Mexico's President Ernesto Zedillo has ordered a federal investigation of a brutal attack on Indian villagers in Acteal on Monday. At least 45 residents of the southern Mexican community are reported dead, and another 20 wounded. Most of the victims were women and children, who are alleged to have been gunned down by a paramilitary group with possible links to Mexico's ruling party, the PRI. Charles Krause provides a background report, followed by a discussion with guests.

CHARLES KRAUSE: Joining us now are Alejandro Carillo Castro, official spokesman for the Mexican government, and Juan Enriquez, a former member of the Mexican government's negotiating team in Chiapas and currently a fellow at Harvard University's Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Mr. Carillo Castro, in Mexico City, how do you respond to the charges that your government and the PRI are at least indirectly responsible for these paramilitary groups and, therefore, responsible for Monday's massacre?

ALEJANDRO CARRILLO CASTRO, Government Spokesman: Well, I definitely deny it because, as you have already mentioned, President Zedillo, himself, has called it a cruel, absurd, unacceptable criminal act. Nobody in Mexico would condone it. I think that it is something that we Mexicans really are shocked to have seen that such a criminal act has happened, so starting from President Zedillo, every Mexican will condemn such a criminal act as an atrocity.

CHARLES KRAUSE: I understand that, but there have been these continuing charges from various people that in Chiapas, the local PRI, the local government may be helping these paramilitary groups, arming them.

ALEJANDRO CARRILLO CASTRO: No. As you have already mentioned, in Chiapas, these kinds of feuds between local groups have existed not since--as you said--four years ago when these guerrilla groups appeared, but it's only a novel--or the new face of a very, very old type of problem from the local groups that have been feuding and fighting for reasons of land property, for reasons of political, and even religious differences, which had existed in the state of Chiapas since more than 40 or 50 years ago.

CHARLES KRAUSE: Mr. Enriquez in Boston, what's your assessment? Who do you think is behind these paramilitary groups?

JUAN ENRIQUEZ, Former Mexican Official: I think there were several warnings that this was happening. There was a letter from the conservative Bishop of Chiapas less than 30 days ago talking about these armaments increasing, talking about tensions in this area. There have been murders since October, over 60 house burnings, over 20 people killed in this small, same municipality. There have been repeated calls from the Gopoca, which is the negotiating authority between the government and the guerrillas, for a peaceful resolution. These have been ignored time and again. And this is not an isolated incident in Mexico. There have been other peasant massacres, such as that of Juredo, which are still today left unsolved. There is evidence that there is increasing violence in Mexico, and this has got to stop.

CHARLES KRAUSE: Who do you think is arming these paramilitary groups, allowing them to go forward?

JUAN ENRIQUEZ: Well, I think one of the things that's happening is the signal that's coming out from the federal government is that violence is okay. When the President of the republic refuses to meet with the Secretary General of Amnesty International, when he goes on a fact-finding tour to Mexico, when there are a series of murders and massacres throughout the country, the assassinations of youth in Mexico City or in Jalisco, that clearly have involvement of people who are part of this regime, and when matters like these in Chiapas are not followed up, for instance, the assassination attempt against Somarice this year.

CHARLES KRAUSE: The bishop in Chiapas.

JUAN ENRIQUEZ: The bishop in Chiapas. Or when the investigation of the attempted assassination of the opposition governatorial candidate, Amale Vendano, during the last political campaign is not investigated and brought forth, the message that people get is it's okay to murder and that's okay to go ahead and do these things. Right now in Mexico City less than 2 percent of the crimes that are committed lead to a jail sentence.

CHARLES KRAUSE: All right. Mr. Carrillo Castro, you've heard what Mr. Enriquez has to say. He says that the message coming from Mexico City is that it's okay, especially in areas of Chiapas, to murder anti-government--people who are against the government--

ALEJANDRO CARRILLO CASTRO: No. I think it's outrageous to say that anyone in Mexico in his healthy mind would say that it's okay to have a violent act, or to murder someone. I think that that is precisely the reason why the Mexican federal government has ordered, President Zedillo has ordered the attorney general on the federal level to take over the case in order to guarantee that the culprits would be sanctioned because if there is even a possibility of anybody thinking that the local government would do what Mr. Enriquez is saying, the federal government is strongly and firmly taking action in order to prove that no one would be above the legal sanctions, not withstanding the political or religious or economic conditions of the ones that have perpetrated this condemnable act.

CHARLES KRAUSE: And why is it that after nearly four years, since all of this began in Chiapas, that the government and the Zapatistas have not been able to reach some sort of peace agreement? Why does this violence continue?

ALEJANDRO CARRILLO CASTRO: Well, I think that there are several reasons. First of all, when both parties have started a dialogue. Even Mr. Enriquez was a part of the first group representing the Mexican government. There have been difficulties in discussing the agreements that have reached, that have been reached in the different discussions because part of them had to be established in the Mexican constitution that has to be constitutional reforms. And, of course, the Mexican government has agreed to honor those accords, those agreements that have been met, but in order to be able to translate them into constitutional articles; the commission of the--of Congress that had been working towards this project presented a part that was at the beginning agreed upon--the two parties--but the Mexican government has said that in order to translate it to a constitutional amendment, certain provisions had to be taken care of and not to break the constitutional architecture.

CHARLES KRAUSE: Okay. Mr. Enriquez, what is your assessment? You were on that initial peace commission. What's happened? Why hasn't there been some sort of treaty?

JUAN ENRIQUEZ: After the rebellion broke out--and I want to stress that the reason why rebellions--and this is not the only rebellion that is breaking out in Mexico--there were rebellions breaking out in several states--they tend to be states where the PRI is dominant. They tend to be states where there is a great deal of repression going on. This is not an unprecedented act. These are acts that are occurring in Gerado. These are acts that are occurring in Wajaka. They're occurring throughout Mexico. And one of the reasons why we were able to stop that conflict when we first went in is because we recognized that there was a serious problem and the people were being tortured, were being disappeared, were being massacred, and that that had to stop, and one of the first things we did is we went in and we asked the indigenous population to forgive us for doing this.

CHARLES KRAUSE: But the question is: Do you think the government has negotiated in good faith?

JUAN ENRIQUEZ: Absolutely not.

CHARLES KRAUSE: And what's happened?

JUAN ENRIQUEZ: They haven't sat down at the table, but they've reached agreements, and then torn up those agreements, or argued that there are a series of legalistic barriers to agreements that they've already reached. They have provided the Zapatistas with safe conducts and then violated those safe conducts. One of the first acts of this government was to promise to negotiate in good faith and then send in the army to try and take out the top leadership of the Zapatistas.

CHARLES KRAUSE: All right. Gentlemen, unfortunately, we have to go, but I want to thank you both very much for joining us. Thank you.