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Mexican mayor charged with organizing massacre

In this story: December 28, 1997
Web posted at: 10:51 a.m. EST (1551 GMT)

ACTEAL, Mexico (CNN) -- Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) faces an uphill challenge in trying to clear its name, now that two party members -- including a mayor -- have been arrested and charged in connection with the massacre last week of 45 defenseless Tzotzil Indians.

Deputy Attorney General Jose Luis Ramos Rivera said Saturday that Jacinto Arias Cruz, the mayor of Chenalho municipality, and 23 of his supporters -- including his mayoral deputy -- were formally charged with homicide, causing injuries, and illegal association in the attack.

The development came less than a day after the federal government said the massacre was a result of long-standing family feuds in the region, which has been wracked by conflicts between rebels and the government since 1994.

Ramos Rivera said many of the suspects already in custody pointed a finger directly at the mayor.

"The five accusations that weigh against him were made ... precisely by the group of people identified as the aggressors by victims and eyewitnesses," Ramos Rivera said.

"The participation of the municipal president consisted of instigating (the massacre) and providing the weapons, and later trying to make some kind of agreement with those involved to get them together on their version" of what happened, he added.

Meanwhile, a main rebel leader issued a strongly worded statement Saturday, accusing the government of complicity in the attack.

Masked gunmen wearing uniforms showed up in the town of Acteal on December 22 and methodically gunned down villagers, mostly women and children. Thirty-one people were injured in the assault.

Ramos Rivera told reporters Saturday that Arias lied to investigators about his knowledge of the massacre. While Arias claimed to have learned of the killings Tuesday, investigators found an entry in a notebook for Monday in which Arias Cruz refers to the killings.

Forty people are now in custody and charged in the killings. Most -- including Arias and his deputy -- are being held at a prison in the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez. In addition, three minors are in juvenile custody.

Under Mexican law, the cases must go before a judge within three days.

Ramos Rivera pledged to continue the investigation until the government "succeeds in completely clearing up the facts."

Chenhalo municipality includes Acteal and Los Charros, the town where many of those arrested live. As many as 8,500 people have fled the area since Monday, fearing more attacks.

Rebel leader blames government

Rebels of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, which launched a rebellion January 1, 1994, to demand rights for Chiapas state's poor indigenous Indians, blamed the government for condoning the slaughter in a signed statement by rebel leader Subcommandante Marcos.

Marcos said the killers used vehicles belonging to the Chenalho mayor's office and that they bought their uniforms with money from the federal Social Development Secretariat. Marcos did not provide evidence, or say where he received his information.

"The paramilitaries got their weapons and equipment from the direct sponsorship of officials of the federal army and judicial authorities," Marcos said.

"According to the evidence, it is clear that the crime in Acteal was prepared with the direction of state government officials and the complicity of various secretariats of the federal government," he added.

Marcos called a statement by Attorney General Jorge Madrazo, who said the massacre stemmed from family feuds dating back to the 1930s, a "story designed to fool idiots."

A cease-fire between the Zapatista rebels and the government has held, but peace talks have been stalled since 1996. Human rights observers say the government has contributed to the tension in Chiapas by failing to implement a peace agreement reached with the Zapatistas.

Monday's massacre is said to be the worst violence in four years in the poverty-stricken, mountainous region in extreme southern Mexico.

PRI distances itself from massacre

Accusations that the PRI was involved in the killings surfaced immediately after the massacre. Residents fleeing Los Charros identified eight gunmen as PRI supporters.

Although the PRI has denied involvement, outraged citizens have called for resignations of the governor, the interior secretary and even Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.

The arrests of the mayor and his deputy came as a deep embarrassment for Zedillo's party.

The PRI appointed Arias Cruz as mayor in 1995. The party has ruled Mexico for nearly 70 years, but its strength slipped in July's midterm elections.

The PRI on Saturday again tried to distance itself from the incident.

"The real PRI members are those that practice politics that follow our laws and follow our party's basic documents," Chiapas' PRI leader Juan Carlos Gomez said in a statement released before Saturday's arrests. "So those that put themselves outside the law are also outside our party."

Human rights activists say the massacre was probably carried out to strengthen the PRI's control in a region where loyalties are divided between support for the government and support for the Zapatistas.

 
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