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CHIAPAS -
HOW MANY WORDS TO SAY "HOPE!"
It is over five years now since the Zapatistas took over the four main
towns of Chiapas, in the Southeast of Mexico, and stormed onto the TV
screens of the world. The day that the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) came into force, supposed to copperfasten Mexico's position as a
member of the 'First World', became the day the Zapatista National
Liberation Army (the EZLN) declared war on the Mexican government and
challenged the global economic plan called neo-liberalism. The rebels'
Declaration of War refered to the Mexican constitution's definition of
national sovereignty as "essentially and originally resid(ing) in the
people" and the people's "inalienable right to alter or modify their form
of government", and called for the overthrow of the "dictatorship" of then
President Carlos Salinas de Gotari, who had been 'elected' following
large-scale electoral fraud in 1988.
The 'invasion' lasted only a couple of days, the rebels withdrawing to
their bases in the selva (the rainforest in the south of Chiapas), with
little bloodshed, with the exception of Ocosingo, where the Zapatistas were
trapped by the Federal Army and had to shoot their way out. In all, 146
people were killed, most of them Zapatistas. But the magical triumphalism
of the new world order at the end of the twentieth century had been
shattered. People began to ask where the Zapatistas had come from. After
decades of organising in unarmed peasants movements against the semi-feudal
conditions they lived in, the indigenous peoples of Chiapas had taken up
arms in order to force other Mexicans to see their reality: while Chiapas
is extremely rich, producing hydroelectricity, oil and gas and crops like
coffee for export, the majority of its people are desperately poor. Most
indigenous communities lack running water and basic health services.
Thousands of children die each year of curable illnesses like diarrhoea.
The majority do not get enough to eat, never mind learn to read and write.
The system is maintained by a mixture of violent repression and corruption.
The EZLN had been founded ten years previously, but had not grown much for
the first few years. Increasing pessimism about unarmed struggle, worsening
repression of indigenous people by state forces and the change to Article
27 of the Constitution, opening the way for the privatisation of community
lands and thus ringing the death knell of the Maya community, which is
centred on the common stewardship of the land, all led to an increase in
numbers, once the EZLN had thrown off its urban guerrilla baggage and tuned
in to indigenous ways of organising. Instead of imposing a 'party line',
the EZLN is controlled by a committee (the Indigenous Revolutionary
Clandestine Committee) of delegates from all the communities that support
the EZ, and major decisions require the consent of the community
assemblies. The EZLN does not want to take power and become the next
government, but only to open up a space for 'civil society' (everyone who
is not part of the armed struggle or the state forces), which must then
shape Mexico's future. The rebellion is decidedly national, not
secessionist; the Zapatistas assert their right to be treated as equal
members of Mexican society, but stress their indigenous identity. In fact
only a handful of the EZ are not indigenous people, even if one of them is
Subcomandante Marcos, the military strategist and spokesperson (but not
'leader') of the EZLN. Being grounded in indigenous traditions does not
make the EZ socially conservative, however. The Women's Revolutionary Law
adopted by the communities in 1993 overturns the traditional machismo to
give women basic equality. Women's work is to be valued the same as men's,
arranged marriages stop, women have the right to decide how many children
they want to have and men are to be punished for beating their wives. On
foot of this, the communities also agree to ban alcohol - seen as a cause
of much domestic violence.
In the Second Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle (June 10th 1994), the Zapat
ista communities declare: "Whether by suicide or by firing squad, the death
of the current Mexican political system is a necessary, though
insufficient, condition for the transition to democracy in our country.
There is no solution to the problems of Chiapas separate from a solution to
the problems in Mexico". Calling for a Democratic National Convention, the
Second Declaration asks for "Hope (to) get organised, (to) travel through
the valleys and cities as it did yesterday in the mountains. Fight with
your own weapons, don't worry about us. We will know how to resist to the
last. We will know how to wait ... and we will know how to return if all
the doors to dignity close again." The declaration also gives the result of
a consultation by the Zapatistas with their base communities on the very
limited agreements offered by the government in the peace talks: rejected
by 97.88% .
In August, 6,000 people from all over Mexico attend the five day Democratic
National Convention, held in the first Aguascalientes, a conference centre
built by the Zapatistas in the jungle community of Guadelupe Tepeyac. The
conference proves useful in as far as thousands experience the reality of
the indigenous people, and leave Chiapas to spread that knowledge, but
ultimately it fails to co-ordinate new political energies and visions.
Meanwhile, Ernesto Zedillo, candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI), which has ruled Mexico for close on 65 years at that stage,
wins the presidential election. In October the EZ breaks off all talks with
the government in response to continuing militarisation: there are now some
40 000 troops in the conflict zone.
Zedillo takes office on December the 1st. On the 19th Bishop Ruiz calls for
international solidarity. By coincidence, the same day the EZLN occupies 38
'county towns' and half of Chiapas is declared rebel territory - all
without a single shot. The groundwork is laid for the autonomous
municipalities.
On the 21st of December the peso is devalued by almost fifty percent. On
the 24th the government and the Zapatistas recognise Bishop Ruiz' National
Intermediation Commission (CONAI) as intermediary. Three days later the
government orders a suspension of military operations in Chiapas, and on
the anniversary of the rising the EZLN issues the 3rd Declaration of the
Lacandon Jungle, calling for a National Liberation Movement. Like the
Convention, this movement will fail to get beyond the existing rivalries
and will not survive as a political force.
On the 16th of January the EZ declares a unilateral and indefinte
ceasefire. The government replies on the 9th of February with a surprise
attack on the Zapatista communities. 20,000 people flee to the mountains,
where they remain for two months, returning to find many communities not
only destroyed but also occupied by the army, including Guadelupe Tepeyac.
The extent of territory controlled by the army has been greatly extended,
and it looks like the EZLN has been seriously weakened. But massive
protests throughout Mexico forced the government to stop its offensive, and
international human rights observers begin to arrive in Chiapas to monitor
the army presence in Zapatista communities.
The government passes a "Law for Dialogue" and in April both sides meet in
San Andrés Sacamch'en de los Pobres. Talks begin, but the government
proposes US style reservations for the Zapatistas and won't discuss
national issues. In August, despite the ongoing military pressure, the
Zapatistas hold a Consulta (independent referendum) throughout Mexico. One
and a half million people vote, with 97.5% supporting the Zapatistas' main
demands. In October the EZ returns to the negotiations, but this time the
talks take a new form. The Zapatistas invite indigenous and non-indigenous
advisors from all over the country to take part on their side of the table.
As one of the negotiators (Héctor Díaz Polanco) explained, the advisors
expected to be given an EZLN line to defend, but found themselves expected
to come up with the ideas - the Zapatistas had their own thoughts, but were
serious about involving the whole of Mexico in the debate on indigenous
rights, which was to be the first 'table' of the talks.
On the second anniversary of the rising, the Zapatistas issue the Fourth
Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, calling on civil society to set up an
unarmed Zapatista movement, the Zapatista National Liberation Front (FZLN).
Two days later 500 representatives of indigenous groups meet 24 EZLN
commandantes for a week-long National Indigenous Forum, which lays the
foundations for the National Indigenous Congress. On February 16th the
government and the EZ sign agreements on Indigenous Rights and Culture. The
Zapatistas warn that it is only a small agreement and nothing like the end
of the road. It talks about autonomy for the indigenous peoples, but offers
no concrete guarantees.
The next round of talks, on Democracy and Justice, begin in March, but it
is clear that the government has no intention of discussing national
issues, and repression of the indigenous people and peasants increases.
PRI-linked paramilitary groups burn down villages and force people to flee
their homes. Over the next three years these groups will be responsible for
hundreds of deaths and 20,000 people becoming refugees within Chiapas. In
1998 the daily La Jornada will publish a Ministry of Defence document
outlining the federal army's strategy for Chiapas, which includes setting
up and supporting death squads. The paper will also reveal an agreement,
witnessed by a federal general, by the Chiapas state government to pay
US$500 000 to Paz y Justicia, the largest of the paramilitary groups.
In July 4000 people from 42 countries come to Chiapas for the First
Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and against Neoliberalism: five
days of talks on political, social and economic aspects of the global
struggle. The encounter ends with a plan to develop a global network
linking up all progressive struggles. This will be taken up again at the
Second Encounter in the Spanish State a year later, but the difficulties of
linking so many different groups are not overcome and the network fails to
get off the ground. Once again it seems like the rest of the world is
incapable of following the Zapatistas' example.
In August the second 'table' of peace talks end with no agreement. The EZLN
refuses to move on to the third 'table'. The communities decide not to
return to the talks until all jailed Zapatistas have been released, the
army withdrawn and the first round agreements implemented. In November the
government and the EZ give the all-party parliamentary commission (COCOPA)
the go-ahead to produce a proposal for constitutional change to put the
agreements into practice. The Zapatistas accept the proposals though it
leaves much to be desired, but President Zedillo delays and finally rejects
the document, making a counter-proposal which takes all the substance out
of the accords. 1997 starts with an increase in repression by the security
forces and paramilitary groups. In June, four unarmed Zapatistas are killed
by the security forces in San Pedro Nixtalucum. Many more are killed by
paramilitaries across Chiapas. More troops are moved into the war zone.
In September 1,111 masked Zapatistas and their supporters defy the
government by driving in convoy from Chiapas to Mexico City for the
inauguration of the FZLN. Hundreds of thousands turn out along the way,
and two hundred thousand greet them in the capital. But the government
still refuses to implement the San Andrés Accords and demilitarise Chiapas.
In November the EZLN warns that paramilitary activity in the highlands will
result in major atrocities. On the 22nd of December paramilitaries attack
the refugee camp in Acteal and murder 45 members of Las Abejas, a pacifist
Christian group linked to radical Bishop Samuel Ruiz. In response to
international pressure, the governor of Chiapas and the Interior Minister
resign and some local government supporters are arrested, but the
government then uses the massacre as a pretext for a wave of attacks on
Zapatista communities by the federal army. The EZLN does not respond
militarily, but warns that it will not give up its arms until a political
solution has been found.
Foreign human rights observers are declared unwelcome and the numbers
thrown out for 'interfering in Mexican politics' rises to hundreds.
The new governor, who is appointed by the President, starts a military
campaign against the Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities , which now number
thirty two.
Functioning like rebel county councils, the municipal authorities are
elected by the communities and are part of the Zapatista strategy to get
rid of the government by putting new democratic structures in their place.
On June 10th 1998 the Autonomous Municipal Council of San Juan de la
Libertad is evicted. Five people are arrested but there is no violence. At
the same time, a force of between 1 500 and 3000 soldiers and police enter
the communities of Chavajavel and Unión Progreso. They spend several hours
shooting up the hills around the communities with machine-guns, mortars and
bazookas, killing ten people. Five of the dead from Unión Progreso were
taken away alive by the police but returned several days later, dead. The
bodies are partly decomposed when they are finally handed over to the
communities. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, condemns
the attacks and offers to send a UN team to Mexico. The government rejects
the offer, saying she is 'misinformed'. The autonomous municipalities
issue a joint communiqué denouncing Zedillo as an assassin.
The state backs off for a while, but the low intensity war continues. The
Zapatistas announce their next move, which will be another consulta ,
asking the people of Mexico to vote for or against the COCOPA proposals.
This takes place in March 1999: 5,000 Zapatistas leave the communities and
travel all over the country promoting the consulta, which is run by
volunteers and overseen by a leading opinion poll company. Three million
vote, and 95% support the COCOPA proposals and immediate demilitarisation.
The government dismisses the result, but 2,000 people attend an evaluation
meeting with the EZLN in Chiapas and try to work out how to continue the
dialogue. Once more the Zapatistas have given the impetus for civil society
to unite the various struggles. But will it achieve enough momentum to
bring down the Colossus?
How will it end? This year will see presidential elections which may bring
Cárdenas, the leader of the main opposition party (the PRD) and mayor of
Mexico City, to power, which many hope would mean major change in Mexico.
But Cárdenas (who spent many years in the PRI) is not a radical, and may
simply continue Zedillo's policies if elected, as Tony Blair took on the
mantle of Margaret Thatcher. For the moment the low intensity war drags
on, trying to wear down the communities and thus eat away at the
insurgents' base, hoping perhaps to trap them between the federal army, now
increasingly entrenched in the jungle, and the border, where the Guatemalan
army continues to build new bases. There is, and will continue to be, a
need for international solidarity in all its forms, including human rights
observers. It is impossible to predict how long the war will last. The
Zapatistas launched their revolt saying that they have been dying for the
last five hundred years and are prepared to go on dying for another fifty
or more. But like the fighters of Timor, they resist to win, and they have
unleashed a powerful force on the world: HOPE.