Lacandon authorities, legal owners of 600,000 hectares of the jungle, had requested that the state government provide resources to provide for the reforestation of such places as Yaqui, Ojos Azules, and El Suspiro. On 26 January the government publicly announced that the reforestation of these areas together with the establishment of an ecotourist centre in Montes Azules would require the eviction of another 7 villages. With respect to the evictions of 22 January, a source from the state government claimed that the evictions ‘were peaceful,’ and that ‘there exists an agreement whereby the families that left will be resettled elsewhere outside the jungle.’

In contrast with this version of events, the Good-Government Council (JBG) of La Garrucha on 29 January denounced the violent dispossession of the community of Laguna San Pedro in a communiqué. According to the JBG, the residents Zapatistas were forced to board helicopters to the city of Palenque while their houses and possessions were burned. It is estimated that incurred damages cost $585,111. In its public announcement, the JBG asks: ‘How is it possible that the bad government evict indigenous people in Chiapas as in México generally while it takes land for the construction of ecotourist sites for people of other countries?’

More info and sample urgent action letters and addresses to write:

 http://glasgowchiapassolidaritygroup.wordpress.com