Organización Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal
Tierra Sagrada de los Mártires de Acteal
Acteal, Chenalhó, Chiapas, México.
12 de agosto 2025
To the National Indigenous Congress
To the Indigenous Governing Council
To the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
To Human Rights Defenders
To Free and Alternative Media Outlets
To National and International Media Outlets
To National and International Civil Society
Death made us history.
We are the 45 Martyrs of Acteal.
We are the four babies who were torn apart inside our mothers’ wombs.
They killed us small and defenseless,
we were reborn giants and immortals.
Now we are fragments of light
that prevent everything from being night.
Our martyrs, our little sisters and brothers torn from their mothers’ wombs with machetes, are now seeds, now sprouts reborn in our hearts and in our consciousness. Now, we, the young people who, together with our elders and the authorities of our Las Abejas Organization of Acteal, have called this press conference, determined to denounce the state crime committed here in Acteal, and above all determined to continue walking the Path of Peace and Nonviolence, the same path walked by our grandmothers and grandfathers massacred by the PRI and Cardenista paramilitaries of Chenalhó, on the orders of Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León and the Mexican Army, within the framework of the Chiapas 94 Campaign Plan.
Today we confirm what our organization has always declared: that our struggle is not over, that our organization has no limits, that although our elders may not live to see true justice, we are certain that we, the young people, will see that justice come. And how will that happen? Well, what is happening now is that the Abeja youth are growing in their awareness and conviction to continue the struggle for true justice, for truth, for remembrance, and for the memory of the Acteal Massacre.
We, the children and young people, have come to understand that it is shameful what the so-called Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) did when it ordered the release of the paramilitaries, most of whom had been convicted and were responsible for the massacre of our grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.
These judges of the so-called SCJN argued that “there were flaws in due process,” while the testimonies of direct witnesses and the lives of our relatives were of no importance to them. And we clarify once again that the corrupt ministers of the “highest court of justice” are indeed corrupt, because by releasing the paramilitaries, they covered up for the masterminds behind the Acteal Massacre: Ernesto Zedillo, Emilio Chuayffet, General Enrique Cervantes, General Mario Renan Castillo, Julio César Ruiz Ferro, among others, and the Mexican Army, who are responsible for having facilitated the massacre of our grandmothers and grandfathers in Acteal on Monday, December 22, 1997.
August 12 is a day we will remember forever, a day when the corrupt members of the Supreme Court of Injustice of the Nation released the paramilitaries who were the perpetrators of the Acteal Massacre. These ministers will be remembered in our true history, in the history of crimes against humanity. Their names are already painted in our communiqués, in our book, in our videos. They are true accomplices to impunity in the Acteal Massacre, accomplices to corruption and impunity. The justices who ruled in favor were José de Jesús Gudiño Pelayo, José Ramón Cossío Díaz, Juan N. Silva Meza, and Olga Sánchez Cordero de García Villegas.
We never got to know our grandmothers and grandfathers because of Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, because of the paramilitaries, because of the Mexican Army, because of the war of counterinsurgency.
We will not allow the deaths of our grandparents to be forgotten. We will not let Zedillo, his accomplices, or his army go free. These criminals must be tried and punished so that another massacre like the one in Acteal never happens again in Mexico.
From the suffering caused by the misgovernment that took away our 45 sisters and brothers, as well as the four babies violated in their mothers’ wombs, our strength and motivation to continue the struggle for true justice will spring forth.
The steps that our grandmothers and grandfathers took on these dignified lands will now be our steps, continuing the search for truth, justice, and peace for our communities.
Also, today, we remind the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that for 10 years, Case 12.790, Manuel Santiz Culebra et al. (Acteal Massacre), has been in the merits of the case stage, which to date has not been issued despite requests made over several years. This has led to impunity becoming more entrenched and escalating into a serious crisis of widespread violence in our region, such as: the murder of our brother Simón Pedro Pérez López and Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez, with the regrettable actions of the Mexican justice system, which fails to achieve a deeper sense of justice and instead seeks to cover up for the masterminds behind the crime and silence the voices of those of us who demand truth and justice. as in the Acteal Massacre, the executions of Simón Pedro and Father Marcelo are due to the failure of the State, due to the criminality of Mexican government officials.
The impunity and complicity of the bad government in the Acteal Massacre has not only been the direct responsibility of the Zedillo administration, but also of subsequent administrations, as well as the current administration, which claims to be leftist, but has allowed the murders of dozens of social activists and representatives of organized communities, as well as journalists and human rights defenders. In particular, we refer to and condemn the direct attack on our colleague Dora Robledo, director of Frayba, and we note that this is not the first time that Frayba colleagues have been harassed and threatened with death. We ask the IACHR to condemn this act and compel the Mexican State to guarantee the lives of the entire Frayba team and to conduct an investigation without excuses into those responsible for this attack.
Today, we children and young people have a task ahead of us. We ask for the strength and wisdom of our massacred grandparents so that we may grow up respecting their memory and the blood they shed for peace. And may the infinite light that our 45 sisters and brothers and babies have become illuminate our path and our conscience.
From Acteal, where one day the earth was darkened and the mountains were deafened by the murderous bullets of the agents of death, now the memory and hope that shine in giant fragments of light, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian children and also with the adults, with the people of Palestine, who are being exterminated. It is the great shame of the times we live in, and we point to the governments of Israel and the United States as one of the main perpetrators. We are small, we do not have the power to stop the barbarity of this atrocious genocide against the Palestinian people, but if we all unite to raise our voices to stop the hell in Palestine, we can save the lives of many people.
Truth, Remembrance, and Justice for the Acteal Massacre!
Background Report, Now!
Stop the Genocide in Palestine!
From Acteal, House of Memory and Hope.
Sincerely,
The Voice of the Las Abejas Civil Society Organization of Acteal.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Las Abejas de Acteal
Original text published by Abejas de Acteal on August 12, 2025.Translation by Schools for Chiapas.