Mural in Acteal (Photo:@Sipaz )

On April 19, Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society Organization, municipality of Chenalho, published a communiqué in which they updated the situation of their compañer@s in Miguel Utrilla Los Chorros neighborhood, who were deprived of their freedom by the authorities of this community, and later released between April 11th and 12th. The problem began in this community in 2015, as Las Abejas do not accept “works and projects of the bad government and for not accepting posts related to the management of welfare programs.”

Las Abejas Civil Society reported that the Los Chorros authorities cut off the electricity and water supply to Jose Vasquez Entzin, Antonio Ramirez Perez and Juan Diego Perez Lopez, but the situation has been aggravated by the decision of those authorities “that whoever provides water and electric energy to members of the organization, will also be fined” and “threatened everyone with also cutting off drinking water if they provide water to Las Abejas.” They considered that with these actions, “it is very clear that in the colony Miguel Utrilla Los Chorros neighborhood, the followers of political parties and paramilitaries responsible for the previous events and material authors of the Acteal Massacre in complicity with the municipal president of Chenalho and with the state and federal governments, have initiated a direct attack on our organization to seek to weaken and demobilize us; because it occurs within the framework of our Acteal campaign: Roots, Memory and Hope.”

Las Abejas finally denounced the “lack of political will of the mayor of Chenalho of the Green Ecologist [Party], Rosa Perez Perez, not because of political inability, but she, is following the same pattern of the war of counterinsurgency designed by the then president of the republic Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, because as we tried to speak with the president of Chenalho to resolve through a dialogue the conflict in the Rio Jordan neighborhood, also months before the Massacre of Acteal we spoke with the PRI mayor of Chenalho Jacinto Arias Cross to avoid unfortunate events in our town; however, the three levels of government had already planned to send their message of terror through their paramilitaries to massacre our brothers and sisters of Acteal.“

For more information in Spanish:

La situación actual de nuestras compañeras y compañeros se agrava y ya no sólo en el barrio Río Jordán (Organización Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal, a 19 de abril de 2017)

Liberan a integrantes de Las Abejas de Acteal (La Jornada, 14 de abril de 2017)

Se solidariza el CNI con Las Abejas de Acteal (CNI, 13 de abril de 2017)

Liberan a integrantes de Las Abejas de Acteal retenidos en Los Chorros (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, 13 de abril de 2017)

Riesgo a la vida, seguridad e integridad de miembros de Las Abejas de Acteal (Acción Urgente, Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, 12 de abril de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: lanzamiento de la campaña Acteal: Raíz, Memoria y Esperanza

Chiapas: Conmemoración de los 19 años de la masacre de Acteal