Nick

Thanks very much for passing this request on to the crit-geography list
from me. To be honest, I only just joined this list, and after reading the
archives on gardening (I love gardening too, have roses and herbs) wasn't
sure if I should send it (I was thinking perhaps of a sequeway "Gardening
in Chaipas" or the like. I appreciate your courage in turning the
discussion round!

For those of you that want to know more about Chiapas, in addition to the
web site, there is a documentary coming out soon which I just screen
previewed with a small group of people here in LA (it was enough for me to
get active.. and is definitely worth viewing.)

It was put together by Netti Wilds of "Canada Wilds" who was down in
Chiapas for three or four months last year while the Zapatistas were in
peace talks with the Mexican government (which preceded the December
massacre). It's brillant, gripping engaging and sometimes even funny.
It would make both a wonderful teaching and organizing tool for those of
you that are interested in globaliztion issues. When I saw it it reminded
me of "Z", but more gripping because this is an ongoing struggle, whose
outcome is indeterminate, not a reptropsective.

A few details from the film about this conflict that dont come through on
the web:

*one out of five children in Chiapas die from preventable diseases
(pneumonia, tuberculoisis, diarreaha and the like)

*the situation in Chiapas is not isolated but endemic and representative of
the situation of scores of indigenous peoples throughout Mexica

*many of the people active in organizing are native women, so much so that
they are routinely targeted by the death squads as being "the same as the
Zapatistas" regardless of the nature of thier activities.

*death threats are common, disappearances are common


The movie should be in release soon, Nettie is currently negotiating with
film and tv so it isnt public yet, but when it is, if you want to show it
to groups or do anything around it I would be happy to pass requests on to
her.

What the film and website dont tell you that I learned in the meeting
following this screening is the following:

1. Chiapas is sitting on top of the second largest oil reserve (as yet
untapped) in North America. (If you check even briefly into websites in
Latin America, you will find energy resources are a top issue in Mexico's
current economic recovery strategy). Thus the brutality in dealing with
natives and incompetence of the Mexican government in restraining the so
called "Peace and Justice" group who is continually harassing natives with
death threats(and carrying them out).

2. The US is not intervening to address this as a human rights issue, but
on the contrary Chiapas watchers suspect that sending troops down to
assist the Mexicans in fighting drug lords provides the US an excellent
opportunity to train Mexican armies to deal with the "native problem"


The final thing you may not of heard of is that the rainforests in this and
surrounding areas are currently on fire. So badly that the smoke is
drifting across Gulf of Mexico and producing Smog alerts in cities in
texas and Lousiana. And yet it will be "another week" before the US will
send water bombers down to fight the fires. LA (where I am currently)
carries pathetic new releases showing the local people trying to fight the
fires either with machetes or water bladders that they carry ON THEIR BACKS
 release and then go and reload. They are fighting this fire LITERALLY
with their bare hands.

Though no one has made this connection yet, I would think the slowness of
government intervention here is another piece in the pussle of trying to
get the natives off their lands.

So if any of you feel compelled to visit the website and take action I
would urge it strongly

thanks for your time in reading this,

Sue Ruddick



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