Remembering Acteal

This week in San Cristobal there was a gathering in the main plaza to remember the victims of the massacre at Acteal which was carried out December 22, 1997. The gathering was held both to remember the victims and to censure the government and the Supreme Court for their actions and involvement in the massacre. At this time last year the Supreme Court vacated the conviction of twenty of the men who were imprisoned in connection with the massacre.

The gathering was a reminder that the government opposition to the Zapatistas, the prejudice and racism that is perpetuated against indigenous people and violent paramilitary and other counterinsurgency activity are not relics of the past, but are very much a part of the present story of the Zapatistas.