Recurring conflicts between rival groups in the southernmost state of Chiapas that this week killed three people highlight the consequences of the lack of dialogue between the federal government and the Zapatista guerillas, local sources say.

The most recent violence occurred in the "autonomous municipalities" of Ocosingo and Altamirano, independently governed areas set up by Zapatista rebels after the1994 indigenous uprising.

In regard increased tensions in the region, the leader of the organization for Indigenous Communities, Porfirio Encino, said Zapatista support bases had "hardened their position as part of their resistance strategy." He claimed the recently set up rebel checkpoints around Zapatista communities are a source of friction among regional inhabitants, not all of whom are Zapatista followers.

Local priest, Gonzalo Ituarte, blamed the "incredible deterioration" in the socio-political situation in southeastern Chiapas as a reaction to the closing of political means of negotiation.

An Indigenous Rights Bill passed in Congress last year was met with hostility by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) who claimed it did not meet their demands for increased autonomy and land rights. A 1996 accord, which was signed by both the government and the Zapatista rebels, has yet to be fulfilled.

The polarization and tensions that in recent months have affected jungle communities in Chiapas, provoked a recent warning from Felipe Arizmendi, the Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, the main site of the 1994 rebel uprising:

"The seed of hate and violence has been sown in many hearts, which makes us fear that, at any moment, we could see the repetition of such terrible events as that of Acteal," he said. In Dec. 1997, 45 Indians were murdered in the highland village of Acteal by paramilitaries.