The concepts of refugees and exiles are often used interchangeably to refer to those displaced by the war in Chiapas. Therefore, in order to study these phenomenon in Chiapas, we must first explain each term.

Refugees: Those who fear for their lives and flee their countries to obtain security elsewhere, in the face of political violence between armed groups. In the majority of cases, entire communities of refugees leave their homes. Any nation may experience internal war, but with the existence of political refugees, war takes on a new dimension, becomes internationalized and actors like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Red Cross, the Geneva Convention and others become involved. Therefore, when the Zapatista uprising took place in January 1994, the Mexican government urgently negotiated with the Guatemalan government to return the Chiapanecos who had taken refuge in Nenton and Cuarto Pueblo, Guatemala. The point was to prevent the conflict from spreading to another country and becoming internationalized, and avoiding at any cost the recognition of the EZLN as a belligerent force.

Exiles: The phenomenon began in Chiapas in 1972 in the municipality of San Juan Chamula, stemming from political, religious and economic problems. The primary cause was the adoption of Protestantism by some indigenous groups that had been traditionally Catholic. Groups led by caciques (local despots), under the pretext of conserving the indigenous culture. These groups violently expelled those community members who weren't in agreement with their "customs" of serving as PRI militants, drinking alcohol, opposing the opposition political parties and confronting the diocese of San Cristobal. At present, some 35,000 residents have been exiled from San Juan Chamula, but the phenomenon has grown to include other towns in the highlands and along the Guatemalan border. The phenomenon manifests in different ways depending upon the different actors in each zone and municipality.

Displaced People: According to the Institute of Inter American Human Rights the category of displaced people includes, "any person who has been obligated to migrate within national boundaries, and to abandon residences and economic activities, because their lives, physical integrity or freedom have been threatened. The man-made causes include: armed internal conflict, internal disturbances or tensions, general violence, massive violations of human rights and other circumstances emanating from prior situations that have or will alter public order" (Institute of Inter American Human Rights, 1993):

1) The difference between displaced people and refugees is that displaced peoples don't cross national borders, and for this reason do not receive social assistance from organizations like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Chiapas suffers from all three phenomenon: those displaced by political violence, as a government strategy undertaken by paramilitary groups; Guatemalan refugees who are the product of "scorched earth" policies applied by military governments during the 1980's to attack the civilian population, and also exiles, victims of the political, economic and religious conflicts in the highland region of Chiapas.

The war that began on January 1, 1994 led to the displacement of people in Chiapas. The Information and Analysis section of the coordinator of NGO's for Peace (CONPAZ) provides the following information about the displaced during the first five months of 1994: the municipality of Altamirano had 114,000 displaced people, San Cristobal, 176,000, Chanal, 300,000, Comitan, 5,962, Las Margaritas 8,700, Ocosingo, 325,000, La Independencia, 2,614 and Frontera Comalapa had 1,510 of whom nearly all were PRI militants. In all, approximately 20,214 were given social assistance by NGO's, churches, groups in solidarity, along with national and international aid from federal and state governments. During this period they remained in shelters, camps or in private homes.

In mid-February 1994, SEDENA (National Secretary of Defense) announced the existence of 20,482 displaced and refugees in nine Chiapan municipalities. SEDENA claimed this was, "a consequence of illicit activities and pressure from transgressors of the law." According to the Mexican Red Cross, the numbers reached 35,000 displaced, of whom 18,232 received attention in shelters and the rest were in unknown locations. The EZLN claimed that there were 15,000 displaced, which grew to 18,000 after the murder of Luis Donaldo Colosio. (Rebón Julián, (Armed Conflict and the Displacement of Populations) Conflicto Armado y Desplazamiento de Población. FLACSO. Ed. Porrua Hnos. 2001. Pag. 46). The majority of these displaced people returned to their communities of origin the same year with the "help" of the Mexican army. This gave the army the pretext to enter the communities and spearhead the counterinsurgency strategy against the EZLN.

Afterwards, there was another era of internal displacements, that began with the betrayal of Ernesto Zedillo's federal government and the offensive against the EZLN from February 9-14, 1995. This government offensive caused the displacement of approximately 12,000 Zapatista supporters who fled to the mountains from the municipalities of Ocosingo, Las Margaritas and Altamirano (Hidalgo Onésimo y Castro Gustavo, Población Desplazada en Chiapas, 1999. Pag. 24). The majority of these displaced people returned to their original communities the same year, but while they were in the mountains, members of the PRI and the federal army robbed and destroyed the belongings of the Zapatistas in various communities. This occurred in the community of Guadalupe Tepeyac of the municipality of Las Margaritas. Last March, the government finally withdrew the military base from the community. After surviving for seven years in the mountains, the 4,740 displaced people returned to their community, on their own and without the help of anyone. Today they are in the process of rebuilding their homes, community life and social networks.

Later in 1995, more groups of people were displaced as a result of a counterinsurgency strategy designed to isolate, control and weaken the EZLN's bases of support. In March 1995, in the northern region of Chiapas, in the municipality of Tumbala, paramilitary soldiers of "Peace and Justice" attacked the civilian population and burned 16 homes in the community of Emiliano Zapata. When paramilitary groups such as Peace and Justice and the Chinchulines were allowed to operate with impunity and gain greater force, the phenomenon extended to other municipalities in the zone, such as Tila, Sabanilla, Tumbalá, Salto de Agua, Palenque and Chilón.

The counterinsurgency strategy did achieve some of its desired objectives, and the paramilitary terror spread into the northern highlands of Chiapas. On May 14, 1997, professor Cristóbal Pérez Medio was assassinated in the community of Puebla, municipality of Chenalhó, which was followed by the Acteal massacre on December 22, 1997.

According to information gathered by CIEPAC, from 1995 to 1997, a total of 22,113 people were displaced from their communities in Chiapas: 9,662 people were displaced in the municipality of Chenalhó; 20 in Chilón; 240 in El Bosque; 232 in Huitiupán; 165 in La Independencia; 4,740 in Las Margaritas; 207 in Ocosingo; Palenque, 63; Sabanilla, 4,047; Tila, 1,387; 215 in Tumbalá,; Venustiano Carranza, 405; and in Salto de Agua, 730. Along with these figures, recently the Center for Human Rights "Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas", in its edition "Caminado hacia el Amanecer" (Walking Towards Dawn), found that the displaced total 80 people in Marques de Comillas, 217 people in Ocosingo, 170 in Maravilla Tenejapa, 89 in Villa Corzo, 25 in Cintalapa, and 295 people in Yajalón. In the majority of cases the displaced have been living in camps, receiving aid from NGO's, the Catholic and evangelical churches, the Red Cross and international solidarity groups.

The attitude and strategies adopted for the return of the displaced people to their communities varies depending on their political affiliations. Organizations such as Las Abejas (The Bees), Abuxu and PRD members, and most recently those of Kichañob, including some Zapatista supporters from the north, have chosen to dialogue and negotiate with the previous government of Roberto Albores Guillén. The majority of the Zapatista bases have opted to relocate, taking lands and forming new communities, or simply to stay in the places to which they were displaced.

The displaced people are a sign of the existence of a war in Chiapas. For this reason, previous governments have insisted on the return of displaced people, without doing anything to resolve the causes that provoked the displacements. They assumed that at the international level there is an image that everything is fine and that the conflict in Chiapas has been resolved. They claim that the EZLN declared war against the PRI government in 1994, and not against Vicente Fox's new government, without recognizing the fact that they have inherited the declaration of war and the promises to comply with treaties made with previous governments.

The fate of the displaced people must be seen within the context of war and the lack of solutions to the causes of the war. Facing this, Pablo Salazar's government has pressured for the return of displaced people in Chenalhó to their communities of origin. Almost all of these people are members of the civil society organization Las Abejas, and all have returned to their communities since the end of 2001 except for those in the camp of Tzajalchen. Las Abejas has publicly stated that the people returned knowing that the causes of their displacement have not been resolved.

Even if recently there have not been armed paramilitary actions on the scale of those that took place between 1995 and 1997, no groups have been dismantled, nor have some 28 orders of arrest been carried out against suspects in the Acteal Massacre. The question remains, "Why haven't the state and federal governments taken action against the paramilitary groups of Tzanembolom, which are not allowing the displaced people of the camp of Tzajalchen return to their original community?" Members of Las Abejas have denounced threats against the returnees in the community of Yaxgemel. Those who have been displaced for more than seven years, without water, wood and without minimal living conditions, have a profound need to return to their communities of origin, which is a legitimate demand. However, the form in which it has been granted is incorrect. The case of Chenalhó has provoked conflicts within Las Abejas, between the group of leaders that negotiated with the government and those who have been critical of how the return was carried out. The pastoral team that has usually accompanied the process of the displaced, along with the NGO's, failed to participate in reflections on the implications of the return in this case. The organization has suffered due to this, from isolation and internal confusion. The simple fact of having negotiated with the government over their return identifies Las Abejas as a pro-government group in the eyes of the Zapatistas in the zone.

There have been negotiations between the displaced people of various communities in Chiapas with Pablo Salazar's government. The most recent declarations from the negotiations, on May 17, 2001 in San Cristóbal at in the presentation of the book of the displaced (Caminando Hacia el Amanecer -- Walking Towards the Dawn), included a list of the conditions necessary for the return of 12,080 displaced people. The state government continues to deceive, making and braking promises, and inviting comparison with the Roberto Albores' government. For the displaced people, it is more of the same, as they continue to demand reparations for damages, the return of their lands, a dignified and just return, and punishment for the paramilitary members that violently drove them from their communities.

On the other hand, there are the displaced Zapatistas like those of Guadalupe Tepeyac, Taniperlas and Nuevo Momón, who have awaited the best conditions for return. Those of Taniperlas awaited the best conditions (the arrival of international observers, journalists, NGO's, human rights organizations, and agents of Ocosingo parish, etc.) and came down from the mountains, with the exception of one person, whom the PRI accused of being a Zapatista leader and have sentenced to death upon return. Those of Guadalupe Tepeyac and other communities returned to take possession of lands that legitimately belongs to them, after the army left the community last year. But they have not stopped denouncing the harassment by the Mexican army and the paramilitary groups from other communities outside the region who roam freely around the zone.

In the context of the current conditions, the EZLN is unable to sit down to negotiate with either the federal or state governments about the return of the displaced people, because it can not depart from an agenda of national dialogue in exchange for tiny, local dialogues. The return of the displaced must be a product of the dismantling and punishment of the paramilitary groups. Return must be a decisive action of the state government against the municipal presidents who now support the Coalition of the Ranchers in Ocosingo, PRI members in Altamirano, and who even attacked the International Civil Commission of Observation of Human Rights (CCIODH). The CCIODH published a list with the names of the aggressors and the communities where they live.

Meanwhile, displaced people continue to depend on national and international support for their survival in Polhó, Poconichim and Naranjatik Alto in the municipality of Chenalhó, as well as those from Sabanilla, Tila, Tumbalá and Salto de Agua and many other municipalities. According to the Human Rights Center Center "Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas", there are currently some 12,080 displaced people in the state.

There is no democracy, justice or peace in Chiapas and in Mexico: what does exist is an economic war in a strategic region for the government and corporations. This war involves governmental actions aimed at dividing and conquering the actors who seek democracy and justice, in order to pave the way for the Puebla Panamá Plan. This war includes the army's possession of 232 military posts in Chiapas, an increase in army patrols by the Federal Preventative Police, especially the federal highway police. Then there are the new political-military offensives against Zapatismo that are disguised as actions to defend the forests, prevent the theft of vehicles or to detain Central American immigrants. In Mexico and in Chiapas, governments change and political parties take turns in power, but economic policies stay the same. The form of governance doesn't change, and social justice is not carried out.

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