Report from
ZAPATISMO NEWS UPDATE
JULY 29, 1997
SECOND INTERCONTINENTAL ENCOUNTER BEGINS IN SPAIN, WITH THE
PARTICIPATION OF THE EZLN
The Second Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against
Neoliberalism was inaugurated in the outskirts of Madrid on July
26th, with the participation of nearly 4,000 delegates from 50
countries, including two indigenous representatives of the Zapatista
Army of National Liberation.
The Second Encounter--based on the obvious precedent of the First
Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism,
convoked by the EZLN and carried out in Zapatista communities in
Chiapas exactly one year ago--will be divided into a number of major
thematic working groups (and more than 50 sub-groups) in five
different regions of the Spanish Republic for the next seven days,
and will conclude with a full plenary session on August 3rd.
Countries with representatives present on the first day of the
Second Encounter included Italy, Spain (Cataluna, Islas Canarias,
Pais Vasco, Galicia, Andalucia, Aragon), Mexico, Switzerland, France,
Germany, Denmark, Canada, the United States, Finland, Ireland, Great
Britain, Belgium, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria,
Portugal, South Africa, Chad, Cameroon, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo,
Morocco, Turkey, Israel, India, Bangladesh, Australia, and Indonesia,
as well as nearly every country from South America.
As part of the official inauguration ceremony on the evening of
July 26th, the two Zapatista representatives--Dalia and Felipe, both
Tojolabales from the exiled community of Guadalupe Tepeyac--addressed
the thousands of delegates with a message from the indigenous
Zapatista communities of Chiapas:
"It has been very important for us to know that all
these people exist", said Felipe, in reference to the participants of
the Encuentro. "We thought we were alone, and that we were the only
ones being screwed over. But now, you help us, and we help you. We
came to discuss a plan of struggle. We want everyone to have the same
as everyone else--not that everyone lives the same, but that we all
struggle together to respect the cultures and the customs of both the
countryside and the cities. We fight against neoliberalism, because
we see the situation in the world: the rich are richer, the poor are
poorer. More death, more oppression. We want everything to be done
better", he said.
"We did not come here", continued Dalia, "to fight among
ourselves, to see whose word is best, or to find out who has the
truth or who is the strongest. Freedom is not achieved by defeating
one's brother. We can only become better with others, and not on top
of others."
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos had previously announced the
imminent presence of an EZLN delegation in Spain in a communique
published on July 23rd:
"For the first time, a delegation made up of members
of the EZLN will attend an international event outside of the Mexican
borders", said Marcos. "Thus, the EZLN has decided to break the
local, regional, state, and national sieges in order to carry the
voice of the Zapatistas on Zapatista lips.
"While the Mexican government hides its hands stained with
indigenous blood in order to achieve a commerce agreement from the
European Union which does not entail profound changes in the system,
the indigenous communities in Mexico continue to suffer a persecution
and harassment only comparable to that carried out centuries ago, and
the Mexican population continues suffering from an economic model
that only democratizes poverty and concentrates the riches in the
hands of a few....
"Our delegates are bases of support of the EZLN, indigenous people
who represent the rebellion and resistance of the peoples who rose up
in arms more than three and a half years ago against the oblivion and
death to which they had been condemned....The EZLN does not send
"personalities" as delegates, but rather a representation of its true
leaders, the indigenous-zapatista peoples.
"The world is not made up of leaders or caudillos, but rather of
bases of support. We are all bases of support for the great struggle
for humanity and against neoliberalism."
Major working groups into which the delegates at the Encuentro
will be divided include: "The Neoliberal economy against Humanity:
our lives beyond the economy"; "Work and the means of production:
creating the conditions for a worthwhile life"; "North-South and
East-West relations"; "People and identities: old and new problems";
"Human mobility and forced destinies"; "Struggles for culture,
education and information"; "Women and their struggles: the struggle
against patriarchy"; "Struggles for land and the earth: Ecology"; and
"Against all forms of marginalisation".