Zapatista gunned down in front of his children

Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada
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Translated by irlandesa

La Jornada
Friday, August 9, 2002.

Pro-Zapatista Campesino Shot Eight Times, Killed

Hermann Bellinghausen, correspondent.

17 de Noviembre Autonomous Municipality,
Chiapas.
August 8.

Jose' Lo'pez Santiz, a Tzeltal campesino and EZLN support base, was executed last night in the vicinity of the community of 6 de Agosto. His son, a 12 year old child, who was an eyewitness, stated that the killing was carried out by Baltazar Alfonso, a trucking businessman in Altamirano, with a shotgun.

The victim received seven or eight gunshots to his face and chest. The killer, and two other persons who had been accompanying him, were still at large. Indigenous from various communities of the Autonomous Municipalities,
gathered together this afternoon in the village where the incidents took place, stated that Altamirano municipal authorities allowed the assassin and his companions to flee.

Regardless, the men left incriminating evidence behind them, such as the murder weapon and the vehicle which they arrived in last night. They were unable to get back to it, because the community had woken up and were waiting for them next to the black Toyota V6 van, with a Chiapas license plate number of CX03420. Faced with this situation, Alfonso and his companions fled on foot along a neighboring road to the city of Altamirano.

The indigenous identified Benjamin Montoya Oceguera and Humberto Castellanos, also apparently truckers, as the companions of "Se~or Alfonso," as the eyewitness referred to him. "I saw it," the youngster said seriously. "He
shot two times, and I shouted at my father to take care. The se~or asked me why I was yelling, that he was going to kill me also." The boy began to run, while his father, who had fallen to the ground, was shot six more times.

Lo'pez Santiz' wife, in a certain stupor that was part pain and part courage, said: "He went to the milpa at about 7 at night with the two children (his sons, along with a girl). The vehicle arrived at 9 and parked here," she
said, pointing to the van. The field is located "half an hour away by foot," the campesinos said. The killers turned into the mud road, apparently in search of the victim. They were on their way back, related the child, when the attackers appeared. The younger child fled at that instant.

The shots and the cries from the children raised an alarm among the seven families who make up the 6 de Agosto community, which the indigenous founded in 1994 on the recovered lands of what had been the San Juan ranch.

Prior to fleeing, the attackers concealed the corpse in the undergrowth. Public Security police showed up there at about 3 in the morning. They took the corpse, without the presence of the Public Ministry agent and against the
will of the relatives, "and they took it to the municipal cemetery in Altamirano." This morning, some 200 zapatista indigenous blocked the Altamirano-Ocosingo highway and recovered the body of the fallen campesino.
As of this afternoon, the representative of the municipal Public Ministry had still not shown up, nor had any certificate been issued.

"They gave them the opportunity to escape," the indigenous accused the authorities this afternoon. "They didn't want to detain them."
Today, at 3 in the afternoon, a gray vehicle ran the indigenous blockade at a high rate of speed: "It was going to kill the compa~eros. It was a deliberate act," another family head from the village told La Jornada. The
campesinos then pursued the gray vehicle to the municipal presidential office, where the attackers sought cover.

Nonetheless, the indigenous captured these individuals., and this afternoon they were holding them at the edge of the highway, waiting for human rights observers.

Jose' Lo'pez Santiz' body was resting tonight in a house in 6 de Agosto, covered in several serapes. The coffin was next to him, and a cloud of flies was buzzing from the box to the body. Jose was a relatively young man, as
could be seen by his bloody face, his strong body, his glassy open eyes. As the children and men came upon the body, they stared at it, hypnotized.

The farm workers told La Jornada that they had detained a son-in-law of Baltazar Alfonso. Denying any responsibility, he confirmed his father-in-law's guilt and even the manner in which the crime had been planned.

Originally published in Spanish by Enlace Civil, A.C.
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Translated by irlandesa

From: Enlace Civil, A.C. enlacecivil@laneta.apc.org
Date: Monday, August 5 2002 22:07:54 -0500

Ricardo Flores Mago'n Autonomous Municipality in Rebellion

August 5, 2002,
Chiapas, Mexico.

To the People of Mexico,
To the Peoples of the World,
To the National and International Press,
To Human Rights Organizations.

Brothers and sisters:

Today we find it necessary to clarify the violent incidents provoked by the paramilitaries from San Antonio Escobar, and to thus refute a series of false accusations against us which have been made public in the media over the last
few days:

1. The violent incidents did not take place in the community of San Antonio Escobar. On the contrary, it was paramilitaries from San Antonio Escobar who came, with handguns and machetes, to the community of La Culebra with the clear intent of assassinating the autonomous authorities.
2. The events took place in the following manner: On July 31 at 7:00 AM, 40 paramilitaries from San Antonio Escobar left in two stolen Nissan vehicles. The paramilitaries were carrying handguns and machetes, and they went from
their town to the community of Sibal, crossing through 6 de Octubre, Santa Rita and Culebra.
3. During their trip, they attempted to seek more support from official and independent organizations. They did not, however, find any support, because the zapatista support bases and Autonomous Municipality sympathizers coexist
with respect and with agreements with the different organizations and groups in the neighboring communities.
4. Even prior to their arrival in the community of Sibal, they attempted to capture one of the autonomous authorities who was in his field, but our compa~ero managed to escape. With courage, and without any help, he continued his return trip until he reached the community of La Culebra. He was once again in his Ejido at 11 AM.
5. ( - )
6. ( - )
7. The main paramilitaries from San Antonio Escobar, the ones responsible for these attacks, are:
- Julio Go'mez Lo'pez - Jose' Go'mez Lo'pez - Antonio Pe'rez Lo'pez - Sebastian Pe'rez Go'mez - Nicola's Go'mez Sa'ntiz - Manuel Guzma'n Pe'rez - Jose' Herna'ndez Cruz - Lorenzo Pe'rez Cruz - Sebastia'n Pe'rez Cruz - Fidelino Go'mez Lo'pez.

8. Various media have, on the contrary, been lying, saying that it was autonomous authorities and the EZLN who went, armed, to the San Antonio Escobar Ejido, and who tried to take the Ejidal Commissioner prisoner, and who attacked the populace which was defending him. We absolutely refute and deny these false stories, whose only purpose is to try to confuse, to protect the paramilitary groups and to create pretexts for attacking the Autonomous Municipalities and the EZLN. Pretexts also for taking the authorities and
other support bases prisoner, who are truly working for their people.
9. We are making it clear that these paramilitaries from San Antonio Escobar are members of OPDIC, an organization which is harboring paramilitaries and criminals from several communities such as Arroyo Granizo, Monte Li'bano,
Lacando'n, Cuahute'moc and others, as we have denounced previously. The leader and founder of this organization is Pedro Cheli'n, who is now a local Deputy. He is, and has been denounced and recognized as, the leader of the paramilitary group MIRA.
10. Official and press reports are saying that this concerns a conflict over land. The truth, however, is that this organization of paramilitaries and criminals has been intensifying their activities and attacks over the last few
months in various parts of the autonomous territory. Their purpose is to create problems which will give the federal army and the Public Security and Judicial police an excuse to enter the communities in resistance, in order to
divide them and to destroy the autonomous work.
11. These paramilitary groups also have a personal interest in doing away with the autonomous authorities, so that they can then engage freely in their criminal activities, such as buying and selling stolen vehicles, trafficking
in weapons and drugs, looting and cutting down precious wood on reserved lands, trafficking in alcohol, highway assault and other crimes. The autonomous authorities have halted and resolved several of these actions and
crimes, thanks to the agreements and labors of the Autonomous Municipality.
12. The federal and state governments are well informed about the presence of the paramilitary groups, and they have done nothing to stop them. On the contrary, they are protecting them. On several occasions, Public Security has
been seen operating along with the paramilitaries from the Lacando'n Ejido, who have been going about together with high caliber weapons.
13. The media is also lying when it says that we are threatening people from the San Antonio Escobar Ejido. This information is false. Quite the contrary, the paramilitaries from San Antonio Escobar have cut down several trees in order to block the roads, and they have positioned themselves in order to ambush anyone who approaches their town.
14. The municipal authorities are simply clarifying the fact that these violent incidents, attacks and homicide attempts are considered to be serious crimes under federal and state laws, as well as under the Autonomous
Municipality's own laws and the revolutionary law.
15. We are also letting it be known that our wounded compa~eros received the necessary medical attention in our autonomous health system, and they are now out of danger.
16. We are making it quite clear that we are not going to permit the entrance of the federal army, of the Public Security police, nor of the Judicial police. The community of La Culebra and the nearby communities of Sibal,
Santa Rita and 6 de Octubre, are calm, and there is respect, agreement and calm among all the organizations.
17. Any act by the bad government against these communities and their residents will be viewed as a provocation and as an act of support for the paramilitary groups and one more violation of the collective rights of the indigenous peoples.

Liberty, Justice and Democracy

[Seal and signature]

Indymedia Chiapas has published relevant pictures on the assassination of Jose' Santiz Lo'pez .

Photographies of the body of the victim:
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id3051
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id3050

Photography of the weapon:
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id3049

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