La Jornada
January 5, 2000
by Juan Balboa

San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. Today the National Institute of Immigration (INM) reported that the American Appel Kerry Andrew became the first American to be expelled from Chiapas in the year 2000, having engaged in activities which had not been sanctioned by the Secretary of State, among which was participation in the celebrations of the sixth anniversary of the Ejercito de Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional's uprising.

The INM questioned 41 foreigners, the majority of whom were Americans, about their relationship to the Zapatistas and their participation in the construction of a rebel school in the community of Oventic, as well as other activities which were "not authorized" on their Mexican entry visas.

With the help of the Mexican Army, agents of the National Institute of Immigration have detained 38 American citizens in the San Andres Larrainzar checkpoint along with three French citizens two Italians, one Argentine and one Portugese. All of the above were required to make statements in the offices of the INM in San Cristobal.

In a special operation implemented 15 kilometers from the Zapatista community of Oventic, troops from the Sixth Infantry Battalion and agents of the San Cristobal INM office detained foreigners on their way out from the center of the San Andres Larrainzar municipality.

Because of the decision against him, Kerry Andrew will have 24 hours to abandon the country or risk violating the General Law of Population.

INM authorities notified Kerry Andrew that he will not be allowed to return to Mexico for a period of three years, until the year 2003, and that after this period he will be required to obtain special permission from the Secretary of State to enter Mexico.

In an interview, Kerry said that the INM authorities of Mexico had set a trap for him because all of the activities that he undertook in Chiapas were legal.

Jose Montero, a lawyer from the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Center for Human Rights, confirmed tonight that the INM's decision will be appealed, and he added that the decision has no basis in the law.

Functionaries of the INM, presided over by the San Cristobal de las Casas delegate Genaro Perez Fraga, questioned Kerry for four hours when he was detained along with the other forty foreigners at the San Andres Larrainzar military checkpoint, presumably while they were on their way back to the Zapatista community of Oventic.

The interrogation session covered Kerry's work in the community of Oventic as well as his immigration history. He was previously detained, fined and expelled from Mexico on the 3rd of January, 1996 and should only have entered the country on this occasion with special permission from the Secretary of State. [His attorneys refute that he needed special permission to enter into Mexico]

The lawyer from the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Center reminded those present that, in January of 1996, the INM had issued a decision with regard Kerry in which it asserted that he had committed acts which were different from those allowed by his visa. Subsequently, the INM gave Kerry five days to leave the country. However, said the lawyer, Kerry was never notified by the INM in writing but only verbally.

Today at dawn, another American, Greg Ruggeiro, was also presented with an order to abandon the country by the 11th of January, the date on which his current visa will expire. Functionaries of the INM cancelled Roggeiro's visa and delivered a paper to him that indicated the exact date on which he must leave Mexico. However, he will not be prohibited from returning to the country.

In four days, the INM has matched its numbers from 1999

The INM has already matched its number of apprehensions of foreigners for 1999 in the state of Chiapas. In only four days, from the 1st to the 4th of January, 2000, the INM have detained almost the same number of foreigners as all of those who were questioned during the year of 1999 for alleged participation in civil activities of the EZLN as well as their presence in Aguascalientes and other autonomous Zapatista communities.

To this date, at their San Cristobal de las Casas offices, immigration authorities have questioned 41 foreigners: 34 Americans, 3 French, 2 Italians, 1 Portuguese and an Argentine. One of them has already been expelled from the country.

In 1999, the INM detained 44 foreigners from diverse countries, among them the USA, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Cuba, France and Spain, at various Mexican Army military checkpoints installed in Chiapas' conflict zone.

Of the 44 detainees, 19 were expelled from the country.

Translated by Noah Arthur Bardach