Acteal, Chiapas, January 27, 2009

In 1992 a pacifist religious organization was founded in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. They called themselves Las Abejas (“The Bees”), because they pledged to all work together (like bees) for the common goals of peace, human rights, land reform, and justice.

In 1994 the Zapatistas briefly rose up in rebellion against the government and after it was put down, the Mexican government began a policy of military control and low-level state terrorism to keep the populace from rising up again. On December 22, 1997, unknown gunmen swept into the small Abejas village of Acteal, and throughout the day and most of the night they hunted down and killed everyone they could find. Soldiers at a nearby military outpost were told of the attack, but did not intervene. The following morning, however, they did come to the village and washed blood from the walls of the church where over thirty people had died. Many believe it was to remove evidence of the crime.

The church where the worst of the killings took place is the small, wooden building in the back of the village at the end of the video.

Las Abejas, is composed of people from 48 indigenous communities throughout the highlands of Chiapas. In spite of the horrors they have encountered, they continue to work for peace and demonstrate their solidarity with other social struggles by denouncing violence and, perhaps even more importantly, through actions centered around fasting and prayer.

These slides are from a January visit sponsored by Equal Exchange, JubileeJustice of the United Church of Christ, Church of the Brethren, and Witness for Peace.