US: Ex-Mexico Leader Immune From Conn. Lawsuit
Source: Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. September 8, 2012 (AP)
The U.S. State Department says that former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo should be immune from a lawsuit filed in Connecticut over the 1997 killings of 45 people in a Mexican village.
Zedillo is an international studies professor at Yale University. He has denied allegations that he bears responsibility for the massacre by paramilitary groups in Acteal, in the southern state of Chiapas, and that he tried to cover up the killings.
The State Department issued its opinion in a letter Friday. It says the lawsuit involves actions taken in Zedillo's capacity as president and noted that the Mexican government had asked for immunity to be granted.
Ten unnamed plaintiffs sued Zedillo in September 2011 accusing him of crimes against humanity. They are seeking $50 million in damages.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-mexico-leader-immune-conn-lawsuit-17191473
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Sitting in his dandy little chair, which the good lord gave him.[/center]
Ex-President Zedillo Faces Charges for Overseeing State Violence in Mexico
Fred Rosen
Mexico, Bewildered and Contested
January 10, 2012
Women of Acteal (Credit: La Jornada)
On New Year’s Day of 1994, the day the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) seized four towns in the southern state of Chiapas and declared them to be liberated not only from the rule of the Mexican state, but from the global economy as well. The EZLN rebellion was a reaction to the severe poverty and state-sponsored violence long suffered by Mexico’s indigenous communities—state violence that increased ten-fold in the wake of the uprising, as police, soldiers, and civilian paramilitaries engaged in a vicious crackdown on communities thought to be under Zapatista influence.
This past September 19, in a federal civil court in Hartford, Connecticut, former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo—now a resident of Connecticut and an economics professor at Yale—was charged with crimes against humanity for the 1997 killing of 45 unarmed members of the Tzotzil Maya ethnic group, in the Chiapas village of Acteal. Ten survivors of the massacre filed the charges under a U.S. law that permits foreign citizens to seek compensation from former foreign functionaries guilty of various kinds of abuse, now residing in the United States. Zedillo was president of Mexico from 1994 through 2000. After a 1998 investigation, Amnesty International reported that "compelling evidence shows that the authorities facilitated the arming of paramilitaries who carried out the killings and failed to intervene as the savage attack continued for hours."
While narco violence continues to overshadow state violence in Mexico, mostly for its deliberately garish brutality, state violence is never far from view—especially in rural areas. The lawsuit reminds us of that sad fact of life. It also reminds us that resistance, on many fronts, is possible.
Last week, Zedillo appeared in court and claimed that, as a former president of a sovereign country, he was immune from judgment. He also argued that he was not responsible for the killings. The plaintiffs, however, argued that Zedillo refused to enter into a serious dialogue with the insurgents and instead opted for a violent response to the uprising, targeting not only armed guerrillas, but also their nonviolent indigenous supporters. The plaintiffs also argued that the president conspired with local and state officials to hide his role in the crackdown. They are seeking $50 million in damages.
More:
http://nacla.org/blog/2012/1/10/ex-president-zedillo-faces-charges-overseeing-state-violence-mexico
