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Art is a Curse | Capitán Marcos
ART IS A CURSE
February 24, 2026
Ladies, gentlemen, and those who are neither one nor the other:
First of all, we want to thank Gabriel Pascal, David Olguín, Philippe Amand, and the whole crew who make this event possible. And Steph, for her unconditional complicity.
We also thank Lenin and Marina, who have kindly read our contributions.
I want to clarify that we were not invited to this tribute to the master Luis de Tavira. I say this not as a reproach, but as a disclaimer for those who, at the right time, organized this gathering. May this text serve to deal with complaints, insults (mint-flavored and otherwise), legal proceedings, and whatever else may arise from the matter.
So it can be said that we are here as “gatecrashers.” I imagine your displeasure, but keep in mind that it would be worse if we had forced our way in—that healthy civic custom of showing up without an invitation and without paying for the tickets.
We thus celebrate not only that those close to the master greet him, but also—and above all—the opportunity for those of us who are distant yet think of him to embrace him.
And this celebration, in which the master is somewhat like the pretext, raises several questions. Namely: what is it that enables communities so different and distant to converge in the same geography and calendar? For that is what those present here are: some of the best among the artistic community. And, well, our words are also meant to make present those who are far away: some of the Indigenous communities, of Mayan origin—the Zapatistas.
An artistic community and Indigenous communities coinciding. Differences meeting without ceasing to be what they are. And a theater master, Luis de Tavira, as the unwitting convener.
The former are brought together by dramatic art. “The supreme artistic challenge,” the late SupMarcos used to say—may God keep him in his holy glory and the Blessed Virgin shower him with blessings—to distinguish it from the other arts. And I suppose, though I cannot confirm it, that the deceased meant that reality stalks Theater (as it does dance and, in some cases, music) in a vertiginous present. Unlike cinema, graphic arts, sculpture, literature, and architecture, for example—where the artistic act is created in a space different from the one in which it confronts the listening-seeing (and non-seeing) audience—theater relates to the other in a special space-time context. This means that geography and calendar themselves become a part of the artistic creation. Thus, when one says “theater,” one refers both to the work performed and the space where it sometimes meets the audience.
So here we are—the Zapatista peoples—under the protest of those who organized this tribute, in a theatrical space called “El Milagro,” perhaps because the practice of dramatic art, at least in Mexico, is a miracle achieved despite all the difficulties it encounters.
But in these dark times of an Artificial Intelligence that stalks the arts, theater seems to be safe. At least for now, it seems impossible for a cybernetic organism to emulate the marvelous confrontation that occurs between theater-makers and the audience.
It seems difficult (at least for now) for Artificial Intelligence to even approach the different characterizations of the character Adela in The House of Bernarda Alba, who, with the fire of forbidden love, defies authoritarianism:
“Here the voices of prison end!” (Adela snatches a cane from her mother and breaks it in two.) “This is what I do with the rod of the tyrant. Do not take another step. In me no one commands except Marcos!”
(Okay, okay, okay—the original text says “Pepe,” but let’s say it’s a poetic license.)
Yes, you’re right, it is not by chance that I chose a play by Federico García Lorca—someone different, persecuted and murdered for being who he was and for the cause he embraced. Nor is it accidental that I chose the speech of a rebellious woman. Nor is it coincidental that an artist, Marina, is reading this text.
But what in fact motivates me to mention it is the subversive love that flows through that work. And, of course, the scenic challenge that those brief lines pose to anyone involved in theater—man, woman, or other: Adela breaking the whitewashed tomb in which Bernarda Alba had locked her away together with the rest of her daughters.
And all this is relevant because at the December 2025 seedbed gathering, Don Luis de Tavira, the master, was the only one who understood our intention in introducing the topics of love and heartbreak. When I wrote inviting him, I told him that it was most likely that none of the speakers would touch on those points—except for us, of course. He therefore did not need to worry about it. He immediately understood that those were precisely the most important aspects of that reflection and of all others past and present. The master accepted the challenge (actually, theater itself is a challenge). And his participation—from afar, like these words—focused on the mystery to be revealed: love and heartbreak.
Brilliant, as always, the master revealed—and rebelled—the leitmotif of human history: its successes and failures, its rises and falls, wars hidden behind heartbreak and loves hidden behind wars, resistances and rebellions.
In his remarks, the master says that I said what in fact it was he who said: that art is a declaration of love to humanity. And if he said that I said what he said that I said he said, then it is not confusion but a happy coincidence. A coincidence between two distances, like those that meet today here, by miracle, in El Milagro.
You must remain strong: in this terrible and marvelous love—in art—you walk toward heartbreak. Because humanity will not requite your love. It is unruly, stubborn, ungrateful, perfidious, and hopelessly romantic—as the Mexican philosopher Salvador Flores Rivera well argued. And yet you must persevere. That is how you will understand that the arts are a curse. A beautiful curse, yes—but a curse nonetheless.
Now I imagine the gestures of Steph, who is coauthor of this intrusion. I must say, in her defense, that she has been an accomplice not only in this crime, and that there are others on the horizon awaiting her dedication and commitment. Because theater, friends and enemies, is also that: complicity, dedication, and commitment.
I also imagine Marina’s restrained laughter—I told her that this would be a serious text and that she would have to read it on the spot without knowing it beforehand. And not just that. I also told her that the script required her to comb her hair, something you will confirm or not depending on whether her artistic discipline prevailed. I suppose she will make gestures of displeasure and reproach. A pout of discomfort—or a prelude to a feigned whimper—would not be out of place when reaching these lines. Thank you, Marina, but I think you need to practice your pouting more in front of the mirror.
Because that is also theater: a mirror that reflects the best and worst of humanity, that challenges the spectators’ imagination and turns them into accomplices—hidden behind applause, or boos, or the naïve complaint: “Give me back the money I paid for the ticket—and add the cost of the rideshare taxi, my valuable time, and VAT!” All because the tax authority—the Tax Administration Service—has become like immigration enforcement, chasing artists as if art were a business and not what it really is: a miracle.
– * –
But don’t get distracted. The master has been assigned the role of a pretext—a role he has assumed, I imagine, under protest. But the central theme of this gathering is theater. Or, more generally, the arts.
Earlier, a year ago, I made a comparison between theater directors and military commanders. It doesn’t matter how much they rehearse or practice; when the moment comes to face reality—the confrontation with the audience in the case of theater (and also dance and, sometimes, music), and with the enemy in the case of the combatant—you have no chance to repeat the scene. Perhaps that explains the spontaneous sympathy I noticed at the arts gathering a year ago between the two of them, when Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés and Master Luis de Tavira shared the table and the word. Steph and I stood as guardian flanks, with contributions from Iván Prado, Los Zurdos, and, from another distance, Antonio Ramírez.
That’s why I said above that dramatic art, like dance, represents a greater challenge.
And more: in theater—in the fleeting instant of performance—converge a myriad of factors.
The parts that the whole requires to constitute itself as art: lighting, costume, scenery, sound, and even the announcements, the ticketing, and the seating of the audience. Now I imagine Gabriel, Philippe, and David wondering if we are the only gatecrashers, because there are attendees who are suspected of having come only to see if there was a cocktail reception and hors d’oeuvres. Already they are complaining in whispers that there is only a sugary drink with an indecipherable flavor, and a sad sandwich that has known better days. Of course, everyone smiles and says out loud, “Ah, theater!” while quietly inching toward the exit.
– * –
I warned you—don’t get distracted. Focus.
Much has been said about theater as entertainment, as denunciation, as reflection, and as a pedagogical tool. In that sense, a theater teacher is really an educator of educators. Here we call them formadores (“trainers”). There are trainers in education—who train education promoters; trainers in health—who prepare health promoters, first aid workers, preventive medicine practitioners, midwives, herbalists, laboratory technicians, and someday they will train butchers—or “knife-inserters,” as we call those who know how to perform surgeries.
In short, we have theater as entertainment, as denunciation, as an image of its time and culture, as reflection, and as pedagogy.
Surely there are more spines on the hedgehog of dramatic art, but I will mention one that you may ignore: theater as love and heartbreak.
And for this, I bring you a story I told at a meeting where there were young coordinators of art and culture, as well as quite a few Zapatista theater-makers, men and women.
The story is called…
(to be continued)
From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.

El Capitán
Mexico, March 2026.
Se cae el teatro montado por Uriel Carmona sobre el asesinato de Samir: Juez federal reconoce las inconsistencias en la carpeta de investigación sobre el asesinato
A CASI 4 AÑOS DEL INICIO DE ESTE JUICIO, DA ABSOLUCIÓN AL ÚNICO DETENIDO COMO PRESUNTO CULPABLE DEL ASESINATO DE SAMIR FLORES
El día de ayer 13 de marzo del 2026, el juez federal emitió sentencia sobre el único detenido como presunto culpable del asesinato de nuestro compañero Samir Flores Soberanes. Por un lado, el juez reconoció que quedó demostrado en el presente juicio, que existió un móvil para asesinar a SAMIR: su activismo social ante el Proyecto Integral Morelos y por sus denuncias como comunicador comunitario.
Por otro lado, el juez federal dió la absolución a Javier “N” al calificar de deficientes e inverosímiles las entrevistas de los principales testigos de la teoría del caso, al concluir que la forma en que la Fiscalía de Morelos (que en ese entonces estaba encabezada por Uriel Carmona) incorporó estos testimonios en la carpeta de investigación denotando muchas inconsistencias y que “pareciera que la Fiscalía buscaba ocultar algo más grande”.
Se lo venimos diciendo a la Fiscalía Especializada en Delitos contra la Libre Expresión (FEADLE) desde hace 3 años, cuando supimos que continuaría con el mismo guión de Carmona. La investigación sobre el asesinato de Samir era un montaje mal hecho de la Fiscalía de Morelos para distraer y encubrir a los autores materiales e intelectuales del asesinato de nuestro compañero Samir Flores Soberanes y a pesar de ello, insistió en continuar con esta acusación, en vez de evidenciar las anomalías en la integración de la carpeta y enfocar sus esfuerzos a desarrollar su propia investigación.
Y a pesar de ello, citó a declarar a la familia de Samir y a compañeras y compañeros de lucha, someterlos a un proceso desgastante por casi 4 años, los testimonios por más cuidado que quiso poner la FEADLE, fueron revictimizantes, dolorosos e innecesarios. Solo fueron utilizados para tener más elementos alrededor que presentar y querer tapar o suplantar las deficiencias de la acusación y la construcción de verdad de Uriel Carmona.
Al continuar con el guión construido por la Fiscalía de Morelos se le cayó la teoría del caso a la FEADLE, la cual era una imagen clara de a quién perseguir, pero imposible de reproducir en el juicio y de ser creíble los testimonios ocurridos.
Con respecto a los pueblos y a los que buscamos justicia para Samir, le demostramos a la federación que teníamos razón, Uriel Carmona construyó una carpeta de investigación a modo en el caso de Samir y, alrededor de esa construcción hay una serie de posibles delitos que se cometieron, como lo son la construcción de testimonios y testigos, la desaparición forzada de testigos, el asesinato de testigos, posibles declaraciones bajo tortura, golpes o tratos crueles e inhumanos, declaración de hechos falsos ante el juez, ocultamiento y desaparición de carpetas de investigación, entre otros. Pues a pesar de que los testigos antes de su asesinato y desaparición manifestaron temer por sus vidas, la Fiscalía de Morelos no dió protección a los testigos.
La FEADLE tendrá que ser humilde y aceptar que se equivocó en concentrar todos sus esfuerzos en un caso que perdió desde el inicio, porque no tenía consistencia la investigación de Uriel Carmona, pero tampoco empieza desde cero. Si realmente está interesada en dar con los culpables del asesinato de Samir, tiene que investigar y llamar a declarar a Lopez Obrador, Uriel Carmona, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Hugo Erik Flores, Valentín Lavin, Angelina N y Humberto Sandoval, y ahora, también a los policías ministeriales que pudieron incurrir en delitos cometidos como funcionarios públicos en la procuración de justicia al rendir declaraciones falsas en el juicio sobre los principales testigos que dan cuenta quienes mataron a Samir, pues hay que preguntarles por que declararon con falsedad, antes de que huyan o los maten, que no se le desea a nadie, pero es desgraciadamente el patrón que ha llevado la investigación de quién asesino a Samir.
Además se debe investigar toda la cadena de mando en la Fiscalía de Morelos, desde el ministerio publico hasta el ex Fiscal Uriel Carmona. Con lo desahogado y demostrado en el juicio (mala actuación y posible encubrimiento de la fiscalía de Morelos) preguntamos: ¿Por qué le interesaba encubrir el asesinato de Samir o construir testimonios sobre el asesinato de Samir? ¿A quién quería proteger Uriel Carmona? Quienes verdaderamente saben quién mandó matar a Samir son los de arriba. Por eso se cubren entre ellos mismos, se enrollan como serpientes y se esconden para ocultar las cabezas de los culpables, se niegan a citarlos a declarar, se niegan a investigarlos, se niegan a mirar lo que esta frente a sus ojos, lo que es evidente. Nos preguntamos ¿la FEADLE continuará con esta metodología novelesca de inventarse nuevos personajes, testimonios y guiones absurdos? O realmente ¿hará una investigación seria, comprometida y ética para dar con los asesinos materiales e intelectuales de nuestro compañero?
Con la resolución del juicio se caen los principales elementos de la investigación sobre los autores materiales del asesinato de Samir, pero se abre una nueva línea de investigación: ¿por qué la Fiscalía de Morelos fabricó pruebas en el asesinato de Samir? Pues quien distrae y fabrica pruebas tiene un interés y participación en el asunto.
Una vez más, insistimos en que se cite a declarar e investigue a Lopez Obrador, Uriel Carmona, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Hugo Erik Flores, Valentín Lavin (presidente municipal de Temoac) Angelina N y Humberto Sandoval. En la investigación del asesinato de Samir se deben de usar los entornos, las referencias, los señalamientos directos e indirectos en un contexto de hostigamiento contra una persona defensora de derechos humanos, se debe de entender la complejidad contextual y material que se observa para llegar a la verdad de los hechos que acontecieron el 20 de febrero de 2019, entre las 5 y 6 de la mañana en la comunidad de Amilcingo, en la puerta de su casa, donde fue asesinado el locutor de la Radio Comunitaria Amiltzinko, luchador social y líder en su comunidad e integrante del FPDTA-MPT, Samir Flores Soberanes, quien pago con su propia vida el defender sus ideales y los derechos de su pueblo, 3 días antes de la consulta nacional sobre el destino del Proyecto Integral Morelos.
¡Basta de simulación!
T’neki tlalle una atl para tenochti, amo timikiske por tumi – Queremos tierra y agua para todos, no morir por dinero.
FRENTE DE PUEBLOS EN DEFENSA DE LA TIERRA Y EL AGUA, MORELOS, PUEBLA Y TLAXCALA













































