International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church: November 9th, 2008

Highlands' Vacation Spot? Peaceful Mountain Getaway? or Idyllic Mountain Site? Howabout: Site of Horrendous & Savage Massacre? or, How many Victims after the passing of 11 years? Believe it or not, this rather gorgeous piece of God's earth was witness to one of the worst incidents of mass murders in the modern history of Mexico. And, is one of the most complicated and outrageous cases for the mishandling of information and evidence both before and after the fact. It's called the Acteal Massacre, or La Matanza en Acteal. On January 1, 1994, Indian rebels in the southern state of Chiapas, in what is called the Zapatista Movement (EZLN), and under the leadership of Subcommandante Marcos (a non-Indian) burst with force onto the Mexican scene, and practically toppled the economics of the country in one fell blow! Several years later, after having invaded and confiscated federal and privately owned lands, even of fellow tribesmen, in their "attempt to better the condition of the Indian peoples in Chiapas", skirmishes were still common between the rebel forces, the federal army, and paramilitary groups that had formed, to protect their own communities or political party interests. Evangelical believers were caught in the middle and were unwanted, for being the minority, and for not agreeing with the marxist anarchists manner of achieving their goals. Ambushes were common between the groups, with evangelicals often being targeted. In spite of all the testimony of what actually occurred by the survivors of the savage, frenzied attack that left 45 dead, principally women and children, on December 22nd, 1997, the evidence does not square up with the several versions that have been suggested by survivors, the rebels or by the government. The case was so badly mismanaged from the start from both a forensic and judicial viewpoint, that the result was 90+ Tzotzil Indians rounded up by the PGR, indiscriminately for questioning, pre-emportorily detained, accused and sentenced , even though most did not speak Spanish, many had alibis, and through the years the evidence has not clearly substantiated their guilt... The rebels ,who have gained a cause celebre in unlimited (foreign) support producing propaganda for the massacre of what was supposedly a pacifist group of Indian simpathizers, the liberation theology advocate who maintains his people agitated instead of preaching Christ's gospel of love and forgiveness leading to healing, and the state and federal governments have made the 40 or so evangelical prisoners who profess their innocence into "political prisoners" and scapegoats for whoever is actually responsable for the massacre. At least 18 of the imprisoned who were paramilitaries, confessed proudly that they partiicipated for revenge. Our brothers in Christ have lost 11 years of ther lives so far, and will have to serve another 15 years, if justice is not attained for them, and the families they left behind. Please pray for all those who were victimized by the massacre: the survivors, the falsely accused, and their families left behind. Matthew 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake, for they shall be satisfied!