CPTnet
December 3, 2001
CHIAPAS: Paying the Price of Justice
by Amy Peters

The first farmer came with his coffee and a smile on his face at 8:00 pm.
For the next four hours, CPT watched as family after family came bringing
small bags of coffee to sell at a fair price. The pride and joy on the
farmers' faces were obvious. Finally - someone was recognizing the labour
intensive work that goes into coffee production! Finally - someone was
noticing that current coffee prices are not enough to sustain farmers!

Many different people had shared stories of their lives with the CPT
delegation. They spoke of the struggle against poverty caused by extremely
low coffee prices. As a result of these stories, CPT decided to buy 250
kilograms of coffee beans at a fair price--20 pesos per kilogram for
pergamino, sun dried coffee--and take it to the Nestle plant for a
demonstration to hold the multinational corporation accountable for their
buying policies.

The coffee beans were purchased from two different groups of Abejas in Los
Chorros. The people participating in this action hoped that it would both
call for justice and inspire unity. The Abejas have been divided by
different experiences over the last several years. One group was displaced
and returned to Los Chorros on September 30, while the other never left.
They are now struggling to work together, and the hope was that recognizing
their common struggle against injustice would help.

The night of the purchasing was a lively night and a holy night. A small
group of men were playing instruments and singing in Spanish and Tzotzil.
Women and children danced. Young girls sang. It was after midnight by the
time the last of the coffee had been weighed and bagged. As everyone
gathered around, CPT delegation members placed three candles around the
coffee. The Abeja community present proceeded to pray for justice and for
the CPT delegation as it continued on to Nestle. These were no longer just
bags of coffee beans - they had become an offering to God and a sign of hope
for the future.