The Journey for Life: To What End?

June 2021

A clarification: often when we say “los Zapatistas,” we are not referring to men, but to the Zapatista villages [pueblos]. And when we say “las Zapatistas,” we’re not describing women, but the Zapatista communities [comunidades]. That’s why you’ll notice this ‘gender-hopping’ in our wording. When we refer to gender we always use “otroa” to mark the existence and struggle of those who are neither men nor women (our ignorance on the subject prevents us from going to details—but soon we will learn to name all of the differences).

-*-

  That said, the first thing that you should know or understand about the Zapatistas is that when we are going to do something, we prepare first for the worst. We start with a disastrous ending and prepare in reverse to confront it, or ideally to avoid it.

For example, we imagine being attacked: the usual massacres, genocide disguised as modern civilization, total extermination—and we prepare for those possibilities. On January 1, 1994, we did not imagine defeat: we assumed it as a certainty.

Maybe that helps you understand our initial shock, hesitation, and any puzzling improvisation on our part when, after so much time, effort, and preparation for ruin, we discovered that…we live.

So it is out of that skepticism that we develop our initiatives: some smaller, some larger, all outrageous. Our calls are always directed at “the other,” that which is beyond our daily horizon but which we recognize as necessary in the struggle for life, which is to say in the struggle for humanity.

In the maritime version of this initiative-gamble-delirium-folly, we prepared for the Kraken, a storm, or a stray white whale to wreck the vessel. That’s why we carved canoes and sent them with the 421^st Squadron on La Montaña all the way to Vigo, Galicia, Spanish State, Europe.

We also knew that we might not be welcomed, so we sought in advance consensus for the invasion—that is, the visit… Actually, we’re still not sure whether we’re exactly “welcome”. For more than one man, woman, or other [una, uno, unoa], our presence is annoying, if not frankly disruptive. And we get it: it could be that after a year or more of lockdown, some might find it inconvenient that a group of indigenous Mayans, mere producers and consumers of commodities (electoral or otherwise), would try to talk in person. In person! (Do you remember how that used to be a part of daily life?) And worse, that they would make it their principal mission to listen to you, to pepper you with questions, to share nightmares and, of course, dreams.

(Continuar leyendo…)

The Landing

«El desembarco» by León Gieco performed by León Gieco (Vocals and Harmonica), Jairo (Vocals and Djembe), Silvina Moreno (Vocals), Sandra Corizzo (Vocals), Diego Boris (Harmonica), Antonio Druetta (Mandolin), Pablo Elizondo (Guitar), Luciana Elizondo (Viola da gamba). 2021.

The Landing

From the Other Europe.

Individuals, Groups, Collectives, Organizations and European movements – in collaboration with the 421st Squadron.

June 2021.

P.S. – There is a song by León Gieco[i] called «El Desembarco» [The Landing]. I had it archived in a “pending” folder for years, wondering when and in which video to use it. In the end, I thought that when the time came, I would know.

I thought, as I watched Marijose set foot on Galician soil, not about the song, but about the invisible web that brought music together with a buccaneer boot, worn on a native Mayan foot, stepping onto Iberian soil.

I did a little research and it turns out that the song was released in 2011 on an album of the same name. That was 10 years ago … or more. When was this song born in the heart of León Gieco, our unwitting brother – or sworn brother like Juan Villoro[ii] – who we hold within the great embrace that is Latin America? Months or years before?

Did León dream what the lyrics say?

Is it the same dream had by Marijose when, in April’s fiery embrace, it was decided that Marijose [elloa] would be the first to disembark? Is it the same dream that the late SupMarcos had when he wrote «Sailor on the Mountain» years before the uprising? The same one that kept Don Durito[iii] of the Lacandón Jungle awake when he imagined (or made—we’ll never know) his journey through European lands? Did Comandanta Ramona, the first to leave Zapatista territory and from whose path the National Indigenous Congress was born, dream that dream?  Is it the same one dreamed by then Lieutenant Colonel Insurgente Moisés when – in 2010, on the outskirts of a hut in the mountains of the Mexican southeast – he received the rank of Subcomandante? The one that Señor Ik, SubPedro, and 45 other Zapatistas had moments before falling in combat in January 1994? The one that, collectively, the indigenous Sami people – in the northernmost north of Europe – put forward in their Declaration for Life? Was it the dream of Gonzalo Guerrero[iv] over 500 years ago when he made the path and destiny of the Mayan people his own? Is it that dream that unsettled Jacinto Canek[v]?

Did this dream alleviate to some extent the passing of Comandante Ismael, Dr. Paulina Fernández C., Oscar Chávez, Jaime Montejo, Jean Robert, Paul Leduc, Vicente Rojo, Mario Molina, Ernesto Cardenal and so many family members – all brothers and sisters without knowing it – that we have lost in recent months?

Is it the dream that inspired Europe from below to organize such a terrible and marvelous reception in Vigo?

The one that now travels through the streets, neighborhoods, countryside, and coasts of Europe repeating «Will July rain on Paris»?

Is it the dream that inspired the voices that found echo in the emblematic reflections on the beaches of Vigo and crossed the Atlantic to now take nest in the Zapatista communities?

Because the 421st Squadron descends not from a ship, but from La Montaña, «without weapons, and for life.»

Is this what humanity is? That which weaves the long and hidden thread that unites different and distant geographies and links calendars near and far?

I do not know. But I would recommend to those whose curse is art: Give expression to that dream. Whichever it is, let it be yours.

Because you never know when and where another gaze, another ear, other hands, another step, another heart in another calendar and another geography, will need to take it down from the great shelf of hopes and dreams, open its entrails and plant it, like a seed, in painful reality.

I bear witness,

SupGaleano.
June 2021.

—

[i] Argentine folk rock performer, composer and interpreter.

[ii] Juan Villoro is a Mexican writer and journalist and the son of philosopher Luis Villoro.

[iii] Don Durito’s adventures across Europe in 1999: https://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/1999/10/13/la-hora-de-los-pequenos-durito-carta-4a/

[iv] Gonzalo Guerrero was a sailor from Palos, Andalucia, Spain who was shipwrecked along the Yucatán Peninsula and taken prisoner by the local Maya. Over time he took on Mayan culture as his own, became a Mayan chief, and died fighting alongside the Maya against Spanish conquistadors in defense of Mayan territory.

[v] Jacinto Canek – 18th-century Maya revolutionary who fought against the Spanish in the Yucatán Peninsula of New Spain.

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A nombre de todas las mujeres, niños, hombres, ancianos y, claro, otroas zapatistas, declaro que el nombre de esta tierra, a la que sus naturales llaman ahora Europa, de aquí en adelante se llamará “Slumil K’ajxemk’op”, que quiere decir “Tierra insumisa”, tierra que no se resigna, que no desmaya. Y así será conocida por propios y extraños mientras haya alguien aquí que no se rinda, que no se venda y que no claudique.

Con esas palabras Marijose, otroa zapatista del Escuadrón 421, rebautizó el “viejo continente” este martes 22 de junio de 2021 en la ciudad de Vigo, Galicia.

Foto: Juana Machetes

Quinientos veintiocho años después de que la carabela La Pinta arribara a estas costas tras el primer y fatídico “encuentro” entre el continente europeo y el que poco después sería nombrado América, llegó a Galiza el navío La Montaña, tras 50 días de navegación desde Isla Mujeres en el Caribe mexicano.

A bordo trajo a siete zapatistas, el Escuadrón 421 –cuatro mujeres, dos hombres, unoa otroa–. A bordo trajo cinco siglos de resistencia y 38 años de lucha zapatista. A bordo trajo oídos y miradas atentas y corazones abiertos, para encontrarse con quienes resisten y luchan contra el sistema enloquecido que atenta contra la humanidad. A bordo trajo la utopía de un verdadero Encuentro que no sea de muerte sino de vida, de lucha, de resistencia y rebeldía.

Desde hace días, empezaron a llegar a Galiza delegaciones de muchos rincones de Slumil K’ajxemk’op y de otros países, para darle la bienvenida al Escuadrón 421, la avanzada de una “invasión zapatista” a la que se sumarán muchos y muchas más que llegarán por vía aérea, incluyendo a niñas y niños. No muy lejos del local del desembarque, el Centro Social das Pedriñas, renombrado “Caracol Base de la Europa Zapatista”, se acondicionó para recibir  a lxs delegadxs que llegaron de las muchas geografías.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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• La bienvenida a La Montaña se llevará a cabo a las 17:00 (10:00 hora de México) en la playa de Carril, en Alcabre (Vigo). Incluirá saludo, intervenciones y música tradicional gallega.
• La Gira por la Vida confía en la colaboración de las personas que acudan al acto para garantizar las medidas de seguridad.

Galicia (SLUMIL K´AJXEMK´OP), 22 de junio de 2021. La recepción de La Montaña se llevará a cabo HOY, martes 22 de junio a las 17:00 en la playa viguesa de Carril, en Alcabre.

La delegación de La Montaña será traslada a tierra, donde dará inicio una ceremonia de recibimiento que incluirá saludo, acompañamiento a un escenario situado en las inmediaciones y bienvenida de la asamblea gallega de la Xira pola Vida. A continuación se le cederá la palabra al Escuadrón 421. La música tradicional gallega arropará este momento histórico.

La Asamblea Gallega de la Gira por la Vida confiamos en la colaboración y responsabilidad de las personas que participarán en esta bienvida para mantener las medidas de protección requeridas por el protocolo COVID-19 (máscaras, distancia). También para garantizar el satisfactorio desarrollo de la ceremonia de bienvenida en sí misma, así como el bienestar de las personas presentes, en especial de la tripulación de La Montaña, que vienen de navegar casi dos meses.

Para facilitar la cobertura de los medios de comunicación, se habilitará una zona de prensa. Las solicitudes de entrevista empezarán a gestionarse a partir de mañana, miércoles 23 de junio.

Sabemos que el tiempo estará bravo, epseramos que los vientos amainen y que el Escuadrón 421 y la tripulación de La Montaña puedan desembarcar con seguridad. Pero como dice el Capitán Ludwig: el viento manda. Y una vez con los pies en la tierra, iniciaremos el baile.

Muchas gracias por su atención y difusión.

Contactos: Edi (+34 649 26 66 19) y Ana (+34 659 394 387)

xirapolavida.org · @xirapolavida

xirapolavida@riseup.net

¡¡A Xira pola Vida vai!!

¡¡EUROPA, DESPIERTA!!

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La jornada de convivencia comenzó con un mitin en el Puerto de Vigo, para posteriormente trasladarse al Centro Social y Cultural As Pedriñas. Las delegaciones internacionales y la asamblea gallega llaman a la acción para fortalecer la lucha y caminar juntas y juntos hacia la construcción de otro mundo.

Voceras

We Arrived

June 20, 2021

It was 06:59am—Mexico time—on June 20, 2021, when, hazy on the horizon, the Iberian Peninsula became visible from La Montaña. At 09:14:45am, the ship anchored in the Baiona or Bayona Bay, Galicia, Spanish State, Europe. From there, the geography of Portugal is just a stone’s throw away, and a bit to the northeast Vigo is visible. Everyone is healthy. Due to paperwork and other matters, La Montaña and the 421st Squadron will remain here until their tentative disembarkation on Tuesday the 22nd at 17:00—Vigo time and date. The Spanish Civil Guard boarded the ship, took down the crew’s and passenger’s information, checked passports, and carried out a routine check. All is well. Weather conditions: cloudy, light but frequent rain, 15 degrees Celsius.

Shortly after, several sailboats carrying compas from rebellious Europe approached to welcome the ship… or to check if the rumors that run through barrios, mountains, and countryside across the world were true: “the Zapatistas have invaded Europe.”

On land, at the foot of what looks like a lighthouse, another group was shouting something like, “We surrender!”… Nah, just kidding. They were shouting “Long Live Zapata,” “Welcome!” and… well that one is hard to hear. They hold banners and posters. As far as the ship’s passengers can see, there are no obscene signs, which might indicate that we have not been disowned… yet. Some poor disoriented soul carries a sign that reads: “The Rebellious Popcorn Diner. Galician Stew, Idem and Sardine Empanadas. Special discounts for invaders, beetles and cat-dogs” Another sign reads, “Get me out of here!” The most prudent ones use their banners as umbrellas.

The European sky cries, moved. Its tears can’t be distinguished from the ones that moisten the cheeks—weathered by sun, sea, anguish and adrenaline—of the intrepid 421st Squadron. In their step, their gaze, and their heartbeats, the Mayan people—the legend will say—crossed the Atlantic in 50 days and nights, in their long and turbulent journey for life.

It’s cold outside, but inside, in the geography of the heart, something warms the soul. In the mountains of the Mexican southeast, the sun smiles and the first notes of a cumbia emerge joyfully from the sound system.

Of course, the disembarkation, the arrival of the aerial delegation, the organization of the agenda, the meetings, and the celebration of the word are still to be done.

In other words, we’ve only just begun.

SupGaleano
June, 2021

Music: La Cumbia del Sapito – Alfredo y sus Teclados

Calamidad Zapatista

 The story of the encounter between SupGaleano and Calamidad [Calamity], including the History of Popcorn and, in the sports section, the first world soccer match, as well as other unhappy (for the Sup) events

Headnotes (just to annoy the footnotes):

(1) The first version of this story was read aloud in the Second Puy ta Cuxlejaltic Film Festival, celebrated in the Caracol of Tulan Kaw in December 2019. The text was unpublished until now. This version maintains the original text and adds some details that may lead some readers to despair, accustomed as they might be to short readings with few ideas. You may detect some spoilers related to what is now known as the “Journey for Life.” Don’t worry though, it often happens that Zapatismo announces things that have not yet happened. This Zapatista irresponsibility is now legendary, so stop complaining.

(2) Unfortunately, this text doesn’t have the special effects that were used in the aforementioned caracol and that earned SupGaleano seven nominations for the “Cardboard Popcorn Kernel,” the highest prize for whomever consumes the most bowls of popcorn drenched in hot sauce without resorting to antacids, which falls in the award category of “with or without a film.”

(3) Warning: The following accounts may contain images that offend those lacking in imagination, intelligence, and other things equally devalued under modernity. It is not recommended for reading by adults over 21, unless supervised by children under 12. What?! Are you going to read on despite this serious warning? Well there you are, nobody has any principles anymore.

(4) This account is based on real events. Names have been maintained to clarify the responsible parties before the Good Government Council’s Justice Commission… What? Yes, you can doubt the truth of what is recounted here, but…didn’t you also doubt that the zapatones would invade Europe? That’s what I thought. All the beings described herein actually exist. If anyone thinks this isn’t possible, that’s not the fault of reality but rather lack of imagination.

(5) Huh? No, I’m not scolding you. As they say, I’m giving you the context for what is and what follows…

-*-

This is the story of a little Zapatista girl who no one loved because she was, and is, different, even among those who are different.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Los y las integrantes del Colectivo “Llegó la Hora de los Pueblos” hemos recibido y leído con mucha indignación y preocupación el comunicado de la Comisión Sexta Zapatista, fechado el 11 de junio del 2021, en el que se describen las actitudes y prácticas racistas y discriminatorias con las que se ha negado a compañeros y compañeras zapatistas el derecho a un pasaporte mexicano, a pesar de cumplir con los requisitos correspondientes.

Lo descrito en el comunicado: el trato irrespetuoso, el lenguaje racista, la extranjerización y negación de su ciudadanía, la solicitud arbitraria de requisitos que no se solicitan a otros ciudadanos, revelan, en suma, la violencia burocrática y un racismo institucionalizado que se reproducen cotidianamente en las estructuras estatales.

 A pesar de las reformas constitucionales en torno a los derechos indígenas y de los múltiples compromisos internacionales que se han firmado en la materia, se ha documentado ampliamente que el racismo en el trato que recibieron los y las compañeras zapatistas, es un problema estructural en los sistemas de justicia, salud y educación, y en múltiples espacios estatales donde la población indígena, afrodescendiente, campesina y los pobres racializados, son tratados como ciudadanos de tercera, negándoseles sus derechos fundamentales. Este racismo institucional se ha denunciado también en la expedición de otros documentos oficiales, como las actas de nacimiento, credenciales del INE, especialmente en regiones indígenas y afromexicanas.

En esta dirección, demandamos a la Secretaría de Gobernación que cese la demora y el bloqueo de múltiples actas de nacimiento al exigir igualmente requisitos indebidos que están impidiendo la tramitación del pasaporte.

En el caso específico que aquí denunciamos, los burócratas de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), han extralimitado sus atribuciones, actuando como agentes migratorios que tratan de controlar la salida de ciudadanos mexicanos negando el derecho al pasaporte. Si bien la SRE establece en su página, que los únicos requisitos para obtener dicho documento, son la acreditación de la nacionalidad mexicana (con acta de nacimiento), fotografía y pago correspondiente (https://www.gob.mx/tramites/ficha/pasaporte-ordinario-para-personas-mayores-de-edad/SRE112) a los y las solicitantes zapatistas se les han exigido requisitos innecesarios como certificados de estudios, cartas de validación de sus municipios, hasta demostrar lo que los funcionarios consideran “conocimientos generales” sobre México, con prácticas racistas que los agentes migratorios aplican a la población centroamericana en nuestras fronteras.

El día de hoy 15 de junio, desde presidencia se informó que se tomarían las medidas necesarias “para aclarar esta situación, pero si se cometió un error se va a resolver”. Estaremos atentos y vigilando la pronta solución al problema de la emisión de pasaportes. Sin embargo, recalcamos que no se trata de casos aislados, y que el problema de fondo no se resuelve exclusivamente sancionando a los funcionarios de la SRE. Consideramos que la visibilización de estos casos de las y los compañeros zapatistas, debe servir para hacer una denuncia más amplia respecto a los patrones racistas que sustentan el aparato burocrático del Estado mexicano.

Aprovechamos para manifestar públicamente nuestro apoyo a estos “Viajeros por la vida”, cuya travesía busca articular esfuerzos y trascender fronteras en las luchas contra el racismo y las políticas de muerte.

Colectivo de apoyo al EZLN, CNI CIG Llegó la Hora de los Pueblos

The Zapatista Passport
(See you soon, Portugal; Galicia, here we come).

June of 2021.

On June 12^th, 2021, the 421^st Squadron, as well as the rest of the passengers and crew, had their passports stamped for legal entry into the space or zone known as Schengen and disembarked in Horta, Azores Islands, Portugal, Europe. Gracefully and without losing their composure (so to speak), they debarked from La Montaña [the Mountain]. As it should be, there was a frenzy of dancing, photos, and feasting. Marijose discovered an old prophecy that predicted their arrival. And they played that so-called “game” of the kind where “last one off pays for the food” (Diego Osorno lost). There was a toast to life, of course.

-*-

At 9:17:45am on June 14^th of the current year, La Montaña pulled away from the Portuguese embrace and turned to the northeast at a speed of between 6 and 7 knots. At 12:30:06pm, the ship passed “Pico das Urzes” on the left. Latitude: 38.805213; longitude: -28.343418. Captain Ludwig planned to catch sight of the coast of the Iberian Peninsula somewhere around June 19th or 20th (although it could be sooner, as La Montaña, having reconciled with the wind, seemed eager to embrace her Portuguese and Galician sisters). From that date on, it will greet the rising waters of the San Martino, Monte Faro, and Monte Agudo Islands, and then enter Vigo Bay, planning to arrive at the Marina Punta Lagoa, north of the Port of Vigo, Galicia, Spanish State.

(Continuar leyendo…)

THE AZORES ISLANDS, PORTUGAL, EUROPE

 June 11, 2021.
(Note: Times and dates are in accordance with Mexican geography.)

With a dusty face, a cleaned and refreshed exterior, and repaired sails, La Montaña departed Cienfuegos, Cuba, on May 16 and headed East. Skirting along the edge of the Las Coloradas beach, with the Sierra Maestra mountains to its left, the ship was accompanied once again by the dolphins convoked by Durito Stahlkäfer, who cursed as the vessel passed the US aberration in Guantánamo. They were greeted by whales near Haiti, and Durito and the Cat-Dog disembarked on Tortuga Island^[i] mumbling something about buried treasure… or treasure to be buried. In support of the support team, Lupita, Ximena and Bernal amicably threw up, though they would have preferred to offer support some other way. In Punta Rucia, Dominican Republic, La Montaña docked and waited cautiously for strong winds to pass. On May 24, at daybreak and propelled by its sails alone (“as not to scare the wind,” Captain Ludwig said), La Montaña set off northwards. This time orcas greeted the ship, waving farewell as it departed Caribbean waters. Between May 25 and 26, the schizophrenic ship [el navío] – who thinks he is a she as well as a mountain – navigated around the Bahamas and on May 27 turned Northeast, now on the open ocean, Duc in Altum^[ii].

On June 4, having exited the so-called Bermuda Triangle, the ship and its esteemed crew reoriented East toward the rising sun. Between June 5-9, they navigated waters where, according to legend, the mythical city of Atlantis lies.

It was 22:10:15hrs on June 10 when, through the haze of the European dawn, from the top of La Montaña’s crow’s nest, the outlines of a sister mountain became discernable: Cabeço Gordo on Faial Island in the Azores Archipelago, autonomous region of the geography of Portugal, in Europe.

It was 02:30:45hrs on June 11 when the coast of the port of Horta came into view, just a stone’s throw away, bringing tears to the eyes of the crew and passengers. It was 7:30am in the Azores mountains. It was 03:45:13hrs when a port authority motorboat approached La Montaña to indicate where to drop anchor. At 04:15:33hrs the shop dropped anchor in front of the other mountains. At 08:23:54hrs the Port Captaincy picked up the crew members of La Montaña and took them to shore for Covid PCR tests, and returned them to the boat to await the results. At all times the “Autoridade Maritima” of the port of Horta was friendly and respectful.

The crew and passengers are in good health, “in good spirits, happy, with no problems, gossip, or fighting. (In the 421^st Squadron) they take care of each other.”

It is now time to tell you who else, besides the crew of the Stahlratte and the Zapatista 421^st Squadron, have made the voyage. Tasked with documenting the maritime journey are María Secco, independent filmmaker and photographer, and Diego Enrique Osorno, independent reporter. In the role of support team for the Zapatista delegation is Javier Elorriaga.

In accordance with the traditional Zapatista ways and customs, and in addition to paying their own expenses, these three people were required to show written authorizations from their families, partners and children. Each letter was presented to Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés. Wives, husbands, mothers, sons and daughters wrote and signed the authorization letters. I got to read them. There was a little bit of everything, from philosophical reflections to children’s illustrations, including a little girl’s respectful request for a whale. Nobody requested beetles or cat-dogs, which is either an affront or a relief, I’m not quite sure. In the children’s writing you could detect pride in the fact that their mother or father had to ask permission from them (as the Zapatista saying goes: “the ducks shoot at the rifles.”^[iii]) I imagine you will have the opportunity to get to know María and Diego’s observations, their anecdotes, their reflections and their assessment of their participation on “the front lines” (both are filmmakers) of this delirium. New gazes are always welcome and are refreshing.

-*-

When this news arrived in the mountains of Southeastern Mexico, the Zapatista communities sent a message to the crew of the Stahlratte via the captain: “Thank you, you all are fucking awesome.” They are still trying to translate it into German.

-*-

Something to reflect on: the motto of the Azores is “Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos” (Better to die free than live in peace as slaves).

-*-

In the distance, to the East, the Pillars of Hercules – which in their day were the limits of the known world – gazed in astonishment on a mountain that has made a journey by sea from the West.^[iv]

I testify.

SupGaleano.

June 11, 2021

[i]Small island off the northwest coast of Haiti which was a major center of Caribbean piracy in the 17^th century.

^[ii]“Duc in altum et laxate retia vestra in capturam” – “Cast out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).

[iii]Phrase used when a subordinate attempts to go over the head of his/her boss.

[iv]The Pillars of Hercules was the name given in ancient times to the rocky mountains at the edge of the Strait of Gibraltar.