Communique from the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation
Mexico

August 17, 2019

To the People of Mexico:
To the Peoples of the World:
To the National Indigenous Congress—Indigenous Governing Council:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the Networks of Support and Resistance and Rebellion:

Hermanos, Hermanas, Hermanoas:

Compañeras, Compañeros, Compañeroas:

We bring you our word. The same word as yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It is the word of resistance and rebellion.

In October of 2016, almost three years ago, during the 20^th anniversary of the National Indigenous Congress [CNI], the sister organizations of the National Indigenous Congress and the EZLN made a commitment to go on the offensive in our defense of our Territory and Mother Earth. Persecuted by the bad government, by caciques, by foreign corporations, by criminals, and by the law, and as we accumulated insults, derision, and dead, we the originary peoples (the guardians of the earth), decided to go on the offensive and circulate the words and actions of resistance and rebellion.

With the founding of the Indigenous Governing Council [CIG] and the selection of its spokesperson, Marichuy, the National Indigenous Congress gave itself the job of taking words of warning and organization to the brothers and sisters of the city and countryside. Meanwhile, the EZLN also went on the offensive in its struggle with its words, ideas, and organization.

The time has come to hold ourselves accountable to the CNI-CIG and its spokesperson so that their peoples can decide if we have lived up to what we promised. But it is not only the CNI-CIG that we are accountable to; we also have a pending debt with the organizations, groups, collectives, and individuals (especially those in the Sixth and the Networks [of Rebellion and Resistance], but not only them) that throughout Mexico and the world concern themselves with our Zapatista peoples. These are people who, whatever their calendars, geographies, and habits may be, disregard the walls, borders, and sieges that are erected to divide us so that their hearts can continue to beat close to our own.

(Continuar leyendo…)

Sonata for Violin in G Minor: MONEY

“The devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.”
― Charles Baudelaire in “The Generous Gambler”

I. The Eighth Passenger

Nowhere, or everywhere. A drowsy train drifts off to its own purr. It isn’t coming from or going to anywhere in particular. Or at least not anywhere that matters. A dismal population whose haggard lives seem to hang by a thread nod off on board. In the last car, seven bored, grubbily dressed and solitary passengers, their lives as wretched as their clothes, shift irritably in their seats and lament their situation.

“I’d do anything to turn my luck around,” one says. They were speaking a universal language and the other six passengers nod in silence. Just then the long and battered train enters a tunnel, intensifying the shadows and hiding the passengers’ faces. The door opens and an eighth passenger walks in. The passenger’s clothes practically scream, “I’m not from around here,” but they sit down without a word. The tunnel stretches out the darkness.

A thunderous crack interrupts the silence, like a dry branch breaking but without a storm to blame. A pair of blazing eyes appear in the darkness: “I don’t think I need to introduce myself,” the fiery gaze hisses, “You have all conjured me in one way or another and I’m responding to your call. Make a wish: you pay with your soul. Name your price.”

The first passenger chooses health, to never get sick again. “Done,” Satan responds, picking up the healthy soul and throwing it in his bag.

Another passenger chooses wisdom, to know everything. “Done,” the devil murmurs, picking up the wise person’s soul and tossing it in his bag.

The third passenger opts for beauty, to be admired. “Done,” says the king of hell, tossing the beautiful one’s soul in his bag.

The fourth asks for Power, to rule and be obeyed. “Done,” Lucifer says under his breath, the soul of the new ruler added to his bag.

The fifth wants “pleasure,” to awaken passion at will. “Done,” the demon replies with a contented smile. The hedonist’s soul disappears into the devil’s bag.

The sixth passenger sits up straight and pronounces the desire for fame, to be widely recognized and praised. “Done,” Satan declares without a pause, and the famous soul takes its place among the other prisoners.

The seventh passenger practically sings their request for “love.” “Dooooooone,” the evil one replies with a guffaw, and the lover’s soul goes into the depths of the bag.

The fallen angel looks impatiently at the eighth passenger who hasn’t said anything and is merely scribbling in a notebook.

(Continuar leyendo…)

Adagio-Allegro Molto in E minor: A Possible Reality
(from the Notebook of the Cat-Dog)

“As you know, madness is like gravity…all it takes is a little push.”
The Joker in the role of Heath Ledger (or was it the reverse?)

Nobody knows for sure how it all started. Not even the Tercios Compas [Zapatista media], who took up the task of reconstructing the sequence of events, could pinpoint the exact moment and event in which the story I’m about to tell you began.

According to one version, SubGaleano is responsible for everything. Others say SubGaleano only started it and it was Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés who took it to completion.

See, what happened was that in one of his texts, SubGaleano mentioned a February 2011 program in which the journalist Carmen Aristegui asked if then-president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa was an alcoholic, and added that the nation should be informed about the health of the president. She was fired in retaliation. Up to that point in the story there is no disagreement—and you can confirm that’s what happened by referring to news articles from that time.

The problem really begins when SubGaleano added something like, “Madness, as pointed out by a misunderstood sage of the human soul, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push. To hold Power unlawfully is just that irresistible push that all those above long for, and it begins with three simple words, “I rule here.” If you think anyone in the media is going to question whether the current president is lacking in any of his mental faculties (let’s be clear, he didn’t say “crazy”), don’t hold your breath, because nobody will dare to do so.”

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Al Congreso Nacional Indígena

Al Concejo Indígena de Gobierno

Al Pueblo Creyente de la Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas.

A las y los defensores de los derechos humanos

A los medios Libres y Alternativos

A los medios de comunicación nacional e internacional

A la Sociedad Civil Nacional e Internacional

A la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH)

Hermanas y hermanos:

A 10 años de que la mal llamada “Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación” (SCJN), ordenara la liberación masiva de los paramilitares autores materiales de la Masacre de Acteal, hoy en la colonia Miguel Utrilla Los Chorros, cuna de los paramilitares, ha vuelto explícitamente la violencia en contra de integrantes de Las Abejas de Acteal.

Antier 10 de agosto de 2019, fueron destruidas con violencia las casas y pertenencias de nuestros compañeros: José Vázquez Entzín, Antonio Ramírez Pérez 2^O, Alonso Ruiz López, Alonso Jiménez Méndez y Pedro Jiménez Méndez, por partidistas del Verde Ecologista. En esta agresión participaron aproximadamente 200 personas encabezadas por el agente municipal Manuel Jiménez Ruiz del barrio “Río Jordán” de la colonia Miguel Utrilla Los Chorros.

La violencia empezó como a las 6:05 de la tarde cuando llegaron a la casa de nuestro compañero Alonso Ruiz López, ex Mesa Directiva de nuestra Organización, y le destruyeron la casa.

A las 6:22 de la tarde destruyeron la casa de Alonso Jiménez Méndez. A las 6:34 destruyeron la casa de Antonio Ramírez Pérez, también ex Mesa Directiva; como su casa era de material, la destruyeron con marro, rompieron bultos de cemento, destruyeron herramientas de albañil así como ropas. La mamá del compañero Antonio tuvo una crisis nerviosa y se cayó en el patio.

A las 6:57, se dirigieron a casa de nuestro compañero José Vázquez Entzín, también ex directivo de Las Abejas, destruyéndole su casa, así como libros y fotos de la lucha de Las Abejas a los que le prendieron fuego; además tenía una tienda de abarrotes que saquearon totalmente y también cortaron los telares que tenía para tejer nagua como sustento.

En la noche del 10 de agosto, 8 compañeros adultos y 2 niños se fueron a refugiar en Acteal, sede de Las Abejas, pero las mujeres, y el resto de las niñas y niños se quedaron en Los Chorros, refugiados en casas de familias no involucradas en el conflicto. En total quedan en “Río Jordán” 25 personas, que son mujeres (una compañera está a punto de dar a luz y otra compañera de la tercera edad se encuentra mal de salud) y niños.

Los antecedentes de este acontecimiento se encuentran desde noviembre de 2015, cuando nuestros compañeros de Las Abejas de Acteal del barrio “Río Jordán” no aceptaron un programa gubernamental y cargos del comité de la clínica de salud, en donde sólo se atienden mujeres partidistas que son beneficiadas por el programa asistencialista “PROSPERA”. En represalia, los partidistas les cortaron el suministro de agua y electricidad a 2 familias de nuestra Organización.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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The Overture: Reality As Enemy

“If our epoch thinks this way,” the world says to itself, “who is (no)one to say otherwise”? Who are the politicians to do so if they should obey us? Who are the judges to do so if their decisions are obligated to reflect and please us? Who are the journalists and essayists to do so if their opinions should meld with our own? Who are the thinkers to do so…given that they aren’t even necessary to us? Who are the law makers to say otherwise if they are supposed to establish laws following our dictates?”

–Javier Marias, “When Society Is The Tyrant.” (from El País Semanal, May 13, 2018) *

(*) I don’t know if citing Javier Marías (whose novels A Heart So White and Tomorrow In The Battle Think on Me eased the sleeplessness of the now deceased SubMarcos during the nights after the betrayal which took place in February of 1995) makes me part of the conservatives’ and neoliberals’ “mafia of power.” I mean, I bring this up given the fact that Javier Marias has worked with the Spanish newspaper El País and that he tends to sharply question the evidence when others tend to swallow it hook, line, and sinker without so much as a whimper and that he’s intelligent and can’t (nor do I think that he wants to) hide it. In addition, let’s not forget that that he’s a monarchist because he is king, Xavier I, of the Kingdom of Redonda and a member of the Royal Academy of Spain. All of these reasons are more than enough reason to tag him as a “conservative/neoliberal/enemy of the people and its vanguard which is marching inexorably to the fulfillment of all history,” by the new thought police that we now suffer.

As I’m sure you all know by now, I care a lot about “what people say” about me because I have a reputation to protect. Given this concern I had to think carefully and in all seriousness about this citation…for all of a fraction of a second. At that moment I saw hashtags, trending topics, likes and dislikes, facebook rants, whatsapps, instagrams, morning press conferences, and opinion columns all flash before my eyes filled with condemnations and damning tags.

In my defense, I thought I could mention the fact that along with the Javier Marías books that the now deceased SubMarcos carried during those dark days, you could also find books by Manuel Vazquez Montalbán as well as Miguel Hernandez’s Expert in Moons. I thought I could also bring up the fact that Javier Marías is a fan of (or was a fan of—support for a football team is like love—it’s eternal, until it ends) Real Madrid, that Manuel Vázquez Montalbán is a fan of Barcelona, that Mario Benedetti is a fan of Nacional from Montevideo, Almuneda Grandes supports Atlético Madrid, Juan Villoro backs Necaxa and that I, in contrast, with my provincial chauvinism which is all the rage, support Jaguares from Chiapas.

(N.B.! Instead of using Baseball, the sport that has become the official sport and the sport of officialdom, I prefer to use soccer as my referent. So, make sure to add these additional sins onto my sentence.)

(Continuar leyendo…)

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• Riesgo a la vida, integridad y seguridad de 4 familias tsotsiles del Congreso Nacional Indígena.

Cuatro familias de la Organización Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal (Las Abejas de Acteal), quienes son parte del Congreso Nacional Indígena, (CNI) fueron agredidas y desplazadas forzadamente de la Colonia Miguel Utrilla, Los Chorros, municipio de Chenalhó, Chiapas, México.

Según información con la que cuenta el Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (Frayba,) el día 10 de agosto de 2019, aproximadamente a las 16.54 Hrs., un grupo de 200 personas de la colonia Miguel Utrilla, simpatizantes del Partido Verde Ecologista, atacaron violentamente a integrantes de Las Abejas de Acteal, testimonios refieren lo siguiente:

El día de hoy, 10 de agosto, autoridades de la Colonia Miguel Utrilla Los Chorros, Barrio Rio Jordán, municipio de Chenalhó en compañía de alrededor de 200 personas simpatizantes del Partido Verde Ecologista, atacaron violentamente a 4 familias integrantes de la Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal, así como a sus bienes materiales.

Aproximadamente a las 4.54 de la tarde pasaron a la casa de Alonso Jiménez Méndez, como no lo encontraron amenazaron con quemar la casa. A las 6.05 irrumpieron violentamente en la casa de Alonso Ruiz López, ex mesa directiva de 2018, ya dentro de la casa planeaban si destruir un tanque de agua o tirar la casa.

A las 6:22 de la tarde destruyeron la casa de Alonso Jiménez Méndez, a las 6:34 destruyeron la casa de Antonio Ramírez Pérez, ex mesa directiva. A las 6.57, se dirigieron a casa de José Ramón Vázquez Entzín, donde también se escuchó que estaban destruyéndola.

Este ataque se da en el contexto de la marcha-peregrinación que realizarán Las Abejas de Acteal, el próximo lunes 12 de agosto de 2019, fecha en la que se cumplen 10 años de la liberación de los autores materiales de la masacre del 22 de diciembre de 1997.

Es preciso recordar que la colonia Miguel Ultrilla Los Chorros del municipio de Chenalhó, es donde proliferaron los grupos armados en los 90’ y donde persisten las estructuras de aprendizajes violentos, de ahí surgieron los autores materiales que perpetraron la Masacre de Acteal. Además desde 2015 la situación ha sido recurrente, las agresiones hacia integrantes de Las Abejas de Acteal son cada vez con hechos de mayor violencia¹.

En un contexto regional de espirales de violencia generalizada, con más de 7 mil víctimas de desplazamiento forzado, donde las acciones de los gobiernos estatal y federal son deficientes, el riesgo a la población se profundiza. Situación que se extiende en Los Altos de Chiapas, en municipios como Aldama, Chalchihuitán, entre otros.

Por lo anterior exigimos al Estado mexicano a:

Garantizar la vida, seguridad e integridad personal de las y los integrantes de la Organización Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal.

Aplicar los Principios Rectores de los Desplazamientos Internos de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas y la Ley para la Prevención y Atención sobre los Desplazamientos Internos en el estado de Chiapas, para asegurar el respeto a los derechos humanos de la población.

Atender la conflictividad de raíz, para detener los actos de agresiones, destrucción, hostigamiento y demás violaciones a los derechos humanos hacia integrantes de la Organización Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal.

The Opening Act

ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION
MEXICO

August 2019.

Testing, testing…

One… two… testing…

Testing one two three… testing…

“¿Hello, hello, hello, how low?”

From the… wait a minute! Did the Sup just quote the Nirvana track “Smells Like Teen Spirit”? What’s he trying to do, address a particular generation Or is he talking to those who regret having promoted what now plagues them? Or is he suggesting that this was Kurt Cobain’s version of the Joker’s “Why so serious?” Or maybe it’s self-criticism because of that “I’m worse at what I do best” thing? A subliminal message for CompArte?

Hmm…Maybe it has something to do with SKA. What? Ska wasn’t around then? Country Rock and Roll? El Piporro with images from that classic of interstellar filmography, The Ship of Monsters?[i] Hmm…an unconscious reference to Puy Ta Cuxlejaltic?[ii] Or a greeting that challenges the wall which the federal government intends to erect on the Mexican Isthmus in order to separate us from the peoples of the north? Nah, must be something else.

For sure, Alakazam the Great[iii]:

Look, ladies, gentlemen, and others
Nothing to see here, nothing to see there, but wait, all of a sudden, boom:

The Zapatista communities (re)appear…

(To be continued)

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast
El SupGaleano,
Performing as opening act for Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, while he drives (SupGaleano that is) fast and furious down the highway to hell, and “for this gift I feel blessed…”[iv]

Mexico, August 2019

[i] “El Piporro” was the nickname of Eulalio «Lalo» González Ramírez (1921–2003), a Mexican actor, comic, musician, songwriter, screenwriter, and film director who starred in La nave de los monstruos (The Ship of Monsters), a 1960 Mexican comic science fiction film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_of_Monsters

[ii] The name given to the Zapatista film festival held in November 2018, meaning “Caracol of our Life.” Caracol is literally conch shell or a spiral, but also the name for the five seats of Zapatista self-government.

[iii] 1960 Japanese musical anime film, based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West. See the plot line at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alakazam_the_Great

[iv] Lyrics from “Smells like Teen Spirit”: “I’m worse at what I do best, And for this gift I feel blessed…”

Videos:

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Eulalio ‘Lalo’ González «El Piporro» – Ojos De Pancha

AC/DC – Highway to Hell

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Este próximo miércoles, 14 de agosto, la weychafe mapuche Moira Milán presentará en Buenos Aires su primera novela, El tren del olvido, publicada por la Editorial Planeta.

En la novela, Llankaray cuenta la historia de su bisabuela Fresia Coliman y de su abuela Pirenrayen, nacida en 1900 en la Puelwillimapu, la Patagonia. Sangre mapuche y tehuelche corre por las venas de la narradora, que ha decidido dar testimonio de su comunidad y de sus raíces indígenas, para que la memoria le gane la partida al olvido que quieren imponer los promotores del progreso. Con el fin de extender el ferrocarril por el sur argentino, una compañía inglesa lleva adelante la apropiación del territorio mapuche, y las familias se ven obligadas a abandonar sus rukas en busca de otros lugares donde asentarse.

En la misma época, en Irlanda, nace y crece Liam O’Sullivan. De niño juega en las vías del tren y sueña con ser ingeniero ferroviario. A pesar de las diferencias históricas y culturales que los separan, Pirenrayen y Liam son testigos, en sus respectivos territorios, de la opresión que padece su gente bajo el avance del poder británico. Tras un enfrentamiento con la policía inglesa, Liam debe exiliarse y se embarca hacia la Argentina. En ese punto, los pasos de Pirenrayen y de Liam comenzarán a acercarse.

El tren del olvido es, a la vez, una conmovedora historia de amor y el relato de un pueblo valiente, que no está dispuesto a rendirse. Brillante debut de Moira Millán como escritora, de esta weychafe —guerrera y cuidadora de su pueblo— dueña de una fructífera imaginación y de un lenguaje cargado de simbolismo y poesía.

Moira Millan nació el 20 de agosto de 1970 en El Maitén, provincia de Chubut. Es hija y nieta de ferroviarios. En 1992, junto con su hermano Mauro Millán, fundó la Organización Mapuche-Tehuelche 11 de Octubre. Su acción logró evitar desalojos y la recuperación de los territorios de varias comunidades. En 2002, formó parte de las luchas y marchas contra la megaminería en la Patagonia. En Esquel, provincia del Chubut, fundó en 2011 el Movimiento Lucha por Trabajo (MLT). En 2013-2014, inició una caminata por la Argentina para convocar a todas las hermanas a movilizarse, lo que dio origen a la primera Marcha de Mujeres Originarias por el Buen Vivir realizada en 2015. Un año después, la MMO se consolidó como una organización gestora de derechos. En 2018, la autora organizó el Primer Parlamento de Mujeres Indígenas, donde se acordó llevar adelante la campaña por la plurinacionalidad del encuentro de mujeres. En los últimos años, su activismo cobró mayor visibilidad a raíz de la fuerte represión que tuvo lugar en la Patagonia. Por su continua participación en la defensa del pueblo mapuche, recibió reiteradas amenazas contra ella y su familia.

Como representante de su comunidad, Moira Millán ha dado conferencias y seminarios en diversas universidades del mundo. En su faceta creativa, ganó en 2012 la tercera edición del Concurso DOCTV Latinoamérica como coguionista de Pupila de mujer, mirada de la tierra, que permitió la realización del documental protagonizado por ella y dirigido por Flor Copley. Participó con su texto «Ausencia de la voz indígena» en el libro colectivo Ni una menos. Vivxs nos queremos (Milena Caserola, 2015), compilado por Karina Bidaseca. En 2018, ganó el Certamen Periodístico Internacional de Intercontinental Cry sobre temáticas indígenas con su artículo «La maternidad mapuche en tiempos de Benetton», publicado después por la revista Incomindios.

In recent times, the Turkish state has increased the threats of war against the Democratic Federation of Northeastern Syria, Kurdish territory where autonomy has been built in recent years, with a secular government where women’s liberation has played a central role. Beofre the threat, an International Campaign to Defend the Revolution in Rojava and its Achievements has been launched.

The campaign, which uses the hashtag #riseup4rojava, identifies the companies that suuport Turkish fascism with a wiki and an OpenStreetMap that are continuously updated, as inputs for boicot and protest actions around the world.

At this moment, the call includes two actions:

International Days of Action (6 and 7 September 2019) to distub and block the places of military, diplomatic and economic collaboration with the Turkish state.

Call for Day X: Worldwide mobilization against a Turkish invasion in Northern Syria.

To join the campaign, visit the website: www.riseup4rojava.org

The following is the text of the calls for action:

While the population of Rojava continues their struggle for self-determination, women’s liberation and radical democracy, defending itself against the attacks of jihadist gangs and the fascist Turkish state, the representatives of hypocritical governments shake hands with the Turkish oppressors.

While liquidation plans against the revolution in Kurdistan and Syria are made in Ankara, the European, Russian and USA weapon industries become richer day by day as a direct result of the wars in the Middle East. They make profits which cost millions of lives.

While hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from Afrin by jihadist gangs supported, equipped and monitored by the Turkish army, these jihadists and their families are settling and exploiting the resources of the people. They are selling the symbol of Afrin itself, olive oil from olive trees that have been cultivated there for hundreds of years, through Turkey to Spain and other European countries. This is what the Turkish state means when it claims to be securing its border: ethnic cleansing and jihadist gangs attacking the local people.

(Continuar leyendo…)