Mexican authorities have charged a village mayor and member of the ruling political party with murder following the massacre of 45 villagers in the southern state of Chiapas earlier this week.

The public prosecutor said the mayor allegedly provided the weapons that were used in Monday's slaughter.

Jacinto Arias Cruz and 23 supporters from villages near Acteal, a highland Maya hamlet in southern Mexico, were formally charged on Saturday night with homicide, causing injuries and illegal association.

They were taken to a prison in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez.

A candle is laid in memory of a victim

An official with the federal attorney general's office, Jose Luis Ramos Rivera, said Arias Cruz lied to investigators about his knowledge of the massacre.

He said Arias Cruz said he learned of the massacre on Tuesday, but an entry in a notebook dated Monday recorded the killing of the villagers.

Mr Rivera also said Arias Cruz tried to cover up the massacre, bringing together the participants and briefing them on what to tell authorities.

Number of accused grows

Sixteen other people were formally charged on Friday, bringing to 40 the total number of villagers from Chenalho County under arrest for the massacre.

Masked gunmen wearing uniforms stormed the village of Acteal on Monday, methodically gunning down villagers - mostly women and children - with weapons ranging from .22-caliber rifles to AK-47s. Thirty-one people were injured in the attack.

The massacre has outraged Mexicans and brought calls for the resignation of the state governor, the interior secretary, even President Ernesto Zedillo.

Damaging allegations could hurt PRI

The BBC Correspondent in Mexico City, Emma Patterson, says the reason for the attack is still unclear.

State governor Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro

Mexican authorities say it was the tragic result of a local dispute between villages competing for land. But survivors and human rights activists argue that the attack was carried out by well-armed pro-government paramilitaries, who want to strengthen the ruling party's control in the region.

The arrest of the local mayor appears to substantiate survivors' claims.

The federal government has not yet made a statement about the arrest.
 

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