November 20
A 10-member CPT delegation from Canada and the US arrives in San Cristobal de
Las Casas. The meetings of the Zapatista leadership with representatives of
Mexican "Civil Society" (individuals and organizations working for social
change) and COCOPA (party representatives of the Mexican legislature) are in
full swing (see November 18 CPTnet, Los Encuentros).

The connection between the Zapatistas and COCOPA is re-established after a
rocky beginning. Through Civil Society networks, the groundwork is laid for
the visits of Zapatistas to each county across Mexico to continue the
important dialogue on the issues of indigenous rights, democratization of the
country, and the severe economic difficulties facing all of Mexico.

November 24
In a meeting with a spokesperson from the Abejas ("the Bees")
refugee community, the delegation learns of the Abejas' hopes to be able to
harvest their coffee in the next three months even though the paramilitaries
are digging up their hidden guns in the communities to which the Abejas hope
eventually to return.

In the evening, an expert in coffee marketing shares about
coffee production in Chiapas. An idea emerges for accompaniment of the
Abejas and other displaced indigenous who may face difficulties in completing
the harvest.

November 26
The long-term team and the delegation go to Polho in the
highlands north of San Cristobal (see November 15 CPTnet, Autonomous Polho As
Model). From there they slog through mud to X'oyep, another refugee Abejas
community, and participate in a moving worship service that reveals the
spirituality undergirding the Abejas' nonviolence.

November 28
In the early morning the joint CPT group digs gravel at the
site where Mexican military detained 20 indigenous workers from Polho for four
hours the previous Monday. Hundreds of women came to the workers' aid and
three indigenous people were injured by the soldiers before the workers were
released. The CPTers are closely observed by both the military and a
car of paramilitary members.

About noon the CPT members walk to Majomut, former site of an indigenous
organic coffee cooperative. Since December 1997, the site has been occupied
by the largest military base in the highlands. The group talks with
soldiers, people currently living in the settlement, and others who have been
displaced and are planting corn that day.

The co-op had provided an essential income source for local inhabitants
belonging to all factions: the Abejas, the Zapatista-allied autonomous, and
the government party, the PRI. Local PRI families helped with the eviction
process in September 1997 that killed two people, destroyed houses, and drove
the victims out of their community.

Can accompaniment by internationals provide an impetus for bringing this
divided community back together so that its economic base can be restored?