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 Mexicoaddress:
Dept. of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine, P.O. Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104-9300 USA
e-mail: caffentz@usm.maine.edu hm
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