Eviction and destruction of the indigenous community of Laguna San Pedro

Zapatistas denounce the eviction and destruction of an indigenous community and accuse the government of aiming to set up ecotourism centres.

‘Reforestation’ is the pretext used by the authorities to perform the operation against the EZLN support bases.

San Cristobal de las Casas, Jan 30. The Good Government Council (JBG) ‘the way ahead’ (el camino del futuro), based in the Caracol of La Garrucha, on Friday denounced the eviction and destruction of the indigenous community of Laguna San Pedro, in the autonomous municipality of Ricardo Flores Magon, which took place on 22nd January. The government's explicit intention is to "reforest" the area and establish private ecotourism centres in the Montes Azules, within the area of the biosphere reserve.

While they were burning the houses of the indigenous people, the JBG relates, the Zapatistas were forced to board official helicopters to be transferred to the city of Palenque, where they endured "hunger and cold" in a hostel until they received attention from independent civil organizations.

As has happened before, the raid was preceded by an opportune "application" on behalf of the Lacandon authorities based in Lacanjá Chansayab, the legal owners of six hundred thousand hectares of the forest, who are habitually pressing for the expulsion of the inhabitants of Montes Azules.

Before the eviction, forces sent by “the bad federal and state (PRD) Government of Juan Sabines Guerrero, and the municipal president of Ocosingo, (PAN), Carlos Leonel Solórzano, conducted an operation using federal police, accompanied by officials of the Federal Procurator of the Environment (Profepa)” who with four helicopters flew over the village of Laguna San Pedro “to terrify the population”, said the JBG.

They state that state and federal police, army troops, government officials, cameramen and journalists participated in the action. Once arrived, the officials "talked with the men and women while the police took the opportunity to burn the houses of the Zapatista support bases”.

How is it possible that "the bad government speaks of dialogue while their police and army burned the belongings of the compas," questions the JBG from the Caracol of ‘Resistance towards a new dawn’ (Resistencia hacia un nuevo amanecer). "How is it possible that the bad government evicts indigenous people of Chiapas and Mexico while occupying their land for the construction of ecotourism centres for the use of people from other nations."

It should be mentioned that, after the eviction, the state government announced that in coming days they were going to evict the population of six more villages, including 6 de Octubre, another Zapatista community, as well as Nuevo San Gregorio, Rancheria Corozal and Salvador Allende, among others. They will join el Suspiro, Buen Samaratino, Nuevo Salvador Allende and the aforementioned Laguna San Pedro, which the government call San Pedro Guanil.

The former PAN governor of Yucatan, Patricio Patron Laviada, head of Profepa, visited Chiapas in recent days and agreed to these actions with the Secretary of Government of the state, Noe Castanon Leon, who on Tuesday, 26th published the agreement to "reforest" and establish an ecotourism centre within the Montes Azules biosphere reserve, presumably to be undertaken by settlers from Nueva Palestina, secondary members of the so-called "Lacandon community” and unpunished perpetrators of the massacre at Viejo Velasco Suarez in 2006, also in Montes Azules.

The "ecotourism development" is part of the investment projects of the businessman Moises Saba, who died weeks ago in a helicopter crash outside Mexico City. Another project of his was the production of biodiesel on a thousand hectares of rainforest. It appears that his projects are going ahead, at least through the agency of the state and federal government.  According to Castanon Leon, they will promote the "sustainable uses" of natural resources with projects of "community development" (for the Lacandon and their partners), "environmental education and tourist circuits of the Mayan route (la ruta maya)”.

The JBG accuses the government of "lying and cheating, while Indian homes burn," while the newspapers talk about the relocation of the Zapatistas of Laguna San Pedro, they have their homes destroyed, their cooperative store looted, and suffered the loss of their fruit trees, corn, beans, clothing and tools of work. The material damage amounted to 585 thousand pesos, in addition to the loss of their land, which, as the Zapatistas usually say, is priceless.

Hermann Bellinghausen, La Jornada Sunday 31 January 2010, p. 7, originally published in Spanish.