Like El Salvador and Nicaragua in the 1980s, several Latin American countries are currently torn by violence and human rights abuses against the poor by military and paramilitary forces. Catholic Church communities and leaders are standing up for peace and justice, often paying with their lives.

Chiapas, Mexico
Since 45 members of a Christian community of Tzotzil Indians, mostly women and children, were massacred while at prayer Dec. 22 in Acteal, international voices have begged the Mexican government to disarm the paramilitary groups and reduce the military presence in Chiapas. Just the opposite has occurred: troops increased to 40,000, new military operations to "dismantle" several county governments, tougher rules excluding international observers, new raids and massacres. At least 600 have now died and 10,000 have been made homeless . A March 24 statement by 341 U.S. and other religious leaders, including 26 U.S. Catholic bishops, was issued in coordination with the diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, imploring U.S. and Mexican governments to de-militarize the region.

The statement came out from the International Service for Peace (SIPAZ) in California. Updates and action alerts are on the SIPAZ Website: www.nonviolence.org/sipaz

San Cristóbal's Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, chair since 1995 of the National Mediating Commission (CONAI) between the government and the Zapatista rebels, resigned from the commission June 7, saying the government's military actions were undermining the peace process. That dissolved CONAI, but brought wider acclaim for Ruiz. The Peace Council -- 400 international human rights organizations -- gave an award to Ruiz for his mediation work, signed by Nobel peace laureates Rigoberta Menchú, Desmond Tutu, and the Dalai Lama. The Mexican Bishops' Conference and the Papal Nuncio commended his efforts. Mary Robinson, head of the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights, denounced "serious violations" of indigenous people's rights in Chiapas. Freed from his role as mediator, Ruiz, 74, is now more able to speak out prophetically. He will address the CTA National Conference in 1999.

Guatemala
Two days after releasing the historic "Nunca Mas (never again)" document, which compiled testimonies about military atrocities against the people during the 36-year civil war, Bishop Juan Gerardi was brutally murdered Apr. 26. Instead of a full investigation, a cover-up seems to be in progress. The archdiocesan human rights office had charged that two soldiers were implicated, but authorities instead have arrested a homeless man, the slain bishop's housekeeper, and his priest-colleague who discovered his body and reported the killing.

Colombia
Another "Nunca Mas" project has been underway, sponsored by Colombia's major religious superiors, to document 30 years of assassinations, massacres and human rights abuses. On May 13 army officers invaded the Bogot‡ offices of the Colombian Religious Conference, held nuns at gunpoint, and ransacked the Nunca Mas files. Now the names of every brave person who testified to past atrocities are in Army hands. Sr. Carmi–a Navia Velasco, a leader of the CRC, will address the human rights struggle in Colombia in her presentations at the CTA Conference this fall in Milwaukee.

In the U.S. the Colombia Support Network (CSN) is headed by Cecilia Zarate-Laun of Madison, Wis. Her article in Z Magazine (July-August) details how U.S. military aid to Colombia for the alleged war on cocaine traffickers ends up funding paramilitary death squads whose victims include lawyers, priests, nuns, labor leaders, members of cooperatives -- or "anyone committed to political and social change." Of 4,300 slayings each year for political reasons, a jurists' commission says only two percent are drug-related; 28 percent are done by guerrillas, and 70 percent are committed by the paramilitary/military alliance. She praises the Colombian Catholic Church, archconservative in the past, for now courageously defending the poor, and even facing martyrdom in the process.

Obtain updates and action alerts on the Web from Colombia support Network: www.igc.apc.org/csn