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Subcomandantes Insurgentes Moisés y Galeano

300, Part II: A Continent as a Backyard, a Country as a Cemetery, Pensamiento Único as a Government Program, and a Small, Very Small, Ever So Small Rebellion.

300.
Part II:
A Continent as a Backyard, a Country as a Cemetery, Pensamiento Únicoi as a Government Program, and a Small, Very Small, Ever So Small Rebellion.

From our analysis of the world we move to the level of the continent.

If we look above…

We see the examples of Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina, where supposedly progressive governments have not only been removed from power but prosecuted, and the governments that have taken their place are ones that have been trained as good overseers—obedient to capital, that is—ready to take on a realignment of the world plantation (though, to be fair, even in their cynicism they’re still pretty clumsy). Take Temer in Brazil, Macri in Argentina, and that guy in Ecuador who was supposed to be good because he was chosen by the now-persecuted Correa (a man of the “citizen’s revolution”, “a leftist” according to the progressive intelligentsia who backed him) but who, it turns out, is actually on the right: Lenin Moreno (yeah, paradoxically his name is Lenin).

Under the watchful eye of the State that has become the policeman of the region—Colombia—threats are issued, destabilization efforts are undertaken and plans are made for provocations that would justify “peace force” invasions. In all of South America, we see a return to the brutal times of the Colonies, now characterized by a “new” extractivism—really just the same ancestral plunder of natural resources, categorized as “raw materials”—but endorsed and promoted among the progressive governments of the region as “Left extractivism”. This is supposed to be something like a Leftist capitalism or a capitalist Left, or who knows what it’s supposed to be because it destroys and dispossesses just the same, only it’s for a “good cause” (??). Any criticism or movement that opposes the destruction of the originary peoples’ territories is written off as having been “promoted by Empire” or “backed by the right-wing”, among other equivalents to being “a conspiracy by the mafia of Power.” In sum, the “backyard” of Capital extends across the continent all the way to Cape Horn.

But if we look below…

We see resistances and rebellions, first and foremost among the originary peoples. It would be unfair to try to name them all since there’s always a risk of leaving some out, but their identities are clear in their struggles. There where the machine encounters resistance to its predatory advance, rebellion dresses in colors so old they’re new again and speaks “strange” languages. Displacement, also disguised as the leasing of lands, tries to impose its commodity logic on those who refer to the Earth as “Mother.” These resistances are accompanied by groups, collectives, and organizations which, while perhaps not themselves composed of originary peoples, share the same effort and the same destiny, that is to say, the same heart. That is why they suffer insults, persecution, imprisonment and, not infrequently, death.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Subcomandantes Insurgentes Moisés y Galeano

300, Part I: A Plantation, a World, a War, Slim Chances.

Words of the EZLN’s Sixth Commission at the Gathering of Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG) and its spokeswoman

(Expanded version)

Given time restrictions, we were unable to present these thoughts in full during the gathering. We promised you the full version, and we include the full transcription here, including the parts that were not read at the gathering. You’re welcome. Don’t mention it.

300
Part I:
A Plantation, a World, a War, Slim Chances.

August, 2018.

Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano:

Good morning, thank you for coming, for accepting our invitation and for sharing your words with us.

We are going to begin by explaining our way of doing analysis and evaluation.

We start by analyzing what is happening in the world, then move to what is happening at the continental level, then to what is happening in this country, then to a regional and finally to a local level. From there, we develop an initiative and begin to move back up from a local level to a regional level, then to the national, the continental, and finally the global level.

We think that capitalism is the dominant system at the global level. In order to explain this system both to ourselves and to others, we use the image of a plantation. I’m going to ask Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés to explain this part.

-*-

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés:

Compañeros and compañeras: we interviewed our own compañeros and compañeras who are our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, some of whom are still alive. The following is what they told us and what they helped us understand: how the rich, the capitalists, want to turn the whole world into their plantation.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Tercios Compas

(Español) Palabras del EZLN en la plenaria del Encuentro de Redes de Apoyo al CIG

Sorry, this entry is only available in Mexican Spanish. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

Palabras de la Comandancia General del EZLN en voz del Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés y del Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano, durante la plenaria del Encuentro de Redes de Apoyo al Concejo Indígena de Gobierno, el 5 de agosto de 2018 en el Caracol de Morelia, Chiapas.

Audio: (Descarga aquí)  

Video: Tercios Compas
Audio: Café Zapata Vive

 

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EZLN

Mensaje

Sorry, this entry is only available in Mexican Spanish. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

(Debido a fallas en nuestro audio, no hemos podido subir el mensaje que enviaron las compañeras zapatistas el Encuentro de Mujeres el pasado 29 de julio. A partir de audios que subieron páginas amigas, transcribimos el mensaje zapatista. Colectivo RZ).

 

Mensaje de las mujeres bases de apoyo zapatistas el Encuentro de Mujeres que se realizó en la comunidad indígena Hñähñu de San Lorenzo Nenamicoyan, Estado de México, los días 28 y 29 de julio de 2018

A las Mujeres del Congreso Nacional Indígena
Del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno
A Mujeres del Encuentro de Mujeres

Reciban un saludo revolucionario a nombre de las compañeras bases de apoyo zapatistas. Nos da mucho gusto escuchar que ustedes organizaron un Encuentro de Mujeres, que no dependieron de los hombres. Es así que debemos conquistar nuestro derecho como mujeres, donde tengamos espacio para luchar contra el capitalismo patriarcal, escuchar diferentes formas organizándonos en las reuniones, asambleas, con conciencia y valor. Que nosotras, las mujeres, sí podemos hacer los trabajos de diferentes formas, como en la salud, educación, producción, tercias, medias, justicia, radios comunitarias, en las artes y también como gobernamos en las juntas de buen gobierno, en los MAREZ y autoridades locales de los tres niveles autónomos.

Todo eso no ha sido tan fácil porque no tenemos manual, sino en las prácticas ahí fuimos aprendiendo como en los trabajos que se necesitan. Aunque con errores, ahí fuimos corrigiéndonos. No por eso dejamos de luchar. También estamos vigilándonos en todas las áreas del trabajo que ejercemos en la autonomía y educamos a nuestros jóvenas y jóvenes a que tengan una vida mejor, su libertad para luchar contra el pinche sistema capitalista patriarcal.

Nosotras, como mujeres, no somos objetos para ellos. Tampoco mercancías ni limosneras. No pensemos que alguien nos viene a dar el cambio, sino que nosotras tenemos que hacer el cambio, organizándonos desde abajo con los millones de mexicanas y mexicanos que ¿a poco se conforman con la situación en que están? (…) La esperanza, compañeras, que sigamos luchando y organizándonos. Que no sea la primera ni la última vez que organizan este encuentro porque es necesario compartir sus experiencias de lucha. Así como nosotras llevamos 24 años de lucha y nos falta mucho para hacer y aprender organizándonos, como ya dijimos que no tenemos libros o manual para diario, sino conforme a los pasos, vamos tejiendo nuestras experiencias y rescatando nuestra sabiduría como pueblos originarios.

Ánimo, pues, compañeras. No dejemos de luchar. Ganaremos en conquistar nuestros derechos como mujeres, la igualdad y la libertad junto con nuestros compañeros. Vamos adelante.

29 de julio del 2018
¡Vivan las mujeres del Congreso Nacional Indígena!
¡Vivan las mujeres del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno!
¡Vivan las mujeres que participan en el Encuentro Nacional de Mujeres!

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The Zapatista Army of National Liberation denies having any sort of contact with AMLO. Communique from the CCRI-CG of EZLN


Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico

To the People of Mexico:
To the People and Governments of the World:
To the Free, Alternative, Autonomous, or whatever they’re called Media:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the National Indigenous Congress and the Indigenous Governing Council:
To the National and International Press:

July 17th, 2018.

Since yesterday and during today, media has been running a story backed by declarations of Mister Alejandro Solalinde (who presents himself as a presbyter, priest, clergyman or however its said, christian, catholic, Roman Apostolic), of a supposed approach between EZLN and Mister Andrés Manuel López Obrador and that “the EZLN already agreed to have a first dialogue” (textual words by Mister Solalinde).

About this lie EZLN declares:

First: The CCRI-CG of EZLN, the political, organizational and military directorate of EZLN, hasn’t agreed to a first dialogue with anyone. As its well know by whoever has the minimum knowledge of EZLN and its ways, a matter like this would have been made public well in advance.

Second: EZLN hasn’t received from Mister Solalinde anything but lies, insults, libel and racist and sexist comments, by assuming just like it was done during the days of Salinismo and Zedillismo, that we are poor ignorant indigenous manipulated by the -quoting his own words- “Caxlanes who administer Zapatismo” that don’t allow us to look down and kneel to the mister whose Solalinde considers the new savior.

Third: We understand Solalinde’s need to be on the spotlight and his demand for our submissiveness, but he is wrong about EZLN’s Zapatismo. Not only he is wrong about that. We don’t know much about it, but it seems like one of the church commandments to whom Mister Solalinde supposedly serves, which goes: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, and you won’t lie”.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Comisión Sexta del EZLN

Invitation to a meeting of Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council; to CompARTE 2018, “For Life and Freedom”; and the 5th Anniversary of the Caracoles

Convocation to a Gathering of Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council; to CompARTE[i]  2018, “For Life and Freedom”; and to the Fifteenth Anniversary Event of the Zapatista Caracoles entitled, “Píntale Caracolitos a los malos gobiernos pasados, presentes y futuros[ii]

July, 2018.

To the individuals, groups, collectives and organizations of the Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council:

To the National and International Sixth:

First and last point:

The Grand Finale.

You arrive at the grand stadium. “Monumental,” “colossal,” “an architectonic marvel,” “the concrete giant”—these and similar descriptors roll off the lips of TV broadcasters who, despite the different realities that they describe, all highlight the enormously proud structure.

To get to the magnificent building, you’ve had to wade through rubble, cadavers, and filth. Older folks say that it wasn’t always like this, that it used to be that homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and buildings were erected around the great sporting hub. Rivers of people would rush all the way up to the gigantic entrance, which only opened once in a while and on whose threshold was inscribed, “Welcome [Bienvenido] to the Supreme Game.” Yes, “bienvenido” in the masculine, as if what occurred inside was exclusively a men’s affair, as used to be the case with public bathrooms, bars, the machinery and tools sections of hardware stores…and, of course, soccer.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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SupGaleano

(Español) Programa del Concierto Musiquero del domingo 15 de abril

Sorry, this entry is only available in Mexican Spanish. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

Domingo 15 abril, a partir de la hora que se pueda, ¿a las 1600 está bien?, sale y vale, a las 1600 horas, en el CIDECI-UniTierra:

¡Gran Concierto Musical!

(oh, bueno pues, ¡Mediano Concierto Musical!
¿Tampoco?  Bueno, “¡Concierto Musical a Secas!”, ¿ah verdad?)

Batalla Campal Musiquera

(batidillo musiquero –ni idea de qué resulte-, o sea que será algo así como los tacos campechanos con harrrrrrrta salsa.  Ojo: el antiácido va por su cuenta).

“Falta lo que Falta”
(o sea la paga, ésa siempre falta)

/porque viera que hay, oiga usted, joven, caballero, damita, ´onde quiera se consiguen, ya no digamos en blanco y negro, hasta fotocopias a color; impresiones en 3D de credenciales del INE –no, el photoshop se cobra aparte-; firmas con el DNA incluido; encuestas al gusto del que pague; un padrón electoral a modo; dos figuritas de acción, ¡edición limitada!, de Lorenzo Córdova y Ciro Murayama, para la casa, la oficina, oiga usted, para la dama, el caballero, la señorita, el niño, la niña, para regalo, presente u obsequio, llévelas –opcional: dos máscaras de los susodichos y una calcomanía con la leyenda “Yo en el INE sí confío” y otra que dice “Nah, ni madres”, para el carnaval de abril a julio-; boletas electorales ya con la elección de su preferencia (ah, ¿ésas ya las tienen? Mta, ¿no les digo?, si falta como quien dice “prospectiva” empresarial); más de un millón de followers para la red social más cercana a su esmarfon; hay para todos los presupuestos… bueno, no para todos, ni modos…/

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Equipo de apoyo

Program for the Roundtable: “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

Program for the Roundtable:
“To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

I.
Poster and Photography Exhibition
April15-25, 2018, at the CIDECI-UniTierra, in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México

Images of Hope
Poster art from Marichuy’s campaign
Curated by Alejandro Magallanes

Absences and Presences
Disappeared Women, Women of Dignified Rage
Photographs by Maya Goded and Graciela Iturbide

II.
Music Concert
Sunday April 15, beginning at 4pm, at the CIDECI-UniTierra
Program to follow

III.
Roundtable Sessions:

Monday April 16, 4pm:
Marichuy Patricio Martínez
Mercedes Olivera
Márgara Millán
Sylvia Marcos

Tuesday April 17, 4pm:
Carlos Aguirre Rojas
Alicia Castellanos
Gilberto López y Rivas
Alejandro Grimson

Wednesday April 18, 4pm:
Films and documentaries:
Tobías. Directed by Francisca Dacosta, with an introduction by the director.
Somos Lengua.  Directed by Kyzza Terrazas, with an introduction by the director.
La libertad de diablo.  Directed by Everardo González, with an introduction by the director.

Thursday, April 19, 4pm:
Fernanda Navarro
Lupita Vázquez Luna
Erika Bárcena Arévalo
Jaime Martínez Luna
Carlos López Beltrán

Friday April 20, 4pm:
Jorge Alonso
Carlos Mendoza
Jacobo Dayán
Mónica Meltis
Irene Tello Arista

Saturday April 21, morning session beginning at 10am:
Daniela Rea
Marcela Turati
Javier Risco
Emilio Lezama
Luis Hernández Navarro

Saturday April 2, afternoon session beginning at 4pm:
Marichuy Patricio Martínez
Mardonio Carvallo
Carlos González
Adolfo Gilly
Juan Carlos Rulfo
Juan Villoro
Pablo González Casanova

Sunday April 22, morning session beginning at 10am:
Bertha Navarro
Ximena Antillón, Mariana Mora y Edith Escareño
Mauricio González González
John Gibler

Sunday April 22, afternoon session beginning at 4pm:
Juan Carlos Rulfo
Paul Theroux
Cristina Rivera-Garza
Abraham Cruzvillegas y Gabriela Jáuregui
Enrique Serna

Monday April 23, 4pm:
Sergio Rodríguez Lascano
Magda Gómez
Bárbara Zamora
Rafael Castañeda

Tuesday April 24, 4pm:
Natalia Beristáin
Néstor Quiñones
Daniel Giménez Cacho
Yásnaya Aguilar Gil

Wednesday April 25, 4pm:
Support team for the CIG [Indigenous Governing Council] and its spokeswoman / Chiapas Collective.
Support team for the CIG and its spokeswoman / Mesa de Bellas Artes Collective
Raúl Romero
Pablo González Casanova
Roundtable Closing

From the Support Team
April, 2018

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SupGaleano

EZLN invites to the dialogue (or seedbed) “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?” 15-25 Apr 2018

The Sixth Commission of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation convokes a ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION (or seedbed, depending on who you ask): “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION
Sixth commission of the EZLN.

Mexico.
March, 2018.

To the persons, groups, collectives and organizations throughout the world who understood and took on as their own the initiative of the Indigenous Governing Council and its spokeswoman:

To the national and international Sixth:

To everyone who contributed their signature in support of the Indigenous Governing Council’s spokeswoman:

CONSIDERING:

First and only:

The Happy Family.

A town, or a city, or whatever it’s called. A place in the world. A wall. Hung on the rough surface of the huge wall is a flyer, a poster, or whatever you call it. In the image, a man and woman smile in front of a table brimming with a wide variety of food. To the couple’s right, a smiling girl; to their left, a boy grinning to display gleaming teeth. Above them in large and intimidating letters reads “THE HAPPY FAMILY”. The poster is old by now, time’s march forward having muted the colors that, we assume, were once bright and, yes, happy. Anonymous hands have added small paper signs to the wall: “The happy family is happy only with God’s blessing”; “No to gay parenting! Death to faggots and dykes!”; “Motherhood is what defines a happy woman”; “We unclog pipes: no-obligation estimates”; “Happy home available for rent to a happy family. Unhappy families need not apply”.

 Along the sidewalk that runs in front of the wall, people hurry from one place to another without paying any attention to the opaque image. Occasionally, someone is crushed to death under a huge chunk that falls off the decrepit wall. In fact, these partial rockslides are becoming more and more frequent. Loose pieces of the wall break off and crush sometimes one person, sometimes a small group, sometimes whole communities. The crowd is thrown into commotion only for an instant before resuming its trajectory under the pale gaze of the happy family.

Catastrophes big or small, these should not distract us from what is most important now: every so often, the supreme maker of “happy families” announces the free and democratic election of who will preside over the poster.[i] And precisely at this moment, you are just now noticing, a happy calendar that can be seen behind the happy family indicates that it’s election season. Around this time, a feverish activity runs through the crowd that, without stopping, discusses, offers opinions and argues about the different options presenting themselves as potential stewards of the enormous poster.

There are those who point out the danger posed to the image on the already battered poster—the symbolic identity of the city or town or whatever—by their opponents’ obvious inexperience. One person offers to renovate the poster and return to it the brightness and color it once had (in reality, nobody remembers that time, so we can’t be sure that it actually existed—if, of course, we can in fact attribute existence to time). Someone else says that previous administrations have neglected the image, and that this is what has caused its visible deterioration.

The different proposals ignite arguments among passers-by: accusations, insults, fallacies, arguments of a purely ephemeral base, condemnations and apocalyptic predictions fly back and forth. People reflect on the importance and transcendence of this moment, on the necessity of conscious participation. It wasn’t for nothing that they struggled for so many years to be able to choose who presides over the happy image of the happy family.

Factions are formed: on one side are those who insist on a sensible renovation; on the other are those who insist on the scientific postulate, “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”; another faction consists of those calling for proper behavior, good taste and modernity. A few here and there shout, “Don’t think! Vote!”. A giant placard obstructs the flow of people; it reads “Any call to think rationally about voting is a call to abstention. This is not a time to think, it is time to take sides”.

The discussions are not always level-headed. The selection of the steward of the image is so important that many times the competing groups resort to violence.

Some talk of the boundless happiness that accrues to whomever ends up the victor, but, far from mundane worldly interests, the severe faces of the contenders belie the seriousness of the matter: it’s an historic task; the future is in the trembling hands of those who must choose; this most serious responsibility weighs heavily on the shoulders of the people. Happily, though, this weight will be lifted once the winner is known and sets him or herself to the task of procuring happiness for the happy image of the happy family.

The frenzy is such that everyone forgets entirely about the image portrayed. But on the lonely wall, the happy family still displays its perennial and useless smile.

t the foot of the long, high wall, a little girl raises her hand, asking to speak. The factions barely take notice, but someone finally says, “Poor little thing, she wants to talk, we should let her.” “No,” says another faction, “it’s a trick from the opposition group, an attempt to divide the vote, a distraction designed to stop us from reflecting on the gravity of the moment, a clear call to abstention.” Another faction objects: “What capacity could a little girl have to even opine about the poster? She needs to study, grow, and mature.” And from another wing: “We’re not going to waste time listening to a little girl. We should concentrate on what’s important: deciding who is best suited to take care of the poster.

The “Commission on Transparency and Legitimacy for the Election of the Person in Charge of Stewarding the Image of the Happy Family” (abbreviated CTLEPCSIHF) released a brief and serious memo, in accordance with the gravity of the times: “The rules are clear: NO LITTLE GIRLS ALLOWED.

Specialized analysts publish new reflections: “The only thing the little girl achieved was the legitimization of the CTLEPCSIHF. In asking for the floor, the girl entered the game and lost; the rest is consolation.”; “The failure of the girl is symptomatic of the failure of the renovation process, the institutions should let the girl talk”; “It was very moving, the little girl with her little hand raised, asking for attention, poor little thing”; “It was an adverse outcome, the product of an erroneous analysis of the conjuncture, the context and the correlation of forces. This signals the absence of a revolutionary vanguard to direct the masses”; “Etcetera”.

 But the discussions lasted only a few minutes before the coming and going of footsteps and injustices continued its course. No one listened to the girl speak as she pointed, not to the image, but to the wall upon which the happy family shone its by now deteriorated tranquility.

Standing on a pile of rubble, surrounded by the cadavers of little girls and broken stones, she stated, flatly, the obvious:

“It’s going to fall.”

But no one listened…

Just a minute…no one?

(To be continued?)

-*-

Based on the above statement, the Sixth Commission of the EZLN convokes:

A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION (or seedbed, depending on who you ask):

“To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

 In which various participants from the National Indigenous Congress, the Indigenous Governing Council, the arts, the sciences, political activism, journalism and culture will share with us what they are seeing and hearing.

The roundtable will take place from April 15-25, 2018, at the CIDECI-Unitierra in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.

The following, among others, have confirmed their participation:

Marichuy (spokeswoman for the Indigenous Governing Council).
Lupita Vázquez Luna (councilwoman of the Indigenous Governing Council).
Luis de Tavira Noriega (theater director).
Mardonio Carballo (writer).
Juan Carlos Rulfo (filmmaker).
Paul Leduc (filmmaker).
Cristina Rivera-Garza (writer).
Abraham Cruzvillegas (visual artist).
Néstor García Canclini (anthropologist).
Emilio Lezama (writer and political analyst).
Irene Tello Arista (columnist and activist).
Erika Bárcena Arévalo (lawyer and anthropologist).
Ximena Antillón Najlis (psychologist specializing in victims of violence).
Jacobo Dayán (academic and human rights activist).
Marcela Turati (investigative journalist).
Daniela Rea Gómez (journalist).
Carlos Mendoza Álvarez (philosopher).
John Gibler (journalist).
Javier Risco (journalist).
Alejandro Grimson (anthropologist).
Enrique Serna (novelist).
Paul Theroux (writer).
Juan Villoro (writer).
Pablo González Casanova (sociologist and Zapatista, not necessarily in that order).
Gilberto López y Rivas (anthropologist).
Alicia Castellanos Guerrero (anthropologist).
Magdalena Gómez Rivera (lawyer).
Bárbara Zamora (lawyer).
Margara Millán Moncayo (feminist sociologist).
Sylvia Marcos (psychologist and feminist sociologist).
Jorge Alonso Sánchez (anthropologist).
Fernanda Navarro y Solares (philosopher).
Néstor Quiñones (graphic artist).
Raúl Romero (sociologist).
Rafael Castañeda (political militant).
Luis Hernández Navarro (journalist).
Carlos Aguirre Rojas (sociologist and economist).
Sergio Rodríguez Lascano (political militant).
Carlos González (lawyer and activist for the struggles of originary peoples).
Adolfo Gilly (political militant, historian and analyst).
Carolina Coppel (video artist).
Mercedes Olivera Bustamante (feminist anthropologist).
María Eugenia Sánchez Díaz de Rivera (sociologist).
“Lengua Alerta” (musician).
“Panteón Rococó” (musicians).
“El Mastuerzo” (guacarocker[ii]).
“Batallones femeninos” (feminist musicians).
“Los Originales de San Andrés” (Zapatista musicians).
“La Dignidad y la Resistencia” (Zapatista musicians).

As the rest of those invited confirm their attendance (and whose names are not listed here so as to protect the innocent) the complete list will be made public, as well as the dates and times of each participant’s contribution.

The email address to register as a listener-observer, or member of the free or paid press, is:

asistentesemillero@enlacezapatista.org.mx

Please include your name, city, state or country, and whether you are attending as an individual or member of a collective.

That said, don’t miss it… or do miss it, the point is that you watch, listen, and think.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.

For the Sixth Commission of the EZLN (Department of “Invitations and Stating the Obvious”).

SupGaleano.

Mexico, March, 2018.

 

[i] The original Spanish used here is “cartel,” which can mean a poster or sign, but also literally means cartel, as in, for example, a drug cartel.

[ii]Guacarock” was coined by Mexican rock band “Botellita de Jerez” (of which “El Mastuerzo” was a member) to describe their unique style of fusing Mexican popular rhythms with the sounds of rock’n’roll. The term combines the Mexican word for avocado (aguacate) with rock.

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CNI, CIG, EZLN

Convocation for the Next Step in our Struggle

Convocation for the Next Step in our Struggle

Sisters and brothers, compañeras and compañeros of the countryside and the city, in Mexico and around the world:

The National Indigenous Congress (CNI), the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG), the Civil Association “The Time for the Flourishing of Our Peoples Has Come,” and the Zapatista Army for National Liberation here address those individuals, groups, collectives, organizations, peoples, barrios, tribes, and nations that, in Mexico and in other countries, took on as their own the initiative to register the CIG spokeswoman, María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, as candidate for the Mexican presidency.

The information that we have been able to verify is the following:

  • Signatures received by the National Electoral Institute (INE): 281,955. Of these, 10,624 were registered on paper, rather than via the digital application. Of those paper registrations, the vast majority came from community assemblies.
  • According to the INE’s own criteria, 94.5% of the signatures collected were found to be valid.
  • Auxiliaries: 14,117 people registered as auxiliaries, with 5,704 actively registering signatures. With respect to the difference between registered and active auxiliaries (8,413), of 5,322 emails that were sent to those who registered as auxiliaries but did not document any signatures, there were 2,137 replies. Of those replies, 1,618 explained that they did not have an adequate mobile device with which to gather signatures, either because of the requirements of the INE application or because of the quality of the camera on their device.
  • Average number of signatures per active auxiliary: 49.43 (information from the webpage of our brothers and sisters at Cryptopozol, who processed this information from November 3, 2017, through February 24-26, 2018. See: https://criptopozol.github.io/avance_marichuy/
  • The following is an approximate (but not precise) count of auxiliaries by state:

Location not listed        4930

Aguascalientes             89

Baja California              251

Baja California Sur        69

Campeche                    42

Chiapas                        864

Chihuahua                    188

Mexico City                 3398

Coahuila                       92

Colima                          30

Durango                       42

Mexico State                1070

Outside Mexico            105

Guanajuato                  345

Guerrero                       99

Hidalgo                         179

Jalisco                          1040

Michoacán                    264

Morelos                        274

Nayarit                          63

Nuevo León                  257

Oaxaca                         242

Puebla                          407

Querétaro                     301

Quintana Roo               189

San Luis Potosí             197

Sinaloa                          98

Sonora                          149

Tabasco                        48

Tamaulipas                   69

Tlaxcala                        94

Veracruz                       367

Yucatán                       151

Zacatecas                    89

(Note: the final count does not match the registered auxiliaries because, we are told, some auxiliaries registered more than once out of desperation because the INE did not respond in a timely manner).

-*-

Compañeras and compañeros, sisters and brothers:

As is evident, we did not reach the necessary number of signatures to register Marichuy as a presidential candidate.

We think explanations for and evaluations of this fact should stem from a serious and rigorous analysis.

Had we reached the number of signatures necessary we would have been able to take advantage of this space to continue to reveal the suffering and struggle of the originary peoples and to point to the criminal character of the system, as well as to echo the pain and rage that seethes across the entire national territory and to continue to promote self-organization, resistance, and rebellion.

We did not reach that goal, but we must continue on our path, seeking out other ways, methods and forms with ingenuity, creativity, and boldness to achieve what it is that we want.

Our purpose was never to take Power, but was and will be for self-organization, autonomy, rebellion and resistance, for solidarity and mutual aid and for the construction of a world built on democracy, freedom, and justice for all.

The National Indigenous Congress’ initiative to form the Indigenous Governing Council and run its spokeswoman, Marichuy, as candidate for the Mexican presidency has completed another stage. The first stage was marked by the decision made during the Fifth National Indigenous Congress on our twentieth anniversary in October of 2016 to hold a referendum on this initiative among all of our peoples and communities. The second stage consisted of the CNI’s internal referendum from October through December of 2016 on whether to form the CIG and name its spokeswoman. The third stage culminated in the Constitutive Assembly of the CIG and the naming of María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, by consensus of that Assembly, in May of 2017. The fourth stage consisted of the collection of signatures for Marichuy’s presidential bid, a process that we have just concluded.

Our path continues. The fundamental difference between the current moment and the previous stages is that there are now many more originary peoples walking together with us, and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, that there are many more people, groups, collectives, and organizations focused on finding our own solutions, solutions that we know will never come from above.

This last stage was marked by the involvement of many more people and sectors, beyond the originary peoples and the CNI, in a civil, peaceful, and inclusive struggle for a just cause using legal, legitimate, and honest methods toward a horizon of the radical transformation of the reality we all suffer today. This is something that no member of the institutional political class can say.

Faced with the undeniable fact that we did not reach the number of signatures required by law to continue this stage, we call for an analysis and evaluation that, like the entire process so far, is collective, participative, inclusive, honest, and true.

For these reasons, and for others for which we have no words:

First: We thank with all our hearts the people who, in Mexico and in other countries, gave their signatures. For us, each of them is an embrace and encouragement to continue on without fail. We salute each and every one of them and, in response, reaffirm our commitment to not falter on this path.

Second: We offer special thanks to those who, with or without the label of “auxiliaries,” understood the reach of our initiative and made it their own, offering their time, resources and labor in the process of creating, growing, and consolidating collective and communitarian organization in order to be able to confront in better conditions the storm that we are all living through.

Third: The Civil Association “The Time for the Flourishing of Our Peoples Has Come,” the National Indigenous Congress and all who constitute it, the Indigenous Governing Council, and the Zapatista Army for National Liberation have begun a serious internal analysis and evaluation of the stage which has just concluded.

Fourth: We think this analysis is not just up to us. We believe that, given the collective effort put into this initiative which far surpassed the horizon of the originary peoples, we want to consolidate and maintain this broader desire to build another way of doing politics.

Thus, we convoke:

All those individuals, groups, collectives, organizations, nations, tribes, peoples, and communities of the countryside and the city, indigenous and non-indigenous, in Mexico and in other countries, who committed themselves to this process and took it on with work, dedication, and honesty: we invite you carry out an analysis and evaluation of this effort using the objectives announced by the CNI and the CIG and above all, the objectives you yourselves established, and to send it to us at the following email:

valoraciones@congresonacionalindigena.org

We would also like to announce that, parallel to these analyses and evaluations, the Civil Association “The Time for the Flourishing of Our Peoples Has Come,” the National Indigenous Congress, the CIG, and our Zapatista brothers and sisters will convoke a series of public activities open to all those who participated in the process in order to follow through with this struggle that, as we know, has only just begun. These activities will be announced by the convoking bodies.

We also invite you to hold your own activities for analysis and evaluation of what is happening in Mexico and around the world according to your own ways, times, and criteria. As the CIG and its spokeswoman Marichuy have said time and again, the horizon of our struggle is not marked by July 1, 2018, nor does it apply only to Mexico.

Resistance, rebellion, and the endeavor to build a world where many worlds fit is an international one and is not limited by the calendars or geographies of those above who exploit, disrespect, rob, and destroy us.

Mexico, March 2018.

NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US

NEVER AGAIN A WORLD OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS

INDIGENOUS GOVERNING COUNCIL

CIVIL ASSOCIATION “THE TIME FOR THE FLOURISHING OF OUR PEOPLES HAS COME”

ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION

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