Reuters
February 16, 2002

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Authorities in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas said on Saturday they arrested the alleged leader of a paramilitary group linked to the killing of dozens of indigenous Indians.

The state attorney general's office said in a statement that Diego Vazquez was detained on Friday in the village of San Jose Limar in Chiapas, accused of kidnap and grievous bodily harm.

"He is known in the region for his constant acts of intimidation and his threats to indigenous Indians who refuse to join (the paramilitary group) Peace and Justice," the Chiapas Attorney General's Office said.

Chiapas is one of Mexico's poorest and conflict-ridden states and was home to the 1994 uprising of the Zapatista rebels, headed by "Subcomandante Marcos."

The state, which borders Guatemala, is also home to paramilitary groups, linked to protecting the economic interests of wealthy landowners and the political interests of local bosses, known as Caciques.

The Chiapas-based human rights group Fray Bartolome de las Casas applauded the arrest of Vazquez, while acknowledging that the alleged paramilitary leader could soon be released from arrest.

"We congratulate the arrest but we have our reservations because he could be released quickly because of the type of crime he is accused of," Noe Pineda, a spokesman for the human rights group told Reuters.

The Fray Bartolome de Las Casas group considers Peace and Justice to have been behind at least 200 indigenous murders between 1995 and 1998.