Map of Chiapas

Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico.  San Juan Chamula, the center of the original religious persecutions is located in the central highlands, near San Cristobal de las Casas, a Spanish colonial city founded in 1528.

Chenahlo is a county in Chiapas north of Chamula and San Cristobal de las Casas.  San Juan Chamula is the cultural center of the Tzotzil people.  Acteal is where the the infamous massacre of 1997 took place.  The original church and grounds where this occured are still there today, and a memorial and tomb stand there to remember the all the victims and suffering of this atrocity.

The conflicts and hostilities in Chiapas are concentrated in the highlands running from the center to the north and east of the state as indicated below.  San Pedrito is in the lowlands to the west, in a region called the Fraylesca.  This region is far from the hostilities and conflicts of the highlands, and thus very safe. However, the climate and geography is very different from the highlands, and they are in the very small minority in this region. Click here to see maps of San Pedrito.