February, 16, 1996: Signing of the San Andrés Accords The Zapatistas and the Mexican Government sign the San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Rights and culture. In the accords, the Mexican government agreed to recognized indigenous communities in the Constitution, increase their political participation and representation, promote indigenous culture, guarantee indigenous access to basic needs and education, and ensure the legal rights of indigenous peoples to govern themselves. The second set of talks, dealing with Democracy and Justice, were scheduled to begin in San Andrés on March 5th, 1996.
March 4th, 1996: EZLN Announces Its Advisors for Talks on Democracy and Justice The list includes more than 125 people, including community-based organizations, authors, journalists, former political leaders, independent union leaders, representatives from the national debtor's movement El Barzón, and others whom the Zapatistas believe are being excluded from the closed-door discussions between the National Action Party (PAN), PRI and the PRD.
March 21st, 1996: Negotiations on Democracy and Justice Begin Government representatives refuse to discuss the EZLN's proposals, claiming that they are only interested in solving local issues of "democracy and justice," not national reform.
August 12th 1996: Final Session on Democracy and Justice Ends Without Agreement The government refuses to negotiate and this topic and wants to move on to the next set of issues. The EZLN refuses.
August 29th, 1996: EZLN Suspends Dialogue Process Due to a lack of cooperation on the part of the Mexican federal government and increasing militarization in the Chiapas, the EZLN suspended dialogue with the Mexican government until it met the following five conditions: 1. Installation of the Implementation and Verification commission for the San Andrés Accords, as well as the fulfillment of the part of the San Andrés Accords that specifically addressed the issues of indigenous rights and cultures. 2. The federal government present a proposal that specifically addresses issues of democracy and justice, as well as commitment to reach an accord. 3. Liberation for the political prisoners accused of being Zapatistas (as had already been agreed upon during the construction of the Dialogue and Conciliation Laws that the Mexican government signed on March 11, 1995). 4. End to the low-intensity warfare initiated by the Mexican government, including disarmament of paramilitary groups in the northern zone of Chiapas. 5. Appointment of a government negotiating team willing to negotiate and respect the Zapatista delegation with decision-making capacity.
November 29th, 1996: EZLN and Mexican Government Agree to COCOPA's Proposal of Constitutional Reforms on Indigenous Rights and Culture After the suspension of the dialogue process, the Commission of Concordia and Pacification (COCOPA), the federal congress' monitoring body in charge of overseeing the dialogue process, took a more active role in looking for a more just and dignified way to resolve the conflict in Chiapas. The role of COCOPA, which is made up of members from the three most established political parties in the Mexican Government: PRI, PAN, and PRD, took on the responsibility of converting the San Andrés Accords, that dealt with Indigenous Rights and Culture, into official legal legislation. The initiative was officially presented to both the Mexican Federal Government and the EZLN during November of 1996. After conferring with the legislative commission of the National Indigenous Council, the EZLN agreed upon the terms presented by COCOPA and signed the proposal on the 29th of November 1996. The Mexican government also agrees to the terms of the agreement.
December 5th, 1996: Mexican Government Rejects COCOPA's Proposal The Interior Ministry informs the COCOPA that it no longer supports the proposal.
December 7th, 1996: COCOPA Asks Zedillo to Intervene The COCOPA request that President Zedillo intervene and accept the proposal. He withdraws the Interior Ministry's comments and requests a fifteen-day extension on the proposal. The Zapatista delegation accepts his request and leaves on December 15th.
December 19th, 1996: COCOPA Receives Zedillo's Revisions Although both parties had agreed to a simple "yes" or "no" at the beginning of the negotiations, Zedillo returned the document to the COCOPA with 27 changes.
December 22, 1997: Acteal Massacre A paramilitary group affiliated with the PRI attacks the pacifist community of Acteal while they are in church, killing 45 indigenous people, mostly women (most of whom were pregnant) and children. President Zedillo later sends in the army to disarm the Zapatistas without addressing the paramilitary problem.
January 11th, 1997: EZLN Rejects Zedillo's Revisions The EZLN meets with the COCOPA in La Realidad and rejects Zedillo's changes. Subcomandante Marcos calls on the COCOPA to defend its original proposal and announces that the EZLN will await such a public announcement before making any more decisions.
February 1st, 1997: Zapatistas March on Chiapas Capital 9,000 civilian Zapatistas march through San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, to demand that the government honor the San Andrés Accords and that it accept the COCOPA's original proposal on constitutional reforms.
March 4th, 1997: COCOPA Withdraws Its Proposal The COCOPA publicly announced that it was withdrawing its constitutional reform proposal from legislative consideration. The EZLN strongly criticized their decision.
September 26, 1997: New Members of the COCOPA Are Chosen Due to July 6th elections, all representatives serving in the Chamber of Deputies left their posts when the new Congress was inaugurated; Senators were unaffected.
November 10, 1997: Mexican Government Asks to Re-Establish Peace Talks The Mexican government informs COCOPA that it would like to immediately re-establish negotiations with the ELZN, but does not state any intention to meet the five conditions laid out by the Zapatistas when they suspended dialogue in August.
November 29, 1997: EZLN Reiterate Their Conditions The Zapatistas restate that they will only return to the negotiating table when the Mexican government fulfills the five conditions they laid out on August 29th, 1996.
March 1, 1998: México's "New Strategy for Peace" Interior Minister Francisco Labastida announces a so-called new strategy and says the Mexican government will unilaterally introduce a new initiative on indigenous rights and culture into Congress for approval, without regard for the position of the EZLN, the National Intermediation Commission (CONAI), or the COCOPA.
March 12, 1998: PAN Presents Its Initiative For Reforms In a surprise move, the PAN presents an initiative that places its own political program regarding indigenous issues (as opposed to fulfillment of the San Andrés Accords) into the Constitution. The CONAI condemns this proposal.
June, 1998: Bishop Samuel Ruíz García ends his efforts to mediate in peace negotiations, accusing the government of preferring repression.
March, 1999: Over 3,000,000 Mexicans vote that the San Andrés Accords should be Implemented.
July 2, 2000: Vicente Fox is Elected President Ending 71 years of PRI control, Vicente Fox of the conservative PAN party is elected president. Part of his campaign platform was to solve the problems in Chiapas "in fifteen minutes."
December 5, 2000: Fox Introduces Constitutional Reforms prepared by the COCOPA Although the reforms would have given indigenous communities autonomy, control over their natural resources and respect for their customs, Fox handed the reforms over to Congress with a series of secret commentaries that would modify the Cocopa proposal significantly.
February 24, 2001: Zapatistas Begin "Zapatour" and March to México A rebel delegation composed of 23 indigenous commanders and Subcomandante Marcos began an unarmed march towards México to press for congressional approval of the constitutional implementation of the San Andrés Accords.
March 11, 2001: Zapatistas Appear Before Congress When the Zapatour arrives in México City, more than 200,000 citizens are waiting to welcome the Zapatistas to the capitol.
April 27, 2001: Congress Passes the Bill
April 29, 2001: Zapatistas Break Off Peace Negotiations with Mexican Government After Congress passed the Indigenous Rights Law that the Zapatistas said did not adequately recognize the legal status of indigenous communities, the right to autonomy and rights over natural resources, the Zapatistas formally ended dialogue with the Mexican government.
June 28, 2001: Mexican Peace Commissioner Calls for Zapatistas to Negotiate Luis H. Alvarez, Mexican Peace Commissioner, held a press conference where he said the law passed by Congress was the outcome of a democratic process beyond the power of the federal government. Alvarez stated that President Fox has acted in good faith and suggested that the Zapatistas return to the negotiating table.
July 18, 2001: Congress Passes Gutted Indigenous Rights law The bill was passed in an unorthodox "fast track" legislative procedure in an inside deal between the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
July 19, 2001: Indigenous Groups Condemn the Senate's Ratification of the Law Indigenous groups widely oppose the new law, which they see as an attempt by the Mexican government to renege on agreements reached between the Zapatista National Liberation Army and the administration of former president Ernesto Zedillo in San Andrés Larrainzar, Chiapas, in 1996. Among the Zapatista demands were the right to collective use of natural resources, the right to representation at a national level, the right to their own media channels and recognition of indigenous communities as legal entities.
August, 15 2001: Indigenous Rights Law Goes Into Effect The law is published it the Official Gazette. A Mazahua woman set fire to a copy of the bill in front of the Senate in protest.
December, 2001: Fox Delivers Indigenous Rights Initiative to Congress Fox delivered to Congress an indigenous rights initiative set as a condition for restarting peace talks by the Chiapas-based Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).
February 16, 2002: Sixth Anniversary of the San Andrés Accords Zapatista communities marked the sixth anniversary of the signing of the San Andrés Accords by calling for a National Campaign of Struggle and Resistance for Peace and Justice for the Indigenous Peoples of México. The campaign includes 15 tours to demand that the Accords be fulfilled and demonstrations at the World Conference on Financing for Development, held on March 22 and 23 in Monterrey.
May 6, 2002: Supreme Court begins Hearing Challenges to Indigenous Rights Law The Mexican Supreme Court begins hearing the 321 challenges to the Indigenous Rights Law. The court allocated 30 minutes per challenge, most of which came from the states of Puebla, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Guerrero, Chiapas, Morelos and Jalisco. The Court said that it would conclude all hearings by June 18th, 2002, and then deliberate before handing down a sentence.
May 10, 2002: Samuel Ruiz Denounces Indigenous Rights Law When he went to Japan to accept an award from the Niwano Foundation, Bishop Samuel Ruiz stated the México's Indigenous Rights Law does not comply with the agreements signed in 1996.
Week of May 20, 2002: Three Zapatista Political Prisoners Released The government released three Zapatista prisoners from Cerro Hueco prison in Chiapas. Because two of the three of them had already served more than half their sentences, the Zapatistas were reluctant to interpret this as an act of goodwill by the Fox administration. Five Zapatistas remain jailed in Tabasco and Queretaro states, and several more are in Chiapas.
July 7, 2002: Mexican Government Official Calls for Creation of Indigenous Affairs Secretariat México's presidential advisor on indigenous affairs, Xochitl Galvez, said the National Indigenous Institute (INI) should be transformed into a cabinet-level secretariat. The proposal to transform the INI into a new institution will be sent to the next session of Congress. The change could be completed as early as January 2003.
August 6, 2002: Supreme Court Ruling Delayed Until After Summer Recess Although the hearings and ruling were to be concluded in May 2002, the Supreme Court announced that a decision will not be made on the indigenous rights law until judges return from their July vacations.
August 1, 2002: Pope Visits México Although Pope John Paul II beatified two indigenous martyrs and made Juan Diegothe first indigenous saint in the history of the Catholic Church, he failed to criticize the Fox administration for its failure to grant indigenous peoples economic and political rights today. During his homily at the canonization of Juan Diego, the Pope simply declared, "México needs its Indians and the Indians need México."
August, 2002: International Civil Observation Commission on Human Rights Criticizes Fox On their third trip to México, the CCIODH condemned the Fox administration for its failure to pass an indigenous rights law consistent with the San Andrés Accords. The Commission also called for the government to comply with the "three signs" the Zapatistas are waiting for in order to resume negotiations, including abandoning certain military checkpoints and releasing political prisoners.
September 6, 2002: Supreme Court rules against the 320 complaints filed against the Indigenous Rights Law The Supreme Court of Mexico announced its decision on the 320 complaints filed against the Indigenous Rights Law and its relation to the Mexican Constitution. The Court decided against accepting the complaints, claiming that it does not have the jurisdiction to address such complaints. The ruling was roundly denounced by national and international civil society organizations as a serious blow to the stalled peace process.
