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To:  chiapas-i@eco.utexas.edu Subject: Urgent Action from
Chiapas 22 Dec 2002

To All Friends of Chiapas:

We are forwarding a document which we received from San Cristobal. Among other things, it calls upon international civil society to speak out andmobilize against the pending eviction of more communities from the Montes Azules and the Lacandon Community. The first eviction took place on Thursday, December 19 in a tiny hamlet called Arroyo San Pablo (aka Lucio
Cabanas). According to press reports, the environmental prosecutor from Profepa went into the community with arrest warrants in hand and offered the residents a choice between going to a shelter in Comitan or going to prison. They chose the shelter. Eight more communities, some Zapatista, are on the government's hit list for prompt eviction. Fox is assessing the possible fall out from another eviction now.One rational for the timing of these operations is that civil society Is busy with holiday travel, family, etc and cannot mobilize itself.
Let's fool them. Fax a letter to Fox and company now!

Chiapas Support Committee
_______________________________
URGENT ACTION

RISK OF REACTIVATING THE VIOLENT SOLUTION TO THE ARMED CONFLICT WITH
THE PLANNED EVICTIONS IN MONTES AZULES, CHIAPAS.

San Cristo'bal de Las Casas, Chiapas.December 17, 2002

The civil organizations signed below express our great concern for the risked reactivation of the armed conflict in the state. By diverse means, we have come to find out about the imminent police and military operation that the federal government, in coordination with the state government, have decided to carry out in the following days in the Biosphere Reserve of
Montes Azules (RBMA), with the purpose of evicting and executing penal action against the inhabitants of 9 settlements: Arroyo Aguilar (located in the Lacantu'n Reserve), Sol Parai'so (Las Ruinas), 8 de febrero, Nuevo Limar,Nuevo Pichucalco, Nuevo San Andre's, Nuevo Salvador Allende, Nuevo San Rafael, Arroyo San Pablo. The realization of this police and military
action will once again put at risk peace in the region and in the country,releasing with it results that no one can prevent.The position of the federal and state government to urge the eviction Of indigenous communities inside of the RBMA under the pretext of Implementing ecological policies ignore the structural reasons that have brought Hundreds of families to build a life within the RBMA and disregards the Interrelation between the indigenous population and their ecological surroundings, as well as their right to decide about their territory and take into their own hands the ecological situation, as established in Convention 169 of the ILO. And even graver still is the governmenti's intention to ignore the causes -still present- of the conflict with the EZLN.We are not unaware of the necessity to preserve the natural resources Of this important region of the country; but neither are we ignorant of The existence of powerful economic interests, nationally and
internationally,feigning scientific concerns to be able to exploit the natural resources; be they mineral, hydrocarbonic, genetic, and hydrologic within the Biosphere,excluding the decisions of the indigenous communities.The `official document' that developed the steps and conditions Necessary for the realization of the evictions mentions that it will be aerial
With support of the navy. Yesterday the newspaper La Jornada reported on the military movements by air and land in the area of Margaritas, Comita'n,Maravilla, Tenejapa, without a doubt these speak of the military Character of this supposed action to protect the natural reserve. This document Also mentions the necessity to create a climate of public opinion in favor of the eviction operation, in which stands out the need to maintain the rule
of law and the protection of natural resources as part of the national patrimony. With respect to this, it is enough to see the last declarations of the government officials at the federal and state level that confirm the official decision made and whose plan is already in progress.

The actions that are foreseen against the indigenous population of Montes Azules give rise to many questions; What is the intention behind the Federal and state government when realizing this type of police and military Action when supposedly dialoguing at the environmental table? Or is it that This provocation and the closing of political spaces promoted at the government's own request is the way to make the supposed Rule of Law valid? Which Rule of Law are we talking about and who does it protect when just months ago the constitutional recognition of the rights of the indigenous peoples was once again denied? How are the defense of territory and national sovereignty understood by the government? Who is it defended from? From its own original inhabitants? Is it with these types of actions that the conditions arecreated to reactivate the peace process?

We make a call to: The federal and state governments:

* Make a real and complete commitment to generate the conditions for peace,attending to the structural causes that generate armed conflict.
* Respect the right of the indigenous communities to decide the forms of protection and defense of the natural resources that exist in the territory they inhabit, based on that established in Convention 169 of the ILO, and under the recognition and acceptance on the part of the State.
* Review and suspend the grants to exploit wood and other natural
resources to private national and international companies.
* Make public the advances, reports and proposals that are being
carried out at the environmental table.

National Congress:

* To take the responsibility as one of the powers of the State and prevent that the constitutional reforms continue to promote the pillage of the resources of the nation, deny the rights of the indigenous peoples of the nation and everyday put our national sovereignty at risk.

To national and international civil society:
* Speak out and mobilize against these military and police acts that violate the right of indigenous peoples to decide about their territory and put more obstacles to the possibility of reactivating the peace process in thecountry.

Fray Pedro Lorenzo de La Nada Human Rights Center, Fray Bartolome' de Las Casas Human Rights Center, CIDECI Las Casas, EDUPAZ, CAPISE, CORECO,COLEM,CIEPAC, Serapaz, Enlace, Capacitacio'n y Comunicacio'n, AC,Coordinadoras Regionales de Chiapas de la Sociedad Civil en Resistencia de: Los Altos,Marque's de Comillas, Norte Selva, Fronteriza, Costa, Centro y Frontera, DESMI, Enlace Civil, Miguel Agusti'n Pro Jua'rez Human Rights Center.
----------------------------

Presidencia de la Repu'blica. SecretarI`a de Gobernacio'n.
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Secretario de Gobernacio'n.
Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada. Lic. Santiago Creel Miranda
Palacio Nacional Bucareli 99, 1er Piso.
C.P. 06067 Col Jua'rez. C.P. 06699.
Me'xico. D.F. Me'xico. D.F.
Tel: 01 55/ 55 40 30 42 Tel. 01 55/ 55 57 11 41; 55 92 05 84
Fax: 01 55/ 55 40 37 13 Fax: 01 55/ 55 46 53 50; 57 05 54 65; 55 66 02 45


Pablo Salazar Mendiguchi'a
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas
Av. Central y Primera Oriente
Colonia Centro, C.P. 29009
Tuxtla Gutie'rrez, Chiapas, Me'xico.
Tel. (961) 61 21 093
Fax. (961) 61 20 917

Procuraduri'a General de la Repu'blica.
Procurador General de la Repu'blica.
Gral. Rafael Macedo de la Concha.
Avenida Reforma, esquina Violeta 75
C.P. 06300. Me'xico. D.F.
Tel. 01 55/ 53 46 01 08; 53 46 01 09; 53 46 01 66
Fax: 01 55/ 53 46 09 04; 53 46 09 06

Secretari'a de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT)
Secretario de Medio Ambiente
Lic. Victor Lichtinger Waifman
Anillo Perife'rico no. 4209 Fracc. Jardines de la Monta~a
Delegacio'n Tlalpa'n, CP 14210
Me'xico, D.F.
Fax 56 28 06 43 y 562806 44

Procuraduri'a Federal de Proteccio'n al Ambiente (PROFEPA)
Procurador de PROFEPA
Camino al Ajusco 200, Col Jardines de la Monta~a
Delegacio'n Tlalpa'n, CP 14210
Me'xico, D.F.

Comisio'n Nacional de Derechos Humanos.
Presidente de la CNDH.
Dr. Jose' Luis Soberanes Ferna'ndez.
Perife'rico Sur 3469
Col San Jero'nimo Lidice.
Del Magdalena Contreras. C.P. 10200
Me'xico. D.F.
Tel: 01 55/ 56 81 81 25; 56 68 49 98
Fax: 01 55/ 56 68 52 29; 56 83 35 65