Chiapas Update?

Does anyone have an accurate update on the situation in Chiapas? We have plans to go there in November - just wondering if things have settled down yet? Thanks for all replies!

Who knows what will go on in November.. This morning the traffic in Tuxtla was very bad because the teachers were stoping all trucks from entering..got lucky I made it to the airport on time.

The large bloqueos have not happened for a wile like a couple of weeks between San Cristobal and Tuxtla.. the teachers have been asking for cooperation from people so the traffic can be slow on some days..
This morning coming ot of San Cristobal the traffic was slow because some peope who had been expulsed from a community were also asking for cooperation.

If you want to be sure of anything do not go to Chiapas.

Last wek the teachers were blocking the commercial centers in Tuxtla and the casetas were taken over some day last week but nothing serious just a discount..

I travelled a lot in the jungle on paved and unpaved roads last week and a new one happened.. A woman and her kids had the usual strig accross the road deal but this woman put her body in front of the car and refused to move.. I waited a while and was lucky another car came so she pulled her trick to the next car but this is not a nice develpent.

The kids are not back in school  so ther is no telling what November will be like.

Just check the Alerta Chiapas site but unfortunatelly you do not know until the last minutes when things go bad.. You are lucky if you get a 2 day notice of problems..

There will be a way to get through  maybe with delays but eventually thre is a way through.. so if yo like bad weather and iffy roads in November Chiapas is for you.

Just spoke to fast..this mornin ght trafic was a disastre in Tuxtla..one more time and there were blocked roads in various part of the State...This has been going on for 3 years and it does not look like it will be over soon..

1200 Federal police are now on the ground in Tuxla. Looks like they were flown in on those old black DC9 or MD80 Federal police planes you see in Mexico city airport.
Mexico News Daily (english)

They have been planes full of federal pólice for a long while, yes the type you desccribe. They come and go but I do not know where those guys are on the ground. You see federal pólice in Tuxtla , may be the federal government is getting tired of the Torre Chiapas being taken over.
Today the teachers had a big march in Tuxtla and various types of bloqueos but nothing worst than usual as far as I know.





I just talked to a friend from San Cristobal who was with Young people who had just come in from Tuxtla and nothing was said so I would think it more of the same.

Why would they have 1200 cops if they were not going to do something Brigitte? Or is this the idea of a government threat?

I can tell you the lace was already full of Federales.. The reason they do not do anything is tat they are scared of starting major problems with the indigenous. If they murder a few God help us the place will blow up .
I saw the news ..let´s see if they can control the bloqueos which by the way are not only done by teachers but by a whole bunch of other people too for various reasons.
Hopefully the CNTE will not get a few people killed so they can call for an uprising..
Hopefully they will start controlling thse guys..it has been gong on for 3 years and enough is enough..

The Federal police has not done anything so far so you can see why people do not really believe a Word of what the press say or what the pólice says..By the way there is a whole contingent of Federales there already.. You can see the planes at the airport. They used to stay in Chiapa de Corzo at the Ceiba and other hotels but the people of Chiapa de Corza kicked them out. I stayed at La Ceiba last week and there was not a trace of the pólice there anymore,.

The CNTE is gearing up and already denouncing all the "crimes" commited by the government of course the CNTE is clean as virgin snow.. Business people and many others are sick of not being able to go freely so this time an intervention may wok.. we will see. Cannot wait to be able to get to the airport without making plans to get stranded somewhere.. There could be a blow up or more of the same... future will tell.

To answer the OP who knows about November...

So happy they have new feds..today some shopping centers in Tuxtla are being blocked and the teachers are charging 50 pesos to go through Ixtapa and Soyala..more extortion from those turkeys.. What the hell are the Feds doing..having lunch?

Thanks for our updates Brigitte. I'll keep checking back..............

I heard the problems with the maestros have been resolved
I donot know if it is correct as I was out of the country..

brigitte wrote:I heard the problems with the maestros have been resolved
I donot know if it is  correct as I was out of the country..

Thanks! I will keep checking before we head there in November. Appreciate your info!

November has awful weather down there, still rains , fog and cold weather. Go with warm clothes. The jungle can be cool and wet too..

Brigitte and Bubba2shoes just arrived in San Cristobal de Las Casas once again after a respite for a few months at our periodic Lake Chapala residence so Bubba will be updating our experiences here both new and in comparison to posts of last year. The state is still in some turmoil with often serious highway blockages by aggrieved groups from teachers to villagers to ypou name it. Chiapas citizens and local and local, federal authorities are pretty relaxed about this. Blockages often cause serious travel delays and sometimes involve minor extortion by blockade participants if one wishes to eventually proceed. These informal tolls are usually just a few pesos. Demonstrations and street disorder can manifest themselves randomly without warning or apparent rational purpose but that is part of the adventure of Chiapas living. More later.

By the way, this time we drove from Lake Chapala to San Cristobal via Puebla, Oaxaca City, Tehuantepec,Oaxaca, Arriaga and Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas rather than through Puebla, Veracruz State and on to Tuxtla. The route through Oaxaca takes longer at present as the new Oaxaca Cty-Tehuantepec autopista has yet to open even though it should open soon and cut the driving time from Oaxaca City to Tehuantapec - a mountainous and curvy undertaking - from about four hours to two hours. After that stretch of road opens, our drive between Lake Chapala and San Cristobal wil probably be our number one choice over Veracruz for several reasons. I'll discuss that further shortly.