archivi delle proteste globaliarchives of global protestsReport on the Continental Encuentro by the Comite de Solidaridad con Chiapas y mexico.
Once again, charged with an enormous responsibility the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico took a delegation of 50 people from the United States to the Inter American Continental Encuentro (Encounter) in La Realidad, Chiapas. One of the groups participating in the delegation was the Committee in Solidarity with Chiapas y Mexico. The commission organized also a Women's delegation which went to Oventic, Chiapas and met with women Comandantes of the Clandestine Committee of Indigenous Resistance, a coordinating body of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. The goals of the delegation were a success in many fronts. The participation of a large contingent from the United States, more than a hundred people, in a free exchange of ideas with almost 500 people representing many of the countries from Latin America, the Caribbean and North America, on how to develop new forms of struggle against Neoliberalism, Globalization of poverty, and how to participate in the struggle for humanity.
The message from the Zapatistas came through in their great example of resistance in the Aguascalientes of Oventic and La Realidad. The threatening presence of the Mexican Federal Army was latent throughout the Lacandon Jungle and the highlands of Chiapas where for example the road to Oventic was paved a few days before we were there and where road construction crews were evident in the jungle. On our exit from La Realidad a large military convoy crossed our path making everyone wonder whether another military escalation or attack was being prepared. In our memories were the smiles of the many children we saw in the resistance community and the hundreds of men and women that we saw enjoying themselves in the Zapatista dances we were also invited to participate in.
One of the most important messages of the Zapatistas is that what the continental movement and the intercontinental resistance should be an attempt not to change the world but to make a new world. To have communities in resistance all throughout the world which will not only challenge Neoliberalism and globalization but also that will create the communities and world we want to construct, one with Democracy, Liberty, and Justice.
In the opening remarks of the Zapatista Army, Subcomandante Marcos spoke at length about the immigrant in the American Continent and about resistance and the noble spirit of the people of the United States, who can look to the people of Latin America as brothers and sisters and not as victims. He also talk of how with great dignity the people of the United States were represented in the Continental Encuentro. In the podium sitting next to Marcos was also Cecilia Rodriguez, the representative of the Zapatistas in the United States and the initial organizer of the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico.
The National Commission for Democracy in Mexico has set two major goals for its organizing work in the United States. One objective is the support of the Zapatista movement in Mexico and another is the creation of a resistance movement in the United States. In the short term the Commission will hold Regional Encuentros during the summer and fall of 1996. These Encuentros will serve as a means of introducing the Zapatista cause and politics to new people and organizations from diverse sectors of the United States. The purpose of the Encuentros will be to broaden the base of support for the Zapatistas and the development of a movement of resistance in the US. People interested in getting information about the Encuentros please contact the Comite de Solidaridad con Chiapas y Mexico, 454-8097 or e-mail evera@igc.apc.org.
Women's Artisans Project
Comandante Susana is unequivocal: We don't want the soldiers in our communities--we women don't want the soldiers at all, because we don't need them. Not because we are afraid, but because we don't need them. Yet the women do have reason to be afraid: not only are women harassed and verbally abused by soldiers, but they have also suffered physical and sexual attacks. According to lawyer Marta Figueroa of the Grupo de Mujeres de San Cristobal (Women's Group of San Cristobal), cases of sexual violence have doubled since the beginning of the war in 1994. While rape and domestic violence were already serious problems in Mayan Chiapas (as in most parts of the world), sexual assault has become a strategy of low intensity warfare.
Most women in Mayan communities work as artisans. Badly underpaid, their weavings--elaborate tapestries which may take months to complete--bring only a few pesos per day. Since the war began, their workload has doubled due to the disruption of other economic activity; they complain of injuries to their hands and eyes caused by working late into the night without electric light. The military occupation has made it increasingly difficult both to buy materials and to sell the finished products. The Zapatistas want to create cooperatives to address these needs, and have asked the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico to help with the Women's Artisan Project. Cecilia Rodriguez reminded us that this project was of vital importance. As the women themselves told us, there was little farming that could be done in the highlands. Weaving and crafts are, therefore, important lifelines. As an initial campaign the goal is to raise $3,000 to support the Women's Artisan Project which in part will include support in accessing a building to house a cooperative for supplies, looms, thread, and other materials as well as setting up a market distribution for the arts and crafts the women create. Another goal of the Women's Committee is to bring together a delegation of prominent US leaders, particularly women, to take on the issue of women and low intensity warfare in Chiapas, and to develop strategies to create grassroots pressure on leaders and organizations in the United States.
To participate in the Committee for Women you can contact the local Committee on Chiapas at 454-8097 e-mail evera@igc.apc.org or the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico at (915)532-8382 e-mail moonlight@igc.apc.org.
The Committee on Chiapas meets Saturdays at 4 PM at Resistencia Bookstore 2210 B South 1st Street, 454-8097, e-mail evera@igc.apc.org Radio Tierra y Libertad, News on Chiapas, Sundays 3:30 PM, KOOP Radio, 91.7 FM
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