From Fire to Autonomy: Zapatistas, 20 Years of Walking Slowly
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http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/21427-from-fire-to-autonomy-zapatistas-20-years-of-walking-slowly
From Fire to Autonomy: Zapatistas, 20 Years of Walking Slowly
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Speaking in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico, on a cold drizzly New Year's Eve, the Zapatista Comandante Hortensia addressed the crowd: "Twenty-five or 30 years ago we were completely deceived, manipulated, subjugated, forgotten, drowned in ignorance and misery." She was communicating the official words of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) on the 20th anniversary of their rebellion, when thousands of indigenous people rose up in arms, took over dozens of major towns and villages in this southern state, and declared "enough is enough, never again will there be a homeland that doesn't include us."
Comandante Hortensia went on to explain how over the past two decades, they have constructed their own autonomous government, complete with their own health and education system, based in the indigenous traditions of their ancestors. Despite the continual efforts of the "neoliberal bad government" to displace them from their land, the Zapatistas have successfully recuperated thousands of acres of land on which they have constructed communities that are governed "from the bottom up."
The Mexican government has attempted to introduce social programs with the goal of co-opting and dividing the indigenous population in Zapatista areas. However, the indigenous rebels, who reject all forms of government handouts, have successfully resisted co-optation. If you ask a Zapatista how many are in the ranks, they will just respond "somos un chingo," which loosely translates into "there are a whole lot of us." Official estimates put their numbers at 250,000 people or roughly 10 percent of the population of the state of Chiapas.
Zapatista communities are spread throughout the large southern Mexican state of Chiapas, which includes coastal, mountainous and jungle regions. They have created five Caracoles, which are the centers of "good government" and points of coordination for the Zapatista health clinics, schools, community banks and independent media projects.
Resistance to NAFTA, the Death of the Mexican Farmer
On January 1, 1994, the NAFTA free trade agreement entered Mexico with vigor, promising foreign investment and economic prosperity at the expense of the plunder of natural resources. NAFTA is largely credited for flooding the Mexican market with subsidized corn from the United States, which decimated farmers' livelihoods and provoked massive migration to the United States. Two years prior to NAFTA's implementation, former President Carlos Salinas opened the floodgates to land privatization by reforming Article 27, which had protected communally owned land known as ejidos, created during the Mexican revolution. Thus, the introduction of NAFTA provided the perfect context for the uprising of the indigenous guerillas who formed the EZLN.
However, the 1994 uprising was not a spontaneous endeavor. Twenty years before, Marxist-inspired guerillas arrived in the Lacandon jungle in Chiapas to unite with members of marginalized indigenous communities. In 1983, they formally created the EZLN. They drew inspiration from Emiliano Zapata, who fought in the Mexican revolution in the early 20th century, declaring that the land belonged to those who worked it. Continuing his revolutionary tradition, the EZLN rebelled to demand work, land, shelter, food, health, education, independence, democracy, freedom, justice and peace for all the Mexican people. Their ideas rapidly gained traction as a confluence of indigenous cosmo-vision, Marxist philosophy and progressive theological thought to counter dispossession and poverty. The EZLN germinated the seed of "Ya Basta - Enough Already!"
Chiapas, is rich in flora and fauna, containing between 50 and 80 percent of Mexico's biodiversity, water reserves and mineral resources. However, the richness of natural resources has never translated into prosperity for the population, especially the indigenous people who often live in extreme poverty in marginalized communities. It is estimated that 40 percent of the state's population speak an indigenous language, and the EZLN is composed of Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol and Tojolabal communities. The Zapatistas denounced their marginalization in the first declaration of the Lacandon Jungle: "We have been denied the most elemental preparation so they can use us as cannon fodder and pillage the wealth of our country. They don't care that we have nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a roof over our heads, no land, no work, no health care, no food nor education."
In the communiqué released by the Zapatistas to celebrate the 20th anniversary, Subcomandante Marcos described the motivations that prompted their rebellion: "It was not the struggle to survive, but a sense of duty that put us here, for better or for worse. It was the necessity to do something in the face of millennial injustice, the indignation we felt was the most overwhelming characteristic of humanity."
Our Word is Our Weapon
The Zapatista uprising in 1994 lasted 12 days and left an estimated death toll of 100 people. On the 12th day, a demonstration of civil society of hundreds of thousands of people in Mexico City shouting "You are not alone," helped pressure the government to accept a ceasefire.
From that moment on, the Zapatistas have never apologized for rising up in arms, but they have prioritized words as their primary weapon of choice.
It's been 30 years since the birth of the EZLN, and these indigenous guerillas continue to surprise the world with their lyrical poetry and tenacity for profound social transformation. Their strength is founded in their communities' ability to weave new kinds of anticapitalist social relationships, even though they live in a world where money reigns supreme.
On the anniversary of the uprising, many mainstream Mexican media outlets sought to discredit the Zapatistas, highlighting the rampant poverty that still exists in Chiapas. Yet the Zapatistas chose to highlight their successes by opening the doors to their communities with the Escuelita, "The Little School: Freedom According to the Zapatistas." During three different rounds of la Escuelita, Mexican and international solidarity activists, students, mothers, teachers and many other people joined with the Zapatistas to share the joys and difficulties of the daily construction of life with dignity.
.....
From Fire to Autonomy: Zapatistas, 20 Years of Walking Slowly
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Speaking in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico, on a cold drizzly New Year's Eve, the Zapatista Comandante Hortensia addressed the crowd: "Twenty-five or 30 years ago we were completely deceived, manipulated, subjugated, forgotten, drowned in ignorance and misery." She was communicating the official words of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) on the 20th anniversary of their rebellion, when thousands of indigenous people rose up in arms, took over dozens of major towns and villages in this southern state, and declared "enough is enough, never again will there be a homeland that doesn't include us."
Comandante Hortensia went on to explain how over the past two decades, they have constructed their own autonomous government, complete with their own health and education system, based in the indigenous traditions of their ancestors. Despite the continual efforts of the "neoliberal bad government" to displace them from their land, the Zapatistas have successfully recuperated thousands of acres of land on which they have constructed communities that are governed "from the bottom up."
The Mexican government has attempted to introduce social programs with the goal of co-opting and dividing the indigenous population in Zapatista areas. However, the indigenous rebels, who reject all forms of government handouts, have successfully resisted co-optation. If you ask a Zapatista how many are in the ranks, they will just respond "somos un chingo," which loosely translates into "there are a whole lot of us." Official estimates put their numbers at 250,000 people or roughly 10 percent of the population of the state of Chiapas.
Zapatista communities are spread throughout the large southern Mexican state of Chiapas, which includes coastal, mountainous and jungle regions. They have created five Caracoles, which are the centers of "good government" and points of coordination for the Zapatista health clinics, schools, community banks and independent media projects.
Resistance to NAFTA, the Death of the Mexican Farmer
On January 1, 1994, the NAFTA free trade agreement entered Mexico with vigor, promising foreign investment and economic prosperity at the expense of the plunder of natural resources. NAFTA is largely credited for flooding the Mexican market with subsidized corn from the United States, which decimated farmers' livelihoods and provoked massive migration to the United States. Two years prior to NAFTA's implementation, former President Carlos Salinas opened the floodgates to land privatization by reforming Article 27, which had protected communally owned land known as ejidos, created during the Mexican revolution. Thus, the introduction of NAFTA provided the perfect context for the uprising of the indigenous guerillas who formed the EZLN.
However, the 1994 uprising was not a spontaneous endeavor. Twenty years before, Marxist-inspired guerillas arrived in the Lacandon jungle in Chiapas to unite with members of marginalized indigenous communities. In 1983, they formally created the EZLN. They drew inspiration from Emiliano Zapata, who fought in the Mexican revolution in the early 20th century, declaring that the land belonged to those who worked it. Continuing his revolutionary tradition, the EZLN rebelled to demand work, land, shelter, food, health, education, independence, democracy, freedom, justice and peace for all the Mexican people. Their ideas rapidly gained traction as a confluence of indigenous cosmo-vision, Marxist philosophy and progressive theological thought to counter dispossession and poverty. The EZLN germinated the seed of "Ya Basta - Enough Already!"
Chiapas, is rich in flora and fauna, containing between 50 and 80 percent of Mexico's biodiversity, water reserves and mineral resources. However, the richness of natural resources has never translated into prosperity for the population, especially the indigenous people who often live in extreme poverty in marginalized communities. It is estimated that 40 percent of the state's population speak an indigenous language, and the EZLN is composed of Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol and Tojolabal communities. The Zapatistas denounced their marginalization in the first declaration of the Lacandon Jungle: "We have been denied the most elemental preparation so they can use us as cannon fodder and pillage the wealth of our country. They don't care that we have nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a roof over our heads, no land, no work, no health care, no food nor education."
In the communiqué released by the Zapatistas to celebrate the 20th anniversary, Subcomandante Marcos described the motivations that prompted their rebellion: "It was not the struggle to survive, but a sense of duty that put us here, for better or for worse. It was the necessity to do something in the face of millennial injustice, the indignation we felt was the most overwhelming characteristic of humanity."
Our Word is Our Weapon
The Zapatista uprising in 1994 lasted 12 days and left an estimated death toll of 100 people. On the 12th day, a demonstration of civil society of hundreds of thousands of people in Mexico City shouting "You are not alone," helped pressure the government to accept a ceasefire.
From that moment on, the Zapatistas have never apologized for rising up in arms, but they have prioritized words as their primary weapon of choice.
It's been 30 years since the birth of the EZLN, and these indigenous guerillas continue to surprise the world with their lyrical poetry and tenacity for profound social transformation. Their strength is founded in their communities' ability to weave new kinds of anticapitalist social relationships, even though they live in a world where money reigns supreme.
On the anniversary of the uprising, many mainstream Mexican media outlets sought to discredit the Zapatistas, highlighting the rampant poverty that still exists in Chiapas. Yet the Zapatistas chose to highlight their successes by opening the doors to their communities with the Escuelita, "The Little School: Freedom According to the Zapatistas." During three different rounds of la Escuelita, Mexican and international solidarity activists, students, mothers, teachers and many other people joined with the Zapatistas to share the joys and difficulties of the daily construction of life with dignity.
.....
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