Posted by Marcos Victor O. Story on December 28, 1997 at 13:59:43:
In Reply to: Re: On-line Info on the Massacre posted by Wes Rehberg on December 27, 1997 at 15:05:10:
On Wed, 24 Dec 1997
Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos accused President Ernesto Zedillo Wednesday of "direct
responsibility" for a massacre of 46 indigenous people in Chiapas
state.
Marcos, leader of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN),
blamed the president for Monday's raid in the Ateal district of
Chenalho, which also left at least 25 people wounded.
Zedillo and Interior Minister Emilio Chuayffet "gave a green
light two years ago to the federal army's counterinsurgency
project," Marcos said, charging the Chiapas state government "was
charged with guaranteeing the impunity of paramilitary groups and
facilitating their operation."
The rebel chief also charged the Mexican army had given military
training to murderers "recruited by the (ruling) Institutional
Revolutionary Party."
The attack was the bloodiest by paramilitary groups since
leftist rebels of the EZLN staged an uprising New Year's Day 1994.
The Zapatistas rose up to demand better living conditions for
the state's impoverished ethnic Maya majority, and to fight for
democratic reform nationwide.