Zapatistas: 'The tongue is not made of bone'
Zapatista autonomous governments inspire indigenous delegation
by Brenda Norrell
MADRE DE CARACOLES, Chiapas - A river runs through this community, the
Zapatista stronghold in the Lacandona jungle whose name was changed from La Realidad to Madre de Caracoles, to reflect its new role as the mother of the Zapatista autonomous governments.
A handful of fireflies flicker like lost stars above the hammocks at night, strung across the one-room school, as the rain pounds down like hammers on the tin roof and the river rushes past. In the mornings, at the river, children play and laugh while women wash clothes. In the kitchen, women make tortillas over an open fire and place for sale embroidered handbags made by the Zapatista women's cooperative.
Tohono O'odham from the north and Mayo from the southwest coast have crossed Mexico to come here, to support the new Mayan autonomous governments. They traveled through the Sonoran Desert by car without air conditioning in the searing heat, then days and nights by bus across Mexico. Finally, they climbed in the backs of cargo trucks, and were battered for five hours on the rough and steep ride to the Zapatista autonomous villages near the Guatemalan border.
During the night, eight Zapatista comandantes met with the indigenous delegation that came to offer and seek support for the struggle in Mexico for Indigenous land, life and liberty with dignity.
O'odham in Mexico, Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia gained the power to carry on in the struggle for his people near the border of Arizona and Mexico.
“The Zapatistas are still very committed in their struggle for autonomy and self-determination. They are still very committed to the efforts to restore dignity to Indigenous people”, Garcia said after meeting for two hours here with eight Zapatista comandantes.
Jose and Maria Garcia have made 15 trips to Chiapas, beginning during the tense year of 1994 and continuing with the Zapatista caravan across Mexico in 2001. Now, Zapatistas are struggling without dependence on the government.
“They are struggling to make ends meet. They are not dependent on the government for their necessities. It is almost like they are going back to the time when there was no Spanish influence”, Jose Garcia said.
Zapatista comandantes told the Indigenous delegation that it is easy to be brave and have courage in the beginning of a struggle, but it is harder later when one's shoes are worn out and there is nothing to eat.
“The tongue is not made of bone”, Comandante Tacho told the indigenous delegation.
Zapatista comandantes said that in 1994 they believed the fighting would be endless; they sold their horses and cows; they sold everything they had. After they agreed to dialogue with the Mexican government, twelve days after the fighting began, they had nothing to come back to.
Maria Garcia said, “The Zapatista knew from the beginning that the dialogue with the government would not work, would produce nothing. They had already been in dialogue with the government for 10 years before 1994; they knew the government was not serious. ”
Jose Garcia said that it is important now to return to Indigenous roots, for it is the new seeds that will bring new life from within the earth. He said Zapatista comandantes reminded him that it is important to go forward without fear. They learned this as they were being pushed off their lands, starved off their lands and murdered by land barons and the Mexican government.
Garcia said, “It is important to learn not to be afraid. The Zapatistas said when they faced the Mexican army; they faced helicopters, tanks and machine guns - and they had only their outdated rifles. ”
Comandante Tacho told the indigenous delegation, “We had to learn to control fear. We asked ourselves, ‘Why are we running from these people?’ We turned around and started pushing back.”
Remembering Tacho's words, Maria Garcia said, “You have to make up your mind not to be dependent on anyone. It just has to be you.”
Zapatistas said it is useless to expect help from the government. “You can not ask the enemy for help”, Comandante Tacho said referring to the Federal Government.
Now, Zapatistas say it is important to continue down this road of “Walking and asking. ” It means teaching and learning as one goes.
Jose Garcia said Zapatistas are building autonomous communities without the need or use of weapons. “To do that, you have to be very sure of yourself and very committed to the idea.”
Struggling forward, regardless of criticism from others, Jose Garcia said, “We don´t care what people say or how they criticize us. What we see from the end of the tunnel is worlds come together and fit into one world. We may not see it ourselves, but it will be there one day. It is people like these people who will not let it die. ”
Zapatista Comandantes told Tohono O'odham and Mayo, “You get up and go, even when people are against you. ”
Mayo from the southwest coast, struggling for an autonomous government in their community, came to support the Zapatista autonomous governments and ask for support.
The Mexican government has arrested and imprisoned the Mayo leader, leading the movement for a local autonomous government, near Navajoa in the state of Sonora.
Mario Barreras Cantu, Mayo leader on the delegation to Chiapas, said Mayos came here to offer support. “We want to help others who have a dream. ”
The delegation, during the third week of July, included school teachers, housewives and laborers from across Mexico.
In the Zapatista village over breakfast, Juan Antonio Alvarez, Nahuatl descendant who lives in Monterrey, said globalization is invading the United States and Mexico and it is important for the tribes to support one another to oppose globalization.
“This is very impressive, it shows that all colors and all races can come together here; all the worlds can come together to create one world.”
Speaking of the need for autonomy he said, “We want to be our own selves, make our own decisions to benefit ourselves. We want the government to respect us. I want to tell all my brothers in the world to keep on with the struggle.
“For the people who come after us, remember it is important to be free, to be free and honor yourselves. ”
All people, he said, have the ability and capacity to feel injustices anywhere in the world, in the depth of their hearts. This, he said, is how we become true revolutionaries.
“We can be revolutionaries by knowing and feeling injustice wherever it happens in the world. This way, we can give our lives for our brothers to the end. ”
Subcomandante Marcos, who was not present during the meeting between the Zapatista comandantes and the indigenous delegation, released a statement in July 2003 about the new autonomous governments.
“Delegates from each of the 30 Zapatista autonomous municipalities will comprise the five assemblies of just government situated in the five different areas of Chiapas where the Zapatistas have a strong presence. Following the uprising in 1994, the Zapatistas have reclaimed hundreds of estates of private land into communal control, and created their own systems of grass-roots democracy, autonomous education and autonomous health care”, Marcos said in the statement.
“In opposition to the capitalists' Plan Puebla Panama, the Zapatistas have called for the implementation of the people's Plan La Realidad Tijuana. The Plan involves linking all the resistances in our country and, along with them, rebuilding the Mexican nation from below. The Zapatistas have declared their support at the world level for Venezuelan sovereignty, for the people of Iraq and for all those struggles in resistance against the power of money . “new”
“And, in each 'Caracol,' a new building, the 'Casa de la Junta de Buen Gobierno' (House of the Good Government Junta) can be made out. As far as can be seen, there will be a 'Good Government Junta' in each region, and it involves an organizing effort on the part of the communities, not only to confront the problems of autonomy, but also to build a more direct bridge between them and the world.”
Brenda Norrell
Contributing Editor
U.N. Observer and International Report
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com
other links:
http://www.brendanorrell.blogspot.com
Background Information: a few of the many websites on the Zapatistas
Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional http://www.ezln.org
Mujeres Zapatistas * Zapatista Women
http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/~geneve/zapwomen
CounterPunch's Zapatista Archive
http://www.counterpunch.org/zaps01112003.html
The Zapatistas Reject the War on Drugs
http://www.narconews.com/Issue33/article971.html
ZAPATISTAS IN CYBERSPACE, A Guide to Analysis & I...Resources
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/Homepages/Faculty/Cleaver/zapsincyber.html
Zapatistas Discussion Group http://www.zapatistas.org
Zapatista autonomous governments inspire indigenous delegation
by Brenda Norrell
MADRE DE CARACOLES, Chiapas - A river runs through this community, the
Zapatista stronghold in the Lacandona jungle whose name was changed from La Realidad to Madre de Caracoles, to reflect its new role as the mother of the Zapatista autonomous governments.
A handful of fireflies flicker like lost stars above the hammocks at night, strung across the one-room school, as the rain pounds down like hammers on the tin roof and the river rushes past. In the mornings, at the river, children play and laugh while women wash clothes. In the kitchen, women make tortillas over an open fire and place for sale embroidered handbags made by the Zapatista women's cooperative.
Tohono O'odham from the north and Mayo from the southwest coast have crossed Mexico to come here, to support the new Mayan autonomous governments. They traveled through the Sonoran Desert by car without air conditioning in the searing heat, then days and nights by bus across Mexico. Finally, they climbed in the backs of cargo trucks, and were battered for five hours on the rough and steep ride to the Zapatista autonomous villages near the Guatemalan border.
During the night, eight Zapatista comandantes met with the indigenous delegation that came to offer and seek support for the struggle in Mexico for Indigenous land, life and liberty with dignity.
O'odham in Mexico, Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia gained the power to carry on in the struggle for his people near the border of Arizona and Mexico.
“The Zapatistas are still very committed in their struggle for autonomy and self-determination. They are still very committed to the efforts to restore dignity to Indigenous people”, Garcia said after meeting for two hours here with eight Zapatista comandantes.
Jose and Maria Garcia have made 15 trips to Chiapas, beginning during the tense year of 1994 and continuing with the Zapatista caravan across Mexico in 2001. Now, Zapatistas are struggling without dependence on the government.
“They are struggling to make ends meet. They are not dependent on the government for their necessities. It is almost like they are going back to the time when there was no Spanish influence”, Jose Garcia said.
Zapatista comandantes told the Indigenous delegation that it is easy to be brave and have courage in the beginning of a struggle, but it is harder later when one's shoes are worn out and there is nothing to eat.
“The tongue is not made of bone”, Comandante Tacho told the indigenous delegation.
Zapatista comandantes said that in 1994 they believed the fighting would be endless; they sold their horses and cows; they sold everything they had. After they agreed to dialogue with the Mexican government, twelve days after the fighting began, they had nothing to come back to.
Maria Garcia said, “The Zapatista knew from the beginning that the dialogue with the government would not work, would produce nothing. They had already been in dialogue with the government for 10 years before 1994; they knew the government was not serious. ”
Jose Garcia said that it is important now to return to Indigenous roots, for it is the new seeds that will bring new life from within the earth. He said Zapatista comandantes reminded him that it is important to go forward without fear. They learned this as they were being pushed off their lands, starved off their lands and murdered by land barons and the Mexican government.
Garcia said, “It is important to learn not to be afraid. The Zapatistas said when they faced the Mexican army; they faced helicopters, tanks and machine guns - and they had only their outdated rifles. ”
Comandante Tacho told the indigenous delegation, “We had to learn to control fear. We asked ourselves, ‘Why are we running from these people?’ We turned around and started pushing back.”
Remembering Tacho's words, Maria Garcia said, “You have to make up your mind not to be dependent on anyone. It just has to be you.”
Zapatistas said it is useless to expect help from the government. “You can not ask the enemy for help”, Comandante Tacho said referring to the Federal Government.
Now, Zapatistas say it is important to continue down this road of “Walking and asking. ” It means teaching and learning as one goes.
Jose Garcia said Zapatistas are building autonomous communities without the need or use of weapons. “To do that, you have to be very sure of yourself and very committed to the idea.”
Struggling forward, regardless of criticism from others, Jose Garcia said, “We don´t care what people say or how they criticize us. What we see from the end of the tunnel is worlds come together and fit into one world. We may not see it ourselves, but it will be there one day. It is people like these people who will not let it die. ”
Zapatista Comandantes told Tohono O'odham and Mayo, “You get up and go, even when people are against you. ”
Mayo from the southwest coast, struggling for an autonomous government in their community, came to support the Zapatista autonomous governments and ask for support.
The Mexican government has arrested and imprisoned the Mayo leader, leading the movement for a local autonomous government, near Navajoa in the state of Sonora.
Mario Barreras Cantu, Mayo leader on the delegation to Chiapas, said Mayos came here to offer support. “We want to help others who have a dream. ”
The delegation, during the third week of July, included school teachers, housewives and laborers from across Mexico.
In the Zapatista village over breakfast, Juan Antonio Alvarez, Nahuatl descendant who lives in Monterrey, said globalization is invading the United States and Mexico and it is important for the tribes to support one another to oppose globalization.
“This is very impressive, it shows that all colors and all races can come together here; all the worlds can come together to create one world.”
Speaking of the need for autonomy he said, “We want to be our own selves, make our own decisions to benefit ourselves. We want the government to respect us. I want to tell all my brothers in the world to keep on with the struggle.
“For the people who come after us, remember it is important to be free, to be free and honor yourselves. ”
All people, he said, have the ability and capacity to feel injustices anywhere in the world, in the depth of their hearts. This, he said, is how we become true revolutionaries.
“We can be revolutionaries by knowing and feeling injustice wherever it happens in the world. This way, we can give our lives for our brothers to the end. ”
Subcomandante Marcos, who was not present during the meeting between the Zapatista comandantes and the indigenous delegation, released a statement in July 2003 about the new autonomous governments.
“Delegates from each of the 30 Zapatista autonomous municipalities will comprise the five assemblies of just government situated in the five different areas of Chiapas where the Zapatistas have a strong presence. Following the uprising in 1994, the Zapatistas have reclaimed hundreds of estates of private land into communal control, and created their own systems of grass-roots democracy, autonomous education and autonomous health care”, Marcos said in the statement.
“In opposition to the capitalists' Plan Puebla Panama, the Zapatistas have called for the implementation of the people's Plan La Realidad Tijuana. The Plan involves linking all the resistances in our country and, along with them, rebuilding the Mexican nation from below. The Zapatistas have declared their support at the world level for Venezuelan sovereignty, for the people of Iraq and for all those struggles in resistance against the power of money . “new”
“And, in each 'Caracol,' a new building, the 'Casa de la Junta de Buen Gobierno' (House of the Good Government Junta) can be made out. As far as can be seen, there will be a 'Good Government Junta' in each region, and it involves an organizing effort on the part of the communities, not only to confront the problems of autonomy, but also to build a more direct bridge between them and the world.”
Brenda Norrell
Contributing Editor
U.N. Observer and International Report
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com
other links:
http://www.brendanorrell.blogspot.com
Background Information: a few of the many websites on the Zapatistas
Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional http://www.ezln.org
Mujeres Zapatistas * Zapatista Women
http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/~geneve/zapwomen
CounterPunch's Zapatista Archive
http://www.counterpunch.org/zaps01112003.html
The Zapatistas Reject the War on Drugs
http://www.narconews.com/Issue33/article971.html
ZAPATISTAS IN CYBERSPACE, A Guide to Analysis & I...Resources
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/Homepages/Faculty/Cleaver/zapsincyber.html
Zapatistas Discussion Group http://www.zapatistas.org