A couple months ago, several members of the CPT delegation and team visited at
the Majomut military camp with Gen. Ramon Mejia, the camp commander, and Col.
J. Rodriguez, a doctor. Mejia told us he had received training at the U.S.
School of the Americas. "But all countries offer military training, even
Mexico," he said. Rodriguez had received training in military medicine in
Washington, DC.

There are twenty military camps in Chenalho country and about six hundred men
and women stationed at Majomut. According to Gen. Mejia, the presence of many
heavily armed soldiers in camps and passing through villages serves to prevent
violence among the indigenous people and to promote neo-liberal economics.
When asked if he is afraid that large US corporations will take over and tell
the Mexican people how to run their country, he replied, "No, we are all
getting along well now." He added, "It is the right of those with more
strength to have power over others. "

Gen. Mejia spent a long time explaining the humanitarian function of his
troops, saying they are concerned about education, and willing to build
schools, homes, and water systems. Col. Rodriguez told about the medical
program. There are twenty nurses and five doctors for the twenty military
camps. Beside meeting the medical needs of the military, they offer free
medical treatment and dental care to the local population. The colonel said
he sees 20 to 30 patients a day. He showed us what appeared to be a well-
stocked pharmacy. They also offer at least one meal a day to local people.

The team asked about the November 23 incident at the nearby gravel pit, where
indigenous women from Polho confronted soldiers who were holding 20 men from
the community. (See Chiapas Update: November 20-28.)

Gen. Mejia explained that the detained men had been clearing a field that did
not belong to them. He said that the purported owners of the field had come
to him complaining about it. He said about 150 women walked up the road
verbally abusing the soldiers, spitting at and threatening them. He assured
us they did not defend themselves or attack the women. (Yet according to a
human rights report, two women and a man claimed they were cut by soldiers'
knives or bayonets.)

He could not explain how the complainants demonstrated ownership. When asked
if there are officials whose job it is to mediate land disputes, he said there
were, but he did not explain why this dispute was not referred to those
officials.

At this point, he volunteered that the military never sets up a camp without
permission from the landowners and payment of rent. He said land in Majomut
had been abandoned and that none of the owners were in Polho. ( CPTers had
been accompnied to Majomut by one of the displaced owners, who now lives in
Polho.) Mejia assured us that when the owners returned, the land would be
theirs.

We asked when we would again be able to buy coffee from the co-operative. He
said everyone was unhappy about the closure of the co-operative-the Catholics,
the people of Mexico City, etc. He said he was willing to let the co-
operative store its coffee from the harvest this month in the co-op warehouse.

This was the first time a military commander, apparently part of the Mexican
high command in Chiapas, had agreed to meet with CPT. We did not attempt to
challenge Gen Mejia's statements, believing that asking the right questions
sometimes helps others to see a different perspective.