Acteal massacre

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The Acteal Massacre was a massacre of 45 people attending a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic indigenous townspeople, including a number of pregnant women and children, who were members of the pacifist group Las Abejas ("The Bees"), in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was carried out on December 22, 1997 by unknown paramilitary forces.

While the Las Abejas activists professed support for the goals of the Zapatistas, they renounced their violent means. Many suspect this affiliation as the reason for the attack, and government involvement or complicity. Soldiers at a nearby military outpost didn't intervene during the attack, which lasted for hours, and the following morning, soldiers were found washing the church walls to hide the blood stains.

The EZLN and many Chiapas residents accused the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of complicity, and following the change of government in 2000, survivors alleged that the investigation was being stalled, with authorities refusing to question or arrest suspects in the attacks.

The names of the 45 people who were killed: Alonzo Vazquez Gomez, Lorenzo Gomez Perez, Maria Luna Mendez, Sebastian Gomez Perez, Veronica Perez Oyalte, Rosa Vasquez luna, Veronica Vasquez Luna, Daniel Gomez Perez, Micaela Vasquez Luna, Pablina Hernadez Vasquez, Juana Vasquez Luna, Roselia Gomez Hernandez, Juana Luna Vazquez, Graciela Gomez Hernandez, Maria Jimenez luna, Guadalupe Gomez Hernandez, Miguel Jimenez Perez, Susan Jimenez Luna, Maria Ruiz Oyalte, Catalina Vasquez Perez, Catalina Luna Ruiz, Marcela Luna Ruiz, Alejandro Luna Ruiz, Jaime Luna Ruiz, Regina Luna Perez, Roselia Luna Perez, Ignacio Pukuj Luna, Micaela Pukuj Luna Victoria Vasquez Gomez, Augustin Gomes Ruiz, Juana Perez Perez, Juan Carlos Luna Perez, Marcela Vasquez Vasquez, Antonia Vasquez Vasquez, Manuela Paciencia Moreno, Margarita Gomez Paciencia, Rosa Gomez Perez, Doida Ruis Gomez, Rosa Perez, Perez, Manuel Vasquez Perez, Juana Vasquez Perez, Josefa Vasquez Perez, Marcela Capote Vasquez, Marcela Capote Ruiz, Augustin Ruiz Gomez.

Las Abejas, comprised of people from 48 indigenous communities in the highlands of Chiapas, continue to work for peace and demonstrate their solidarity with other social struggles by issuing communiqués that denounce violence and, most importantly, through actions centered around fasting and prayer. In November of 2006, 100 men and 100 women members of the Abejas organized a peace and justice caravan to Oaxaca, to show their support the Popular Assembly of the Oaxacan People (APPO), and denounce the repression and violence perpetrated by the state and federal government. They also delivered at least three tons of food, water, and medicine to the APPO.