World
At Sea
At Sea
May 2021
Captain Ludwig, doing his due diligence in thinking of his passengers, recommended we set sail the afternoon of May 2. The storm surge forecast for May 3 was going to make the novice sailors suffer more than enough, which is why the captain proposed moving the departure up to 16:00hrs on May 2.
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés listened attentively and agreed. Now that it’s fashionable to use the word “historic” for practically anything, and given that this is the first time ever that Zapatismo has carried out something we planned ahead of schedule (usually we get hung up and start late), we can say that this is a historic moment for Zapatismo.
Thus the 421st Squadron set sail at 16:11:30 on May 2, 2021. Here we present two different reports from the same stretch of navigation.
Report from the 421st Squadron to the Zapatista High Command
Itinerary of the ship La Montaña. Times correspond to official Mexico City time (UTC-5).
May 2, 2021. La Montaña begins its journey at 16:11:30 at a speed of approximately 4 knots (1 knot = 1.852 km/hour). La Montaña heads south-southeast at 16:21:30, and at 17:23:04, it initiates a slight curve to the east. At 17:24:13 it initiates maneuvers to deploy full sails. The crew, with support from the 421st Squadron, hoists the sails. At 17:34 the ship continues its curve and heads east. It completes the curve at 17:41 with the southern tip of Isla Mujeres to its north, and heads northeast toward the first free territory of the Americas: Cuba. With the wind in its favor, La Montaña maintains a speed of 8-9 knots, entering the Yucatan Canal at 23:01 at 6 knots.
May 3, pre-dawn. At 01:42 at a velocity of 8 knots, La Montaña approaches the Cuban coast near Cape San Antonio. At 8:18:00, a few miles to the south of the Roncali Lighthouse, the ship turns southeast at 5 knots. At 10:35:30 it turns to the north-northeast, speeding up to 7-8 knots, and gusts of wind damage the sails. A few miles southeast of Cabo Corrientes, the captain decides to enter the Bay of the same name. At 13:55 it nears Punta Caimán on its left. On May 3 at 14:25:15, the Captain decides to drop anchor off the coast of the Cuban town “María la Gorda” (latitude 21.8225; longitude 84.4987) in order to repair the damaged sail and wait for the wind to die down.
(Español) Imágenes de la travesía zapatista en aguas internacionales
Isla Mujeres. 2 de mayo de 2021. Medios libres acompañaron la travesía zapatista en aguas internacionales hasta el atardecer de esta jornada dominical histórica en el Caribe mexicano.
Muchas dudas surgieron desde el pasado mes de octubre cuando los zapatistas anunciaron su viaje por el mundo y, en plena pandemia mundial, muchos pensaron que se trataría de un viaje en sentido figurado. Sin embargo, hoy la travesía se volvió realidad e Ixchel La Montaña ya hizó sus velas y navega hacia el puerto gallego de Vigo cerca de la costa portuguesa. Después de seis semanas en alta mar, las y los zapatistas desplegarán una manta gigante con el mensaje: ¡Despertad!
Las y los rebeldes de Chiapas renombrarán a Europa como Slumil K’ajxemk’op, que quiere decir “tierra insumisa” o “tierra que no se resigna, que no se desmaya”.
La Montaña en alta mar. Foto: Amehd Coca Castillo
Cobertura colaborativa de Medios Libres: ¡Compas Arriba!, Centro de Lengua y Cultura Zoque-Medios, Espoir Chiapas, Radio Pozol y fotografías de Amehd Coca Castillo.