wfn.org | CWS Responds to Chiapas Massacre

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CWS Responds to Chiapas Massacre
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Internet: wendym@ncccusa.org

Contact: Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

NCC1/5/97   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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EDITORS: When listing organizations receiving funds for 
humanitarian response to the Chiapas massacre, please 
include:

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, Attn. Chiapas Massacre, #76349, P.O. 
Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.  Phone pledges or credit card 
donations: 1-800-762-0968.

CWS works in more than 70 countries, including the U.S., in 
disaster relief, human development and refugee assistance.  
It is a ministry of the National Council of Churches, the 
nation's preeminent ecumenical organization which includes 
34 Protestant and Orthodox member communions.
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CHURCH WORLD SERVICE RESPONDS TO CHIAPAS MASSACRE

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 ---- Church World Service (CWS) is 
responding to the needs of survivors and refugees following 
a December 22, 1997 massacre in Acteal, Mexico, in which 45 
unarmed civilians were killed.  CWS has already sent $10,000 
to partners in the area for the purchase of blankets, food 
and medicines and is seeking $30,000 for additional supplies 
and longer-term material assistance for survivors and 
refugees.

"The news is grim," said the Rev. Johnny Wray, chairman 
of the Church World Service Emergency Response Executive 
Committee.  "It is a modern day `massacre of the 
innocents.'"

On December 22, masked gunmen wearing uniforms 
methodically gunned down Acteal villagers, many of them 
women and children, with weapons ranging from .22-caliber 
rifles to AK-47s.  45 people were killed and at least 31 
more were injured.

Because of the massacre, thousands of Indian refugees 
from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas continue to flee 
villages in the rugged, coffee-growing region that borders 
Guatemala.  Making their way through heavy rains and 
carrying their possessions in coffee sacks, at least 4,000 
refugees have now fled the area in and around Acteal.  Many 
of the refugees are now staying in the village of Polho, 
living in schools or in makeshift tents of plastic sheeting.  
They have told authorities and relief officials that they 
fear returning to their homes because paramilitary groups 
are still in their villages and planning additional attacks.

The Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas 
and the San Cristobal office of Caritas, both CWS partners 
in Chiapas, have issued an extremely urgent appeal for 
international assistance to help those affected by the 
massacre and who have fled the area.

Bishop Samuel Ruiz of the Diocese of San Cristobal de 
las Casas has specifically requested that CWS help provide 
assistance for the purchase of clothing, diapers for 
infants, blankets, tents and food, including beans, corn and 
sugar.

CWS has sent $5,000 from its Executive Director's 
Advance Fund and $5,000 from its Blanket Fund to the Diocese 
of San Cristobal for the purchase of blankets, food and 
medicines to assist massacre survivors and for the 4,000 who 
have relocated in Polho.

CWS has also issued a humanitarian appeal for $30,000, 
needed for the purchase of additional supplies and for 
longer-term material assistance for the refugees in Chiapas 
who are likely to remain in Polho and other communities for 
some time.

In the last four years, in conjunction with local 
partners, CWS has worked on a range of issues in Chiapas, 
including offering assistance to displaced persons, 
providing medical aid to hospitals and supporting human 
rights monitoring.

Well-armed paramilitary groups have become more 
prominent in Chiapas this past year as talks between the 
Mexican authorities and the four-year-old Zapatista National 
Liberation Army have collapsed.  The Zapatistas, who enjoy 
support among a large segment of the indigenous population 
of Chiapas, say President Zedillo and the Mexican government 
are responsible for the massacre.  Survivors of the attack 
also say the gunmen are aligned with local PRI officials.  
National PRI officials have denied that party affiliation 
had anything to do with the massacre.

But on December 27, 1997, Jacinto Arias Cruz, the mayor 
of the Chanalho municipality, which includes Acteal, and 23 
other members of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary 
Party (PRI) were arrested for supplying the weapons used in 
the massacre. 

The Rev. Gonzalo Ituarte, vicar of the Diocese of San 
Cristobal de las Casas, told the New York Times that the 
mayor's arrest was "a very important step."  He added, "But 
it has to go further, until all of those who permitted this 
atrocious act are apprehended, because it was known this was 
going to happen."  Rev. Ituarte reportedly called the 
governor's office twice with news of the massacre.  Local 
officials assured the governor's office that nothing was 
amiss in the region.

"May those who did this find peace with their souls and 
with God, and may they rid themselves of not only their 
murderous weapons but also their attitude of hatred," Bishop 
Ruiz said at a Christmas mass for the victims and their 
families.

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