Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
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CHIAPAS, MEXICO - On January 8, 2001 CPTers William Payne (Toronto, ON), Carl Meyer (Goshen, IN) and Erin Kindy (N. Manchester, IN) concluded three days of prayer and fasting at the gates of a large military base in the Chiapan jungle in the abandoned village of Guadalupe Tepeyac.

When the military entered the town of Guadalupe Tepeyac six years ago, its inhabitants fled and continue to live as refugees in towns throughout the municipality.

Payne, Kindy and Meyer set up their tent facing the main gate of the military base and displayed two banners: "The World is Shamed by the Displacement"and "Fast for Demilitarization." The three gathered for candlelight prayers every four hours--sometimes offering their prayers within the walls of abandoned houses overgrown by the jungle. At eight o'clock each evening the team lit 80 candles and placed them along the road to recall prayerfully the 80 families displaced from Guadelupe Tepeyac.

The action garnered attention from a variety of sources. During the first full day of fasting a soldier from the base engaged Meyer in conversation, asking why the prayers could not be heard by God as readily if they were prayed halfway across the world. Meyer replied that an important part of the fast was to be present in the place of injustice and that in Isaiah 58, the ³fast that delights God" is described as breaking the bonds of oppression.

Some interest in the fast was less open. As Meyer, Kindy and Payne left the area they were followed for four and a half hours by two men who, throughout the fast, had posed as reporters. The three encountered a checkpoint on their route out of the jungle that had not been there before.

The CPT fast was closely followed by writers of the Chiapas state press. Some of the discussion in their articles centered around whether foreigners should be allowed to express their views on internal politics of Mexico. The three participants responded to these criticisms by saying that the issue is one of injustice, which is not constrained by national borders. They also acknowledged, however, the long, shameful history of interference in Mexico by outside powers.

As the team debriefed the action in San Cristobal they received a call from Marta Sahagun, spokeswoman for the new president of Mexico. She said she had been following the news of the prayer and fast with interest, and offered her services to CPT in its continuing work for peace in Chiapas.

Members of the current CPT team in Chiapas are William Payne (Toronto, ON), Carl Meyer (Goshen, IN), Erin Kindy (N. Manchester, IN), Lynn Stoltzfus (Harrisonburg, VA), and Frank Moore (Houston, TX.)