 |
Dozens reported killed in massacre in southern Mexico
December 23, 1997
Web posted at: 12:28 p.m. EST (1728 GMT)SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (CNN) -- Dozens of people were reportedly killed after gunmen attacked a small town in southern Mexico, peasant activists said Tuesday.
Neither the attack nor the deaths have been confirmed.
Manuel Gomez Perez, an official of the Las Abejas peasant group in Chiapas state, told The Associated Press he had been told that 42 people were killed and six were missing after the attack. He also said he was told the attack was carried out by members of Mexico's ruling party, who have clashed repeatedly with supporters of the local government.
Las Abejas sympathizes with the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army, which set up a de facto county government in the area in 1995.
"Many died, but we don't know for sure how many are dead and how many are injured," Gomez Perez said by telephone from Polho.
Gonzalo Ituarte, spokesman for the diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, reported 43 dead -- but said eight were in the town of Acteal and 35 in the nearby village of Quextic.
If confirmed, it would be the bloodiest attack in Chiapas state since the Zapatista uprising against government troops in January 1994, in which 135 people died.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
Sound off on our message boards
You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.