"the government bet is clear, but if you
believe that misery and military pressure will make us surrender you are
wrong...If you believe that the fear of defeat and destruction will
oblige us to a sterile and lie-filled dialogue, you are wrong. We have
no political future to take care of, no popularity index to maintain,
no poll percentage to improve, no political post to win, no rotten
political system to salvage. We have nothing, just dignity.
Someone had to say enough was enough, someone had to have honor,
someone had to be able to keep his word, someone had to be responsible."
EZLN Communique, March 1997
"Nuevo Amanecer Press has confirmed that between 1996 and 1999, some 3,200 Mexican soldiers will receive special training in 23 U.S. military institutions. Later they will become a part of what is called Special Forces Aerial Groups (GAFE). According to information from the Mexican armed forces, a general quarters will coordinate these units, similar to U.S. "rangers", which will each be the size of a company and receive training for developing special operations in the desert, the mountain and the jungle as well as urban zones...their purpose is to fight irregular forces..."
With each alarming report we send you, we wonder how much time there is. The government makes cosmetic gestures at a dialogue and simultaneously prepares its military machine Danielle Mitterand's visit is accompanied by significant movement by the Mexican Army, while Hermann Bellinghausen of La Jornada becomes an "accidental" target for an armed patrol in the midst of a rehearsal. Hundreds of indigenous families live the same horror they did in February of 95 in the mountains accompanied only by hunger and cold.International observers in the communities are harassed, persecuted, and even "disappeared" before being deported back to their countries of origins. How much more time must pass before things change for the Zapatista communities which are about to see their 4th anniversary in resistance? How much longer will their patience endure? What will be the decisive action which will shift this conflict out of its stagnation? Will it come from the Zapatistas? Will it come from the federal government? Will it come from civil society, on a national and international level? We are of a mind that this is not the time to become spectators. We still believe that international pressure has a role to play in the outcome of this conflict. We believe that the people of the United States have a special responsibility. The United States has wanted to own "all" of Mexico since before the country won its independence from Spain. The United States is an originator of a strategy called "low-intensity war" and its biggest funder in Chiapas. The United States has always intervened whenever people decide they want to define words like "democracy"(most of the world has a definition beyond the idea that it is just two parties that say the same thing) and "freedom" (which some believe is more than a choice between different brands of soft drinks) for themselves. The United States is also a global "cop", a taskmaster which imposes its consumer culture, and economic model on the world. What is that model? In the United States,1% of the wealthiest Americans have conquered 61.6% of the total national wealth between 1983 and 1989. 80% of the poorest North Americans share only 1.2% of the wealth. There you have it. Injustice deified.
Those of us in the United
States are of the mind that the Zapatistas are one of the most powerful
challenges to that model. They challenge every kind of conformity,
even "leftist" conformity, which adheres to time-worn concepts that have
already demonstrated their limitations. Their example is simple and
clear; it is not only possible to change things, it is our collective responsibility
to change things. In response to the difficult situation in Chiapas we
propose a mobilization campaign directed at building momentum against the
low-intensity war. We believe we must accomplish three things;
1) reach out to sectors of the general public which
have as yet not heard about the Zapatista struggle.
2) Utilize a tool which will demonstrate extensive
popular support for their struggle.
3) Measure people's willingness to undertake stronger
actions in order to exert pressure on the Mexican government.
We have the crazy notion that we can recruit 1,111 volunteers in the United States, to get 100 people to sign a ballot expressing opposition to U.S.military aid and concern about the deteriorating state of human rights inMexico. We think it will mean a lot to have 111,000 people in the United States say that they are willing to consider an economic boycott.
The hope is that these
1,111 people through their tenacity would let the governments of Mexico
and the United States know that the Zapatistas are not alone, that the
movement here is more than a movement of people who only talk. We
want to let both government know that we are people who act because
we understand that this war is a war against us all, against human decency,
against human development. We think our success will mean a great
deal. In 111,000 voices we would like to be able to say to the world that
the US's economic model is dysfunctional. We are looking for
1,111 people to say enough is enough, to have honor, to keep his or her
word, to be responsible to the example and the hope which the Zapatistas
have given us with such generosity.
It is necessary for 1,111 of us to stand with
the Zapatistas not because they need our help but because we need them.
We need their tranquillity in the face of enormous odds. We need
their confidence in the power of collective action. We need their
clarity about the nature of our common enemy for whom borders do not exist.
We need for the possibility of political struggle under a new framework
to survive and to prosper in a dynamic dialogue which can build our ideas
and experience for a different kind of society.
Concerned about the imminent war in Chiapas, people
in Canada and Europe are carrying out signature campaigns and taking over
consulates. In the United States there have been and will be vigils
and demonstrations in San Francisco, Denver, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, AGUASCALIENTES LA has been formed. It is a broad
community-based coalition of groups which oppose the world war against
the poor. Together they are organizing a Zapatista Festival of Resistance.
It began on December 10th with a march, rally and press conference.
Following that, the group will sponsor Aguascalientes or Centers of Resistance
around LA until January 1st which will highlight and celebrate 4 years
of Zapatista resistance as well as local community resistance in LA.
We'll be posting the schedule to you. Please try and organize parallel
events in your city or consider joining us on New Years Eve for our
"Rojo Amanecer 2" Zapatista Bash.
In terms of ballots collected here at the
NCDLJ, we have approximately 700 in our database, which does not include
those being collected around the country. We currently have 204 volunteers,
both nationally and internationally. We are undaunted however. For
people with no financial infrastructure, and no media profile we have averaged
10 recruits per day and we believe this number will be expanded.
WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS & BALLOTS--THE ZAPATISTAS NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
If all the volunteers keep their word the
results will be larger than what was accomplished in September of
'95 with the Zapatista Consulta. We still believe it is possible
to do more. Students tell us that it is finals time and that they
are trapped under books. Families have the responsibility of
holidays to deal with. The recruitment of the 1,111 volunteers has
therefore been extended. On January 1st we will announce a second
tally. We will then announce a third tally on February 9th, which
is the anniversary of the military mobilization against the Zapatistas
in 1995. Stand up and say "Ya Basta"!
South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC)
P.O. Box 28703
Oakland CA, 94604
Phone: (510)834-4263 Fax: (510)834-4264
Email: saiic@igc.apc.org
Office: 1714 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor, Oakland
Home Page: http://www.nativeweb.org/saiic
For more information about SAIIC, send an empty email message to:
saiic-info@igc.apc.org