Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502210022
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, MEXICO LENGTH: Medium
Members of the San Cristobal Civic Front beat dozens of people, including a young Indian passerby wearing the traditional pink embroidered tunic of a nearby village.
Around the corner, five gunshots were fired into the air. It was not clear who fired the shots.
Several dozen people were wounded, including 90-year-old Joaquina Pineda Gomez. Blood coursed down her neck after she was struck in the back of the head by an unknown object thrown by the angry crowd.
Civic Front members also hurled eggs at six elderly indigenous women saying the rosary in front of the diocese door.
``Out with the bishop, out with the bishop!'' the landowners shouted.
The violence ended when about 30 riot police armed with plastic shields, tear gas canisters, batons and semi-automatic rifles positioned themselves between the groups.
San Cristobal's business leaders, along with ranchers in outlying towns, want Bishop Samuel Ruiz removed. They refer to him as the ``Red Bishop,'' accusing him of hiding guns inside the cathedral and advising the rebels, who rose up on Jan. 1, 1994, to demand better living conditions for Indian peasants.
Ruiz, who mediated peace talks between the government and rebels last year, has denied the accusations. He is a longtime proponent of liberation theology, which teaches the poor to stand up for their rights, and has defended the impoverished Indians of Chiapas state for more than three decades.
Front members had declared earlier they would rally Sunday, Mexico's national Army Day, to support the army's presence in former rebel territory. The army moved Feb. 10 after President Ernesto Zedillo announced a crackdown on rebel leaders.
In reply to the landowners, the bishop's mostly Indian supporters formed a human chain around the 16th century cathedral. Holding white lilies and carnations, they recited the Lord's Prayer.
``No more indigenous blood,'' graffiti scrawled on the church walls read. ``We support our beloved archbishop.''
After the pro-army rally, demonstrators moved to the cathedral carrying banners of the bishop portrayed as a red devil.
``You are ignorant,'' a woman in her mid-30s wearing high heels and orange nail polish screamed at the Indians guarding the church.
``May Marcos come your way,'' retorted one elderly peasant, referring to the charismatic, ski-masked rebel leader, who is wanted by the Mexican army.
Ruiz, who has been the target of innumerable death threats, was seen hurriedly leaving the cathedral about 9 a.m. with two bodyguards. They drove away to an unknown location.
As head of a church-backed commission that government and rebel representatives have accepted as a mediator, Ruiz has called on the government to withdraw troops from recently retaken Indian villages as a condition for peace talks.
The Zapatista National Liberation Army rebels, who say they are willing to talk peace, also insist that soldiers first be withdrawn from the former rebel zone. Rebels also want the government to cancel arrest warrants for Subcomandante Marcos and other guerrilla leaders.
Zedillo has said he wants to resume peace talks but has no intention of pulling back the troops.
by CNB