruling classes, common ethical bases, wars of expansion, forced sterilizations, monopolies, moral principles, family, social coexistence, harmonious development, division, hate, conversion and penitence, suffering, human pain, happiness, love, interior peace, indigenous peoples, faith, debt, evangelization, culture, healthy moral habits, consumerism, hedonism, ecology, nature, truth, lies, hope, divisions, computers and globalization. He did not explicitly mention the word 'abortion,' as such, but he did refer to the "laws which encroach upon the right to life" and "the children, especially those who run the risk of not being born."

These terms and concepts were used, interpreted and manipulated in many ways. Starting with President Zedillo, who went too far, publicizing excerpts from the Pope's speech on love on television, to the Sabritas company with their publicity for the Pope's potato chips. However, John Paul II spoke for everyone: he sent messages to all countries and sectors. His themes touched on a very broad and important range of continental problems. Despite all of this, we would like to enumerate some of the characteristics of this papal trip:

a) It was continental in scope, with the closing of the Continental Synod of Bishops and the Ecclesiastical Apostolic Exhortation in America, which assembled the pastoral contributions and suggestions from the Synod.

b) He presented America as the future of evangelization, as the continent of hope, where the majority of Catholics will be.

c) He named the image and the Virgin of Guadalupe, Empress of America, Star of the New World, the symbol of all America for the new millenium.

d) He called for an end to poverty, ignorance, the neglect of the human dimension, as well as other evils, such as foreign debt, which can be brought by the process of economic globalization.

e) Economic globalization should be accompanied by solidarity and universally based on common moral values, emphasizing that all religions share the same values (not killing, not stealing, not lying, etc.). In addition, a new kind of globalization should be formulated, based on a common ethic, a common set of commandments. The process should not ignore justice, peace, comprehensive development, etcetera.

The Pope did not speak explicitly about the Chiapas conflict, nor about militarization, for example, during his stay. Fortunately for the Pope and for the government, he referred to the issue before his arrival in Mexico, in the plane that was carrying him to the capital of the Republic. This allowed him to avoid touching on the issue again during his stay in the country. Concerning the Chiapas conflict, he said that the land belongs to the Indians, who first had possession of it. This is one of the fundamental points of the San Andrés Accords on the subject of autonomy and the use of natural resources in the negotiations between the EZLN and the federal government. He also touched on an issue which the local media in Chiapas took advantage of for headline news. The media misinterpreted his words, concluding that the Pope had rejected indigenous theology. Ultimately, everyone took John Paul II's words as it suited them, in this struggle which we are currently waging to win over public opinion and assessments, to search for someone beyond ourselves who will give us the answers, while we listen and believe so little, while we no longer know what tricks to use in order to bless our words of truth. Even President Zedillo and many other politicians turned to the Pope's words in order to bless their governmental actions.

The Pope did not mention the concept 'indigenous' more than five times, although the searing reality of this most impoverished sector of the continent was present in many ways. Meanwhile, whenever there were references to dialogue between nations or between cultures, for peace and concordance, the government spokespersons immediately expressed gratitude for those words and indicated their agreement with the Pope, inviting, in their turn, the EZLN to dialogue.

The government experienced one of its worst moments of confrontation and questioning by the public prior to the Pope's arrival. The first anniversary of the Acteal massacre, the tears, the memory, the courage and the pain came back, while the government persisted with the same arguments about the origins of the massacre, occasioning anger at some moments, laughter at others. Meanwhile, the Bishops of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, in their pastoral letter of December 24, "From Pain to Hope," spoke of the disasters of neo-liberalism, of the suspended dialogue, of marginalization, poverty, violence and the ignoring of the Indian peoples in the midst of so many signs of hope.

For their part, the EZLN launched a communiqué asking the government what side they would be showing to the Pope after the Acteal massacre, which occurred while the indigenous were praying in their chapel: that of violence, of the persecution and intimidation of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and its bishops, and of the attempts to assassinate them, of the expulsion of the Chenalhó parish priest, Michael Chanteau, of the end of the National Intermediation Commission (CONAI), of the churches which are allowed to remain closed by paramilitary groups and of others occupied by the army, etcetera. Many voices, including those of some bishops, thought that the Pope would speak of Chiapas, of the conflict, of the closed churches, among other obligatory issues. But it was not to be so. President Ernesto Zedillo capitalized on John Paul II's presence very effectively. He received him in the airport; he received him privately at his residence at Los Piños and he said goodbye to him while surrounded by children, making himself one with the popular feeling of love for the Pope, even while the Pope's messages were accurate and harsh against policies such as taxes in our country, against poverty, the debt, etcetera.

Only in the state arena was there some echo of the position taken by the State Federation of Rural Land Owners of Chiapas and the San Cristóbal Civic Front, who, in their document, "Letter to the Catholics of Chiapas and to Pope John Paul II," signed in January 1999, made a series of outrageous statements: "Bishop Samuel Ruiz' Marxist convictions, on his persistent inciting of the class and race struggle throughout the continent () on his public alliance with guerrillas and communist leaders all over America and Europe () he proposes to dismember Mexico, and to impose a totalitarian regime." They referred to the coadjutant Bishop, Raúl Vera, in the same way: "We thanked God for the designation of an auxiliary bishop who was presumably coming to rectify the paths of incorrect apostolate, but it did not happen like that, and it was a huge deception, because his presence has merely served to reinforce the heretical liberation theology line and the support for armed guerrillas in the diocese."

Their racist attitudes and narrow political vision of the causes which led to the conflict, are reflected in the document, when it states: "the indoctrination and actions of the bishop in question, Ruiz García, have provoked a series of dislocations and injuries, primarily against the small rural landowners and their assets, increasing the indigenous' hatred of the mestizo. This has led to bloody incidents that are widely known, as well as to less productivity in the chiapaneco countryside, greater poverty and a loss of jobs among people cultivating the land." These are the "authentic Coletos," the expression closest to racism, which does not conceal its hatred for the Indians. They are the same ones who have circulated propaganda against the Diocese and its bishops, who have attacked the Cathedral, who dismantled the Civil Space for Peace in the Cathedral Plaza in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, who are counting the days until Don Samuel leaves these lands.

And so, everyone has their own vision as to the causes which led, not just to the conflict in Chiapas, but to the crisis which the country is going through. The government, the EZLN, the Church, Civil Society, the Political Parties, the Businessmen. But this visit by the Pope took place within the context of various incidents and events that are important for Chiapas and for the country. In the midst of the tension concentrated on the papal visit:

a) On the day of the Pope's arrival, it was reported in the press that Raúl Salinas de Gortari, the brother of former President, Carlos Salinas, was sentenced to 50 years in jail, for his ties to the death of his former brother-in-law, José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, who was also the leader of the PRI. The debate over this was brought to a halt during the Pope's visit, which captured the attention of the media day and night, putting off until later the discussions concerning the conflicts among the groups in power inside the official party.

b) Two new municipalities were announced for Chiapas in Ocosingo, with municipal seats in Benemérito and Pico de Oro. The "constitutional" offensive against the Autonomous Municipalities was thus announced with this action.

c) The interim governor, in an act of propaganda in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, announced, one day prior to the Pope's arrival, his proposal on Indigenous Rights and Culture in Chiapas, in order to reform the State Constitution, independently of the San Andrés Accords between the EZLN and the federal government: one more unilateral measure for blocking the efforts for dialogue. If this measure were to be approved by the majority deputies of the official party (PRI) in the Congress over the next few months, it will be quite difficult to then have it repealed. It would also be one more attempt to discredit the National Consultation on the approval or disapproval of the COCOPA proposal.

d) As one more measure for accelerating the abrogation of states' rights, the government is proposing to abolish the CONASUPO, which purchases 70% of the maize in Chiapas. This would leave the producers defenseless, and at the mercy of the coyotes. In response to complaints by producers, the interim governor announced that he would soon formulate a plan to rescue this sector. This measure, along with the elimination of the tortilla subsidy at the beginning of the year - and the ever fewer incentives for the production of maize - will accelerate the impoverishment of the Mexican countryside.

e) President Ernesto Zedillo strongly criticized the position of the Governor of Brazil, Itamar Franco, regarding his refusal to pay the public debt. This calmed the nerves of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was grateful that the Mexican government had given its word that it would not fall into the same attitudes. However, the Pope alluded to the issue of the debts that are impoverishing countries at the cost of generating more wealth, and he called on nations and international institutions to do something in the face of the new millenium. President Zedillo's attitude was not criticized as interference in the affairs of other countries, however, as was the presence of United States foreigners from the Global Exchange organization, who were harassed for visiting Chiapas.

f) One day prior to the Pope's arrival, the Spanish Ambassador to Mexico, José Ignacio Carbajal, arrived, in order to deliver a water collector in a community in the municipality of Zinacantán, which cost 715,000 pesos, donated by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation. He also denied that Spanish human rights organizations in Chiapas were affecting diplomatic relations between the two countries. He added that proof of that was the fact that there are more than one hundred Spanish businesses in Mexico, investing more than 2.4 billion dollars.

Roberto Albores Guillén
(Interim) Governor of the State
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
December 14, 1998

HONORABLE CONGRESS OF THE STATE.
CITY.

Due to the conflict which arose in the State of Chiapas on January 1, 1994, the Congress of the Union, on the initiative of the Federal Executive, issued a law on the twenty-second of January of that year, an amnesty law for those persons against whom legal action had been taken, or could be taken, before the federal courts, for crimes committed through acts of violence, or which were related to them, which had occurred in several municipalities in the State of Chiapas between January 1, 1994 and the 20th of the same month and year.

The LVIII Legislature of the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, in its turn, issued, for the same purpose, on January 26, 1994, and within the scope of their authority, an amnesty law for crimes of public order, committed and related to those events which occurred in various municipalities in the State during the time period from the 1st to the 26th of January of 1994.

In another arena, the Honorable Congress of the Union, also at the initiative of the Federal Executive, issued the Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and Peace in Chiapas, published in the Official Diary of the Federation of March 11, 1995, for the purpose of establishing the legal bases that would propitiate dialogue and conciliation, in order to reach, through an agreement of concordance and peace, the just, dignified and lasting resolution of the armed conflict initiated on January 1, 1994 in the State of Chiapas.

The Federal Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and the Dignified Peace in Chiapas suspended the legal proceedings begun against the members of the EZLN and ordered that the execution of arrest warrants be deferred within the respective federal proceedings, while negotiations were continuing for the signing of the Agreement of Concordance and Peace.

In this Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and the Dignified Peace, it was established that the Federal Government would promote the coordination of activities with the Government of the State of Chiapas and its councils, so that federal, state and municipal activities and investments would give priority to helping the social and economic development of the indigenous communities and of the campesinos of this federal state.

In addition, the Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and the Dignified Peace in Chiapas also provides, similarly, for the promoting of the coordination of activities with the social and private sectors, so that they might contribute to establishing and strengthening permanent dialogue and cooperation among the various groups of chiapaneco society, and encourage the creation of mixed funds with federal, state, municipal and private resources, in order to finance specific programs aimed at rescuing the indigenous communities and campesinos in the State from marginalization.

The Congress of the State of Chiapas also issued, for the same purpose, the State Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and the Dignified Peace in Chiapas, published in the Official Newspaper of the State on March 11, 1995, through which the procedures which had been initiated against the members of the EZLN were suspended, and ordered the deferment of the execution of arrest warrants issued in the respective procedures regarding public order.

The previously enumerated legislative activities highlight the political will of the Federal Government and of the Government of the State of Chiapas to favor dialogue, conciliation and understanding above all, over the use of force, in resolving the armed conflict of January 1, 1994.

Beginning in January of 1994, there was an increase in inter-community conflicts of religious or ideological origins, favoring the creation of purported armed civilian groups, outside the law and the authorities, with the pretext of defending physical safety, family and lands from attacks by other groups, involving the possible use of firearms, explosive objects and materials, whose possession and carrying is prohibited and punishable by the Federal Firearms and Explosives Law.

In response to such circumstances, and as a response to the insistent calls by the chiapanecos for the preservation of the state of law and for reconciliation, the Executive of the State of Chiapas issued the State Agreement for Reconciliation in Chiapas, dated March 27 of the present year, which emphasizes respect for legality, security and justice, as well as the dignified and secure return of the displaced to their communities of origin, for which purpose a détente program was implemented, in order to once more promote the renewal of dialogue and the peace negotiations, as well as to propitiate the return of harmony among the chiapanecos.

Based on the détente program, and exercising the responsibilities granted them by Article 78 of the Federal Firearms and Explosives Law by the Executive of the State of Chiapas, it has considered it advisable to implement a program of disarming the civilian groups that exist in the federal state, without distinction as to political, ideological or religious affiliation, excluding those making up the organization known as the EZLN, since that organization's circumstances are governed by the Law for Dialogue, Conciliation and the Dignified Peace in Chiapas, issued by the Honorable Congress of the Union.

The disarmament of civilian groups in the State of Chiapas has also been consistently demanded by the political parties, human rights defense organizations and other important sectors of the national population and of this federal state.

In response to these circumstances, the Executive of the State, despite having the legal powers to carry it out immediately through the strict application of the legal legislation - under Article 78 of the Federal Firearms and Explosive Law - as one more example of its will for political conciliation and inclusiveness, which would contribute to again promoting the renewal of dialogue and the peace negotiations, as well as to propitiating the return of harmony in the State of Chiapas, proposes to give an opportunity to those persons belonging to armed civilian groups to abandon their illegal status, through the voluntary delivery of arms, explosive objects and materials whose possession, carrying and stockpiling is sanctioned by the Federal Firearms and Explosive Law, without their being legally charged or punished for these specific behaviors.

As a consequence of the voluntary disarmament being called for by those belonging to armed civilian groups in the state of Chiapas, an amnesty is proposed, which will end all legal action, exclusively for the crimes of the possession, carrying and stockpiling of firearms and explosive substances, included in and punishable by the corresponding laws.

The amnesty will end all legal actions and sanctions imposed exclusively for those crimes which it includes, leaving open the liabilities imputable to those individuals to whom they apply, which derive from other acts characterized as illicit by the federal laws or constitute crimes against life or person or against property or rights, under the terms of the laws of the public order of the State of Chiapas.

Upon approval of this legislation, whose purpose is for those who allegedly belong to armed civilian groups to abandon their stance, so that they may be reintegrated into peaceful and productive life, the Federal and State governments will implement programs of support, giving them the opportunity to exchange their arms for work tools; guns for seeds; violence for peace, progress and economic programs.

To this end an inter-institutional commission will be established, that will be responsible for the implementation of those actions conducive to such purposes and for the receipt of the weapons, as well as for the monitoring of the application of the respective programs.

For the previous reasons, and being within the authority of the Congress of the Union to grant amnesty for crimes that fall within the Courts of the Federation, under the terms of Section XXII of Article 73 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, allow me to present for the consideration of this H. State Legislature, the following legislative proposal for an AMNESTY LAW FOR THE DISARMAMENT OF CIVILIAN GROUPS IN THE STATE OF CHIAPAS, for the purpose of, if it so merits approval by that H. State Congress, its being converted, in its turn, into a proposal by that Legislature to the Congress of the Union, in exercise of the powers granted by Article 71, Section III, of the General Constitution of the Republic itself.

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