Peace is Chiapas: Farther A way Now than Ever Before.

• Author: Kennis, Andrew
• Position: Thinking Politically - National Zapatista Liberation Army and the peace process in Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico: During March and April, 2001, leaders from the rebel indigenous group the National Zapatista Liberation Army (EZLN or the Zapatistas) made a historic trip from Chiapas through a dozen states in Mexico, ending with a stop in Mexico City that attracted close to half a million people. Following this historic trip, the EZLN received narrow approval to make addresses to Congress for one day (speeches that the National Action Party would boycott).

It was during this time that achieving a peace settlement between the EZLN and the Federal government seemed closer than ever before. Ironically, however, it was no more than a month after the end of the caravan and the addresses to Congress that a very different situation developed, where recent government measures, according to some commentators and public officials, provided "an ultimatum for war."

Zap Caravan Demands Not Being Met

The purpose of the caravan this past spring was to publicize and garner public support for the preconditions the EZLN had been demanding for the renewal of peace negotiations: the withdrawal of Mexican armed forces from seven key military bases in Chiapas (over 250 other bases, however, would remain intact); the release of all Zapatista political prisoners; and the passage into law of the Commission for Concordance and Pacification (COCOPA) provisions that would implement the San Andres accords.

President Fox has indeed closed down all seven military bases (although another one was created in Patihuitz, a location nearby). As for the Zapatista political prisoners, only 9 remain where well over 100 had been imprisoned before the caravan.

Nevertheless, the one demand that has been the most elusive to implement throughout the Zapatistas' existence has been the implementation of the San Andres accords.

History of the San Andres Accords

The San Andres accords were a set of agreements that both the Mexican Federal government and the Zapatistas agreed to in 1996. The specifics on how the accords could be implemented were provided by the recommendations of the COCOPA commission (the commission is comprised of legislators from the different parties in the Mexican Congress). The COCOPA provisions were approved by the Zapatistas but vetoed by then-President Ernesto Zedillo and never brought before the legislature. Zedillo's veto came despite the fact that his administration had signed the accords with the Zapatistas. Therefore, the accords were agreed to, but had no provisions for...