page_title: Las Abejas
section_title: Land Dispute
hierarchical_section_title: Las Abejas / Origins / Land Dispute
caption_attribution_description: The chapel at Acteal, built by Las Abejas after the December 1997 massacre
context_page_description: Las Abejas is a Christian pacifist civil society group of Tzotzil Maya formed in Chenalho, Chiapas in 1992 following a familial property dispute that left one person killed. When members of the community took the injured man to the nearest town for medical attention, they were accused of attacking him themselves and jailed. When family members realized what had happened, they began a pilgrimage on foot to San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Along the way, Christian pacifists in other villages joined the group, which is dedicated to peace, justice, and anti-neoliberalism. Las Abejas freed their companions and grew as an organization.
  When the Zapatista Army of National Liberation uprising took place in 1994, Las Abejas stood in solidarity with the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional's ends and principles, but not their violent means. They paid a high price for their support, when on December 22, 1997, 45 of their members were massacred while praying in a church, in what has come to be known as the Acteal Massacre.
context_section_description: Las Abejas emerged in this setting in response to a dispute over a 120-hectare plot of land in Tz'anhem-Bolom, near the town of Tzajal-ch'en in the municipality of Chenalho, Chiapas.  According to researcher Christine Kovic, the original owner of the property  is unclear. Some say that the land was communally-owned and farmed, while others say it was private property, jointly held by the earlier owner's three children: Catarina, Agustin, and Maria Hernandez Lopez.  The governmental Department of Agrarian Reform was not helpful in resolving the dispute, despite requests from both sides of the disagreement, according to Kovic.  
  The disagreement arose at least in part because Agustin Hernandez Lopez did not want to share the inherited land with his two sisters.  There was also a political element to the disagreement, as Agustin was affiliated with the PRI (and thus was supported by the PRI-dominated municipal government of Chenalho), while his nephew, Nicolas Gutierrez Hernandez, who led those who did not believe that his uncle had the right to full ownership of the land, was affiliated with the Teacher-Peasant Solidarity Movement (Solidaridad Campesina Magisterial, or SOCAMA), which was affiliated with the national teachers' union and was in frequent conflict with the PRI.  
  The community of Tz'anhem-Bolom considered the dispute and ordered that the three siblings share the land equally.  Agustin, who did not agree with their decision, instead "kept 60 hectares for himself and gave the 60 remaining hectares to his political supporters in a number of Chenalho hamlets rather than to his sisters."  The situation led many people in the community to rally to one side or the other of the dispute and call for or use violence. Others people insisted upon a nonviolence.  This group, representing 22 different communities and committed to dialogue and nonviolence, formed Las Abejas on December 9, 1992, as an independent organization under the auspices of the Society of Coffee Producers of Tzajal-ch'en.
  The name "Las Abejas" (Spanish for "the bees") was chosen, according to one member of the organization, because "like the bees we want to build our houses together, to collectively work and enjoy the fruit of our work.  We want to produce 'honey' but also to share with anyone who needs it...  We know that, like the little bees, the work is slow but the result is sure because it is collective."  Another member of the organization notes a political element in the choice of the name: "The bee is a very small insect that is able to move a sleeping cow when it pricks.  Our struggle is like a bee that pricks, that is our resistance, but it's non-violent."
  The very next day, on December 10, 1992,  violence escalated.  Supporters of Agustin shot at his nephews Nicolas, Vicente, and Lorenzo, ultimately killing Vicente.  Some residents of Tzajal-ch'en contacted the (PRI-affiliated) municipal authorities in Chenalho to request an ambulance so as to transport the wounded men to the hospital in San Cristobal de las Casas.  When the men trying to help the injured reached the road, they were met not by the ambulance but the police, who arrested five of the men without warrant.  The municipal authorities accused the five men of having participated in the attacks and they were brought to the Centro de Readaptacion Social 5 jail in San Cristobal de las Casas.  Those arrested and detained included Felipe Hernandez Perez, Mariano Perez Vasquez, Sebastian Perez Vasquez, and Manuel Perez Gutierrez.  (The fifth detainee, according to a report from the Centro de Investigaciones Economicas y Politicas de Accion Comunitaria, or CIEPAC, was Antonio Perez Gutierrez).
  The members of the newly formed Las Abejas were very upset by what they considered to be the unjust detention of these individuals.  Their complaints to the municipal authorities proved futile. The State's Attorney General, Rafael Gonzales Lastra, sought to apprehend other members of Las Abejas, ostensibly in relation to the violence done to Vicente, Nicolas, and Lorenzo Gutierrez Hernandez.  Suppor
caption: A view of Acteal, site of the 1997 massacre that killed 45 members of Las Abejas. The prominent chapel was constructed after the massacre; the wooden chapel in which members of Las Abejas were praying when the massacre began is still standing; its roof is partially visible in the picture above and to the right of the new chapel.
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