Chiapas bishops call for dialogue between government, Zapatistas

Published: 2005-06-24

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Bishops in the Mexican state of Chiapas are calling for dialogue between the government and the leftist Zapatista rebel army, which declared a "red alert" after abandoning public offices in the jungle towns it controls. Both sides of the conflict said they were not planning any attacks, but two bishops from San Cristobal de las Casas urged government and rebel officials to sit down and work out a solution to the Indian uprising that has simmered since 1995. "We are convinced that this conflict will not be solved without sincere and open dialogue," Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel and Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Diaz Diaz said in a June 21 statement. Two days earlier, the Zapatista army declared the red alert after evacuating its public offices and sending its leaders into hiding. In a series of statements, the rebels said their actions were defensive, and had no plans to attack army bases near their territory.

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