Las Abejas
Las Abejas is a Christian pacifist civil society group of Tzotzil Maya formed in Chenalhó, Chiapas, Mexico in 1992 following a familial property dispute that left one person killed. When members of the community took the injured man to the nearest town for medical attention, they were accused of attacking him themselves and jailed. When family members realized what had happened, they began a pilgrimage on foot to San Cristóbal de las Casas. Along the way, Christian pacifists in other villages joined the group, which is dedicated to peace, justice, and anti-neoliberalism. Las Abejas freed their companions and grew as an organization.
As the Zapatista Army of National Liberation uprising took place in 1994, Las Abejas stood in solidarity with Zapatista ends and principles, but not their violent means. Las Abejas paid a high price for their support when the December 1997 massacre in Acteal killed 45 members praying in a church.
Origins
Roots
The catalyst for the formation of Las Abejas was a land dispute that occurred in 1992, but the roots of the organization go back to the work of the progressive Roman Catholic Church in Chiapas, particularly under the leadership of Bishop Samuel Ruiz. Bishop Ruiz, who was influenced by liberation theology and in particular by the meeting of Latin American bishops in Medellín, Colombia in 1968. The Catholic Church and its pastoral workers, under Bishop Ruiz's leadership, began to focus on defending the dignity of the poor, with an emphasis on encouraging peasants to find in the Bible a message of liberation from oppression. The pastoral workers introduced the language of human rights as a way to denounce what many saw as systems of oppression.Las Abejas also began in a distinct political context. Chenalhó, the municipality where Las Abejas was formed, had long been a stronghold of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, but economic difficulties in the 1970s and even more so in the 1980s gave other political parties the opportunity to strengthen. Several peasant organizations, some allied with particular political parties, also formed during this time.
Several events in the months preceding the formation of Las Abejas were also important. The Xi'Nich' March for Human Rights of the Indigenous Peoples was a march of about 700 indigenous people from Palenque, Chiapas to Mexico City. The march, which began on March 7, 1992, was to protest government corruption, political repression, and cuts in spending in rural areas that affected indigenous populations. A second march, from various indigenous areas to San Cristóbal de las Casas, occurred on October 12, 1992, attracting as many as 10,000 participants concerned about indigenous rights. Protesters toppled a statue of Diego de Mazariegos, the Spanish conquistador who had founded the colonial city. Beyond the many participants in the two marches, likely including many from Chenalho, the attention which the marches attracted led many indigenous people to consider the power of nonviolent protest for indigenous rights.
Land dispute
Las Abejas emerged in this setting in response to a dispute over a 120-hectare plot of land in Tz'anhem-Bolom, near the town of Tzajal-ch'en in the municipality of Chenalhó, Chiapas. According to researcher Christine Kovic, the original owner of the property is unclear. Some say that the land was communally-owned and farmed, while others say it was private property, jointly held by the earlier owner's three children: Catarina, Agustin, and Maria Hernandez Lopez. The governmental Department of Agrarian Reform was not helpful in resolving the dispute, despite requests from both sides of the disagreement, according to Kovic.The disagreement arose at least in part because Agustin Hernandez Lopez did not want to share the inherited land with his two sisters. There was also a political element to the disagreement, as Agustin was affiliated with the PRI, while his nephew, Nicolas Gutierrez Hernandez, who led those who did not believe that his uncle had the right to full ownership of the land, was affiliated with the Teacher-Peasant Solidarity Movement, which was affiliated with the national teachers' union and was in frequent conflict with the PRI.
The community of Tz'anhem-Bolom considered the dispute and ordered that the three siblings share the land equally. Agustin, who did not agree with their decision, instead "kept 60 hectares for himself and gave the 60 remaining hectares to his political supporters in a number of Chenalho hamlets rather than to his sisters." The situation led many people in the community to rally to one side or the other of the dispute and call for or use violence. Others people insisted upon a nonviolence. This group, representing 22 different communities and committed to dialogue and nonviolence, formed Las Abejas on December 9, 1992, as an independent organization under the auspices of the Society of Coffee Producers of Tzajal-ch'en.
Image:ActealOverview.jpg|thumb|350px|right|A view of Acteal, site of the 1997 massacre that killed 45 members of Las Abejas. The prominent chapel was constructed after the massacre; the wooden chapel in which members of Las Abejas were praying when the massacre began is still standing; its roof is partially visible in the picture above and to the right of the new chapel.
The name "Las Abejas" was chosen, according to one member of the organization, because "like the bees we want to build our houses together, to collectively work and enjoy the fruit of our work. We want to produce 'honey' but also to share with anyone who needs it... We know that, like the little bees, the work is slow but the result is sure because it is collective." Another member of the organization notes a political element in the choice of the name: "The bee is a very small insect that is able to move a sleeping cow when it pricks. Our struggle is like a bee that pricks, that is our resistance, but it's non-violent."
The very next day, on December 10, 1992, violence escalated. Supporters of Agustin shot at his nephews Nicolas, Vicente, and Lorenzo, ultimately killing Vicente. Some residents of Tzajal-ch'en contacted the municipal authorities in Chenalho to request an ambulance so as to transport the wounded men to the hospital in San Cristóbal de las Casas. When the men trying to help the injured reached the road, they were met not by the ambulance but the police, who arrested five of the men without warrant. The municipal authorities accused the five men of having participated in the attacks and they were brought to the Centro de Readaptacion Social 5 jail in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Those arrested and detained included Felipe Hernandez Perez, Mariano Perez Vasquez, Sebastian Perez Vasquez, and Manuel Perez Gutierrez. .
The members of the newly formed Las Abejas were very upset by what they considered to be the unjust detention of these individuals. Their complaints to the municipal authorities proved futile. The State's Attorney General, Rafael Gonzales Lastra, sought to apprehend other members of Las Abejas, ostensibly in relation to the violence done to Vicente, Nicolas, and Lorenzo Gutierrez Hernandez. Supporters of Agustin Hernandez Lopez also attacked the wives of the three wounded men, raping one of them, but there was no response to the attacks even after the women filed a formal complaint.
Frustrated by the injustices committed by the municipal authorities, the members of Las Abejas organized a 41-kilometer march to San Cristóbal de las Casas on December 21, 1992, where they staged a sit-in in front of San Cristóbal 's cathedral to protest the violence and the unjust arrests. 200 indigenous Tzotzil people began the march, and by December 24, as many as 5,000 indigenous people joined in a march to the prison where the five men were being held. After an additional protest event on January 4, 1993, drew 800 indigenous people from Chenalho as well as from seven other municipalities, the state's attorney finally released the five prisoners on January 7 because of "'disappearance of evidence,' meaning that the evidence offered in the case could not be considered legally valid, perhaps because it had been fabricated in the first place."