Abstract

VALLVERDU, Jaume. Religious violence and political conflict in Chiapas, México. Nueva antropol [online]. 2005, vol.20, n.65, pp.55-74. ISSN 0185-0636.

Ever since the middle of the 1970s, the main protagonists in the processes of political conflict and religious violence in Chiapas (Mexico) have been traditionalist catholics, followers of the theology of liberation, protestants or evangelicals and members of millenarian creeds. Their discourses and practices have led to a considerable reworking of the symbols and identity of indigenous communities and have decisively reshaped daily life and sociopolitical organization. The protestant and millenarian faiths in particular have been a constant source of conflicts, migrations and expulsions, not only for reasons of religious dissidence but also because they challenge traditional structures of political and economic control.

Keywords : Theology of liberation; religious believes; indigenous communities.