Chiapas has not escaped the direct consequences of global war. We will mention only a few indicators that show certain trends since the terrorist acts of September 11.

ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES

The Business Coordinatin Council (CCE) announced that because of the economic recession in the United States and in Mexico, accelerated by the terrorist acts, Chiapas will lose about a thousand million pesos. The Xcaret Group had planned to construct a theme park in the Sumidero Canyon with an investment of 800 million pesos. This demanded the privatisation of land within the Sumidero Canyon National Park and the construction, by the government, of a treatment plant for residual water. The Axa Yazaki Group had contemplated expanding its auto-parts manufacturing plants in the municipalities of Cintalapa and Comitán. The Mayab Group was going to expand its railways from Chiapas to Yucatan, as part of the infrastructure set out in the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), with an investment of 140 million pesos. The CCE also announced that investments foreseen in the tourist sector, African palm plantations - already in crisis because of fraud - the manufacturing sector and shrimp farming will be affected. This comes in addition to the low international prices for coffee, bananas, mangoes, corn, dairy products, and the United States embargo on the exportation of sugar cane to North America, that are seriously affecting producers. Poverty in the indigenous communities has already reached starvation levels. The president of the CCE stated that Chiapas lost 35 thousand jobs in the first eight months in the year, and the president of the Management Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) confirmed that business sales in Chiapas have fallen by 35%, while further investment has been “suspended”. The CCE described the situation in Chiapas as being virtual “economic terrorism” and lamented the creation of only 300 jobs in a factory in Cintalapa since the new government, and a minimum wage in Chiapas of 35.85 pesos when a kilo of meat costs between 45 and 60 pesos. This is the kind of development that the PPP promotes for indigenous peoples and farmers.

However, from another perspective, this loss of investment is not all bad for the population, if development is taken to mean poorly paid factory jobs. Shrimp farms, which privatise water, exclude small producers and fishermen and impact negatively on the ecosystems of the coastal region.  The extensive mono-cultivation of the African palm tree, rubber and eucalyptus plantations destroy ecosystems and biodiversity, degrade the land and expel the local population. In spite of everything, the Secretariat for Rural Development in Chiapas stated that the increase in the price of fruit from the African palm tree makes it possible to increase the cultivation of this crop to two thousand hectares in the Soconusco region, where the farm labourer pays 50% of the cost and the company profits greatly. The African palm tree is also linked to other country's militaries as it produces glycerine, used in explosive weapons.

Thousands of European and North American tourists have cancelled up to 40% of their trips to Chiapas. The most affected cities are Palenque and San Cristóbal de las Casas where hotel occupancy fallen as low as 16%. The number of tourists across the Ruta Maya has been reduced by an estimated 200 thousand. In San Cristóbal de las Casas the hotel industry generates around 2,500 jobs directly and around 4,600 indirectly. Some travel agencies find themselves in crisis and at the point of bankruptcy. In the first weeks after the terrorist attacks, there was a fall of between 30 and 35% in business sector sales. This is in addition to the effects of hurricane Juliette felt in various municipalities in Chiapas throughout the month of September: destruction, death and thousands injured. In this respect, we shouldn’t forget that state finances depend for the most part on the share given by the federation, which has already declared the country in recession and has announced a third cut-back in the national budget.

The roots of the current global war shed light on the strategic importance of Chiapas in terms of its natural resources and modernise the conflict with the indigenous peoples who own the lands in which the resources that the large transnational corporations want are found. In terms of investments, we needn’t worry, as there are no direct Arab investments in Chiapas.

POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES

In this context of war, on October 7th, Chiapas elected 118 municipal presidents and 40 deputies, a process which went unnoticed by many actors. Also, some of the displaced indigenous peoples of Chenalhó returned to their lands just before the elections, in the hope that this would impact favourably on the municipal president and local deputy. Despite this, the conditions for return are not completely guaranteed. Paramilitaries continue to act with impunity, none of them have been detained and they continue to be a presence in the Northern Zone. Assaults, threats to the returned peoples and ambushes - with the remains of corpses being found in places near to the military positions in the municipality of El Bosque – continue to be registered. Surveillance returns. For CIEPAC, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Centre, and Civic Alliance, and other non-governmental organisations, this has meant the return of federal agents, members of the judiciary and militaries in civilian dress watching our offices; or other actions from the unmistakeable and never discreet members of the Centre for Intelligence and National Security (CISEN) taking photographs, to the attempted burglary of these offices a few days ago. After the assassination of the lawyer Digna Ochoa and the death threats to other defenders of human rights, social and political tension continues to grow. Letters and packages that we receive from many parts of the world through the Mexican Postal Service (SEPOMEX) consistently arrive opened, under the pretext of rain (even though this continues in dry weather), or “anthrax”. The trailing of information has been intensified not only by SEPOMEX but also by other delivery agencies. Of course, we should add the apparent telephone interventions, in various forms and by various institutions that have been experienced.

And the actors? Discredited. The Executive Authority, in the hands of governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, is distancing itself from many social and civic organisations that supported them in the elections, and at the same time is strengthening the farmers’ organisations whose directors hold positions in local government, thus generating confrontations about the control of territories where the EZLN has its bases of support. The governor has lost the sympathy of various sectors. He is criticised for failing to meet his campaign promises, for abusing his public position, badly administering justice and allowing the paramilitaries to continue to act with impunity.  He is also blamed for the problem of the displaced people whose return was not consented to by the social bases of the organisation, Las Abejas, as they were told at short notice that they would have to pay the costs – this being of particular relevance to the dislodged people in the northern zone. Salazar is further criticised for his blind or misinformed support for investment projects, for big businesses and for the Plan Puebla Panama, among other points. In spite of this, the governor has made other more positive advances, less often brought to light.

When relations were better, leaders of civic, indigenous and farming organisations tried to work with the government. Now, with the distancing that has occurred, political positions and relations have become polarised. For this reason, the Judiciary has failed to achieve any credibility. The Magistrates of the Supreme Court of State Justice found themselves implicated in frauds and have demonstrated the will to maintain and perpetuate their power and impunity. The District Attorney does not have majority support. However, it should be recognised that the recent detention of the ex- District Attorney of Chiapas, from the time of governor Roberto Albores, for fraud, corruption and misallocation of resources, marks a great advance as this revealed the complicity of the state judicial police and of the ex-attorney in illegal activities along the coast of Chiapas. Public Ministries remain under attack. Human rights violations, violations against women and kidnappings have not only continued, but have been increasing.

The Legislative Authority also lacks credibility. It modified the electoral laws and has undertaken a campaign intended to guard power in the hands of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and has permitted the misappropriation of funds, corruption and other poor management. The Electoral Authority, within the State Electoral Institute, lacks legitimacy as well. Made up of PRI legislators, it aims to maintain power through electoral frauds that serve the interests of the political elite. The election results lacked credibility. Before the turnover of deputies, the PRI demanded the expulsion of various PRI Deputies from the party, which made its internal decomposition and lack of credibility more acute.

After the departure of Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, the dioceses of San Cristóbal de las Casas is no longer the vanguard for denunciations of human rights abuses. His prophetic voice is no longer heard. He no longer evokes, provokes or convokes, as he did before.  Recently, new conservative bishops were assigned to the dioceses of Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Tapachula, while the current bishop of San Cristóbal continues in this vein. He has removed pastoral groups, made modifications to the diocesan structure and the training of seminaries.  At the same time he has strongly promoted the charismatic church movement that is characterised by alienation and a lack of social and political commitment. The bishops no longer exert public influence nor commit themselves to the serious situation in the state. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the 16^th of October, Samuel Ruíz García, the acclaimed former bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas, received the International Award for Human Rights in Nuremberg, Germany, from the mayor of that city, presented by the former Nobel Peace Prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivar.

The political parties are a long way from involving citizens in the political process beyond the electoral process, and this is evidenced by high abstention rates and lack of sympathy among voters, the political implications of the indigenous law, the introduction of backward electoral legislation, etc. The parties have proven incapable of promoting consultation, discussion, mobilisation or protection of majority interests with respect to crucial issues such as the Plan Puebla Panama, the mega-projects, the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the fall in coffee prices, and the crisis in the corn and sugar sectors. Candidates for positions by popular election have changed between parties in the hope of making headway where they had previously failed.

While the Federal Government (the Legislative and Executive Authorities) supported the indigenous counter-reform, the Government Commission for Peace and the Co-ordinator for the Citizens’ Alliance, Rodolfo Elizondo, have practically disappeared from the political scene with regard to the conflict in Chiapas. With little moral authority before society, it insists on demanding that the EZLN continue negotiations as if commitments to the indigenous peoples and Mexican society have been met. The Commission for Peace and Agreement (COCOPA) is annulled, divided and without direction. It doesn’t know what to do and hasn’t known for some time. The Commission for the Verification of the Accords (COSEVER), which was still-born, practically no longer exists, the office that it had in San Cristóbal has been shut and the COSEVER sign erased.

For its part, the EZLN continues in silent turmoil and probably on red alert while the post-electoral period passes, awaiting reactions from society. With public national and international opinion overturned by the “holy” wars of Bin Laden and the “toughness” of Bush, the armed conflict in Chiapas seems to be passing to a second stage. It is, however, as alive as ever, and will soon re-emerge. Raising the profile of the struggle and the demands of the zapatistas and of civil society will not be easy.  However, this might be possible, if advantage is taken of the situation to place the struggle in a global context: identifying the causes of the crisis and adding peoples demands and concerns to the agenda as well as the global mobilisations in favour of peace and against terrorism (including state terrorism) and against globalisation and its effects, and addressing the accentuation of the crisis in indigenous and farming communities as a result of this war. In any case, any mass social movement currently runs serious risks of repression and excessive government and military control for fear of terrorist attacks. However, society cannot allow itself to be intimidated and paralysed by a global situation.

In Spain recently, Fox asserted that, “the EZLN is peaceful and calm” and expressed his desire to talk with Subcomandante Marcos to resolve the problem. He stated that in Mexico, “ we have our own guerrillas, though on a very small scale . . . there are tiny guerrilla groups that appear now and again and who we wish to disband” . . . “ once they were in the Federal Congress, facilitated by the President of the Republic and the Federal Executive, and after all these efforts at peace-making, we have not heard anything from them.” He claimed that the initiative for indigenous rights and culture passed by Congress is the most progressive and advanced of its kind in the world. He added that it did not leave everybody satisfied and that “it remains for us . . . to revise the matter to meet everyone’s satisfaction.” His campaign continues. Fox continuously makes promises and says everything everyone wants to hear. But the image of Fox as having a democratic government that promotes justice and respect for human rights, vanishes in light of the murders of women in Chihuahua, opening of the records that implicate the military and government functionaries in the so-called “dirty war” of the ‘70s and ‘80s, the archives of the massacre of October 2^nd 1968, the assassination of Digna Ochoa and of two federal judges, among other serious occurrences. The military has begun to reappear on the stage of human rights violations.

Farmers and indigenous organisations remain strong, on an individual level, continuing to resist and to make advances in their reflections on global issues and their local struggles. However, they still must place their regional situations in the context of the process of globalisation, the Plan Puebla Panama, the free trade accords and the FTAA. The crisis in agricultural products and latent militarisation and para-militarisation potentially threaten them with expulsion from their lands. In any case, they are not agreed on a political actor to unite their interests. Many alliances and relations between them have been broken. Political relations with the state and its new government at both the state and federal level - particularly as many of their leaders are in government - has polarised positions. There are those who haven’t given the government of Pablo Salazar and Vicente Fox a chance, some who give them the benefit of the doubt and others who blindly believe not only that the government will achieve radical changes but also that it is already, and increasingly, doing so.

The non-governmental organisations are in a similar situation. Although the State Council of NGOs, which brought together many civil associations with state financing, has been dissolved, this does not signify the demise of other NGOs, nor of the few spaces they have in which to articulate their concerns. They have begun to join together in order to create movements and initiate broad citizen agendas across different sectors and on different themes. They have helped to facilitate the inclusion of themes such as biodiversity, the PPP, elections and community peace processes, among others, into church and farming organisations’ concerns. However, they still lack political spaces for action and alliances in opposition to the State. In this respect, political positions also keep them polarised.

MILITARY CONSEQUENCES

With United States President George Bush’s declaration of war against international terrorism and the emergence of Anti-terrorist Laws, at the international level and in our own country, weight is being given to the notion that a military stance represents the only possibility for resolving conflicts of all kinds. This leaves Mexican society with little or no possibility of defending itself. Vicente Fox’s government is weak: apart from coming up against internal contradictions within its cabinet, it doesn’t have a clear stance as a government, and has thus left a series of political vacuums, which drug-traffickers and the military have occupied. For this reason, and together with the logic of international militarisation, the Mexican army has been strengthened. It hasn’t lost land or strategic control over the region of Chiapas, and its density has not been reduced. Supposed democracy has not reduced social inconformity and miltarisation. The army strengthens its geographic positions, increases its control, repositions itself and invades migration offices, where delegates from the cities of Chiapas have been replaced by military personnel. The army is above state policy and that of the Federal Preventive Police. In this context, president Vicente Fox sent more troops to the indigenous communities in response to the September 11^th attacks. The Mexican army, along with 500 marines, re-enforced the border between Chiapas and Guatemala, just as in other regions containing at-risk strategic resources.  These resources have become more important in the context of war: oil rigs, hydro-electric dams, rivers and coastal zones. General Abraham Campos López, commander of the 7^th Military Region, with its headquarters in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, announced that, “ following orders from the National Secretary of Defence, we have re-enforced all our military installations, and all of our units in the south east,” along the Guatemalan border, in the Northern zone of Chiapas and in the 19 bases for mixed operations. All members of the naval forces are stationed in barracks. At the same time, patrols and military bases are being re-enforced.  Harassment has increased against the very people who seek dialogue and a political solution to this conflict. These people have not committed terrorist actions other than the terror created by the powerful – and peaceful – demands from the streets for liberty, democracy and justice for Mexico. A few weeks later, Fox designated a new general as Commander of the 7^th Military Region, as he denounced new abuses and sexual violations against women by the military in Tonalá.

The disputes over mega-projects have re-emerged. The population of Huitiupán are once again under pressure regarding the construction of the hydroelectric dam, Itzantún, which will flood about 11 thousand hectares of land. Indigenous Mexicans and Guatemalans are under the same pressure regarding efforts to construct a hydroelectric dam along the border, in the Usumacinta River. The indigenous people have not forgotten the violent dislocation and forced displacement from their territories that resulted from the development of a hydroelectric dam in the Rio Negro in Guatemala, constructed with the support of multilateral banks such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. The dislodgement of the 21 indigenous communities in Montes Azules of the Lacandón jungle, under the pretext of ‘environmentalism’, has resurfaced. There, a private reserve, which will remain in the hands of transnational corporations, was created, supposedly to conserve biodiversity, without the presence of indigenous and campesino men and women.

The militarisation of society and of state structures is once again on the increase. Members of the military have again been appointed to state police organisations. In the municipality of Nicolás Ruiz, another military camp has been installed, and now the army is in charge of the National Institute of Migration, with military personnel serving positions that should be in the hands of civilian migration officers. These are the seven pillars to justify the presence of the army in Chiapas: drug cultivation, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, undocumented migrants, terrorism, guerrilla warfare and the protection of strategic resources. The “war against terrorism” has put more pressure on the indigenous communities than on the terrorist paramilitaries that inundate the state. Paramilitary group "Peace and Justice" has made new threats against Zapatista supporters. The Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), which first appeared in Chiapas in 1996, has appeared on the “list of terrorists”, and at the same time there has been an increase in military patrols in autonomous municipalities such as Ricardo Flores Magón.

During the first year of the conflict in Chiapas, the Mexican army sent 95 high ranking units to receive training in military academies in the US, Chile, Guatemala (with the Kaibiles), Venezuela, El Salvador, France, Brazil, Israel, Colombia, Peru, England and Spain, training a thousand soldiers in the last seven years, according to SEDENA and others. Since then, the militarisation of the state has not ceased. The International Institute of Strategic Studies announced that the Zapatista uprising cost the state 50 million dollars more than the war between Ecuador and Peru in 1995, which cost 250 million dollars.

IN SOCIAL TERMS

Control of borders and of the passage of foreigners and immigrants has increased. In the past days, the authorities detained undocumented Muslim citizens from Yemen in the city of Palenque. The Commissioner for Migration, Felipe de Jesús Preciado Coronado, confirmed that the FBI of the United States has assisted in the investigation of the 78 Iraqis held in Chiapas in the first month after the attacks. In April, Taher Bassam, whom the local press named, “the fifth most wanted terrorist in the world,” was detained in the municipality of Tonalá, Chiapas, after spending six years living among fishing communities. But attention has been focused on Aureliano Perez Yruela’s Spanish family, who since 1995 has converted 300 converted to Islam Chamulan Indians based mostly in Peje de Oro, La Esperanza and La Hormiga in San Cristobal de las Casas to. Aureliano arrived in Chiapas at the peak of Amado Avendaño's rebel government, offered to collaborate with it and attempted to work on educational projects in the indigenous communities of Chiapas.  He was unsuccessful and in the end he set up his bread and pizza business “La Apuljarra” in the San Diego area of San Cristobal. Now he is being investigated for not having permission to carry out religious activities. In San Cristobal, this Spanish Muslim family created the “mission for Da’wa in Mexico, A.C.”, the “Centre for Muslim Livelihoods and Social Development” and the “ Information Centre for Islamic Teaching.”

Against this background of national and global recession, the blow to the farming and indigenous economy is likely to worsen and the closing of borders makes the search for other commercial or migratory opportunities impossible. Producers of coffee, pineapple, avocado, honey, corn, cane sugar, bananas, palm oil, and others, have no access to the market. The government will accelerate infrastructure projects as part of the PPP in order to attract investments that provide employment for poor people, while at the same time attempting to expel them from their lands. For this reason, the search for integrated local and regional alternatives (health, education, food) should be promoted in order to strengthen the roots of farming and indigenous communities in their lands and to protect local achievements. For “globalisation” to become “localised”, it is necessary to retake the land, to legalise it collectively while ensuring women's ownership rights. Whoever abandons the land in this context, will have great difficulty in getting it back. Instead of the market, exchange.  Instead of individualism, competition and gain for gain’s sake, the creation of self-sufficiency and distinct economic relations that strive for equity. Through encounters between sectors we can create a space in which these hopes can be shared. Another world is possible.

Sources:: Quehacer Político, Cuarto Poder, Páginas, Expreso de Chiapas, Foja Coleta, Diario de Chiapas, Proceso, Proceso Sur y CIEPAC.

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