Rompeviento Internet TV presents the special report “Michoacán: a fight to death for life.” Members of Michoacán’s self-defense groups explain in an interview the reason they arose, the movement’s fruits, the security crisis, and the void of authority in the state, as well as future scenarios. WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

This documentary portrays the threat to indigenous communities in southern Mexico caused by single crop farming, resetlement projects in supposedly “sustainable” rural cities, tourism projects and represion.

Production: zz-colectivo – Iniciativa para la investigación, análisis y educación social, intercultural y ecológica.
(México/Alemania 2013, 71 minutos)

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When the Dead Silently Speak Out

(Rewind 1)

(A text which reflects on those who are absent and on biographies, narrates Durito’s first encounter with the Cat-Dog, and talks about other things that may or may not be relevant, as the impertinent postscript dictates).

November-December 2013

Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter of Life and Death.
Methinks that what they call my shadow here on earth is my true substance. Methinks that in looking at things spiritual,
we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water,
and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air.
Me thinks my body is but the lees of my better being.
In fact take my body who will, take it I say, it is not me.
Herman Melville “Moby Dick.”

For a while now I have maintained that most biographies are merely a collection of documented, well-written (well, sometimes) lies. The typical biography is based on a pre-existing belief and the margin of tolerance for anything that strays from that conviction is very narrow, if not inexistent. The author, starting from that previously held belief, begins the search through the jigsaw puzzle of a life unfamiliar to him or her (which is why the bibliography interests them to begin with), and goes about collecting the false or ill-fitting pieces that allow him or her to document their own belief, not the life they are talking about.

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Rewind 2:

On Death and Other Alibis.

December 2013.

“One knows one has died when
everything around them has
stopped dying.”
Elías Contreras.
Profession: EZLN Investigation Commission.
Civil Condition: Dead.
Age: 521 years old and counting.

It is before dawn, and, if they should ask me, which they haven’t, I would say that the problem with the dead is the living.

Because in their absence, you tend to get that absurd, meaningless, and outrageous argument: “I knew them/ saw them/ was told by them,” really just an alibi that hides the real statement “I am the administrator of that life because I administer its death.”

It’s something like having a “copyright” on death, thus converting it into merchandise that can be possessed, exchanged, circulated, and consumed. There are even historiographical books, biographies, museums, commemorations, theses, newspapers, magazines, and colloquia for this.

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Here we explain the reasons behind this strange title and those that will follow, narrate the story of an exceptional encounter between a beetle and a perplexing being (that is, more perplexing than the beetle) and the reflections of no immediate relevance or importance which occurred therein; and finally, given a particular anniversary, the Sub tries to explain, unsuccessfully, how the Zapatistas see their own history.

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NATIVE VOICES FROM THE NORTHWESTERN MEXICO

This series of documentaries visit to indigenous peoples, peasant and fishermen communities in northwestern Mexico, discovering the everyday life of its characters and the situations they face in order to keep their land and identity..

in VIMEO:  http://vimeo.com/album/2539923
in YouTube: NATIVE VOICES FROM THE NORTHWESTERN MEXICO

ITO’TE SWANE we shall care for ourselves

Documentary about health conditions in the Northwest Indigenous Mexico.
LINK: http://vimeo.com/terranostrafilms/itoteswaneeng

ITO’TE SWANE vamos a cuidarnos (80 MIN. / 2010) from Terra Nostra Films on Vimeo.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. 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.

Organizaciones defensoras de Derechos Humanos y el pueblo de El Bosque entregaron un reconocimiento como Defensor de Derechos Humanos y un Reconocimiento de inocencia a Alberto Patishtán.

Este acto se realizó al interior del CERRS 05 este 24 de septiembre de 2013. Al término de este se ofreció una conferencia de prensa a cargo de Agnieszka Raczynska, obispo Raúl Vera, Prof. Martín Ramírez y el Prof. Alberto Patishtán.

Este video recoge las palabras que se compartieron en dicha conferencia.

COMUNICADO DE LA CAMPAÑA:

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Votán IV.

D-Day Minus 7.

Revelations of what the Zapatista heart admires in others, announcement of some exemptions to the Zapatista Little School, and some pointless advice that no one is going to follow.

August of 2013.

Okay so, there’s not much left now. I mean that there are not many days left until the Little School starts, not that we don’t have much more to do and say.

If anyone out there can find a school that assigns each individual their own teacher, 24 hours a day, a school that is laicized [secular] and free of cost, that provides lodging and meals during the teaching and learning, well good luck.

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Votán III.

IAQ Section (Infrequently Asked Questions).

What you always wanted to know (or be warned) about the Zapatistas, their renowned Little School, and the potential consequences of attending.

July 2013.

So, it seems it is becoming more or less clear what the hell the Zapatistas are thinking when we talk about the little school.

But it is as expected that you would now have more questions than answers. Perhaps you are no longer worried about your footwear, but now you have other questions. It occurs to you that perhaps it is true what they say about Zapatismo being a 21st century rebellion, that they are skilled in all things cybernetic (they even have a graffiti artist for virtual walls). So you go to the nearest internet café, turn on the computer, and search “Zapatista little school, doubts, common questions, FAQ, etc.”

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