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June 13
Diego Mendez met with a member of the Civil Society of the Abejas to continue working on paper work for his passport, so that he could join the CPT team in Esgenoopetitj, New Brunswick, Canada, later this year.

June 14
Mendez and Matt Guynn attended the opening of a Forum on Cultural and Biological Diversity dressed as ears of corn. The forum, held in San Cristobal de las Casas, brought together 500 people from around Mexico and Latin America. Corn, which is significant in Mayan cosmology, is a natural symbol for resistance movements in Chiapas, for several reasons: 1) It is a main source of food for indigenous people in Mexico. 2) Due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) corn is currently being imported to Mexico from the United States, causing the internal price of Mexican corn to drop and subsequent hardship for subsistence farmers here. 3) Recently a Dutch corporation patented the chemical formula for "posol," an ancient drink made from ground corn, which also has medicinal properties, meaning that technically the peasants of Chiapas would have to purchase the right to consume their own traditional food.As a symbolic act of resistance, the Forum began with posol being(illegally) served to all participants.

June 15
Mendez and Guynn attended the second day of the Biodiversity Forum, where speakers connected free trade in Mexico with increasing environmental problems, and spoke about a new free trade bloc being formed by Mexico and the countries of Central America, "Plan Puebla-Panama."

June 16-17
Mendez and Guynn spent time in Polho, a Zapatista support base and displacement camp of approximately 10,000 people, staying in the home of Ernestina, a midwife, and Eduardo (names have been changed), a catechist and natural health nurse. The two CPTers attended the Catholic mass in Polho on Sunday morning. In a meeting with a community representative, team members learned of recent threats of rape against a group of women from the community by ten drunk soldiers from a nearby military base. In addition, they learned that members of Camp 8, one of the 14 displacement camps that comprise the community of Polho, recently relocated their camp to have more access to firewood and the land which they farm. After three years plus of displacement, natural resources are running thin in the area, but people are still not able to return home due to death threats from paramilitary groups.

June 18
Mendez and Guynn traveled to Acteal, the central meeting place of the Bees. They visited in the homes and stores of several leaders and attended evening prayer with the community.

June 19:
Mendez and Guynn explored the area surrounding Acteal, and visited with friends among the Bees. They met with the Mesa Directiva (Leadership Council) where they explored concerns about the passport application process, and learned basic facts about a violent conflict between the municipal president and opposition party members in the community of Tenejapa. Team members also proposed a two-day meeting to continue discussions about strategic nonviolence which began between CPT Mexico and the Bees in April.

June 22
The team traveled to Acteal for the three-and-a-half-year memorial mass of the December 22, 1997, massacre. While in Acteal, team members laid further groundwork for a second interchange between CPT and the Abejas on strategic nonviolence, in mid-July. Kryss Chupp and Mendez made additional passport arrangements with the two Bees intending to travel to Canada later this year.

June 23-24
The team met to reflect on next steps for the Chiapas project. They considered CPT's mission statement, the Mexico project's previously stated goals, and the current political situation in Chiapas and Chenalhó county (the focus of CPT's work in Chiapas). There was clarity that work remains for CPT in Mexico although the situation is a different, low-intensity version of our work in other locations.

        In Mendez's words, "As long as people cannot return to their homes or harvest their fields because they will be killed, there is a need for CPT to be here." More than 10,000 people continue living in displacement camps in Chenalhó county.

June 25
Mendez met again with a members of the Abejas regarding passport application processes.

June 26
Mendez departed from the team for further travel in the region. Chupp and Guynn visited San Andrés Larrainzar en route to Acteal. The region of San Andrés was the site for the signing of the 1996 San Andrés accords between the government and resistance groups in Chiapas. The San Andrés Accords provide a framework to protect indigenous rights. The federal legislature passed a diluted version of the Accords, which now must be ratified by the states to take effect. The State Congress of Chiapas rejected the law last week by overwhelming majority.

        In Acteal, Chupp and Guynn met with a member of the Abejas who is running for mayor of Chenalhó in the upcoming elections (October 7). They shared in a lively conversation about how a Christian pacifist in that influential leadership role might respond to paramilitaries in the county. While seeking justice, in his words, "it is important not to fall into the temptation of violence."

        The team met with the Abejas' Mesa Directiva (Leadership Council), where they shared stories of the indigenous march being supported by CPT in Colombia (see June 22 CPTnet release, "Colombia: Call for Prayer and Candles"). The team and the Leadership Council shared in Bible study together (Jeremiah 31:15-17) and affirmed that there is hope for their situation. July 13-14 was chosen for the date of the second CPT-Abejas encounter on strategic nonviolence in Acteal.

June 28-29:
Chupp and Guynn participated in two full days of festival in the camps of Acteal (Abejas) and Polhó (autonomous Zapatista), celebrating the feast days of Sts. Peter and Paul (Peter is the patron saint of Chenalhó county). Celebrations were also held in the county seat, the town of Chenalhó (mostly affiliated with the political party PRI, which is struggling for control after last year's state and federal elections broke PRI's hold on power). Before the break-out of low-intensity war in Chiapas, there was one united festival for St. Peter in the county, instead of three separate festivals.

        Festivities included special masses in Acteal (with 30 baptisms) and Polhó (where the Pastoral Vicar, as the bishop's representative, gave a strident sermon on Peter being jailed by Herod for proclaiming a message of life (Acts 12:1-11)).

Team members met with a delegation from the American Friends Service Committee to share about CPT's work in Mexico.