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Sixth
Declaration of the
Lacandón Jungle
Part One
I. What We Are.[esp
“What We Are” begins with a summary
of why the EZLN rose up in arms eleven and one-half years ago, saying
“Ya Basta!” Written in the “voice” of the indigenous campesinos in
Chiapas, they say: “...we grew tired of exploitation by the powerful,
and then we organized to defend ourselves and to fight
for justice.” They speak of the government sending the Army, bombs,
bullets and planning to kill them all; of their escape and resistance.
They speak of the “people” of Mexico who went into the streets to stop
the bombs and bullets and telling them to dialogue and put aside their
weapons. These were the people they have come to call “civil
societies.” So, they dialogued and reached an agreement with the bad
government people called the San Andrés Accords. They speak of
the Army attack in February, 1995 and the Acteal Massacre; the
intercontinental “encuentros” (gatherings); the march of
the 1,111 to Mexico City in 1997; the Consulta (vote) in 1999
and the “march for indigenous dignity” in 2001. They conclude this part
by speaking of the government’s failure to comply with its word and its
outright betrayal and of the good people they have met during the last
eleven and one-half years.
II. Where We Are Now.
“Where We Are Now” summarizes what
the Zapatistas have done since 2001. In this part they talk about
constructing autonomy and improving their own internal organization;
basically, the changes announced in 2003 with the birth of the
Caracoles and Good Government Juntas. They speak of the increased
separation of the political-military arm from the autonomous and
democratic aspects of organization in the Zapatista communities, of
“governing by obeying,” of the accomplishments of the Juntas, and
conclude by saying that they have come as far as they can alone. They
now believe that they must join with “workers, campesinos,
students, teachers, employees, the workers of the city and countryside.”
PART TWO
III. How We See The World.
Attention all you anti-capitalists
out there! You will love “How We See The World.” It is a scathing
indictment of global capitalism’s exploitation of everyone and
everything around the globe. Here is a clear and concise easily
understood explanation of the evils of the capitalist system. I
recommend that you read PART TWO even if you do not read the others.
You can find it in either English or Spanish (as you can all 3 parts)
at:
IV. How We See Our Country Which Is Mexico
Here, the Zapatistas apply their
analysis of capitalism to Mexico and explain how it has hurt their
homeland. They also observe, however, that there are many in their
country who do not surrender to capitalist globalization; rather, they
resist and rebel.
PART THREE
V. What We Want To Do.
The Zapatistas say they want to
support all those who are fighting and resisting in the world. After
acknowledging the many resistances to neoliberal privatization in Latin
America, the EZLN makes a clear statement of what they want to do:
“What we want to do in Mexico is to make an agreement with people and
organizations just of the Left, because we believe that it is in the
political left where the idea of resisting neoliberal globalization is,
and of making a country where there will be justice, democracy and
liberty for everyone. Not as it is right now, where there is justice
only for the rich, there is liberty only for their big businesses, and
there is democracy only for painting walls with election propaganda.
And because we believe that it is only from the Left that a plan of
struggle can emerge, so that our homeland, which is Mexico, does not
die.”
They hope to develop a “National Program of Struggle” among the people
and organizations of the Left to save Mexico from the neoliberal
politicians.
VI. How We Are Going To Do It.
In this final part of the Sixth
Declaration, the EZLN maintains its commitment to an “offensive
ceasefire,” not to establish any secret relations with
political-military organizations in Mexico or anywhere else in the
world, and to defend, support and obey the communities of which it is
composed.
In the world...
1. Forge new relationships with those who are resisting
and struggling against neoliberalism and for humanity.
2. Send material such as food and handicrafts to those brothers and
sisters from all over the world.
3. Hold another intercontinental encuentro in maybe December or
January.
In Mexico...
1. Fight for all the exploited and dispossessed of
Mexico, including migrants to the United States.
2. Build an anti-capitalist program.
3. Build another way of doing politics in Mexico.
4. Make a new Constitution, new laws which take into account the
demands of the Mexican people which are: housing, land, food, work,
health, education, information, culture, independence, democracy,
justice, liberty and peace. A new Constitution which defends the weak
in the face of the powerful.
THEREFORE, the EZLN will send a delegation of its leadership throughout
national territory to where they are expressly invited and they will
make alliances with non-electoral organizations and movements
specifically defining themselves as being of the Left, not imposed or
negotiated from above but FROM BELOW AND FOR BELOW - to build an
alternative to neoliberalism, a Left alternative for Mexico.
________________________________________________________________
Update: March 27, 2005.
International Women's Day in Chiapas: a report from the Chiapas
Support Committee's March delegation.
From March 3 to 12, 2005 the Chiapas Support Committee’s sixth annual
March delegation toured Chiapas communities and visited nonprofit
organizations working in the state's indigenous communities. We visited
the Caracols located in Oventic and La Garrucha, and the autonomous
municipalities (counties) of San Pedro Polhó and San Manuel, our
sister municipality. We had briefings from Enlace Civil, Ciepac and La
Red de Defensores Comunitarios de Derechos Humanos. We thank the Juntas
de Buen Gobierno (Good Government Juntas) in both Oventic and La
Garrucha for welcoming us to their respective territories, as well as
San Manuel and San Pedro Polho. We likewise thank Enlace Civil, Ciepac
and La Red de Defensores for their excellent briefings. Finally, our
thanks to Dona Rosita for her hospitality and to OTEZ for safe and
friendly transportation. The information in this Update is compiled
from a synthesis of what we learned during our visits and briefings, as
well as from articles in the Chiapas press.
I. San Pedro Polhó - Polhó is an
autonomous municipal headquarters in the Chiapas Highlands (in the
official municipality of Chenalhó) which continues to house
between 5,000 and 6,000 internally displaced refugees who fled from
paramilitary violence in the Chiapas highlands during 1997. This
violence culminated in the massacre of 45 women, men and children in
the nearby village of Acteal on December 22, 1997. We met with several
members of the autonomous council who gave delegates a good summary of
the history of that paramilitary violence and informed all of us that
the current paramilitary group surrounding them is composed of
"Presbyterian members of the PRI" (the political party which held power
for more than 70 years).
Due to this paramilitary activity the refugees are not able to return
to their lands to plant and harvest
crops. Consequently, a massive food shortage has existed for seven
years. The International Commission of the Red Cross assisted with both
food and medicine until December of 2003 when it left for Iraq. Since
then, Polhó has depended on national and international civil
society, as well as the few lands which can safely be farmed, for its
survival. The exit of the Red Cross has also left Polhó without
enough medicine for a population vulnerable to disease because of
malnutrition.
Councilmembers denounced one of the state's local newspapers, Cuarto
Poder, for saying that all the displaced had returned to their
communities of origen. They felt that such propaganda was an added
insult to their already precarious existence.
We received a supplement to the history told by the autonomous council
members
in the far-away autonomous municipality of San Manuel, which is now
home to some who fled the Highlands as refugees. One of them told us of
the paramilitary attack on Acteal. He ended by saying that if he had
not been a Zapatista, he would have been killed during the attack. (We
have been told on more than one occasion from more than one source that
the paramilitaries massacred Las Abejas because they were unable to get
at the Zapatista support bases living there.)
Anyone wishing to help Polhó can contact the Chiapas Support
Committee at:
cezmat@igc.org We continue to support the Polhó refugees and
their woman's weaving cooperative.
II. International Women's Day in La Garrucha - As we
were eating breakfast in an Ocosingo restaurant, a car drove by
announcing a Zapatista Fiesta over a loud speaker. A few hours later,
we arrived in the community of La Garrucha, where one of the five
Zapatista Caracols is located. During our meeting with the Good
Government Junta, we quickly learned that the Junta was indeed
sponsoring a big party to celebrate International Women's Day on March
8.
We also listened to members of the Junta as they first reported that
the entire region was calm and then lamented the fact that the
indigenous communities within their region were divided. They
attributed this division to the government's low-intensity war against
the Zapatistas (which includes propaganda campaigns and economic
assistance programs to buy off families and whole communities). This
was the first time that we had heard this political message from the
Junta, which I interpretaed as one of seeking a reunification of the
indigenous communities within its region.
On March 7, trucks filled with campesinos began to arrive from the four
municipalities in this Tzeltal Jungle Region: Francisco Gómez,
San Manuel, Ricardo Flores Magón and Francisco Villa. Covered
stages for the two bands were constructed on either side of the central
plaza. Soon there were plastic tents sheltering families, basketball
games and bonfires for cooking. A cow was butchered and being prepared.
The peace camp was full.
The two bands began to play on the afternoon of the 7th; corridos,
cumbias and merengue. The rain began to fall as both male and female
insurgentes mingled with civilian support bases. Dancing began in the
evening. The rain began to fall harder and continued through-out the
night, as did the music.
By morning on the 8th, there were thousands of Zapatistas camping in
the center of their Caracol. People were selling food and other
merchandise. We met a woman and her husband who said they had been
homeless (landless) and had just been given land in a new community by
the autonomous council of Ricardo Flores Magón. They were
selling her crafts to raise money to construct a house on their new
piece of land. After the beef soup was served, the dancing began once
again. Undaunted by the light rain, almost everyone was dancing. Many
of the people we talked to emphasized the importance of bringing people
together in these region-wide fiestas. I connected it to the desire for
reunification expressed by the Junta.
III. Health Care Crisis - As we were celebrating
International Women's Day in La Garrucha, a woman was dying in one of
the region's communities because there was no ambulance to take her to
a hospital. Complications developed as she began to give birth and
there was no nearby hospital, clinic or ambulance to care for her. We
learned about this tragedy when we visited San Manuel, our sister
municipality, the day after International Women's Day. We had first
heard a woman express the need for an ambulance in a November training
workshop in San Manuel. Now, members of the autonomous council were
making an official request for one.
The need for emergency medical services is coupled with the lack of
medicine in this region. When the International Red Cross left Chiapas,
it also closed the clinic in San Miguel, not far from La Garrucha and
San Manuel. The clinic had an ambulance with emergency medical
equipment and emergency technicians. It also had medicine. The entire
region is now without basic medicines. Some cases of typhoid and
malaria have been detected and a general health care crisis exists.
IV. Paramilitaries - The issue of paramilitary
activities arose several times during the weeks prior to the
delegation: 1) The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights
Center (FBCCDH) announced that it was filing a petition with the
Interamerican Human Rights Commission against the Mexican government
for human rights violations in the case of the Acteal massacre; and 2)
Chiapas state police used violence to break up a sit-in blocking the
city hall, allegedly involving one faction of the paramilitary group
known as "Paz y Justicia" against another faction. Each was cloaked in
the colors of a political party.
Several NGOs we met with addressed the topic of paramilitaries. We were
told there were three paramilitary groups with strength: 1) Paz y
Justicia; 2) Mascara Roja; and 3) OPDIC. Several others exist without
much strength, such as Los Chinchulines and Los Autenticos Coletos. The
latter has arms but no military training. The state government of
Chiapas had previously denied the existence of paramilitary groups in
the state. However, Governor Pablo Salazar acknowledged the presence of
Paz y Justicia as a paramilitary group after the problems in Tila.
A. The Acteal Massacre Case - On February 9, La
Jornada reported that the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights
Center (Frayba) announced that it was filing a petition (complaint)
with the Interamerican Human Rights Commission (IHRC) against the
federal government of Mexico, alleging that the government bears
responsibility for creating, training and supporting the paramilitary
group, Paz y Justicia, which allegedly committed the massacres in the
Northern Zone of Chiapas between 1995 and 1997. Part of their
allegations are based on the confession of an alleged former military
commander of Paz y Justicia. The petition was actually filed on
February 18, 2005 and reported in the press on February 22, shortly
before we arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas. Frayba filed the
petition jointly with Las Abejas, the Catholic campesino organization
whose members were massacred. Frayba is a human rights organization
sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas,
Chiapas. Retired Bishop Samuel Ruiz is on the Board of Directors.
B. The case of Tila - In the early morning hours of
February 15, 2005, state police vehicles entered the town of Tila for
the purpose of dislodging protesters from their sit-in at city hall.
Apparently, some or all of them were anti-riot police. Dissidents had
been blocking entry to the building since December of last year (2004).
According to news reports, the police arrested more than fifty people
during the eviction and their whereabouts were unknown for several
days. Eye witnesses report that the police kicked in doors to enter
private homes and take out men they wanted to arrest. While inside,
they beat the men and also beat women and children. Residents describe
that helicopters flew overhead dropping tear gas. For several days
after the operation, Tila’s schools and businesses were closed,
residents stayed indoors and more than 100 families fled in fear of
police agents who were patrolling the town.
By the time we arrived in Chiapas thirty of those detained had been
released, including the only Zapatista supporter detained.
The dissidents who blocked entry to city hall were opponents of the new
Tila mayor, elected in October, 2004. The two opposing forces were the
Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI for its initials in
Spanish and the Alianza, an alliance of two opposition parties, the
Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and the Worker’s Party (PT).
Apparently the election was very close and the State Election Tribunal
declared that the Alianza won. However, an appeal by the PRI to the
Federal Election Commission was successful and that body declared the
PRI to be the winner. The sit-in by members of the Alianza began
several days before the new PRI mayor, Juan José Díaz
Solórzano, was to take office on January 1, 2005.
The state government of Chiapas had been negotiating with both sides
from the beginning of the problem. The Alianza demanded power sharing;
i.e., 50% representation on the Municipal Council. Some agreements were
reached, but each side claims the other broke them.
Tila is one of the Chiapas municipalities, or counties, where
paramilitary violence was rampant from 1995 until 2000. During those
years, the paramilitary group Paz y Justicia terrorized the region and
caused at least 100 deaths, numerous disappearances and up to 20,000
displaced indigenous people. Paz y Justicia was allegedly trained by
the military and funded by those in power at the time - the PRI
governments of Ernesto Zedillo at the federal level and Julio Cesar
Ruiz Ferro and Roberto Albores Guillen in Chiapas - as part of the
counterinsurgency campaign against the Zapatista National Liberation
Army (EZLN) and others on the left, including the PRD. Paz y Justicia
was never dismantled or disarmed when the governments changed in
December of 2000. Rather, it began to self-destruct, eventually
splitting into two factions, one faction calling itself the Union of
Indigenous, Farming and Forest Communities (UCIAF, for its initials in
Spanish). The other remained Paz y Justicia.
The governor of Chiapas, Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, was cited in
La Jornada as alleging that the two factions of Paz y Justicia were
behind the current political conflict in Tila. He claimed that one
faction (the UCIAF) sought power using the PRI as a vehicle while the
faction still calling itself Paz y Justicia was using the Alianza to
seek power. There was an inference that all those arrested were members
of Paz y Justicia, a claim denied by both the Bishop of San
Cristóbal and the wives of those detained. It appears those
detained were mostly members of the PRD, although Samuel Sánchez
Sánchez, a founder of Paz y Justicia and now a leader in the
UCIAF, has also been detained.
What is of particular significance is that for more than three years
Salazar’s Chiapas government of change has denied that paramilitaries
exist within the state. Perhaps the recent confessions of a former Paz
y Justicia comandante, made public by the Fray Bartolomé de las
Casas Human Rights Center have forced the state government to confront
reality. These confessions form part of the basis for the Human Rights
Center’s recent complaint against former officials of the Mexican
government filed with the Interamerican Human Rights Commission, a
commission of the Organization of American States (OAS).
BY: Mary Ann Tenuto Sanchez
March 17, 2005
please feel free to address questions about this report to Mary Ann at:
cezmat@igc.org
Details on the Acteal case are available on the Fray Bartolome de las
Casas Human Rights Center's webpage at:
http://www.laneta.apc.org/cdhbcasas/
The same site contains information about the violence in Tila.
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The Zapatistas Construct Another World
by Mary Ann Tenuto Sanchez. Aug. 12, 2004
On January 1, 2004, the
Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN or Zapatistas) and their
supporters around the world commemorated the tenth anniversary
of the Zapatista Uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. Rebel Magazine, a monthly
magazine of Zapatista thought published in Mexico, promoted a global
campaign of festivities in honor of that anniversary, as well as the
twentieth anniversary of the founding of the rebel organization on
November 17, 1983. As this double anniversary occasions many important
articles of analysis remembering EZLN history and the significance of
the Uprising, it is useful to look at what the Zapatista communities
are actually constructing inside their autonomous regions: an
alternative to neoliberalism. They are constructing another world.
Although the construction of
this other world began soon after the 1994 Uprising, it became more
apparent with the major policy statements made in July and August of
2003. This other world is based upon civilian, regional, indigenous
self-government (autonomy) and collective work for the community.
In July of 2003, Subcomandante
Marcos, the eloquent spokesperson for the Zapatistas, informed the
world of major internal organizational changes, the goal of which is to
strengthen and advance autonomy (self-government) and to implement the
San Andres Accords. Those Accords were the result of an initial peace
agreement between the EZLN and the Mexican government on how to
harmonize self-governing
indigenous regions within the Mexican state. Unfortunately, the Mexican
Congress did not implement the full agreement into law, so the
Zapatistas are de facto implementing the San Andres Accords within
their territory--autonomy without permission.
The EZLN announced the creation
of five centers of autonomous, regional civil government. This involved
a change in the name of those centers from Aguascalientes to Caracols
(conch shells). It also involved the creation of autonomous, regional
governance structures called Juntas de Buen Gobierno (Good Government
Committees). The Zapatistas refer to them simply as Juntas.
The Juntas are composed of
representatives from each autonomous county within the region.
Autonomous counties were initiated soon after the Uprising. They are
composed of Zapatista supporters who live in resistance to the local,
state and federal governments. The autonomous counties democratically
elect their own autonomous county councils to carry out the usual
functions of local government: recording births, marriages and deaths;
obtaining development projects; constructing schools and clinics, etc.
They also have a judicial function: dispute resolution.
The autonomous county councils
resolve disputes which arise within Zapatista counties between members
of the organization. They also attempt to resolve disputes between
Zapatistas and non-Zapatistas within their territory. This latter
function has caused friction between Zapatistas and anti-Zapatistas. It
is important to note here
that many non-Zapatistas have accepted the role of the autonomous
councils. The anti-Zapatistas are those with an axe to grind, such as
paramilitaries, quasi-paramilitaries and those at the service of local
politicians and cattle ranchers.
Other problems between the
autonomous counties themselves have been the unequal distribution of
economic support from civil society and the imposition of projects by
some international aid organizations. The Juntas were created, in part,
to address these problems and inequities.
On a recent fact-finding trip,
this writer met with the Good Government Junta based in the community
of La Garrucha. Its chairperson stated that its functions were
equitable distribution of economic solidarity, resolving complaints of
human rights abuse, and resolving disputes between people in different
autonomous counties.
The chairperson explained that
cases were initiated by someone who believes he/she has been wronged or
cases are referred by the local courts in the official government
county. In other words, the Juntas provide an alternative court system
to that of the constitutional state government and, amazingly,
according to the Junta and several experts, the local branches of the
state government are cooperating!
Cases heard by the Juntas are
free to all parties and hearings are conducted in the local indigenous
language. This contrasts sharply with the state courts which cost lots
of money (graft) and are conducted in Spanish and legalese. Many
indigenous people in Chiapas do not speak Spanish at all and certainly
not well enough to understand a court proceeding. Nor does the average
indigenous campesino understand the legal system. Therefore, in order
to pursue a case in a local court, indigenous people must pay the fees
and hire a lawyer and also an interpreter. There are few indigenous
peasants who can afford these costs. Consequently, most indigenous
people do not have access to the state courts for resolving problems,
and unresolved problems can escalate into violence. The reduction of
violence may motivate the present-day cooperation of the local courts
while a justice system conducted in their own language, free of charge
and free of racism is a strong motivation for the average peasant with
a grievance to use the Juntas.
An alternative system of
justice necessarily raises the question of what rules or laws form the
basis for decision making. An autonomous council president explained it
perfectly: "We resolve problems according to indigenous justice, not
according to money like they do in Ocosingo" (where the government
courts are located). The new Juntas rely on traditional indigenous
concepts of justice to resolve disputes just as the autonomous councils
have been doing for at least five years.
It became apparent during my
interviews that there is another dimension to the Good Government
Juntas: territorial control. The Juntas want to know what is going on
within what they consider Zapatista territory. This derives directly
from the San Andres Accords which granted a degree of territorial
control to indigenous peoples throughout Mexico. The Juntas expect all
those doing business inside their territory to obtain permission from
the Junta for their activities. One means of doing this is through the
appellate function of the Juntas. A conflict which remains unresolved
at the autonomous
council level can be taken up by the Juntas, thereby enforcing
requirements and/or decisions of the autonomous councils within the
region.
In several instances where
anti-Zapatista groups have threatened the Juntas with violence, the
state government has intervened so as to prevent violence. The
assertion of territorial control over businesspeople, transport
companies, construction companies and anti-Zapatistas will continue to
present challenges to the Juntas as long as the Mexican Congress fails
to convert the San Andres Accords into law.
Despite these challenges, the
Juntas represent a significant step in converting the regional
administration of justice and territory from the EZLN military
structure to an EZLN civilian structure. It is sometimes difficult for
observers of the Zapatista movement to separate the civilian side of
the EZLN from the military side. According to Marcos, this will become
easier because the lines will no longer cross. The military's function
will be the protection of the civilian population and will no longer be
involved in civilian functions.
Overseeing the distribution of
economic solidarity and approving projects by national and
international organizations present challenges. The Zapatista
communities are developing an indigenous economy, often referred to as
a solidarity economy or campesino economy by those advocates of
constructing another world. It is referred to here as an indigenous
economy because it is rooted in an indigenous tradition of peasant
farmers, an indigenous emphasis on the primary importance of community,
and on a traditional practice of working collectively for the
community.
The 1994 Uprising claimed
thousands of acres of former cattle ranches as Zapatista territory. The
need for land was a major reason for the rebellion, just as defending
themselves against armed aggression by cattle ranchers was a motive for
arming themselves. The land taken by the Zapatistas ("recovered land")
has been settled by Zapatistas from other communities in need of land.
New communities were founded with just a piece of land (no water
supply, no electricity, no houses, no schools, clinics or stores). The
rather awesome task of the autonomous councils was and still is to
develop these services. This has been accomplished by means of projects
by nongovernmental organizations: water projects, ongoing training of
health promoters and education promoters (teachers) and economic
support from civil society (the construction of schools, clinics and
collective stores). Other projects have included coffee cooperatives,
weaving cooperatives, blacksmith shops, shoemaking shops, organic
vegetable gardens, bread-baking cooperatives, cafes and even the
reproduction of their music on CDs and cassettes. Nevertheless, the
communities must be able to create a commerce of their own, independent
of outside economic support. They must be able to generate funds to
maintain the autonomous councils and to buy supplies for their schools
and medicine for their clinics.
One proposal for generating
profits is the construction of at least ten warehouses throughout
Zapatista territory. These warehouses would buy necessities wholesale
rather than through a middleman and then sell to the community stores
at a small profit. This would generate the funds necessary for the
daily maintenance of autonomous institutions. Eventually, the
warehouses could purchase products from their region for trade with
other regions and would be in a position to seek markets for their
products. The labor of the warehouse workers is labor donated to the
autonomous county, that is, collective work. The warehouse project is
already under way in several regions.
Another world is not generated
overnight. One autonomous council president told us that the name of
the cooperative coffee shop in his community is Smaliyel. That means
"slow going" in the Tzeltal Maya language. They chose that name because
progress is made slowly. What is important is that several hundred
thousand Zapatistas have begun the process of constructing their own
world with cultural values opposed to those of neoliberalism.
(This article appeared in the
Spring, 2004 edition of Left Turn magazine. It gives a good summary of
what is taking place inside the civilian Zapatista communities as they
construct autonomy. It is also available in Spanish. )
_______________________________________________________________
Zapatistas
Retake
the
Political
Stage
in
Mexico
by Mary
Ann Tenuto Sanchez, Sept. 26, 2003.
Chiapas Support Committee
What do a pink shoe with a
stiletto heel and five conch shells have to do with the Zapatista Army
of National Liberation's (EZLN's) latest initiative to recapture
political space in Mexico for the indigenous movement? Stay tuned for
the answer from that master of prose, rebellion, and public relations
himself, Subcomandante Marcos (aka "the Sup").
The comunicados began flooding our email bins in mid-July. First, an
announcement by the commanders that Marcos would be temporarily
speaking for the 30 autonomous municipalities. Next, a few brief
statements on the international, national, and local political scene
and two bold announcements: 1) that the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) would
not be permitted in Zapatista territory; and 2) that the Zapatistas
would implement the San Andres Accords without the government's
permission.
Then came the announcement of a death. Marcos didn't say who or what
was about to die and left us worrying whether the Sup was gravely ill.
He kept us hanging until the next day when we learned that the five
Aguascalientes had received the death sentence. We waited yet another
day to find out that those same five communities (Oventic, Morelia, La
Garrucha, La Realidad and Roberto Barrios) would die in order to be
reborn as Caracoles (conch shells). Conch shells? Spirals that lead to
the heart.
Rather than the political support, dignity, and respect the communities
deserve, Marcos said, they have received many cast-off items from
modern industrial societies: one pink shoe with a stiletto heel, old
computers that don't work, expired medicines, and inappropriate
(useless) clothing. He characterized this charity, which was delivered
to the five Aguascalientes, where it remains unusable, as the
"Cinderella Syndrome." Marcos also reported that the Aguascalientes
experienced the imposition of unnecessary projects by some nonprofit
organizations.
The death of the Aguascalientes signifies the end of their acceptance
of such charity and imposed projects. The Caracoles will no longer
accept cast-off items or imposed projects. Rather, they expect dignity,
respect, and political support.
Since 1996, the five Aguascalientes functioned as spaces where civil
society could meet and dialogue with the Zapatistas. They also served
as training and cultural centers for communities in the region. The
Caracoles will continue to perform those functions as well as some
additional ones.
Building the Material Conditions for Resistance
In a communique entitled "A History," Marcos evaluated the progress
made by the autonomous municipalities over the last seven years, a very
practical and down-to-earth assessment of the current situation in the
communities. He praised them for the important advances they made in
such high-priority areas as health care and education, with the support
of civil society (that's us). Marcos reminded us that resistance means
great material sacrifice for the communities because they will accept
nothing from the "bad government" (mal gobierno).
Progress has taken place "under conditions of extreme poverty,
shortages, and technical and information limitations . . . ," he
continued. "Its having managed to survive under conditions of
persecution, harassment, and poverty that have rarely existed in the
history of the world speaks to the fact that [autonomous government]
has benefited the communities." Marcos recognized that, with support
from civil society, the autonomous councils have carried on the labor
of building the material conditions for resistance. However, he said,
the development of these autonomous municipalities has not been equal.
The inequality had been caused by several factors: 1) the autonomous
municipalities (counties) in which the Aguascalientes were located have
tended to receive more attention and more economic support from civil
society than other municipalities; and 2) those
autonomousmunicipalities which are easy to reach have also received
more economic support and thus are more developed. The resulting
inequality in development is unfair and causes friction between
communities and between autonomous municipalities.
The success of the autonomous councils in dealing with conflicts
between Zapatista communities and nonZapatista communities got mixed
reviews. Thus, the new plan to remedy the inequalities: Good Government
Committees (Juntas de Buen Gobierno or, simply, Juntas).
These are juntas of good government in contrast to the "bad government"
of Mexico (as the Zapatistas usually refer to it). The Juntas will take
on the duties of distributing economic solidarity and projects in an
equitable manner throughout their region. They will also resolve
disputes which cannot be resolved locally. They will regulate who
enters and leaves their region. Marcos put it this way:
"The Caracoles will be like doors for going into the communities and
for the communities to leave. Like windows for seeing us and for us to
look out. Like speakers for taking our word afar and for listening to
what is far away. But, most especially, for reminding us that we should
stay awake and be alert to the rightness of the worlds which people the
world."
The Juntas will be composed of one or more representatives from each
autonomous municipality within the jurisdiction of each Caracol, in
other words, regional self-government. A bold move, which takes
autonomy to another level and places it on the national agenda once
again. Suddenly, Mexican newspapers were full of articles pro and con
the new Zapatista initiative on autonomy and the legality of its Juntas
(or lack thereof). Mexico City's progressive daily, La Jornada, called
it "autonomy without permission."
The Political Context
Many of the problems this initiative addresses have been around for a
while. Those of us who travel to Chiapas frequently (and have learned
to listen and see) have observed the unequal development, imposed
projects, and useless cast-off items for some time. So the logical
question is, Why has the EZLN waited until now to launch their new
initiative?
We have only to look at the election debacle of July 6 of this year for
the answer. Mexican voters expressed themselves by abstaining from
voting. Nearly 60 percent failed to vote. In Chiapas, the rate of
abstention was close to 70 percent, a negative referendum on the failed
promises of the Fox presidency. The PAN (Fox's political party) lost
seats in the Chamber of Deputies whereas both the PRI and the PRD
gained.
There is much talk about the inability of Fox to govern for the
remaining three years of his term. A political power vacuum results.
Enter Marcos, the EZLN, and the autonomous communities to fill that
vacuum, reopening space for the issue of indigenous autonomy. The
Zapatistas are reuniting the nation's majority, which supported them on
the March of Indigenous Dignity during February-March of 2001. They
invited civil society to three days of fiestas in Oventic this past
August 8, 9, and 10 to commemorate the death of the Aguascalientes and
the birth of the Caracoles. Indigenous peoples from all over Mexico, as
well as some campesino organizations, the press, and civil society,
attended. An estimated 15,000 or more greeted this new phase of EZLN
resistance to globalization and bad government.
Warning Issued to Paramilitary Leaders: 2 for 1
Marcos reported that the activity of paramilitary gangs has increased
in Chiapas, especially in Los Altos (The Highlands). Once again, these
gangs are threatening attacks against Acteal and Polho similar to the
Acteal massacre of December 1997. Marcos put the paramilitary leaders
on notice that there will be no impunity for them if they attack. He
stated that for every Zapatista killed, the EZLN will kill two
paramilitaries, his point being that this time the paramilitaries will
suffer the consequences of their actions.
In his letter to the festival in Oventic, Marcos spelled out very
clearly that the autonomous municipalities and Good Government Juntas
will have autonomy from the EZLN's military structure. Members of the
military will no longer perform police functions, like maintaining
checkpoints and collecting taxes from individuals. Therefore, all
checkpoints and tax collections will be terminated immediately. This
announcement was well received by the mainstream media and the
government, a good public relations move by the EZLN, interpreted by
some as a signal for peace and dialogue. Marcos said clearly that the
military's role would be to defend the communities.
Plan La Realidad to Tijuana (Plan RealiTi)
Interspersed among the practical matters of moving toward regional
autonomy, Marcos repeated his scathing critique of the Plan
PueblaPanama (PPP), that ill-fated plan by the Fox administration to
"develop" the infrastructure of indigenous Mexico, not for indigenous
people but to accommodate transnational corporations and the FTAA. The
Sup boldly
announced that the PPP would not be permitted in Zapatista lands. He
also predicted that all the resistance movements throughout Mexico and
Central America had already doomed any attempt to implement the PPP.
The comunicado on this issue is worth reading for his critique of "big
capital."
A big surprise came when Marcos announced the Plan La RealidadTijuana
(Plan RealiTi). This plan involves linking all the resistance movements
in Mexico and together rebuilding the country from below. And . . . the
Zapatistas have four more plans to deal with the rest of the world,
including the U.S. and Canada!
In connection with globalization, an announcement was made during the
Oventic fiesta that the Zapatista word would travel to Cancun in
mid-September for the WTO gatherings.
Conclusion
We congratulate the Zapatistas on this advance in their construction of
indigenous autonomy. A Chiapas Support Committee delegation will
deliver our congratulations in person to the Caracol of La Garrucha
when we travel into the river valleys of the Lacandon. We will be
asking the questions everyone has about what the reorganization means
to those of us in civil society. Join us on our October 5 to October 12
delegation
to Chiapas, and help construct the material conditions for resistance.
Call (510) 6549587 or email: cezmat@igc.org
Note: All the EZLN's comunicados can be read in Spanish at:
www.ezlnaldf.org and in English at:
www.eco.utexas.edu/facstaff/Cleaver/aguascalientes.html.
_______________________________________________________
The War in Chiapas: CSC
delegation report (March, 2003)
Military
Situation.
There is a war in Chiapas. It is called a "low-intensity" war. It is a
war directed at the civilian population. From time-to-time orchestrated
violence breaks out. All is watched and controlled by the Mexican
Army's estimated 70,000+plus troops stationed throughout the EZLN zone
of influence. We saw troops everywhere we went: on the main highway
between San Cristobal and Ocosingo, on the dirt road into the Las Tasas
Canyon, on the road into the Patihuitz Canyon and on the mountain road
that passes the entrance to Polho.
They were "on patrol." The entire countryside is dotted with military
camps and bases of various sizes, beginning with the gigantic
olive-green 39th Military headquarters across the road from the Tonina
Ruins and the community of Jerusalen. They watch, harass and frighten
civilian Zapatista supporters. They protect and coordinate with the
paramilitary groups.
Paramilitary Situation.
The paramilitary groups do the dirty work for the government and the
Mexican Army. When violence is planned, it is the paramilitaries who do
it. They have complete impunity. In the Northern Zone, the autonomous
counties do not publicly announce themselves for fear of attack by
Development, Peace and Justice, ironically the name of a large
paramilitary group. In the canyons east of Ocosingo, some counties do
not publicly announce the name of the county seat for fear of
paramilitary reprisal. County headquarters are rotated. Communities
protect themselves by close coordination and cooperation/ support in
the event of an attack and with denuncias (public announcements) of
paramilitary activity. They stressed the importance of international
observers in their peace camps and of international civil society
distributing information about events in Chiapas.
We learned that the paramilitary group MIRA has disappeared because,
according to the companeros, civil society found out about it and it
was denounced. It has been replaced with a new paramilitary group, the
Opdic, which operates in the canyons of the Lacandon Jungle. The Opdic
is said to be responsible for several of the attacks last July-August.
We also learned that it is growing and spreading throughout the canyons
east of Ocosingo. According to the companeros and the Mexico City
newspaper La Jornada, the Opdic is organized and financed by the
Municipal president of Ocosingo, Omar Burguete and by Pedro Chulin, a
delegate to the state Congress from a district in Ocosingo county (the
largest in terms of square miles in Mexico).
Autonomy
Although the Mexican Congress and Supreme Court have refused to
implement the San Andres Accords into law, the Zapatista communities in
Chiapas have constructed autonomy on their own. They have developed a
structure of self governance based on their cultural values and on the
principles of their resistance against neo- liberalism and a "bad
government." They elect their own authorities who in turn implement
programs for autonomous education and health. They construct schools,
libraries, health clinics and begin to develop an autonomous economy.
They face many obstacles: lack of money, inability of many to read and
write, lack of transportation, lack of medicine, etc. They know it will
take a long time to accomplish all they hope for, but they are
diligently working on it.
Polhó Refugee Camp
There are still many refugees from the "low-intensity" warfare. 8,000
are in the autonomous refugee camp of Polho, possibly
the world's only entirely self-managed refugee camp. They are
in resistance. One of the leaders told us that they will not sell out
by returning to their villages of origin while there are still
paramilitaries there. They were critical of those who did return.
As I emerged from the van at Polho, trucks full of soldiers were no
more than 15 feet away on the road, glaring at me and at those guarding
the entrance to the refugee camp. The patrols were frequent. The
military camp is adjacent to Polho. It is active and menacing.
Lack of food is a problem for everyone in the community of Polho. The
International Red Cross has reduced the amount of food aid to 25% of
the minimum daily requirement. To that amount is added the food from
those fields which it is safe for some of the refugees to work plus the
money contributed by national and international civil society. There is
hunger there. It seems to me that the refugees are the responsibility
of all of us.
We were shocked to hear that the Mexican Red Cross, which is supposed
to be providing health care to the county, developed a little housing
project which was for PRI families (read paramilitaries) in other
communities and they are using it to divide communities. The
paramilitaries have been given 1,000 tons of building materials
(gravel, cement, wood, tin roofs).
Montes Azules - Mesoamerican Biological Corridor-Mexico.
The threat of eviction looms heavy over the indigenous communities
settled inside the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. Towards the end of
our delegation, Global Exchange took a group of NGO workers and press
people for a flight over the area and a visit to several communities.
Their report confirmed all we have previously said about the phony
"green" reasons being but an excuse to evict troublesome indigenous
communities in the way of corporate exploitation of the rainforest.
They echoed our criticisms of Conservation International's (CI's)
position on this matter. We applaud their work. The more voices that
are added to the critique of what is really happening in the Montes
Azules the better.
In one of our informational briefings we were told that one of the
things CI is doing in the Montes Azules is catching butterflies to send
to a tourist park in Cancun. They also send fungi and orchids to the
U.S.
Both before and after the delegation, several of us met with friends in
Tuxtla Gutierrez, where we discussed the Mesoamerican Biological
Corridor-Mexico (MBC-M). In the opinion of these folks there is no
doubt that it is being used for counterinsurgency purposes. The
reserves of El Triunfo and the Chimilapas are home to the EPR and both
EZLN and EPR respectively. Civilian communities supportive of these
groups live inside the reserves. The Montes Azules is only the first
biosphere reserve to be threatened with evictions.
Jerusalen/Rancho Esmeralda.
While several of us were en route to Chiapas, EZLN bases of support
surrounded Rancho Esmeralda, the now notorious "ecotourism" ranch owned
by a couple of U.S. citizens. Zapatistas took control of the property
several weeks after it was abandoned by the owners, who remain in
Chiapas and talk to the press, U.S. government representatives, and to
representatives of the Chiapas government regularly. We did not detect
much sympathy for them among Chiapanecos. They are asking the Chiapas
government to indemnify them in the amount of $5,000,000.00 pesos
($500,000.00 U.S. dollars). The governor has refused.
This is a difficult subject to discuss because we do not have the
benefit of the EZLN's word on this. They are completely silent on this
subject. However, some information was published in La Jornada and the
local Chiapas papers while we were there. The essence of the published
information is that a top-level Israeli military official was the
leader of the "eco-tourist" group that caused the problem last
December. The group is known to have ties to the Guatemalan military
and it is suspected that they brought arms with them as well as
satellite telecommunications equipment. They must have been seen as a
threat to civilian Zapatista bases of support in Jerusalen, so the road
through Jerusalen was closed to further Rancho Esmeralda "eco-tourists."
The remainder of our experience was a mix of serious interviews and
celebrations in autonomous communities. We are producing a video on
that part of our trip for presentation at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105
Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, on April 9 at 7:30 PM.
______________________________________________________
* The Chiapas Support Committee's (CSC) 4th Annual Delegation for
International Women's Week began on March 2 when all eleven delegates
gathered in San Cristobal de las Casas Chiapas, Mexico. We were 7 from
the Greater Bay Area (6 from Oakland), 1 from Davis, California and 3
from Germany.
During the 9-day delegation we received excellent informational
briefings from Enlace Civil, the Coordinator of Civil Society in
Resistance and the awesome research center, CIEPAC. We traveled to four
communities in the canyons east of Ocosingo (where the U.S. State
Department advises us not to go), spending four days and three nights
there. We had formal meetings with autonomous authorities in two
communities and chatted informally in others. In addition, we visited
the archaeological ruins of Tonina, celebrated International Women's
Day (a day late) at a fiesta given for us by the women's collective
store in the community of San Jose and ended the delegation with a
visit to the Polhó refugee camp on March 10. A very full
itinerary and an amazing experience. Below we summarize what we learned
about the general situation.
For more information about Chiapas, the La Pena program or about future
delegations to Chiapas, please contact us.
___________________________________
CNC Activity
(REPORT
from
CHIAPAS
-
PART
3)
The
CNC
is
a
national
peasant
organization affiliated with the Partido
Revolucionario Institutional (PRI), the ruling party in Mexico and
Chiapas until the elections of 2000. The PRI still controls the
enormous county of Ocosingo. It soon became apparent that the CNC
members in La Providencia were interested in more than just having some
land. Some of them, Los Lecheros, were one of the groups which
pretended to leave the Zapatistas and faked turning in their weapons to
former Governor Roberto Albores Guillén. Around the same time
(1999) this group began to provoke the Zapatistas by making false
reports to the police and causing the wrongful detention of one of the
Zapatistas. Moreover, they entered Zapatista houses.....
See
story
Mexican
Human
Rights
Lawyer
Is
Killed
A
winner of Amnesty International's Enduring Spirit Award, had been
menaced by death threats for years, often in notes devised from
newspaper clippings that appeared under her door. In 1999, she was
kidnapped and beaten. Two months later, she was tied, blindfolded and
tortured in her home for nine hours. No arrests were made in the
attacks.........
See
story
Report on Chiapas - Parts
1
&
2
Chiapas state elections & Francisco
Gómez
".....it was clear that the PRI
remained the majority party. [Later results showed that the PRI was
indeed the #1 favorite of the people who bothered to vote, with the PRD
a distant second and the PAN (Fox’s party) third.] The PRI will have a
majority of deputies in the state Congress and maintains control of a
majority of the municipal governments. A big surprise was that a
previously unheard of party, the PAS, won control of San
Cristóbal municipal government. It is rumored that the PAS was
founded by a rich conservative (redundant?), but who knows!
Pérez López and Morales Ramírez shared
the analysis that there was one crystal clear message to be learned
from this year’s election: if you want to beat the PRI, you must do so
in alliance with other parties..."
See
story
Worsening situation of
internally displaced Chiapas refugees & threats from paramilitaries
against Zapatista bases of support.
"We Will Die of Hunger Without Red Cross Committee Aid." Say
Chenalhó Displaced Elio Henríquez, correspondent San
Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.
Indigenous from the municipality of Chenalhó, displaced from
their communities, asked the International Committee of the Red Cross
(CICR) to reconsider its decision to reduce their humanitarian aid
deliveries because, if they do not, "we are going to die of hunger...."
See
story
Brief Background on Chiapas
The EZLN.
On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)
declared war against the Mexican government by seizing the four largest
municipal governments in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The EZLN, or
Zapatistas as they are often called, is composed largely of indigenous
Mayan campesinos. Their demands include land, housing, food, schools,
health care, roads, electricity, safe drinking water, and democratic
elections.
After thirteen days of fighting, a fragile truce was called by the
government. Peace talks resulted in an initial agreement on Indigenous
Rights and Culture in February, 1996. (This agreement is referred to as
the "San Andres Accords.") Additional talks were called off in
September of that year when the government failed to implement the
agreement it signed. In November, 1996 all parties to the peace talks
agreed to language for implementing the initial accords into law. The
president of Mexico refused to sign the language to which his own
negotiators agreed. No talks have been held since.
Meanwhile, the government has implemented a strategy of
"low-intensity warfare" against civilian communities supportive of the
Zapatista demands. This includes sending 70,000 military troops to
Chiapas (a state with only 3.2 million people), allowing paramilitary
groups to terrorize with impunity, and the military occupation of
civilian communities.
This strategy culminated in the brutal Christmas Eve massacre
of 45 women, children and men, as they prayed in the chapel of a
refugee camp in a village of Acteal, Chiapas. Military and paramilitary
violence has driven 19,500 indigenous people into makeshift refugee
camps where they lack food, shelter, medicine and safe drinking water.
The hunger in these camps is now combined with a critical food shortage
caused by this year's severe drought. We also work directly with
indigenous communities.
A New President.
On Dec. 1,
2001, Vicente Fox became the President of Mexico. His election
represented a change in political party for the first time in more than
70 years. He is a member of the conservative National Action Party
(PAN). Fox immediately indicated that he wanted to resume peace talks
with the EZLN and sent the Cocopa Initiative to Congress. The
Zapatistas set three conditions for returning to the talks and
announced the March to Mexico City to address the Mexican Congress
regarding the passage of the Cocopa Initiative. The three conditions
were: 1) Implementation of the Cocopa Initiative into law; 2) Release
of all Zapatista political prisoners; and 3) withdrawal of the Army
from seven of the many military camps in the zone of conflict. None
have been fully complied with.
The March to Mexico City.
The March began in Chiapas on Feb. 24, 2001. It passed through 9 nine
states of Mexico, participated in the National Indiginous Congress and
arrived in the Zocalo of Mexico City on March 10, 2001. There were
between 200,000 and 250,000 people awaiting the 24 comandantes (commanders)
in
the
Zocalo.
The Mexican Congress.
A delegation
of 4 civilian commanders addressed the Mexican Congress on March 28,
2001, advocating for the passage of the Cocopa Initiative. Their
historic presence was in spite of intense opposition from PAN
legislators, a
rather ominous sign.
In April 2001, the Congress passed a watered-down version of
the Cocopa Initiative, leading one Mexican newspaper to label it
"Cocopa Light." The legislation failed to recognize indigenous lands
and territories or recognize their right to autonomy. The Zapatistas
rejected it, withdrew their government liaison and broke off all formal
contact with the Fox government. The majority of the states approved
the constitutional change, in spite of fierce opposition. More than 300
appeals were filed with the Mexican Supreme Court which has yet to
rule. A case was also filed before the International Labor
Organization, a United Nations organization.
The Current Situation.
After the
states approved the constitutional changes, Fox signed then into law.
Additional troops were sent to Chiapas, paramilitary groups resurfaced
and low-intensity warfare resumed against Zapatista civialian
communities. The current estimate is that there are 80,000 soldiers in
Chiapas.
Analysis.
Although
conservatives claim "constitutional concerns," it is widely accepted
that the reason the Cocopa initiative was not approved has more to do
with economic interests. Transnational corporations and the
governments which they influence are anxious to exploit the abundant
natural resources of Chiapas like oil, biodiversity, water and
fertile land. The Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) is just beginning to develop
the basic infrastructure (roads, ports, dams, railroads, privatization
of communal land, etc.) needed for monocrop agriculture, biotech
research, "eco-tourism," and the maquiladora industry. This
necessitates violent clashes between the governments and many
indigenous communities which have vowed to resist. (For further
introductory information on Chiapas, see Earth Island Journal's
report
on Chiapas. Another independent report is available
here.)
How You Can Help.
The
indigenous people of Chiapas need support form the international
community in various ways: 1) International human right observers in
Chiapas peace camps; 2) political support such as letters to the
Mexican Consulates, U.S. politicians, demonstrations, etc; and/or, 3)
Financial support. For more information, call the Chiapas Support
Committee at: (510) 654-9587.
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