Don't forget the Zapatistas
An Open Letter to the participants of the Second Encuentro Against
Neoliberalism and for Humanity
June 30, 1997
I am writing to you to make a very simple request: Do not forget
the Zapatistas. I know that this request sounds paradoxical, since
the Zapatistas called for the first Encuentro and gave the blessing
to the second. However, after spending two weeks in southern Mexico
this month, I see that the situation is extremely dangerous
(politically and militarily) for the Zapatistas while the agenda of
Encuentro seems to be oblivious to this danger.
Militarily, the low-intensity warfare strategy of the Mexican Army
is penetrating further and further into the Selva Lacandona. Many
more troops have been introduced into the "conflict zone" since last
July, and road building is moving full speed ahead. These roads are
making it possible for the Mexican Army to carry on mechanized war
deep within the Selva even during the rainy season.
Politically, the Zapatistas are facing isolation during the
election period. Many Zapatista activists in Mexico City and
throughout the south are now concerned with the elections, like it or
not. Moreover, death squads and right-wing vigilante groups,
ironically named "Peace and Justice," are carrying on a largely
unopposed, provocative campaign of murder, ambush and massacre of
Zapatista sympathizers in the north of Chiapas, outside of the
"conflict-zone" and far from the center of the EZLN's military reach.
The Encuentro agenda, however, does not seem to be addressing this
dangerous moment in the history of Zapatismo and the EZLN. Certainly,
the mesas are full of interesting issues that an intercontinental
movement against neoliberalism should discuss. The planning meetings
have done fine a preparatory job to create a meeting that will be
useful for European comrades, but I do not see an explicit mesa or
sub-mesa dealing with what the Encuentro will do with respect to the
Zapatista struggle.
Since I have been traveling for the last few weeks, I am not as
current on the development of the Encuentro's agenda as I had been,
and perhaps I am mistaken. If I am, then I happily urge you to please
ignore this letter. If not, then I urge the participants of the
Encuentro to explicitly address this question--what concrete
organizational efforts will be planned during the Encuentro to
support the EZLN in the coming year.
It would be most tragic if thousands of Zapatista sympathizers are
enthusiastically discussing the struggle against neoliberalism in
Spain while the Zapatistas themselves are being crushed by the armies
and death squads of neoliberalism three thousand miles away in
Chiapas.
Basta with tragedies!
C. George Caffentzis member of Mainers for Democracy in Mexico
address: Dept. of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine, P.O.
Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104-9300 USA e-mail: caffentz@usm.maine.edu
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