Zapatistas Renew Struggle with Anger and Fire.
9th Anniversary of Armed Uprising Marked by Biggest Mobilization So Far.
by Ramor Ryan
San Cristobal de las Casas, January 1 2003.
http://slash.autonomedia.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/09/1544248
Defying their critics who charge they are divided and disintegrating, the
Zapatistas mobilised their forces today, mustering the largest and most
militant demonstration seen in San Cristobal since the armed uprising 9
years ago. As many as 20,000 masked militants of the EZLN descended on the
town from all corners of Chiapas armed with machetes and lighting huge
bonfires around the central plaza and surrounding streets. There were no
injuries, and little damage to property, but the feisty rebels demonstrated
in no uncertain terms that, on the 9th anniversary of the uprising they are
still organised, still militant and still enraged.
A Night To Remember
"I am very proud we have peace in Mexico, with Marcos, with the Zapatistas,"
said Mexican President Vincente Fox a few weeks ago, while visiting Europe.
"Fox says we have peace in Chiapas, that there is no conflict," said
Comandante David from the podium. "Is the conflict settled in Chiapas?" he
asked.
"NOOOO!" was the emphatic reply from the multitude, banging their machetes
and sticks, holding up burning torches, as the black smoke from the multiple
bonfires engulfed the town centre. The masked insurgents packed the
expansive centre plaza and still thousands more were left chanting in the
surround streets. The mood was combatitive and the chants, banners and
speeches from the stage were uncompromising - Fox Is The Same As Zedillo,
PAN Equals PRI, No Evictions From Montes Azules, Globalize Rebellion And
Dignity! The rebellion in Argentina was lauded, and terrorism of Bush and
Bin Laden condemned. "We came to say that here we are still, stronger than
ever and we resist," said Comandante Mister. "Before a globalization of
death imposed by the powerful, we proclaim a globalization of freedom..."
"Are we here to surrender?!" shouted Commandante Tacho, and the crowd
responded with such a hell-raising clamor that a lady next to me was
prompted to mutter
Betrayal and Oblivion
This is the first public mass mobilization of the Zapatista Comandancia and
rank-and-file in almost 2 years. The last Zapatista event was the hugely
popular Caravan to the Capital in February of 2001, bringing out Mexicans in
their hundreds of thousands in support of Indigenous demands, as
Sub-Comandante Marcos and the EZLN command journeyed up to Mexico City..
The crowning achievement of that odyssey was presenting an Indigenous Law
granting a form of autonomy for ratification through Congress. But as soon
as the Zapatistas turned their backs and returned home to Chiapas, that Law
was modified and watered down by government legislators, amidst charges of
betrayal. Appeals to re-instate the original the Law before the Supreme
Court were rejected.
With this constitutional rejection of Indigenous Reform, Congress, the
Federal government and the Supreme Court of the nation was seen to negate
the legitimacy of the San Andres Accords, signed between government and
rebels in 1996. Recognition of the San Andres Accords is the principle
demand in order to re-start dialogue between the EZLN and the Federal
government. With this failure it seemed the legal and political means to
resolve the Chiapas conflict had been exhausted.
The Zapatistas seemed exhausted too, and lapsed into a long piercing silence
lasting 20 months. The Fox Government worked hard to provoke divisions
within the base communities, offering numerous financial incentives. The
Mexican army remained, if a little less visible, encircling the Zapatistas
areas, and paramilitaries upped the ante, murdering 4 Zapatista leaders in
August, 2002. The EZLN did not respond to these provocations, remaining
silent throughout the wave of killings, prompting rumours of their impotence
and inner-turmoil. Marcos has fallen out with the Clandestine Committee, ran
the rumour mongering and has been sent into exile. Rank and file are
deserting the ranks in floods. President Fox , ever the opportunist,
attempted a public relations coup amidst the silence, claiming the conflict
had been resolved.
"We have brought peace to Chiapas," he boasted.
A peace of military occupation, continuing extreme poverty and slow death by
strangulation of the land. The peace of oblivion?
A Spectre Haunts Chiapas.
Chiapas is on the brink of profound structural change, a change that will
not be wrought by a triumphant Zapatista return, but by a series of
mega-projects financed by global capital called Plan Puebla Panama (PPP).
Envisaging a series of colossal dams, construction of super-highways and the
development of a vast sweat-shop area, the planners intend to develop
southern Mexico and Central America into a manufacturing hub and production
corridor. "The Plan Puebla Panama is a thousand times more important than
any indigenous Zapatista community" according to President Fox.
Plan Puebla Panama has three goals -
a) increase the transit and industrial infrastructure of the region,
improving the capacity for export industries,
b) catalyze a shift of the regions economy from agriculture to assembly
plant maquiladoras and manufacturing, and
c) expand private control over the vast natural resources in the region.
The process is already underway. The first sweat-shop has opened in Huixtla.
Road construction is currently a boom industry. Land ownership is changing -
11% of land in Chiapas is held communally (in Ejidos) and most of the ejidos
are in the strategically important Jungle region under control of the
Zapatistas. A government programme Procede offers incentives to communities
to divide their land and individualize holdings. Once it is privatized, the
land can be sold on to investors, or agents for foreign companies, thereby
opening up the process of capitalist development.
The battle between bio-prospectors and the indigenous inhabitants of the
jungle region has already intensified. Bio-piracy, i.e. patenting plants
that can be turned into pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides or other marketable
products, has become highly profitable - prompting the title Green Gold, and
the current rush to patent rights the Bio-gold rush.
Influenced by the Zapatista struggle, communities of small farmers are
organising across southern Mexico and all the way down Central America,
forming international coalitions and coordinating their protests like the
Day of Action last October 12 (Colombus Day) against the PPP and capitalist
globalization. A masked protester from the Regional Co-ordination of Civil
Society organisation, blocking a highway in Chiapas last October articulated
their demands, linking them with those of the Zapatistas.
"We have seen that all Fox and Salazar ( State Governor of Chiapas) have
done is for the benefit of the rich and in favour of the owners of money,...
with little benefit for us, the farmers. We are against the PPP, NAFTA and
ALCA, and as you can see from the banners, in favour of honouring the San
Andres Accords."
In all Mexico about a quarter of the population, 25 million, live off the
land, and 80% of them in extreme poverty. Approximately 600 campesinos are
forced to abandon the land for the cities every single day. The agriculture
sector is in severe decline, and NAFTA is one of the chief reasons. The
influx of cheap corn and wheat from the giant commercial farms of the US is
driving small farmers to ruin.
And rather than promote a sustainable agriculture sector, the Fox
government, firmly committed to NAFTA, and ALCA (Free Trade Agreement of the
Americas) , encourages the desertion of the land. Migration is rife.
Official figures quote 150,000 migrants from Chiapas to the US each year,
but the growth industry in Bus Companies running to the US border - 80 new
companies registered in the last 3 years, suggest an even greater number.
Alongside the internal migration to work in Cancun and the oil fields of
Tabasco, a whole way of rural life and indigenous culture is in danger of
disappearing.
"The PPP will respect the territorial integrity of the communities and
promote a sustainable development" says Fox, which flies in the face of the
events on the ground. 30 indigenous communities on Montes Azules in the
Lacandon Jungle are currently facing violent eviction. This local struggle
has become the front line for wide-spread resistance against the Plan Puebla
Panama. The Zapatistas have sworn to fight eviction in Montes Azules to the
death.
"This traitorous government and the voracious capitalists know that this
land are ours, and we wont abandon it," says Rosa, a fiery Zapatista Chol
from Tumbala, "and its wealth belongs to those who have lived here and
worked these lands for centuries. We resist their globalisation in the same
way the indigenous people resisted the Conquest, and our corn will resist
their transgenic corn!"
The Ninth Anniversary.
The 9 years of struggle of the Zapatistas has, on the ground, been both
advantageous and circuitous. The initial armed uprising opened up vast
swathes of occupied land taken from the finqueros. Thousands of campesinos
continue to occupy and work these territories, a de-facto rebel zone under
the authority of the 38 Autonomous Municipalities. This is the one great
achievement for the bases of support of the Zapatistas. On the other hand,
the autonomous zones are constantly under threat, surrounded by the army and
menaced upon by paramilitaries.
The governments attempts to buy off the rebel communities has been
successful in some areas, and traditional pre-1994 Zapatista strongholds are
often focus for the most persistent counter-insurgency programmes. The
historical Zapatista village of Morelia, for example, has seen the level of
support for the insurgents fall to below 50% of the populace. Support in
another Aguascalientes, Roberto Barrios has fallen to less than 25%.
However, the younger communities on occupied land remain staunch, and
Zapatista numbers swell as children of the rebellion grow up and form their
own communities.
"We are united here," says Don Anselmo of the 100% Zapatista village 10 de
Abril, "although I do worry about some of the other communities..". 5 or 6
of the surrounding smaller villages have dropped out of the struggle.
Ex-Zapatista Esteban explains why he dropped out and left 10 de Abril to
live in one of the other non-Zapatista villages - "I got tired, and I needed
to feed my kids. The (Zapatista) Organisation takes up a lot of time and you
get little in return." Taking advantage of a government scheme, he received
some construction materials and his children receive state schooling. (It's
true, the Autonomous school in 10 de Abril was not functioning well.) Is he
finished with the Zapatistas? "No," says Esteban, "I'm taking a rest".
Renewal of Struggle
And this is the importance of the strong, militant demonstration on Jan 1.
As rumours of significant desertion of the ranks, internal division and
impotency abound, such a powerful manifestation of hardcore allegiance
rallies the troops and demonstrates that the Zapatistas are still the only
show in town. As the constitutional path - marked by betrayal, seems
exhausted and the enemy takes a more global face, the Zapatistas appear to
be changing their tactical direction, renewing the spirit of resistance and
pursuing a more confrontational strategy.
Midnight, January 1, 2003, the night sky above San Cristobal is thick with
pungent smoke and the old colonial streets are jam-packed with hordes of
spirited masked Zapatistas, taking control of the town deserted of locals,
and security forces. As Chiapas faces an uncertain future regarding the Plan
Puebla Panama, one thing is sure from this insurgent demonstration - the
conflict has entered into a new phase. The Zapatistas have returned from
their forays into national Constitutional reform to once more address the
needs and demands of their base constituency. From the stage, Comandante
Bruce Lee (no, really) commanded the cadre to build bigger bonfires to warm
the cool night air.
"This struggle has hardly begun. Let the fires shine bright so that the
people can see how we have maintained our rebellion! ".
The Zapatistas, the Montes Azules Comprehensive Biosphere Reserve (REBIMA)
and the Lacando'n
http://struggle.ws/mexico/biosphere.html
Zapatista autonomous council's
http://struggle.ws/mexico/councils.html
Diez de Abril
http://struggle.ws/mexico/diez.html
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