FEBRUARY 2013 ZAPATISTA NEWS SUMMARY
Comandante Moisés
In Chiapas
1. EZLN Introduces Subcomandante Moisés – During February, the EZLN released Part VI, entitled Gazes, of the essay THEM AND US. All 6 parts are translated into English on our blog: https://compamanuel.wordpress.com/
In Part VI, which also has 6 sections, Marcos announces that the EZLN has a new Subcomandante: Moisés, who has been a lieutenant colonel in the EZLN’s military arm for the past approximately 10 years. Moisés is widely believed to be the successor to Marcos and this promotion and appointment would seem to confirm it. The introduction was followed by a letter from Subcomandante Moisés. In the letter, Moisés explains that his role is to be the “door” and the role of Marcos is to be the “window.” Apparently the role of the “door” is to get to know us, the adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandón Jungle (the Sixth or la Sexta) and the role of Marcos is to look at or watch those on the outside (not part of the Sixth) who continue to look “above,” as well as those who refuse to look above. Moisés also introduced us to the “little schools” where the Zapatista bases will teach us about freedom; in other words Freedom Schools.
2. Zapatistas Talk About Autonomous Government; Invite Us to “Little Schools” – The EZLN next issued Part VII of THEM AND US in February. In the first communiqué of Part VII, titled “The Smallest Ones,” Marcos tells us that the Zapatista support bases are preparing “little schools” where they will teach adherents to the Sixth Declaration about their experience constructing autonomy and government. The course will be called “Freedom According to the Zapatistas.” The next several sections of Part Vii consist of transcriptions of recordings from a conference that Zapatista support bases held to talk about their experiences. Zapatista support bases talk about creating autonomous government and the history of Zapatista women. The women’s voices tell an amazing story! See:
The 4th communiqué in Part VII, also about women’s stories, is not yet translated into English.
3. Zapatistas in San Marcos Aviles In Danger of Eviction – On February 23, the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) issued an URGENT ACTION regarding the threat of imminent eviction to Zapatista families living in San Marcos Avles ejido. Political party members in the ejido have asked the municipal government to evict the Zapatistas for failing to pay a property tax. The on-going harassment from the political parties in the ejido and threats of yet another violent eviction pose a dangerous situation and a hostile environment for all the Zapatistas living there.
4. Chiapas Civil Organizations Call Attention to the Situation in Busiljá – Nine Chiapas organizations, including human rights groupings, denounced the “profound humanitarian crisis” involving the 7 displaced Tzeltal families from the Busilja ejido. The 7 families are members of the Genaro Vazquez Rojas Front of Ejidos and are adherents to the EZLN’s Sixth Declaration of the Lacandón Jungle. Specifically, a little girl remains kidnapped and disappeared by paramilitaries living in Busilja, one of the displaced family members is incarcerated unjustly in a state prison and members of all 7 displaced families have arrest warrants issued for them because of not abandoning their lands or not accepting projects from the government. The nine organizations demand that the state government release the man in prison, Elias Sanchez Gomez (son), cancel the arrest warrants and comply with an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights determination of precautionary measures for the little missing girl, Gabriela Sanchez Morales.
In Other Parts of Mexico
1. Survey Finds that Zapatismo Remains Alive for 44% of Mexicans Polled – “The silent marches realized in some localities in the state of Chiapas last December 21, marked the return of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN, its initials in Spanish) and of its representative Subcomandante Marcos, to the country’s public and political life” postulates the polling company Parametría in a national study about the theme, effectuated last January, which showed that for 44 (percent) of those polled the movement “continues alive.”
2. U.S. Escalation of Mexico Drug War – On December 31, 2012, before leaving the Pentagon, then U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta established a new US-based special operations headquarters to teach Mexican security forces how to hunt drug cartels the same way special operations teams hunt al-Qaeda, according to a report from the Associated Press last month. The new headquarters will be at the US Northern Command in Colorado. Navy Admiral Bill McRaven is in charge of the special operations command. This is the latest step in the U.S. escalation of the militarization of Mexico.
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Compiled monthly by the Chiapas Support Committee.The primary sources for our information are: La Jornada, Enlace Zapatista and the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba).
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Chiapas Support Committee/Comité de Apoyo a Chiapas
P.O. Box 3421, Oakland, CA 94609
Email: cezmat@igc.org
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