Copyright © 2000 NLThomas
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CHIAPAS, MEXICO - On the morning of, Thursday, August 10, 2000, approximately 1500 members of the Bees, a civil

"Punish the paramilitaries." Caskets memorialize the 45 victims of the Acteal Massacre of December 22, 1997.

society of Mayan Christian pacifists, gathered outside San Cristóbal de Las Casas for a funeral procession. The march commemorated the massacre of 45 men, women and children by paramilitaries in the Bee village of Acteal on December 22, 1997.

In a procession more than a kilometer long, the Bees carried banners, black crosses and coffins bearing the names and ages of the dead into San Cristóbal. A smaller delegation traveled to the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez to present their pleas to governor Roberto Albores Guillen.

In Chiapas, over 20,000 indigenous people have been displaced from their home communities as a result of paramilitary violence. The marchers arrived in the town square changing, "The government set up the massacre of Acteal." and calling out, "Why are we here today, brothers and sisters?" The people responded, "To demand justice!"

A document distributed by the Bees lays out their demands for justice: demilitarization of the state of Chiapas, a secure return to their home communities, delivery of money set aside by the national government for survivors, fulfillment of the San Andrés Accords, and punishment of government officials responsible for the massacre. (Former governor Julio César Ruis Ferro was forced to step down from his post, only to be appointed ambassador to the United States.)

Marcher Lorenzo Arias Guzmán explained that the survivors have neither land nor homes. "They can't work with the hoe anymore, neither can they work with the machete. Without hoses they live in camps, sleeping like dogs."

Maria Luna of the X'oyep camp spoke to CPTers Esther Ho and Matt Schaaf. "As women, we have suffered much. I speak as a witness to the experience of my sisters and children in this time of our displacement. We sleep on the ground; we don't have good food to give our children. The women suffer a lot because of the political issues. But today we came here to express our pain and sufferings, thought it's not possible to say how much we suffer.

Today the Bees delivered the message that the suffering in their communities continues. Maria Luna reminded the team, "When the children are sick, they pass it on to their mothers. When a mother carries a great sadness, this also is passed onto her children."