Processo, June 21, 1998 pg. 8
Tuxtla Guttierez, Chiapas

The governor, Roberto Albores Guillen, takes his treatment by local cartoonists (who depict him with blood stained hands) with good humor in the wake of his attempt to reestablish the "law" in Chiapas by organizing violent police incursions to dismantle autonomous municipalities and randomly apprehend their inhabitants. "If one didn't have a sense of humor, life wouldn't be much fun", the Comitan politician says calmly. In only 5 months, Albores has already dismantled three autonomous municipality, sent hundreds of indigenous people to prison, and is responsible for obstructing the work of PRD municipal governments.

"Aren't you afraid of being seen as a governor blood-stained hands?"

"No. My conscience is clear. My actions are backed by the law. That's why I can have a sense of humor about it."

Labelled "the fascist", and a "troglodyte" by the PRD, Albores reiterates his commitment to a policy of "applying the law", and is confident that his administration will not end until the year 2000, "no more, no less".

In an interview with reporters in the Government Palace on the night of June 18th, Albores, who replaced Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro (who in his time replaced Eduardo Robledo), insisted that they would continue the police/military operations in order to reestablish the rule of law, and argued that this is all being carried out with the support of the Chiapas people.

"An attacking government?"

"There's no such thing! These actions are very concrete and critical for the reconciliation process. There is no strategy or eagerness on the part of the government to attack communities, political organizations, or EZLN sympathizers. There just isn't. We just don't think in that way. One of our problems is that we want peace and reconciliation; we want them to let us work."

While recognizing that he hasn't applied the law to the paramilitary groups, he explained that it was not so much that they had been over-looked, but that their cases lacked the legal support needed to act against them. " At the moment, if we had real, concrete evidence, we would proceed. But right now we don't have this evidence."

"Then, there is nothing going on in terms of dismantling the paramilitary groups?"

"Up until now, there haven't been enough legal elements to give the government the legal support [needed] to proceed".

Convinced that in Chiapas there is a government "with objectives and direction", he insists that he was not directly appointed by President Zedillo, and that he is prepared to continue governing with all the people of Chiapas.

"With all them?"

"With those that want to participate. We don't believe in unilateral actions, like giving opinions about Chiapas without really knowing it. The people of Chiapas already don't allow this. There is a limit to the political impunity in the state. Here there is a governor, not a delegate. The people of Chiapas want a strong government, that leads, that carries out a series of their dreams."

Rule of law

Albores' legitimacy has been questioned by the opposition political parties since he took office on the 7th of January. Since then, he has dismantled three autonomous municipalities supported by The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), and put four social leaders and hundreds of indigenous EZLN supporters in prison.

However, the governor denies that he has acted selectively in applying the law, and that he is prepared to impose "the rule of law" at all costs.

"We have taken concrete actions, but we are clear that the state government's actions won't be directed at particular political, ideological, religious, social or economic groups. We act on behalf of everyone. In order to have credibility it is necessary to recognize that the actions of the state are rooted in law, and don't have a particular message or orientation towards a particular group."

"In that case, why don't you apply the law in Mitontic, where the PRI supporting population incarcerated the mayor, and then later released him?"

"We are acting with a great degree of prudence. Primarily we are taking into consideration the process of dialogue and negotiation. There is nothing sinister about the procedure, behind each action exists a series of elements."

The Albores administration has produced numerous acts of violence that began immediately after Ruiz Ferro had to step down as governor because of the massacre at Acteal on the 22nd of December 1997.

Three campesino leaders have been killed, two of them gunned down, while eight members of the EZLN were recently murdered during a joint police-military operation that has become a daily occurence in this area.

Albores had been in office for barely a few weeks, when Rubicel Ruiz Gamboa, one of the most important campesino leaders of the State Democratic Assembly of Chiapas Pueblos (AEDPCH) was shot dead. On the day of Gamboa's funeral there was also a questionable automobile accident in which Antonio Gomez Flores, leader of the Independent Rural Association of Collective Interests (ARIC) was killed.

One week before, the police shot at a march of the Coalition of Autonomous Organizations of Ocosingo (COAO) and this "excess of public force", resulted in the death of an indigenous women, Guadalupe Mendez. Twenty two police officers were arrested, but 21 of them were released just last week.

Just one month after Albores assumed his position, the governor announced, in an official act of the PRI, the creation of a State Accord on Reconciliation, known as the "Albores Plan". In this, Albores reflected upon his preoccupation at the growing influence of the Autonomous Municipalities created by EZLN communities in the "conflict zone". Since then, the governor has unfolded a political plan to dismantle these communities: The municipality of Ricardo Flores Magon on the 11th of April, the municipality of Tierra y Libertad on the 1st of May, and the municipality of San Juan de la Libertad on the 10th of June.

Albores is sure that the said accord was approved by 1,800,000 citizens of Chiapas, just 77,815 citizens less than were registered in the electoral census on June 6th of this year, and will be employed in the state elections on the 4th of October, when they will elect 111 mayors and 24 deputy mayors. Also, according to him, his proposal to "apply the law" was supported "unanimously" by the citizens, and because of this affirmed that he has just began to employ these actions which in many occasions have been very harshly criticized for provoking acts of violence, and using excessive police force.

The amnesty law that promised to free political prisoners - that Albores insists don't exist - has so far not been applied, because as Albores puts it, the people of Chiapas were not in agreement with this accord, and also because the organizations that would be the resultant beneficiaries would not apply it themselves.

"The rule of law was vulnerable to the length and width of this entity. A range of groups would act with great impunity if this agreement was in effect. It would aid the armed Zapatista rebellion, which is what they would want in Chiapas. And this, far from helping the process of reconciliation, would create a vicious cycle."

"Can you apply the law while violating human rights?"

"The application of the rule of law doesn't validate the violation of human rights. We have been very careful to respect individual guarantees. There isn't an eagerness to attack anyone, however, there are risks that we must permanently prevent. Who generates violence: who hides from the application of the law, or who holds contempt for the law amidst circumstances of social decomposition?

Albores denies that he is a governor with a hard hand: "The non-application of the law generates more violence and more social destruction. To quit applying it, and to let the situation pass as it is, would not repair the situation, and instead complicates it""

Albores reiterates the words of President Zedillo, and says that they continue believing in a political solution to the conflict in Chiapas, but is clear that they cannot ignore the violations of the law, as in the case of the creation of autonomous municipalities:

"There are no autonomous municipalities in Chiapas. There are 8 neuralgic zones in Chiapas. Amparo Agua Tinta was a geographic zone reduced through very illegal action. It was another country: it threatened sovereignty, they had a ministry of justice, of education, they had official documents, and they had other state and national coats of arms. They committed abuses, and were compelled to force people to make declarations and even incarcerate them in private prisons. Who is generating violence?

He insists in his recommendation that nobody be allowed to threaten the rule of law, "because they are going to compel the authorities to intervene, because there is only one way in Chiapas, and that is through the Constitution. And through this way, we invite them to participate".

The purpose of the government, he says, isn't to close down autonomous municipalities, but to act when they have evidence that they are committing illegal actions. And in the extreme case, "when there isn't another way, we have to act with public force".

"Is it really necessary to utilize public force?"

"If not, then public forces wouldn't exist. How do you sustain the laws of the State? With a large democratic consensus, with the legitimacy of the population, but the State has also needed public forces."

"Have you considered the fact that your term could end with you carrying a reputation as a repressive governor?"

"The result will be very positive. We want these times to be over with. To make it in these times is the only objective, and the only profession".

"To finish your governship you believe in fulfilling the application of the rule of law?"

"Yes I believe this, and I'm totally convinced in this idea."

"And how long do you believe you will carry the responsibility of governor?"

"The end of my constitutional term, no more and no less."

"And the tone of the administration that will follow - will it do the same as in your term?"

"It is going to be a very democratic and participatory administration."

"A government with a hard hand?"

"Democratic."

Reputation as a political boss

Albores defends the political actions that have recently been carried out by the military, and considers that those that criticize are in need of the information needed to make a realistic judgement. The actions that occurred on the 10th of June in El Bosque, where eight zapatistas and two policeman were killed, were against "bandits", according to Albores.

He rejects the idea that it was the police or military that opened fire, and still emphasizes that, "in order to save lives, it was ordered to suspend the operation." Although he affirms that the police acted "with prudence and professionalism", he laments the attacks against the indigenous.

"Do you also apply the law against arbitrary politicians?

"Of course, but there is the need for proof?"

The eagerness of the governor to apply the law to those that violate it - "they were accustomed to nothing happening" - pointing to the participation of the Army on the 8th of April when they captured a group of observers, and on the 25th of April in Tenejapa when they apprehended a band of people that had 170 stolen cars in their possession, and then to dismantle a "training camp of Zapatistas" (which was [in reality] 10 families that sympathized with the EZLN, living among 150 PRI supporting families - no weapons were found).

"There are those who say that in Chiapas the real orders are given by the military."

"No. I am convinced that a democratic and legal scheme is governing Chiapas. The Army has done substantial work, but only within the bounds of the Constitution."

Originally from Comitan, Albores was elected federal deputy, but with a call to not vote by one of the municipalities (Nicolas Ruiz) within the district that he was competing. It was in this same municipality that on the 3rd of June, a police-military operation of more than one thousand effectively detained 156 people, and beat women and children while destroying their homes.

"Did you do this out of revenge?"

"Of course not. To the contrary, there has been a real willingness to help Nicolas Ruiz. We were talking about production projects in this area when suddenly, in an abrupt manner, they withdrew. This accusation has no legitimacy. They didn't vote on June 6th, this is certain, and I'm happy for it, because there was definitely going to be votes against me."

"But there is the temptation for revenge, in addition to yourself, on the part of Adolfo Orive, advisors coordinator in the Governor's office."

"There is no revenge politics. These issues in Chiapas are very serious."

They associate the governor with, "a lineage of corrupt bossmen" from the frontier region, principally with the Orates Ruiz family, with ties in Venustiano Carranza. Albores denies this.

"This is completely untrue. My political activities have a political character that does not have anything to do with any political or economic group. My responsibility is to serve the people of Chiapas. I am demonstrating this with what I've done. My political career is not something that I invented yesterday."

Albores is sure that the next elections on the 4th of October will be guaranteed, and says that the respect for the vote will be another area of distention in Chiapas, the same with the idea of remunicipalization that he proposed just a week after Zedillo suggested it.

The idea of his government, he says, is to do away with the original causes of the conflict. In this sense, the EZLN hasn't modified their attitude, he adds: "We neither view their silence in terms of aggression or concern. We have patience, and we have, more than ever, a responsibility not to provoke the irruption of violent acts."

"How do you judge the dissolution of the CONAI?"

"As a gradual process of wearing away."

"Were you happy to see this happen?"

"Politics isn't about how you feel, it is about realities. The CONAI stopped being a valid mediator precisely because of the silence of the EZLN. Period. It is a decision made by them. They should know."

"You praised the CONAI before, and now you applaud their dissolution. Isn't there a double language here?

"There is no double language. There is only one, very clear and very blunt. We can be against, or in favor, but there aren't half tones or confusion".

"Six months after Acteal, how do you appraise the situation?"

"I can't refer to Acteal, because I don't correspond and can't make judgements about the effects of Acteal. In regards to my five months of government, there is a way we are convinced will take us forward."

"Why do they call you "Satan"?

"It is because I am good. There is a dialectical relationship in this."