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Chronology of Peace Talks with the EZLN in Mexico



CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PEACE TALKS
BETWEEN THE EZLN AND THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT,
1994-1997
---------------------------------------------------

January 1, 1994: The primarily indigenous Zapatista Army of
National Liberation (EZLN) stages an armed uprising in the
southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, demanding democracy,
liberty, and justice for all Mexicans. The EZLN's General
Command issues the First Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, and
the municipalities of San Crist?bal de las Casas, Ocosingo, Las
Margaritas, Altamirano, Chanal, Oxchuc, and Huixtan are all taken
by the rebels.

January 12, 1994: Following nearly two weeks of heavy fighting,
with casualties in the hundreds or possibly thousands, a cease-fire
is declared by the Mexican government, and honored by the EZLN.

FIRST ATTEMPTS AT PEACE

January 18, 1994: Manuel Camacho Sol?s, former mayor of Mexico
City, is recognized by the EZLN as the official government
representative for negotiations.

February 21, 1994: The first direct dialogue between the EZLN and
the federal government, moderated by San Crist?bal bishop Samuel
Ruiz Garc?a, begins in the cathedral of San Crist?bal de las Casas.

March 2, 1994: The peace talks in San Crist?bal come to an end.
24 "tentative" agreements are reached based on the government's
responses to 34 demands of the EZLN. The government has refused
to make commitments regarding political issues on a national level.
The EZLN declares that the results of the talks will be submitted to
a long consultation among all the zapatista communities and
civilian bases of support.

March 24, 1994: The EZLN's consulatations are temporarily
suspended due to the assasination of PRI presidential candidate
Luis Donaldo Colosio.

April 9, 1994: Bishop Samuel Ruiz, mediator in the peace talks, is
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the first time.

May 30, 1994: Consultations end in the Zapatista communities.

June 12, 1994: The Second Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle is
issued by the EZLN. The results of the consultation are made
public: 97.88% reject the government's proposals for reaching a
definitive solution to the conflict, while only 2.11% are in favor of
signing peace. However, only 3.26% manifest a desire to return to
hostilities, so the decision is made to continue abiding by the
cease-fire, while opening a new dialogue with Civil Society. The
EZLN calls for the realization of a National Democratic
Convention.

June 16, 1994: The government negotiator, Manuel Camacho Sol?s,
resigns his post while accusing the PRI's new presidential
candidate, Ernesto Zedillo, of sabotaging the negotiations.

August 5-9, 1994: The National Democratic Convention (CND) is
held in EZLN territory, Chiapas, with more than 6,000 people from
around the country in attendance to dialogue with the Zapatistas.

SHADOWS OF WAR

October 11, 1994: The EZLN breaks off all talks with the federal
government, citing continued repression, a build-up of the Mexican
army's forces around their territory, and increased military
provocations.

October 26, 1994: Bishop Samuel Ruiz proposes the formation of a
plural, National Intermediation Commission (CONAI).

December 1, 1994: Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Le?n takes office as
President of the United States of Mexico. Declares that "there will
not be violence in Chiapas on the part of the government".

December 8, 1994: The EZLN considers the 11-month old cease
fire to have been broken with the fraudulent imposition of Eduardo
Robledo Rinc?n as the new governor of Chiapas.

December 13, 1994: Subcomandante Marcos, spokesperson and
military commander of the EZLN, declares that the reinitiation of
hostilities appears "imminent".

December 19, 1994: The EZLN launches a new, "nonviolent"
military offensive in Chiapas with the help of the civilian
population. Overnight, over half of Chiapas becomes "rebel
territory" without a single shot being fired. 38 municipalities now
remain under EZLN control.

December 24, 1994: The National Intermediation Commission
(Conai) is recognized as a valid mediator by both the EZLN and the
federal government.

December 27, 1994: The federal government orders its troops to
halt military operations in Chiapas. In response, the EZLN reopens
the zone to civilian transit, and suspends further offensive
operations.

January 2, 1995: The EZLN issues the Third Declaration of the
Lacandon Jungle, calling for the formation of a new "National
Liberation Movement". Declares that peace will only come "hand in
hand with democracy, liberty, and justice for all Mexicans".

January 7, 1995: The EZLN announces a unilateral extension of the
truce (called on December 27th) until January 13th.

January 13, 1995: The EZLN announces a new extension of the
cease-fire until January 18th. Declares they will meet with
goverment representatives on January 15th.

January 15, 1995: The EZLN meets with the Conai and government
representatives, including Interior Minister Est?ban Moctezuma, in
the Lacandon jungle. Both sides agree to work for the
establishment of a stable cease-fire and a reopening of negotiations.

January 16, 1995: The EZLN announces a "unilateral and indefinite
cease-fire" of all threatening, hostile, or offensive military actions.

February 9, 1995:The federal government suddenly announces
arrest warrants for those it accuses of being the "top Zapatista
leadership", unilaterally breaking the cease-fire, and launches a vast
military offensive against the EZLN and their communities of
supporters, both inside and outside of Chiapas. The EZLN,
however, retreats into the mountains, as do most of their support
bases, and refuses to return fire against the government troops.

February 9-March 11, 1995: The government continues its
offensive, destroying and permanently occupying communities such
as Guadalupe Tepeyac, bombing and wreaking havoc in other such
as El Prado, and forcing over 20,000 indigenous supporters of the
EZLN to flee into the mountains. The army is never able to locate
the CCRI-CG of the EZLN in order to apply the arrest warrants.
However, several dozen people in Chiapas, Mexico State, Veracruz,
and Mexico City are arrested, tortured, and jailed on trumped-up
terrorism charges for supposedly being members of the EZLN.

March 11, 1995: Upon tacitly recognizing the failure of the military
operation, the Mexican Congress approves (and the President
signs) the Law for Dialogue, Reconciliation, and a Just Peace in
Chiapas. The law calls for a reinitiation of peace talks, and a
suspension of military operations against the EZLN (as well as a
suspension of arrest warrants against its supposed leadership), as
long as the dialogue continues. A legislative commission, the
Commission on Concordance and Pacification (Cocopa), will be in
charge of facilitating and laying the bases for this new dialogue.

THE DIALOGUE OF SAN ANDRES

March 17: The EZLN accepts the Law for Dialogue,
Reconciliation, and a Just Peace in Chiapas.

April 9, 1995: A delegation of the CCRI-CG of the EZLN meets
with representatives of the federal government, the Conai, and the
Cocopa in the village of San Miguel (municipality of Ocosingo) in
order to agree upon the logistics and the agenda for the upcoming
peace talks.

April 20, 1995: The EZLN and the federal government
representatives meet for the first time in San Andr?s Sacamch'en de
los Pobres (Larrainzar), a Tzotzil Zapatista community in the
highlands north of San Crist?bal, which will be the "permanent site
of negotiations" between the two sides.

April 21, 1995: The federal government temporarily suspends the
first meeting of the new peace talks, allegedly due to the presence
of several thousand indigenous supporters of the EZLN who had
arrived at San Andr?s in order to take part in the civilian security
cordons for the protection of the EZLN comandantes. The talks are
renewed as soon as the CCRI-CG thanks their supporters, and asks
them to return to their communities.

May 10, 1995: The EZLN rejects the government proposal to
resolve the conflict by essentially cordoning off the insurgent
troops of the EZLN into "autonomous" areas of relocation, which
under the most favorable interpretations were seen as comparable to
U.S.-style Indian Reservations; and under the least favorable
interpretations, were viewed as concentration camps.

May 16, 1995: The EZLN and the Federal Government, meeting for
their second major session in San Andr?s, agree on minimal
procedural guidelines for the continuation of the talks.

June 8, 1995: The EZLN, frustrated by the government's refusal to
negotiate anything on a national level, and by the continued
insistence that the EZLN's presence, influence, and demands are
"limited to four Chiapas municipalities", decides to convoke a
massive national and international Consulta (consultation, or
plebiscite) to let all Mexicans, and even foreigners, vote on the
EZLN's demands, as well as on the very future of the rebel
organization itself. The dialogue with the government, meanwhile,
seems to stagnate.

August 27, 1995: The Consulta Nacional e Internacional is carried
out, with the participation of over 1.2 million Mexicans, and more
than 100,000 people from outside of Mexico. 97.5% of national
voters expressed agreement with the principal demands of the
EZLN; 92.7% agreed that all the democratic forces in the country
should unite in a broad social and political opposition front in
order to fight for those demands; 94.5% approved of a "profound
political reform" in order to guarantee democracy; 93.1% agreed
that women should be guaranteed equal representation and
participation at all levels of civil and governmental responsibilities;
and 52.6% suggested that the EZLN should convert itself into a
new and independent political force (while 48.7% suggested this
should be done through a unification process with pre-existing
organizations). This was, indeed, the greatest success yet of the
EZLN's attempts to dialogue with civil society.

September 10, 1995: The EZLN lays out its proposal for the rules
of the dialogue and the installation of working groups to deal with
six major themes for the dialogue: Indigenous Rights and Culture;
Democracy and Justice; Welfare and Development; Reconciliation
in Chiapas; Rights of Women in Chiapas; and, finally, the
Cessation of Hostilities.

October 3, 1995: Installation of the negotiating table in San Andr?s
regarding Indigenous Rights and Culture. The EZLN announces
that, in accordance with the governing procedures for the San
Andr?s negotiations--which allow for an unspecified number of
"advisors" and "guests" to join each side at the negotiating table--it
has invited more than 100 intellectuals, activists, and
representatives of social, cultural, and indigenous organizations to
become "advisors" to the EZLN during the talks on Indigenous
Rights and Culture, thus opening up the negotiations to
representatives of civil society throughout Mexico.

October 18-22, 1995: The first phase of talks are held between the
EZLN and the Federal Government with regards to Indigenous
Rights and Culture. The working groups are divided into the
following: 1) Community and Autonomy: Indigenous Rights; 2)
Guarantees of Justice to the Indigenous Peoples; 3) Political
Participation and Representation of the Indigenous Peoples; 4) The
Situation, Rights, and Culture of Indigenous Women; 5) Access to
the Means of Communication; and 6) Promotion and Development
of Indigenous Culture.

October 23, 1995: The Mexican Attorney General's Office (PGR)
announces the October 21st arrest in Mexico City of Fernando
Ya?ez Mu?oz, previously accused by the Federal Government of
being "Comandante German" of the EZLN. The EZLN, in turn,
declares the arrest to be a direct violation of the Law for Dialogue
and Reconciliation (which specifically prohibits the arrest of those
accused of being members or leaders of the EZLN, as long as the
dialogue between the two sides continues). The EZLN declares a
"red alert".

October 27, 1995: Under pressure from the Cocopa, Ya?ez Mu?oz
is released and charges against him dropped.

October 28, 1995: The EZLN suspends the "red alert", and
announces it will attend the upcoming second phase of peace talks
in San Andr?s regarding Indigenous Rights and Culture.

November 13-18, 1995: The second phase of talks regarding
Indigenous Rights and Culture are held in San Andr?s (with the
same working group themes as phase I).

December, 1995: As the EZLN begins preparations for the New
Year's celebration of the Second Anniversary of the Zapatista
uprising, the Mexican Army heavily increases its presence in and
around the indigenous communities of Chiapas. Tension is
especially high surrounding the four new "Aguascalientes" being
constructed in the villages of La Realidad, Oventik, La Garrucha,
and Morelia.

December 31, 1995-January 1, 1996: Despite continuing threats of
a new military offensive by the Mexican Army, the Zapatistas go
ahead with their New Year's celebrations, and inaugurate the
amphitheaters of the new, multiple Aguascalientes. The Fourth
Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle is issued by the EZLN, calling
for the formation of a new zapatista organization--the Zapatista
Front of National Liberation (FZLN)--which is to be a national,
nonviolent, and independent civilian political force with its base in
the EZLN. This carries out the EZLN's promise to abide by the
results of the Consulta Nacional e Internacional held five months
earlier.

January 3-10, 1996: The National Indigenous Forum is held in San
Crist?bal de las Casas. The Forum, called for by the EZLN and its
advisors, as well as the Cocopa and the Conai, was devised so as to
receive the opinions and thoughts from indigenous peoples and
representatives all over Mexico--not just from Chiapas--whose
decisions and proposals would then be taken up by the EZLN in
the San Andr?s talks. The Forum was attended by 24 comandantes
of the EZLN, as well as nearly 500 representatives of over 30
indigenous groups from throughout the country.

February 16th, 1996: Following a prolonged consultation with the
indigenous civilian bases of the EZLN, the Zapatistas and the
federal government sign the first set of accords resulting from the
Dialogue of San Andr?s: 40 pages of national reforms to be
undertaken regarding Indigenous Rights and Culture. But
Comandante David warns: "This is only a small agreement, on
paper. We will not be tricked into thinking that what has been
signed is a peace agreement." Meanwhile, arrangements are made
for the second major set of talks, dealing with Democracy and
Justice, to begin in San Andr?s on March 5th.

February 29th, 1996: The EZLN proposes that the participants in
the National Indigenous Forum constitute themselves into a
Permanent National Indigenous Forum (later to become the
National Indigenous Congress).

March 4th, 1996: The EZLN announces its list of advisors for the
talks on Democracy and Justice. The list includes more than 125
people and organizations, from Cuauht?moc C?rdenas to former
leaders of the PRI and the PAN parties; representatives of the
national debter's movement El Barz?n; the government in rebellion
of Tepoztl?n, Morelos; independent union representatives;
journalists; authors; intellectuals; and cultural groups. It quickly
becomes clear that with closed-door talks on "the reform of the
State" underway between the leaders of the PRD, PAN, and PRI in
Mexico City--with no participation whatsoever from civil society--
the Zapatistas are attempting to use the talks on Democracy and
Justice to broaden the negotiations on national political reforms to
include substantial input from Mexican civil society.

March 21, 1996: The negotiations on the issue of Democracy and
Justice finally begin in San Andr?s Sacamch'en de los Pobres. The
dialogue quickly becomes a monologue, however, as the
government's representatives refuse to discuss any of the EZLN's
proposals; in fact, they seldom utter a single word. To the press,
however, they insist that they are only interested in resolving local
issues of "democracy and justice", not national reforms. The talks
are further marred by increasing repression against indigenous and
campesino groups in Chiapas, in police attacks which leave dozens
dead, wounded, or taken prisoner whenever the negotiations seem
to be on the verge of moving forward.

April 4-8, 1996: The First Continental Encounter for Humanity and
Against Neoliberalism is held in the Zapatista Aguascalientes of La
Realidad.

May 2nd, 1996: A judge in Tuxtla Guti?rrez finds journalist Javier
Elorriaga and Tzeltal campesino Sebasti?n Entzin guilty of
"terrorism" for supposedly belonging to the EZLN, and sentences
them to 13 years and 6 years in prison, respectively. This provokes
a severe crisis in the already strained dialogue, and on May 11th
the EZLN declares a "red alert" among its troops.

June 6th, 1996: An appellate court revokes the sentences against
Elorriaga and Entzin, and releases them. The EZLN responds by
standing down from its state of alert.

June 28th, 1996: On the one-year anniversary of the massacre of
more than a dozen campesinos in Aguas Blancas, Guerrero by
judicial police, a previously-unknown armed group identifying
itself as the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) makes a dramatic
appearance at the events commemorating the killings.

June 30th, 1996: The Special Forum on the Reform of the State,
sponsored by the EZLN, begins in San Crist?bal de las Casas. The
Forum is organized in a similar manner to the National Indigenous
Forum of January, in the way that it attempts to open up the San
Andr?s talks on Democracy and Justice to otherwise excluded
representatives of Civil Society.

July 27th, 1996: The First Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity
and Against Neoliberalism begins in the Zapatista Aguascalientes
of Oventic, Chiapas, with the participation of nearly 5000 people
from 42 countries. Over the course of the following week, the
participants hold meetings and discussions on a variety of political,
economic, and social issues relating to the global struggle against
neoliberalism in all five of the Aguascalientes.

August 6th, 1996: The final plenary session of the talks on
Democracy and Justice begin in San Andr?s, with only minimal
participation from the government's representatives.

August 12th, 1996: The plenary session on Democracy and Justice
ends with no agreement between the parts. The government
attempts to close the negotiations on the theme, and move on to a
new set of talks on other issues. This is firmly rejected by the
EZLN.

SUSPENSION OF THE DIALOGUE

August 29th, 1996: The EZLN, following a process of consultation
with its civilian bases, suspends its participation in the peace talks
of San Andr?s. In a communique published on September 2nd, the
EZLN lays out the five "minimum conditions" which it insists must
be fulfilled before the EZLN will return to the negotiating table:

1.Liberation of all the presumed-Zapatista prisoners across the
country, and of the members of the EZLN's civilian base being held
in the Cerro Hueco prison in Chiapas. 2.A government negotiating
team with decision-making capacity, political will to negotiate, and
respect for the Zapatista delegation. 3.Installation of the
Implementation and Verification Commission, and the immediate
fulfillment of the agreements already signed between the EZLN and
the government on Indigenous Rights and Culture. 4.Serious and
concrete proposals on the part of the government for the
negotiations on Democracy and Justice, as well as the commitment
to reach an accord on this topic. 5.An end to the climate of military
and police persecution and harassment against the indigenous
communities of Chiapas, as well as the disappearance of the
guardias blancas (or the promulgation of a law which officially
recognizes them and gives them uniforms so they do not operate
with impunity).


October 9th, 1996: The EZLN announces that Comandante
Ramona will be the Zapatista representative at the meeting of the
Permanent National Indigenous Congress, beginning in Mexico
City the next day.

November 7th, 1996: After a serious of "tripartite" talks between
the EZLN, the Cocopa, and the Conai, the Implementation and
Verification Commission (Cosever) for the San Andr?s Accords is
finally installed in San Crist?bal de las Casas, with representation
of the EZLN, the federal government, and civil society.

November 24-29, 1996: The Cocopa, Conai, and EZLN continue
meeting in San Crist?bal in order to work out a legislative initiative
of constitutional reforms for the implementation of the San Andr?s
Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture. The Cocopa is given
the authority by both the government and the EZLN to draft the
final proposal, to which each side will have the opportunity to
respond with a simple "yes" or "no"- without any further
observations, corrections, etc. on the document.

November 29th, 1996: The Cocopa presents its "final" proposal of
constitutional reforms on Indigenous Rights and Culture to the
EZLN delegation, and faxes a copy to the Interior Minister, Emilio
Chuayffet. While signalling that the Cocopa's proposal skips over
many points of the San Andr?s Accords, the EZLN accepts it in
order to begin the implementation of the Accords and to move
closer to a reinitiation of peace talks. The government also signals
its acceptance.

December 5th, 1996: The Interior Ministry backtracks on its
original decision, and meets with the Cocopa to inform them that it
no longer supports their proposal. This decision unleashes the
beginning of the most profound crisis to date in the peace process,
and leads many to comment that the Zapatistas' original warning
about the peace process may be coming true--that the federal
government is prepared to sign everything, but with no intention of
actually carrying out anything.

December 7th, 1996: The Cocopa meets with President Zedillo to
request that he intervene and accept the document before the entire
peace process falls apart. The President decides to temporarily
withdraw the comments of the Interior Ministry, and writes a letter
to the EZLN requesting a 15-day period with which to "examine"
the Cocopa's proposal with his constitutional advisors and to "clear
up any doubts" he might have on the matter. The EZLN delegation
accepts the Executive's request for an time extension, and on
December 15th leaves San Crist?bal to return to their communities
in the jungle and highlands.

December 19th, 1996: The Cocopa receives the President's
"response" to their proposal, and passes it along to the EZLN. The
response is, in reality, an entirely different counterproposal (and
not a simple "yes" or "no", which had previously been agreed upon),
that not only rejects the Cocopa's initiative, but also the San
Andr?s Accords in their entirety.

January 11th, 1997: The EZLN meets with the Cocopa in La
Realidad, and in very strong terms rejects the government's
counterproposal. The EZLN reiterates that it will not return to the
negotiating table until the San Andr?s Accords on Indigenous
Rights and Culture are implemented. Marcos further calls on the
Cocopa to defend its original proposal, and announces that the
EZLN will await a public pronouncement of the Cocopa regarding
the situation before making any further decisions.

January 12th-March 4th, 1997: Military and police presence and
repression dramatically increase in Chiapas while the country waits
for the Cocopa's "public pronouncement".

February 1st, 1997: 9,000 civilian Zapatistas march through San
Crist?bal de las Casas, Chiapas, demanding that the government
honor the San Andr?s Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture,
and that it accept the Cocopa's constitutional reform proposal.

March 4th, 1997: After more than 50 days of suspense, the Cocopa
finally issues its public declaration on the situation: a confusing
and contradictory document which virtually signals the capitulation
of the Cocopa, while conveying its decision to withdraw its
constitutional reform proposal from legislative consideration. Five
days later, the EZLN responds by criticizing the decision of the
Cocopa, and suggesting that their decision may actually have made
matters much worse.

March 7th, 1997: Public Security forces in the state of Chiapas
violently expel 65 families belonging to the indigenous
organization Xi'Nich from their homes near Palenque.

March 8th, 1997: State judicial police violently kidnap two Jesuit
priests--one of whom was an advisor to the EZLN-- and two leaders
of Xi'Nich, supposedly in connection with the previous day's
events, although none of the four arrested were even in the region
when the expulsions occurred. The four are tortured, held
incommunicado for 48 hours, and eventually charged with the
murder of police officers.

March 13th, 1997: The two Jesuits and two leaders of Xi'Nich are
freed unconditionally by a judge in Tuxtla Guti?rrez, citing the lack
of evidence presented by the prosecution.

March 14th, 1997: Members of the public security forces, the
judicial police, and the Mexican army all take part in an attack
against civilian Zapatistas in the community of San Pedro
Nixtalucum, Chiapas (municipality of San Juan de la Libertad,
formerly El Bosque). Four unarmed Zapatistas are killed, and 29
are beaten, detained, or disappeared. The remaining Zapatista
civilians from San Pedro--more than 80 families--are expelled from
their homes.

April 27th, 1997: Pedro Joaqu?n Coldwell, former tourism
secretary, governor of Quintana Roo, and PRI Secretary-General, is
named as the new head of the government's negotiating team in
Chiapas. Coldwell replaces Marco Antonio Bernal, who resigned
in order to run for a congressional seat on behalf of the PRI in the
upcoming July elections.

April-July, 1997: Militarization of indigenous communities
continues throughout the Mexican republic. Dozens of indigenous
people in Chiapas, mainly civilian Zapatistas, are killed by
paramilitary squads or by police in the northern zone of Chiapas.

July 6th, 1997: Federal mid-term elections are held throughout
Mexico. The victory of opposition parties from both the center-
right and center-left manages to take away the PRI's absolute
majority in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in nearly 70
years. The center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution declares
that peace in Chiapas "will be a priority" for the PRD in the new
Congress, and that it will make an attempt to approve the San
Andr?s Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture. In the
indigenous communities of Mexico, meanwhile, the elections are
held in an atmosphere of increased tension and militarization. In
Chiapas, abstentionism rates reach levels greater than 80% in some
municipalities.

July 9th, 1997: President Ernesto Zedillo declares that the victory
of opposition parties in the July 6th elections legitimizes the PRI
and the Mexican political system, and that as a result "there is no
longer room for radicalisms" operating outside the electoral sphere.

July 16th, 1997: Pedro Joaqu?n Coldwell, chief government
negotiator with the EZLN who has still made no contact with the
Zapatistas in his three months as chief negotiator, declares to the
press that "the conditions exist for the EZLN to incorporate itself
into institutional life and political competition under the new
equitative and transparent rules of Mexican democracy, thanks to
the July 6th elections"--a statement made in complete ignorance of
the EZLN's position and goals, and of the reasons for the
suspension of the dialogue process between the EZLN and the
government in the first place. The COCOPA meanwhile, continues
to project an image of total paralyzation.

Early August, 1997: The COCOPA decides it will not attempt to
present an initiative for constitutional reforms regarding indigenous
rights and culture until after September 1st, when the new Congress
is inaugurated.

September 8, 1997: 1,111 members of the EZLN begin a
"motorized march" from their communities in Chiapas to Mexico
City in order to be present at the Founding Congress of the FZLN
and the Second National Assembly of the National Indigenous
Congress, as well as to demand immediate government compliance
with the San Andr?s Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture.

September 26, 1997: The new members of the COCOPA are finally
chosen in the Chamber of Deputies [due to the July 6th elections,
all the previously serving federal deputies on the COCOPA left
their posts on September 1st when the new Congress was
inaugurated; senators, meanwhile, were not affected]. The new
members of the COCOPA are thus the following: Roberto Albores
Guill?n (PRI); Javier Guerrero Garc?a (PRI); Gilberto L?pez y
Rivas (PRD); Carlos Morales V?zquez (PRD); Felipe Vicencio
Alvarez (PAN); Germ?n Mart?nez C?zares (PAN); Aurora Baz?n
L?pez (PVEM); Miguel Angel Garza Vel?zquez (PVEM); Gerardo
Acosta Zavala (PT); and Jos? Luis L?pez L?pez (PT).

November 4, 1997: The PRI-backed paramilitary group Paz y
Justicia opens fire with automatic weapons on a caravan of church
workers from the Diocese of San Crist?bal, including Bishops
Samuel Ruiz Garc?a and Ra?l Vera L?pez. Three catechists are
wounded in the attack, which is roundly condemned by the Church,
the Conai, the Cocopa, and the EZLN.

November 5, 1997: PRD Senator Carlos Pay?n Velver (the
founding director of the La Jornada newspaper) is named to the
COCOPA. On the same day, Senator Pay?n denounces members of
Paz y Justicia, by name, on the Senate floor, demanding a full
investigation into the previous day's assassination attempt on
Bishops Ruiz and Vera.

November 10, 1997: The Mexican government sends a
"confidential" document to the COCOPA, expressing its desire to
re-establish peace talks "immediately" with the EZLN--but without
having fulfilled the five pre-conditions layed out by the rebels
(including compliance with the first set of accords on Indigenous
Rights and Culture) when the dialogue was suspended in August of
1996.

 
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Why Marxism IS Economically Exploitive...
Situation in Turkey
Putin not playing nicely
So, I hear they have Mcdonalds in China...
china? russia? usa?
I have created..
 
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