"Message Attributes Mexican Politician’s Kidnapping to Zapatistas."

Here is an excerpt from Buggs' article on the Borderland Beat blog:

"A message signed by someone claiming to be a member of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, or EZLN, says that group was responsible for the kidnapping of Mexican former presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, who spent nearly eight months in captivity last year... The signer claims to be a subordinate of “Subcomandante Marcos,” leader of the long-quiescent EZLN guerrilla group, and states that Fernandez de Cevallos, the presidential candidate of the now-governing National Action Party, or PAN, in 1994, was “one of the main enemies of our project” to secure autonomy for indigenous peoples... The message says the government’s strategy for dealing with its opponents has forced the EZLN, which has mainly devoted itself to social and community activism since a brief uprising in January 1994, “to have to resort to constructive violence” and “take appropriate action in secret.” It said the Zapatista movement, which has a leftist, Indian-rights agenda, has its sights set on the “total destruction of the current Mexican political system” and will use the ransom paid for Fernandez de Cevallos’ release to that end... In a public appearance after his release on Dec. 11 of last year, Fernandez de Cevallos provided few details about his captors nor the manner in which they freed him, although he said the government had a “pending” task of bringing them to justice... In his comments after he was set free, Fernandez de Cevallos said both political and financial factors were involved in his kidnapping." Link to Full Article

Analysis: There are so many things wrong and right about this story that I'm having a hard time making heads or tails of it. My first instinct when Cevallos was kidnapped was so assume that one of the DTOs snatched him, and his family would be lucky to see him alive again. Then the news started trickling out that his family was engaging in negotiations with the kidnappers, and those negotiations started to stretch out into months, rather than weeks. This case started to look like something out of Colombia, run by professional narcoterrorist kidnappers, rather than greedy and sloppy cartel members or low-level thugs out to make a buck.

I have a feeling a lot of people were thrown for a loop when this story about a purported EZLN message claiming responsibility came out. For those of you who aren't familiar with the EZLN - more commonly known as the "Zapatistas" - they're an indigenous rights group in Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas with a fiery political agenda. They made the news in 1994 with an armed uprising under the leadership of the masked Subcomandante Marcos, but in less than a year they renounced any sort of violent intentions and decided to pursue their political goals peacefully.

Since the mid-1990s, the EZLN has been pretty quiet, and no one has paid them much mind since the drug war violence started in earnest in 2006. So there are two questions we have to ask. First, if the EZLN did actually kidnap Cevallos, why now, and why would they renounce their pledge of non-violence? Second, if the EZLN is being framed, who's doing the framing, and how do they stand to benefit from it?

Going with the first scenario, I'm trying to think why the EZLN would start to make a big stink at this particular moment. Perhaps they're looking for attention in the midst of a time when indigenous rights groups are being drowned out by the drug war. Maybe they felt that kidnapping a high-profile politician like Jefe Diego was the only way their voices would be heard above the fray. Certainly, the $30 million ransom paid for Cevallos' release will fund the EZLN's ambitions for quite some time. However, the EZLN had been respected as a legitimate organization by the Mexican government for several years. The governor of Chiapas is vehemently denying the EZLN had anything to do with his disappearance. Why would they do something like this to screw that up?

Let's go with the second scenario for a moment. Who would stand to benefit in Mexico right now by making the EZLN look bad? The DTOs aren't in any sort of direct competition with the EZLN. Maybe one of the smaller cartels thought it might draw attention and resources away from them and towards the EZLN in Chiapas. Maybe it's a personal/vengeance attack between someone in another group and the EZLN leadership. 

Either way, it's unusual for a claim of responsibility - or ransom negotiations, for that matter - to take so long when a DTO is involved. This is more reminiscent of something the FARC or ELN in Colombia would do, especially considering Cevallos seemed to be in decent physical shape when released, and the Colombian guerrilla/terrorist groups tend to value their hostages more than Mexican kidnappers do. My curiosity is further piqued by Cevallos' statement that his kidnapping was motivated by both political and financial reasons. DTOs don't have any direct political aspirations; they just want to manipulate and control the people in office through extortion and death threats. I don't know that holding Cevallos hostage for 11 months would accomplish a goal for one of the DTOs that something less labor- and time-intensive wouldn't have.

Unfortunately, the only person who can shed any light on this mystery is Cevallos, and he's not making any statements. I imagine this is likely one of the conditions of his release, lest he or one of his family members get kidnapped - or worse. Considering the chances of the Mexican authorities actually finding the people responsible are slim at best, we may never know who was at the bottom of this, or be able to truly assess what it means for the Mexican political and drug war landscape.

Comments

[Don Durrito]

http://www.schoolsforchiapas.com/english/archive/documents/1129.html

The EZLN and the Other Campaign deny involvement to all forms of kidnapping
Ver en Español

(This document was originally posted in Spanish on the Enlace Zapatista page and is translated into English by Schools for Chiapas.)

On January 1, 2011 some National and International newspapers began to circulate a story, based on a note received by the Spanish news agency EFE from "a faithful member of the insurgent forces of the EZLN", which attributed responsibility for the kidnapping of Diego Fernandez de Cevallos to the EZLN. The confused story spread by the Spanish news agency also accused several collectives of the Other Campaign of being co-conspirators of the aforementioned kidnaping, and cited various web pages and old communications, in public circulation and available to all on the web, as places to seek evidence for this accusation against the Zapatistas.

Well ok, the “communication” made its way to the inbox of our web-page in its complete form and, one way or another, it also arrived in the hands of different journalists who reported and published it. Suffice to say, the letter on which the story is based should make it completely obvious to any reader that linking the origin of the letter to the EZLN is impossible. Come on! Inconsistencies abound throughout the document and it is clear that whoever wrote it was seeking prominence, generating confusion and serving the interests of power.

The Other Campaign is a civil, pacifist and political movement. It has been this way since it's inception and it has moved and acted as such throughout these long years. It has never resorted to kidnappings to obtain resources nor to make political statements.

Similarly, it is well known that the EZLN has demonstrated, in its' history and practices throughout 27 years, from its inception until this day, it does not carry out kidnappings. It is against their principals. For this reason, the EZLN has neither the development nor the organizational structure nor the physical infrastructure to undertake these types of actions. From the year 1994 when the Zapatistas declared a cease fire, in order to give an opportunity to construct a just and dignified peace, they have kept their word. This can not be said about the Mexican government that has politically, economically, and militarily attacked from the 1st of January in ’94 until this day.

Because of this, it is clear, and once again we reiterate, that neither the EZLN nor the Other Campaign carry out kidnappings. Neither the EZLN nor the Other Campaign kidnaped Diego Fernandez de Cevallos.

If anyone sympathizes with or considers kidnapping politically correct, they have no place in the Other Campaign. The “Warrior Ballam” as he calls himself and to whom we have already referred has already had his 15 minutes of fame. Some reporters reprinted fragments of his writings and placed them on their front pages. You can enjoy them. In the meantime, the communities of Zapatista indigenous suffer a new increase in aggressions as a result of this type of opportunistic political incident. This is the true danger brothers and sisters; we will continue to be vigilant regarding this new provocation against our Zapatista companions.

Por Enlace zapatista, Javier Elorriaga, Sergio Rodríguez Lascano.
México, a 2 de enero del 2011.

Se desmiente vinculación de el EZLN y La Otra Campaña con cualquier secuestro

El día 1 de enero del 2011 comenzó a circular en algunos diarios nacionales y extranjeros, a partir de la agencia de prensa española EFE, una nota en la cual se dice que “un fiel integrante de las fuerzas insurgentes del EZLN” atribuía, mediante un comunicado, el secuestro de Diego Fernández de Cevallos al EZLN. En la confusa nota difundida por la agencia española se acusa también a distintos colectivos de La Otra Campaña de ser copartícipes de dicho secuestro, así como se refieren a varias páginas electrónicas y comunicados antiguos, de libre circulación, a disposición de cualquiera en la red, como sitios en donde buscar las pruebas para dicha acusación contra los zapatistas. Pues bien, al correo de nuestra página llegó también completo, el “comunicado”, tal y cual llegó a los diferentes medios que hicieron y publicaron con él su nota. Bastaría con que pusieran el escrito que les llegó completo para que cualquier lector viera que es imposible que tenga un origen relacionado con el EZLN. Vamos, es incoherente a todo lo largo de su redacción, es claro que quien lo hizo no hace sino buscar protagonismo, generar confusión y servir a los intereses del poder.
La otra campaña es un movimiento político, civil y pacífico. Así ha sido desde su convocatoria y así se ha movido y actuado a lo largo de estos años. No recurre por lo tanto a secuestros para obtener recursos ni para hacer propaganda política.
Asimismo, es para todos sabido, que el EZLN, y su historia y práctica durante 27 años, desde sus inicios hasta hoy día, lo demuestran, no realiza secuestros, esto va en contra de sus principios. Por lo mismo, el EZLN no ha desarrollado ni la estructura organizativa ni la infraestructura material para este tipo de acciones. Desde el año de1994 en que los zapatistas decretaron el cese al fuego ofensivo, para darle una oportunidad a la construcción de la paz justa y digna, ha cumplido su palabra, no así el Estado mexicano que los ha agredido política, económica, militarmente desde el 1 de enero del 94 hasta nuestros días.
Por todo esto es claro, y reiteramos una vez más, que ni el EZLN ni la Otra Campaña realizan secuestros. Ni el EZLN ni La Otra Campaña secuestraron a Diego Fernández de Cevallos.
Si alguien tiene simpatía o considera que políticamente es correcto practicar el secuestro, no tiene lugar en la Otra Campaña. El “guerrero Balam” como se autonombra quien mandó el comunicado al que nos hemos referido ya tuvo sus 15 minutos de fama, algunos medios retomaron fragmentos de su escrito y lo pusieron en sus primera páginas. Puede disfrutarlos. Mientras, las comunidades indígenas zapatistas sufrirán una nueva escalada de agresiones como resultado de este tipo de ocurrencias oportunistas y policiacas. Este es el verdadero peligro compañeras y compañeros, estemos pendientes ante esta nueva provocación contra los compañeros zapatistas.
Por Enlace zapatista, Javier Elorriaga, Sergio Rodríguez Lascano.
México, a 2 de enero del 2011.

[Fred Hiker]

and that Sylvia I believe you can take to the bank.

Fred

[james]

It's an honorable title "Boss", fiery speech he could be a protector of the people moreso than Indian right suppressor.

I think the confused messages sent by the Indian movement is potentially a tip off that professional anarchists are at work.

It is also hyper-surreal. I am having a difficult time accepting the photo as real. It might not be from 1994, and it does seem newer.

On one hand I want to believe that he was able to negotiate a lower ransom by appealing to a traditionally lesser-violent movement. On the other hand I can't help but think he is a crook and people have enough on him to make him work for their cause, and perhaps political favors were traded for a lesser random.

100 million is a confident amount to ask for, and to walk away with only 30 seems odd.

I am entirely new to these Mexican Anarchy situations, but they are interesting.

I would guess the Zetas. Or whoever that group is who has special forces training, but maybe a second generation?

I just don't know for sure...

Your Blog is Great! Thanks.