Attorney General:Official version of Acteal has no credit

[Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> Translated by: Arturo Lopez for Nuevo Amanecer Press
>
> *************
>
> La Jornada, January 9, 1997
>
> Attorney General:  The official version of Acteal has no credibility
> outside Mexico.
>
> by Jesus Aranda
>
> The Attorney General of Mexico, Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, recognized
> yesterday that the killing of 45 indigenous people has become
> "internationalized," and admitted that despite the efforts of the Mexican
> government to diffuse its version of events, internationally there is a
> lack of credibilty towards the official position.
>
> Before the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Rosario Green, and more than 70
> ambassadors and mexican consuls stationed abroad, Madrazo said that in
> view of this situation "the only thing that can move us forward is the
> truth, and if we make mistakes, tell it like it is."
>
> The Attorney General also informed those attending the meeting that Wednesday
> night his department had interrogated the former governor of Chiapas,
> Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, his former private secretary, Jaime Antonio Goimez
> Mandujano, and the fomer director of Public Security of Chiapas, Jorge
> Gamboa Solis, in regards to the events of December 22.
>
> Madrazo participated yesterday in the ninth meeting of ambassadors and
> consuls of Mexico, in which his participation, originally planned to
> address issues surrounding narco-traffic, ended in serious questioning by
> the diplomats present in respect to the consequences for Mexico's
> image due to the international distribution of images of the massacre that ocurred
> three weeks ago in Chiapas.
>
> For his part, the Foreign Relations Secretary, Rosario Green, in the
> inaguration of the event before Madrazo Cuellar arrived, instructed the
> diplomats on what strategy to follow in order to make the Mexican
> government's voice heard:
>
> "Maintain close, systematic and high-quality contact with media
> representatives, political parties, non-governmental organizations, the
> business community, academic institutions and other social actors who
> could be relevant to the country of assignment."
>
> Questioning of Madrazo on Chenalho and the release of "El Chucky"
>
> During the closed-door session between Madrazo and the diplomats, the
> latter questioned him regarding the consequences for Mexico in the
> international community, of the Chenalho massacre as well as the
> "unfortunate" judicial error in releasing Alfonso Gonzalez Sanchez,
> known as "El Chucky," presumed murderer of United States businessman Peter
> John Zarate.
>
> Madrazo Cuellar, in response to the diplomats' concerns, said that while
> there is no agreement of "full peace" in Chiapas, there is a latent risk
> that cases like Acteal be repeated.
>
> In this sense, he said the massacre of 45 people in Acteal constitutes yet
> another case within the "barbarous" problematic initiated in Chiapas the
> first of January, 1994, and which continues for lack of agreement among
> the parties.
>
> One of the ambassadors present asked Madrazo about the version
> distributed  in
> electronic international media, which had included information about how
> the killing of the Chiapan indians in Chenalho had been done with
> machetes, which spoke to the brutality of the events.
>
> The Attorney General responded that the cuts which appear in the bodies
> are autopsy incisions, and commented further that the great majority of
> the bodies had been shot in the back and in some cases showed the results
> of an execution-style "shot of grace."
>
> Madrazo Cuellar insisted to the gathered diplomats that the President is
> determined to investigate the case and punish guilty parties to the full
> extent of the situation.
>
> The Attorney General recognized that "negative" information about the massacre has
> predominated, despite the fact that the the Mexican government has
> delivered timely reports on the advances towards confirmations of the
> massacre and that it has already achieved the arrest of 40 people presumed
> to be implicated.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 08:55:49 -0800
> From: moonlight <moonlight@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: chiapas-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: ncdm-gc@xxxxxxx, reg.mexico@xxxxxxxxxxxx, chiapas-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Sin credibilidad en el exterior, la version oficial de Acteal: PGR
>
> La Jornada 9 de enero de 1998
>
> Sin credibilidad en el exterior, la version oficial de Acteal: PGR
>
> Jesus Aranda  El procurador general de la Republica, Jorge Madrazo
> Cuellar, reconocio ayer que la matanza de 45
> indigenas en Acteal ya se ``internacionalizo'', y acepto que a pesar de
> los esfuerzos del gobierno mexicano por difundir su
> version de los hechos existe una falta de credibilidad a nivel
> internacional sobre la postura oficial.
>
> Ante la secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Rosario Green, y mas de 70
> embajadores y consules mexicanos en el exterior,
> Madrazo dijo que ante esta situacion ``lo unico que nos va a sacar
> adelante es la verdad, y si nos equivocamos, asi decirlo''.
>
> Ahi mismo, el procurador les informo que la dependencia a su cargo habia
> interrogado la noche del miercoles al ex
> gobernador del estado de Chiapas, Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, a su ex
> secretario particu- lar, Jaime Antonio Gomez Mandujano,
> y al ex director de Seguridad Publica de esa entidad, Jorge Gamboa Solis,
> en relacion con los hechos del 22 de diciembre.
>
> Madrazo participo ayer en los trabajos de la novena reunion de
> embajadores y consules generales de Mexico, en donde su
> participacion, originalmente planteada para abordar temas de
> narcotrafico, concluyo en serios cuestionamientos de los
> diplomaticos ahi presentes respecto a las consecuencias que tendra para
> la imagen de Mexico la propagacion en el exterior
> de las imagenes de la masacre ocurrida hace tres semanas en Chiapas.
>
> Por su parte la secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Rosario Green, en la
> inauguracion del evento, previa a la llegada de
> Madrazo Cuellar a la cancilleria, instruyo a los diplomaticos sobre la
> estrategia a seguir para hacer oir la voz del gobierno
> mexicano:
>
> ``Mantener un contacto estrecho, sistematico y de calidad con los
> representantes de los medios de difusion, los partidos
> politicos, las organizaciones no gubernamentales, los empresarios, los
> centros academicos y otros actores sociales que
> pudieran ser relevantes en el pais de su adscripcion''.
>
> Cuestionamientos a Madrazo sobre Chenalho y la liberacion de El Chucky
>
> Durante el encuentro a puertas cerradas que sostuvo Madrazo con los
> diplomaticos, estos le cuestionaron las consecuencias
> que tiene para Mexico la matanza de Chenalho ante la comunidad
> internacional, asi como el ``desafortunado'' fallo judicial
> que libero a Alfonso Gonzalez Sanchez, El Chucky, presunto asesino del
> empresario estadunidense Peter John Zarate.
>
> Madrazo Cuellar dijo en respuesta a las inquietudes de los diplomaticos
> que mientras no haya un acuerdo de ``paz plena'' en
> Chiapas, existe el riesgo latente de que se repitan casos como el de
> Acteal.
>
> En este sentido, dijo que la matanza de 45 personas en Acteal constituye
> un caso mas dentro de la problematica ``barbara''
> que inicio en Chiapas el primero de enero de 1994, y el cual continua
> ante la falta de acuerdos entre las partes.
>
> Uno de los embajadores presentes le pregunto a Madrazo sobre la version
> difundida en medios electronicos internacionales
> en el sentido de que la muerte de los indigenas chiapanecos en Chenalho
> habia sido a machetazos, lo que hablaba de la
> brutalidad de los hechos.
>
> El procurador respondio que los cortes que se aprecian en los cuerpos son
> las suturas de las necropsias que se les realizaron
> y les comento que la gran mayoria de los cuerpos habian sido baleados por
> la espalda y en algunos casos tenian el tiro de
> gracia.
>
> Madrazo Cuellar insistio ante los diplomaticos reunidos en la
> determinacion presidencial de investigar los hechos y castigar a
> los culpables hasta sus ultimas consecuencias.
>
> El procurador reconocio que ha predominado la informacion ``negativa''
> sobre la matanza, a pesar de que el gobierno
> mexicano ha informado oportunamente sobre los avances de las
> averiguaciones de la masacre y de que logro ya la detencion
> de 40 presuntos implicados.
>
> ___________________________________________________
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