# San Juan Chamula



## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

What a shame, such a beautiful little town.......

Five people killed in San Juan Chamula Chiapas, including the mayor - The Yucatan Times


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> What a shame, such a beautiful little town.......
> 
> Five people killed in San Juan Chamula Chiapas, including the mayor - The Yucatan Times


A shame but not a surprise. San Juan Chamula has been a hotbed of internal tensions for many years. And it's known for not being very friendly to outsiders, whether other _indigenas_ or tourists, whether Mexican or foreign.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> A shame but not a surprise. San Juan Chamula has been a hotbed of internal tensions for many years. And it's known for not being very friendly to outsiders, whether other _indigenas_ or tourists, whether Mexican or foreign.


Maybe but I have been maybe 7 times over the years and never had any problems, wish Hound Dog would comment......


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> Maybe but I have been maybe 7 times over the years and never had any problems, wish Hound Dog would comment......


Hound Dog is not longer posting here (miss you!), but citlali is still an active member and she has friends in Chamula. I'm sure she'll have some interesting things to say about the current situation there.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Chamula is my least favorite town of all the villages in Chiapas. I have friends there and I always try not to accept invitations to fiestas, weddings etc.. It is a drunken violent culture and I try to stay away as far as I can. It is not always possible and I get grief about it but it is the only place where I do not feel safe at fiestas.

The church is attractive but not more than the one of San Andres Larrainzar or Santa Martha and the town is nothing to speak of. It is dirty , preying on tourism , money grabbing and people are unfriendly at best. Their obsession about the "no photo" can turn really nasty as well during religious festivals.
It is interesting as a local friend of mine there filmed the whole funeral of his friend from his house as the procession was going by today and put the funeral on facebook.
It was quiet then, I do not know about this afternoon but hopefully it will remain quiet. The investigative police arrested 6 men and are starting all the research for the court.

what happened there could have happened in Chenalho back in June and some people got killed there as well..it was the same problem.

Those towns have traditionally been PRI and Chamula and Chenalho became Verde. In some areas those are allied in some others they are not.
The Presidente of Chamula was a PRI president and became verde this year.

What a friend from there told me is that PRI was giving out 200 pesos to vote for them and could not check but that Verde had promised to do public works like installing water, sewers etc. and had promised to help artisans 3000 pesos to women and 5000 pesos t men to help them.

A friend from Chenalho told me the woman president there had promised public work and 5000 pesos to each artisan.

Verde was elected and my friends from around Chenalho told me the public works and the money disappeared.

In Chamula my artisan friend lives in town and she told me she received the money so she was happy. Apparently in Chamula like in Chenalho people living in villages outside of town claim that they received nothing so the out of towners started demanding sewers and money but nothing came and the money was gone.

All villages say that public works is corrupt and take off with a large part of the fund....I do not know if it is correct but it is the perception.

There was a municipal meeting on saturday in Chamula and men from 35 different comunities arrived with arms to demanding the money..they shot the presidente the sindico, a driver a passe rby and someone else. and violated the body of the presidente, it was a really bad scene, All that by 8 in the morning with pictures all over facebook as well , obviously taken by locals,
It turned into a riot and a dozen people are in the hospital. Tourists that were just arriving were escorted out.

Those situations are dangerous because of lost bullets but are not directed at outsiders, although I have seen men attack 2 friends of mine who were taken pictures after I told them not to..anothe scary experience as they were holding me responsible for given them the "film" and did not really believe it was a chip rather than a film..

We have to hope that the scene after the funeral will remain calm and that the responsable parties are punished or hell will break lose again. It is a town known for lynching , they burned a couple of innocent men from Teopisca on the main plaza last year,

That is what I know from people who live there and are friend with some of the victims,, There are always several sides to the conflicts and the language and cultue barriers make it sometimes difficult to figure out.

As an aside , back in May, another friend from the municipality of Chamula found out I knew people in the government and ask me if I could find out and help her get the money that had been promised and that the presidente of Chamula was not releasing bviously this had been brewing for a while but I did not understand how serious it was at the time as complaints are constant.

I heard the story about the money and the public works from at least 3 different groups of people from 3 different municipalities so I tend to believe someone made promises but I never heard nor had anyone confirmed what was said or what was promised so I really do not know what went on during the election speeches.

Back in May/June the situation was very tense in Chenalhó and the woman presidente resigned after the president of the assembly in Chiapas and the representative for Chenalho were kidnapped and the people from the outside villages were threatening to burn one alive and to hang the other if the court and governor stopped the Presidente from resigning and pass the post to the sindico.

Today one of the women coop just published in facebook that a court ruled that it was illegal to remove the president from her post and that she should be reinstated..There was a agreement made with her and she will be part of some council for the advencement of indigenous women... Thank God otherwise the fighting would have started in Chenalho again.

The men from the villages are organized in groups and when the assembly decide a road should be bloqued or probably like in Chamula men had to go to the council they usually send 10 to 15 men from each community (they were 35 communities involved in Chamula) and the men are fined a if they refuse to go..

My friend told me that in the Chenalho area they were fined 500 pesos a day for not going..To put things in perspective this kid father is an emergency nurse on call and duty 7 /7 365 days a year in the village and receives 500 pesos a month for that charge...

I do not see the situation improving as we also have the problems between the teachers and the government and also rumbling from some groups from Chamula that they want damages for the lost of business and they feel the government should pay something to them for not keeping the roads open..
I can see more unhappy groups on the horizon..

I have to say I cannot understand how the place can be governed by anyone.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Thank you for this very informative post, Citlali. It sounds like there are so many layers to this entrenched violence and so much history which continues to impact the current situation (as history is wont to do), that those on the outside looking in can only get glimpses of the on-the-ground reality. I don't blame you for avoiding attending functions in the town. When there is this degree of reactivity and violence, it can easily become a case of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time".


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

There are 168 communities in the municipality of Chamula and 35 delegates from 35 communities came to San Juan Chamula... I believe that only the sindico was from San Juan all the others were from various communities..


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Th family of the Presidente, is bringing the scepter or baston de mando to the councel and pardoned the murderers... A big step towards peace..Like in chiaria law the family has to pardon the murderers..hopefully the government and justice will be swift.. or the family will avenge their dead.. Of course the families of the othe 4 or 5 people have to do the same thing and we have not heard yet if they did the same thing..Hopefully they have..

I would say out f Chamula until a new president and sindico are put in place and accepted...there is a lot of tension there right now.


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