By: Alejandro Reyes

Since early this year the authorities of the zapatista communities in resistance have been denouncing increasingly serious aggressions and threats by the paramilitary organization Opddic ("Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Peasant Rights"). Land invasions, threats of violence, shots to the air, destruction of corn fields and property, theft of crops, beatings, detentions, and kidnappings have become an everyday source of terror that affects hundreds of indigenous families in Chiapas. Even worse: according to the autonomous authorities, all of this is done with the support and complicity of the state and federal governments, the police, and the armed forces.

Alarmed by the situation---which has received very little media attention---an International Informational Brigade was formed at the beginning of March to investigate the accusations and make them public in Mexico and the world. Representatives from Spain, France, Germany, Greece, the US, and Mexico have been traveling through various municipalities and communities, speaking with the authorities of the Good Government Councils, the autonomous Municipal Councils, and common people. What they have discovered is an even more alarming situation than was believed.

"We had all of this cultivated and the brothers and sisters from Opddic came with weapons in October of 2006 and took all the corn," recounts a man in the autonomous region of La Montaña. "They didn't leave behind a single cob. They destroyed three hectares belonging to our compañeros."

"The worst was when they cut the cable for the basket three times and destroyed with machetes the community's boat," says one of the residents of the village of San Miguel, to which one can only get by crossing the Agua Azul River. "We were left isolated." San Miguel is in the region of the famous Agua Azul resort, which benefits the residents of Progreso and Joyetá, all of them members of Opddic. "They tell the tourists we are muggers. Sometimes the members of Opddic attack the tourists and blame us. They tied one of our compañeros and stole his money."

On February 22 and 23, three peasants from Olga Isabel were kidnapped by Opddic and threatened to be burned alive. Only the pressure by the zapatistas and by human rights organizations was able to save them, and they were released the next day.

The representatives of the Good Government Council of Morelia said that they had received letters from Opddic cutting off dialog with the zapatistas and threatening them with violent eviction if they did not abandon their lands.

Why these aggressions? At their root of the conflict are land disputes. Opddic has been active since 1998, and during the government of Vicente Fox it grew significantly. But the recent increase in activities is undoubtedly a reflection of a new government policy to evict the zapatistas from their land, give a blow to the movement, and open the way to multinational companies eager to get their hands on the natural wealth of the region: wood, water, and mining. In the process, thousands of indigenous people suffer daily threats and terror.