Posted by rdom on December 24, 1997 at 09:47:15:
In Reply to: Chiapas School Construction Group Prepares to Leave for Mexico posted by rdom on December 23, 1997 at 09:32:32:
Tuesday December 23
Mexico Paramilitaries Attack Chiapas Indians
MEXICO CITY - Mexican paramilitaries staged a violent attack on
Indians in troubled Chiapas state, killing 43 people and injuring many
others, a local leader said on Tuesday.
Manual Perez Vazquez, a local indigenous leader, told Reuters there were 43
dead and many injured after the attack in Acteal, in the Chenalho
municipality, about 44 miles (70 km) northeast of San Cristobal de las Casas.
Some reports said the Indians were supporters of Mexico's Zapatista rebels,
and were already refugees from paramilitary violence elsewhere in the region.
The Zapatistas staged a violent uprising against the Mexican government in
southern Chiapas state on Jan. 1, 1994, when officially around 140 people
died.
Chiapas state government officials confirmed the paramilitary attack, which
happened at midday Monday, but could not give exact numbers of dead or
injured.
"This is the worst massacre that has happened in Chiapas since the armed
uprising of 1994," said Domingo Perez Palencia, president of the municipal
council in the rebel area of Chenalho.