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CHIAPAS, MEXICO - Three CPTers maintained a prayerful presence around a single candle for six hours on Friday, August 24 outside the glass walls of a convention hall where members of Las Abejas (the Bees) and representatives of the municipal government of Chenalho met to negotiate an "Agreement of Mutual Respect." The "Agreement," meant to pave the way for the return of 333 Abejas to their home communities set for Tuesday, August 28, prohibits the possession of firearms within the communities.

Four years ago more than 10,000 indigenous people, including some 2500 members of the pacifist Christian group Las Abejas, were displaced from their homes by paramilitary violence in the municipality (county) of Chenalho alone. The refugees have been reluctant to return home because the paramilitary forces, mostly allied with the PRI political party and supported by previous state and federal government administrations, remain armed.

Local government authorities deny the existence of weapons in the villages of Chenalho county and insist that conditions are safe for the refugees to come back to their home communities.

About 70 men and women representing Las Abejas signed the 17-point agreement along with the Municipal President (Mayor) of Chenalho and all but six of the village-level government authorities who didn't show up to the meeting. Those six are supposed to sign on Monday.

In a conversation following the signing ceremony, several Abejas leaders thanked CPTers for their presence and said, "We have a lot of experience with broken promises. We hope and pray that this time the authorities will keep their word."