Media reports on Chiapas often neglect the fact that behind the certainly alarming statistics (the result of the violence and the ever more worrisome dimensions of poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, etc.), there are beings of flesh and bones, families, and communities that are struggling to survive.

The cease-fire of January 1994 has not meant an end to the violence. The conflict between the government and the EZLN has continued and has extended in the form of an increasingly complex low intensity war: militarization and paramilitary groups, divisions in organizations and communities, an information war (via everything from rumors to the mass media), etc. This counter-insurgency strategy seeks to “take away the water from the fish,” the EZLN being the fish and civil society, as a source of material and intellectual support, whether actual or potential, being the water.

In this context, the already critical situation of Indian women in Chiapas has deteriorated. But the reality of their daily lives is little known.

Here we offer a space for the heart of these women to speak and to hear their voice, as victims of low intensity warfare and as protagonists who seek to control their own lives and to contribute to the peace process.

How Low Intensity Warfare affects women…

As human beings

The biggest impact on the life of the women is the fact that, because of the presence of the Mexican army alongside their communities, their activities are restricted. They are afraid (as we will see, with reason) to go to the corn fields, to the river to bathe or wash clothes, to gather firewood, to sell their handicrafts.

Women from Comitan and Las Margaritas complain of the military checkpoints: “They stop us, they ask for our identification and for information about the Zapatistas, about the catechists in our communities, etc.” In fact, checkpoints and patrols, both of the military and of paramilitary groups, are part of daily life in many parts of Chiapas. A woman from Tila tells us her story: “We are hungry because we can’t work. We can’t go out to buy what we need. They [the paramilitary group ‘Peace and Justice’) are armed, so we cannot defend ourselves. They won’t allow us to leave. they are there, watching the road, in a truck with their guns. And they continue arming and arming the people.”

Another point to consider is that frequently, the women are the most exposed because they are the ones who stay in the communities with the children and the elderly when the men flee to the mountains. They are the ones who show their face. Among the murdered in the December 22 massacre in Acteal in the municipality of Chenalho were 21 women (four of them pregnant).

As women

The conflict impacts in a distinct manner in the women. As Marta Figueroa of the Women’s Group of San Cristobal underscores, “The question of gender is almost invisible. It isn’t even thought about, but it has always been like that in war. Women are a privileged channel for the reproduction of fear.” Mercedes Olivera of CIAM (Center for Investigation and Support for Women) adds that women are seen as “an object and as a military objective” in the sense that they are the ones “who give life to the next generation of guerrillas” and in some sense represent “the means to defeat the populace.” In fact, actions against women are aimed at frightening and dispiriting not only them but the whole community.

Harassment and rape

Threats of a sexual nature are quite common. According to women’s groups in San Cristobal, there are many cases of harassment and rape, but for the most part they are not reported. Rosalinda (in a workshop of indigenous women) explained to us one of the reasons for this silence: “The violence is lived in silence, and it echoes in our physical health and also we redirect it against ourselves, since we feel guilty. Violence and submission are learned.”

Terror and rumors

In one of their meetings, the women of CODIMUJ (Diocesan Coordinating Committee for Women) realized that the thing that most divides the communities are the rumors. Tere gives us an example of how rumors generate confusion and finally disinformation: “Another thing is the rumors that go around. It is the means of information for the people. For example, my mother asked me yesterday if it is true that they pay people to be in the ‘Peace Belts’ [protection offered by civil society during the talks between the EZLN and the Mexican government.]”

These rumors feed a climate of tension that sometimes borders on the paranoid. In many communities, troop movements heighten these anxieties. (Might that be one of their functions?) Juana from Amatenango del Valle expresses her fears: “The government really doesn’t want dialogue. The PRI supporters say that there is going to be war. So I believe that there is going to be war.”

Prostitution

Another form of violence against women is the growth of prostitution. Many 16 or 17-year-old prostitutes are Central Americans who entered illegally in the country, apparently without the immigration officials seeming to mind. However there are also growing numbers of cases of indigenous women who “go with the soldiers.” They pay 100 pesos for virgins, 50 pesos for the others. The prettiest are “reserved” for high-ranking officers. It seems that the soldiers deceive them with promises or that they are convinced by the misery of the situation in which they and their families live. There are also some cases of child prostitution, of 11-13-year-old girls sold or “loaned” by their fathers in order to alleviate situations of hunger. This causes great dishonor in the communities (unfortunately, for the girl, not for the father).

Health

Parallel to the prostitution, there has been a growth in sexual diseases, and some cases of AIDS have been identified. Marta Figueroa of the Women’s Group of San Cristobal commented, “For the most part, the soldiers reject the use of condoms. On some occasions, in workshops to promote awareness, they threw them on the ground in a flaunting manner.”

According to the testimony of women’s organizations from San Cristobal, the tension generated by the conflict is even reflected in the kinds of sicknesses that the Indigenous display, illnesses that at times are of a psychosomatic character, such as gastritis, headaches, etc. Another related theme is the control that can be exercised through the provision of health services. “We have seen the pressure on many indigenous women who have come seeking medical services. There is always a big interrogation about whether they are Zapatistas or not, where they are from, etc.” (Yolanda, K’nal Antsetik, an organization that works with women’s cooperatives in the Chiapas highlands).

As spouses and mothers

The situation of constant conflict and the economic crisis generates permanent anxiety among the populace. Among other manifestations, this is evidenced by an increase in domestic violence. “The violence affects all the families: some are the victims of it; others learn it and reproduce it.” (Francisca, in a workshop of indigenous women.) In addition, the military presence brings with it a “barracks culture” that impacts negatively on the daily life of the communities and the families (alcoholism, drug addiction, or as we have seen, prostitution and its corollary, sexually transmitted diseases.)

In difficult times, with an extraordinary degree of self-denial, the women express that “their mother’s heart” is what tells them what to do when they see their children frightened, hungry, or sick. Naturally, one of their main concerns is the children’s health. There are many children’s diseases that, according to them, “nothing can be done about.” However in reality, many of them are treatable. In 1994, Chiapas had the highest level of infant mortality in Mexico, with the principle cause of death being diarrhea. The women are also concerned with education: the lack of teachers, schools closed because of the conflict, or, in divided communities, schools where the Zapatista children can’t go.

Also there is a growing number of children of soldiers. The mothers carry on under the most difficult emotional conditions because they are branded by the community. These situations evoke in these women self-hatred or hatred against the community. Many turn to abortion as a form of self-punishment. According to Consuelo Lievano, the founder of Community Home “Yach’il Antzetik” (for pregnant women in difficult circumstances), the women will make comments like “now I must pay because I got involved [in prostitution].” She also underscores that since 1994, the number of abandoned children has risen.

Other mothers, members of CODIMUJ, expressed their concern for the sons who go to the prostitutes and then encourage their spouses and sisters to prostitute themselves. Also, for others, the presence of a new source of employment that offers training and a guaranteed paycheck leads them to enlist in the army.

In a more general manner, another phenomenon that “affects the heart” are the divisions that take place within the home. “There are a number of cases of women who accused their husbands (who are now in prison) with made up charges in order to protect their sons,” says Mercedes Olivera of CIAM. Tere of Civic Alliance comments, “I have companions that had conflicts with their spouses or with their sons because they wanted to carry on as before, that is, that the women would stay at home serving them, and they didn’t want to let them participate in something more open.” Hilaria from Oxchuc, who had to flee her community because of political differences, told us about her case: “Before there were people from my family who did not speak to me; that is why I left. Now they don’t hate me and I go to visit them. there have been many quarrels in the families.”

As housewives and/or workers

As housewives, the women are responsible for the well-being (in this case more like the survival) of the family. It is ever more difficult to provide the minimum necessary, given the conjunction of two factors: the scarcity of production (agricultural production cycles disrupted in several areas and in many cases poor or inadequate land) and inflation of prices. In effect, with the presence of the soldiers alongside the communities, a “fictitious” economy has evolved. The women wash the clothes of the soldiers and prepare tortillas and food for them. Sometimes they even open a little store with basic items. While in the short term they may benefit from this new source of investment, in the end it does not resolve the deeper problems, and it results in a rise in prices.

As the women of CODIMUJ express it: “Each day the peasant is poorer. He works a lot and his products never fetch a good price. They are almost given away. Our income buys less and less because of the rise in prices of gasoline, rice, sugar…everything.” This is much more worrisome if we keep in mind that, according to the latest census, in Chiapas only 36.9% of the working population receives a minimum salary or more. (The national average is 69.2%.)

The situation is even more difficult for the thousands of displaced. In the northern region, for example, it is estimated that there are 4,100 displaced persons who are Zapatista sympathizers. In Chenalho there are 5,000. This consequence of violence in the communities particularly affects the women: “Being displaced takes away part of their identity, because the house is their life, where they express themselves as women. To destroy the pots and the clothes is also to destroy their personal environment.” (Mercedes Olivera, CIAM)

Finally, low intensity warfare affects the women as workers. There have been cases in which the army has set up camp right in their areas of production, for example, where they are growing vegetables. They lose their crops and all the time they invested. Other times, the bit of cattle that they have is stolen.

Yolanda, from K’nal Antsetik, tells us of the case of women shepherds in the highlands. “Because they were to go out, the women became little by little detached from their sheep. Maybe it seems like something insignificant, but for them they are sacred animals, almost like their children. It is connected to their weaving work. This took both an economic and an emotional toll…I could see their worries reflected in the quality of their weavings. After February 1995, the quality went down, and ever since it has been difficult to regain it.”

Since that time, with the entrance of the army into the communities and the polarization that this caused, the divisions also began to get worse in the women’s groups. Whether or not to accept aid from the government (even if it is minimal) has been and continues to be another source of polarization.

Women who take their destiny into her hands

In this context of low intensity warfare, we should recognize the bravery of many indigenous women. They are small and short, bent over with a big load of firewood, or with their youngest child on their back, but what strength is evident in their eyes! Alma, advisor in CODIMUJ, comments, “In spite of the situation that is very conflictive in several areas, the women continue to meet, although never in large groups. (Such security measures are necessary in particular in the northern region.) Paradoxically, participation has even grown since 1994.”

At the beginning, it seems that the Zapatista rebellion was “like a spark, a wakeup call, an effervescence where more organized women’s groups were born.” (Yolanda, K’nal Antsetik). They began to participate more openly in marches, in road blockades, in the autonomous municipalities (Amatenango del Valle, for example).

In the peace process, during the dialogues, the women were present, not only in the Peace Belts but also in the community level discussions of the issues and even at the peace table.

Regarding the Peace Belts, Tere recalls, “The question of force the men take on, but in the support of the movement, the majority are women. I feel it is because it is how we are. We are more disciplined and we really take hold of our tasks. We take charge of the essential. This represents a lot of work, but it has a great deal of human value. The people remember you as ‘mother benefactress.'”

Recently, women have demonstrated anew their valor by participating in several demonstrations. At the end of August in San Cayetano, when the military camp was re-installed, women were at the head of the protests. In Chenalho at the end of November, several women were attacked when they formed a barrier to impede the access of the military. In that same municipality, a group was formed called the “Rights of Women Organization of San Pedro Chenalho.” It has been very active in denouncing the violence that they have suffered.

The women also try to create their own spaces through state-level gatherings called “Walking together toward peace.” Other efforts to bring women together are undertaken in RECEPAC (a coordinating committee for handicrafts cooperatives with divergent political persuasions) or CODIMUJ. In a CODIMUJ meeting, one of the conclusions was that they should “…work for unity. This does not mean that we all belong to one single organization, but that we learn to work together.”

In spite of the low intensity warfare and of its painful effects on the women, in Chiapas there has been an encouraging process of consciousness raising and hope. In the words of a 60-year-old woman who participated in the Peace Belts,

“That my eyes could see this hope for change, even if I die, I will die peacefully. Because for the first time I am seeing that this possibility exists, that things are moving.”