Stormin Norman
13th August 2002, 14:50
The following article was posted in the news section:
Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada
***********************************
Translated by irlandesa
La Jornada
Friday, August 9, 2002.
Pro-Zapatista Campesino Shot Eight Times, Killed
Hermann Bellinghausen, correspondent.
17 de Noviembre Autonomous Municipality,
Chiapas.
August 8.
José López Santiz, a Tzeltal campesino and EZLN support base, was executed last night in the vicinity of the community of 6 de Agosto. His son, a 12 year old child, who was an eyewitness, stated that the killing was carried out by Baltazar Alfonso, a trucking businessman in Altamirano, with a shotgun.
The victim received seven or eight gunshots to his face and chest. The killer, and two other persons who had been accompanying him, were still at large. Indigenous from various communities of the Autonomous Municipalities, gathered together this afternoon in the village where the incidents took place, stated that Altamirano municipal authorities allowed the assassin and his companions to flee.
Regardless, the men left incriminating evidence behind them, such as the murder weapon and the vehicle which they arrived in last night. They were unable to get back to it, because the community had woken up and were waiting for them next to the black Toyota V6 van, with a Chiapas license plate number of CX03420. Faced with this situation, Alfonso and his companions fled on foot along a neighboring road to the city of Altamirano.
The indigenous identified Benjamin Montoya Oceguera and Humberto Castellanos, also apparently truckers, as the companions of “Señor Alfonso,” as the eyewitness referred to him. “I saw it,” the youngster said seriously. “He shot two times, and I shouted at my father to take care. The señor asked me why I was yelling, that he was going to kill me also.” The boy began to run, while his father, who had fallen to the ground, was shot six more times.
López Santiz’ wife, in a certain stupor that was part pain and part courage, said: “He went to the milpa at about 7 at night with the two children (his sons, along with a girl). The vehicle arrived at 9 and parked here,” she said, pointing to the van. The field is located “half an hour away by foot,” the campesinos said. The killers turned into the mud road, apparently in search of the victim. They were on their way back, related the child, when the attackers appeared. The younger child fled at that instant.
The shots and the cries from the children raised an alarm among the seven families who make up the 6 de Agosto community, which the indigenous founded in 1994 on the recovered lands of what had been the San Juan ranch.
Prior to fleeing, the attackers concealed the corpse in the undergrowth. Public Security police showed up there at about 3 in the morning. They took the corpse, without the presence of the Public Ministry agent and against the will of the relatives, “and they took it to the municipal cemetery in Altamirano.” This morning, some 200 zapatista indigenous blocked the Altamirano-Ocosingo highway and recovered the body of the fallen campesino. As of this afternoon, the representative of the municipal Public Ministry had still not shown up, nor had any certificate been issued.
“They gave them the opportunity to escape,” the indigenous accused the authorities this afternoon. “They didn’t want to detain them.”
Today, at 3 in the afternoon, a gray vehicle ran the indigenous blockade at a high rate of speed: “It was going to kill the compañeros. It was a deliberate act,” another family head from the village told La Jornada. The campesinos then pursued the gray vehicle to the municipal presidential office, where the attackers sought cover.
Nonetheless, the indigenous captured these individuals., and this afternoon they were holding them at the edge of the highway, waiting for human rights observers.
José López Santiz’ body was resting tonight in a house in 6 de Agosto, covered in several serapes. The coffin was next to him, and a cloud of flies was buzzing from the box to the body. Jose was a relatively young man, as could be seen by his bloody face, his strong body, his glassy open eyes. As the children and men came upon the body, they stared at it, hypnotized.
The farm workers told La Jornada that they had detained a son-in-law of Baltazar Alfonso. Denying any responsibility, he confirmed his father-in-law’s guilt and even the manner in which the crime had been planned.
Does anyone really care about this guy or his death? *Seems to me like the guy probably had some bad karma coming to him. *I wonder how many people he himself has killed. *Oh well another set back for the weakening EZLN. *Death to the revolution!
I hope EZLN takes care of his wife and kid. *They are victims of his stupidity, and should not suffer as a result. *Do you think they will provide for them, or will they be forgoten now that Jose's use to the organization has expired?
(Edited by Stormin Norman at 2:54 am on Aug. 14, 2002)
Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada
***********************************
Translated by irlandesa
La Jornada
Friday, August 9, 2002.
Pro-Zapatista Campesino Shot Eight Times, Killed
Hermann Bellinghausen, correspondent.
17 de Noviembre Autonomous Municipality,
Chiapas.
August 8.
José López Santiz, a Tzeltal campesino and EZLN support base, was executed last night in the vicinity of the community of 6 de Agosto. His son, a 12 year old child, who was an eyewitness, stated that the killing was carried out by Baltazar Alfonso, a trucking businessman in Altamirano, with a shotgun.
The victim received seven or eight gunshots to his face and chest. The killer, and two other persons who had been accompanying him, were still at large. Indigenous from various communities of the Autonomous Municipalities, gathered together this afternoon in the village where the incidents took place, stated that Altamirano municipal authorities allowed the assassin and his companions to flee.
Regardless, the men left incriminating evidence behind them, such as the murder weapon and the vehicle which they arrived in last night. They were unable to get back to it, because the community had woken up and were waiting for them next to the black Toyota V6 van, with a Chiapas license plate number of CX03420. Faced with this situation, Alfonso and his companions fled on foot along a neighboring road to the city of Altamirano.
The indigenous identified Benjamin Montoya Oceguera and Humberto Castellanos, also apparently truckers, as the companions of “Señor Alfonso,” as the eyewitness referred to him. “I saw it,” the youngster said seriously. “He shot two times, and I shouted at my father to take care. The señor asked me why I was yelling, that he was going to kill me also.” The boy began to run, while his father, who had fallen to the ground, was shot six more times.
López Santiz’ wife, in a certain stupor that was part pain and part courage, said: “He went to the milpa at about 7 at night with the two children (his sons, along with a girl). The vehicle arrived at 9 and parked here,” she said, pointing to the van. The field is located “half an hour away by foot,” the campesinos said. The killers turned into the mud road, apparently in search of the victim. They were on their way back, related the child, when the attackers appeared. The younger child fled at that instant.
The shots and the cries from the children raised an alarm among the seven families who make up the 6 de Agosto community, which the indigenous founded in 1994 on the recovered lands of what had been the San Juan ranch.
Prior to fleeing, the attackers concealed the corpse in the undergrowth. Public Security police showed up there at about 3 in the morning. They took the corpse, without the presence of the Public Ministry agent and against the will of the relatives, “and they took it to the municipal cemetery in Altamirano.” This morning, some 200 zapatista indigenous blocked the Altamirano-Ocosingo highway and recovered the body of the fallen campesino. As of this afternoon, the representative of the municipal Public Ministry had still not shown up, nor had any certificate been issued.
“They gave them the opportunity to escape,” the indigenous accused the authorities this afternoon. “They didn’t want to detain them.”
Today, at 3 in the afternoon, a gray vehicle ran the indigenous blockade at a high rate of speed: “It was going to kill the compañeros. It was a deliberate act,” another family head from the village told La Jornada. The campesinos then pursued the gray vehicle to the municipal presidential office, where the attackers sought cover.
Nonetheless, the indigenous captured these individuals., and this afternoon they were holding them at the edge of the highway, waiting for human rights observers.
José López Santiz’ body was resting tonight in a house in 6 de Agosto, covered in several serapes. The coffin was next to him, and a cloud of flies was buzzing from the box to the body. Jose was a relatively young man, as could be seen by his bloody face, his strong body, his glassy open eyes. As the children and men came upon the body, they stared at it, hypnotized.
The farm workers told La Jornada that they had detained a son-in-law of Baltazar Alfonso. Denying any responsibility, he confirmed his father-in-law’s guilt and even the manner in which the crime had been planned.
Does anyone really care about this guy or his death? *Seems to me like the guy probably had some bad karma coming to him. *I wonder how many people he himself has killed. *Oh well another set back for the weakening EZLN. *Death to the revolution!
I hope EZLN takes care of his wife and kid. *They are victims of his stupidity, and should not suffer as a result. *Do you think they will provide for them, or will they be forgoten now that Jose's use to the organization has expired?
(Edited by Stormin Norman at 2:54 am on Aug. 14, 2002)