A Soldier for Every 20 Residents in Chiapas Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit El Universal Monday, May 3, 1999. One Soldier For Every Twenty Residents in Chiapas: Lopez y Rivas Bertha Fernandez The federal goverment is increasing its military budget, placing more than 72,000 soldiers in Chiapas - one for every 20 residents at 184 checkpoints - encouraging the growth of paramilitary groups, failing to carry out the San Andres Accords and putting off discussion of the problems, which are becoming worse every day, stated Deputy Gilberto Lopez y Rivas. Fourteen thousand chiapanecos in the state have been turned into militarized civilians, by the Army doctrine, who are attacking their own brothers - under the pretext of the fight against drug trafficking - as the human rights of the indigenous, the owners of the chiapaneco lands, are being violated, he added. The soldiers are becoming more and more professionalized, and some of them are being trained at the School of the Americas, where soldiers of the region are being taught the art of suppression . While this is going on, the President of the Republic is increasingly without a State policy for the resolution of the multiple problems that exist in the country, and he is acting without direction, Lopez y Rivas added. Since 1994, when the Zapatista Army of National Liberation arose, there has been a substantial growth in the budget related to the military and modernization of equipment. Despite the fact that the Constitution establishes equality of rights for all Mexicans, the indigenous of Chiapas are suffering from a disadvantage, because of the war that has been unleashed on their lands, because of the multiple violations of their human rights that occur every day, and, despite the fact that they live in one of the richest states in the country, because they are unable to enjoy its benefits. Deputy Lopez y Rivas stated that the citizenry should demand a peaceful solution to the problems from the government and say where we want to go. It is absurd that there are 184 checkpoints in that southeastern Mexican state, manned by soldiers and public security, Migration, Judicial police and Naval personnel. This is another violation of rights, because, despite the fact that they talk about freedom of movement, it does not exist, and the only thing that militarization achieves is the intimidation those trying to move about the state. The war has not been stopped; it has, on the other hand, given rise to 150,000 displaced, many of whom have had their houses burned and who have lost all their few belongings, he denounced. *** Note fron Global Exchange: Gilberto Lopez y Rivas is a Federal Deputy and currently President of the Comision de Concordancia y Pacificacion (COCOPA), a peace commission made up entirely of Mexican legislators. After the Zapatistas and the Mexican government signed the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Autonomy in 1996, the COCOPA was charged with turning the accords into draft legislation. The COCOPA's interpretation of the accords was accepted by Zapatista representatives and rejected by the government. Translated by irlandesa ********************************************************************* Global Exchange 2017 Mission St., Rm. 303 San Francisco, CA 94110 Phone: 415.255.7296 Fax: 415.255.7498 1-800-497.1994 http://www.globalexchange.org ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-05.12.99-02:24:37-21555