The brothers Antonio and Mariano Pucuj were sentenced to 26 years in prison late last month for their participation in the December 1997 massacre of 45 Tzotzil indigenous people at Acteal hamlet in Mexico's southern Chiapas state. They were also ordered to pay more than $70,000 in compensation to the victims' families. The Pucuj brothers are said to be appealing the decision. Officials say the killings were motivated by a land dispute between two Tzotzil communities. But victims' families say the perpetrators were provided weapons and paramilitary training from the government. Last year, courts sentenced 34 men to 26 years each for the killings. (AP [2], Feb. 27)
See our last post on Chiapas [3] and the Acteal case [4].
