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Radio Zapatista

(Español) ¿Y la posibilidad de que ganemos es casi nula? – Día 4, Conversatorio “Miradas, escuchas, palabras: ¿prohibido pensar?”

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.

A pesar de haber estado con Ramiro Pedraza a la altura del vuelo y las victorias de Tobías en su comunidad Oaxaqueña y en Barcelona, en el Conversatorio de esta tarde Francisca Dacosta inició su presentación confesando que se sentía “especial de estar sentada con personas que no me imaginaría jamás, siendo tan chaparra y tan joven”. Quizás sin darse cuenta, Francisca repetía la metáfora del protagonista de su documental, un niño zurdo triqui capaz de escurrirse entre rivales más grandes en centímetros pero menos hábiles en determinación, alegría y serenidad. Y minutos después, cerca de ella, Juan Villoro reiteró que el documental Tobías bien que también podría ser una metáfora de la lucha zapatista, pues ésta es capaz de ganar partidos aún siendo más débiles que los rivales. Aunque las posibilidades de ganar quizás parezcan más nulas que nunca, esta tarde Esperanza y Defensa Zapatista dejaron el balón del equipo Yavamosasermásderepentedilataperosívamosasermás en manos de Marichuy, y encargaron al  SubGaleano lanzar la invitación a las brujas escarlatas zapatistas de México y del mundo de completar el equipo.

Para muestra, chaparrita y todo, Francisca justo concluyó su participación con la frase: “Espero que esta película de alguna manera les dé un orgullo y una fuerza para salir a luchar y romperles la madre”. Fuerte, clara y rabiosa como mucha de la pandilla hip-hoppera de Somos Lengua, el segundo documental de la tarde presentado por Kyzza Terrazas, quién además contó que echó a despegar sus sueños y las ganas de crear tras asistir al Encuentro Intergaláctico por la Humanidad y contra el Neoliberalismo de 1996. En ese poder nuestro que sobrevive, grita, protesta y resiste alto en Gomitoz, Juarez, Aguascalientes, Guanatos, Sancris, Monterrey, Torreón, el Monstruo y donde sea que suenen los nuevos rapsodas que a decir de Juan Villoro logran poner en movimiento una vida cotidiana conectada con mensajes zapatistas como la exaltación de la resistencia, la solidaridad, el grupo y la palabra, en ese poder se aloja la salida al mundo tazado, arrasado y derruido retratado por Everardo González en La libertad del diablo, el último documental de la noche. Ante ese fin del mundo que ya está ocurriendo, uno de los MC’S capturado en Somos Lengua sintetiza magistralmente que escribe para que la muerte no tenga la última palabra. Y es así que con las brujas escarlatas zapatistas (mujeres cuyo superpoder consiste –aclaró Galeano– en alterar las posibilidades de que ocurran acontecimientos improbables pero no imposibles) ya está listo el equipo. Y ahora falta lo que sigue: escurrírsele y hacerle frente a las posibilidades de ganar.

Escucha/descarga los audios aquí:

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Radio Zapatista

(Español) ¿Revolución? ¿Reforma? ¿Lucha por la Vida? – Día 3, Conversatorio “Miradas, escuchas, palabras: ¿prohibido pensar?”

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CIDECI-UniTierra, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, 17/Abril/18.- Hace unas semanas, en pleno Encuentro Internacional de las Mujeres que Luchan, las compañeras zapatistas de la época clandestina explicaban a las jóvenes zapatistas que su legado consistía en heredarles la posibilidad de vivir luchando. Esta tarde, los zapatistas volvieron a enfatizar que, más allá de los enredos entre el supuesto dilema “firmas u organización” y la gigantesca discusión del siglo pasado sobre “Reforma o Revolución”, la “categoría” contemporánea, la mera realidad y la mera urgencia de hoy es, literalmente, la lucha por la vida.

En el inicio del Conversatorio, al seguir abordando lo que lxs zapatistas llaman el “Efecto Marichuy” en el Encuentro de marzo en el caracol de Morelia, el Sup Galeano evocó que las compañeras zapatistas esperaban conocer a las mujeres de afuera porque, como en las ciudades las atacaban más, seguramente estarían mejor organizadas que ellas para poder estar vivas. Esta preocupación vital, que puede sonar a límite pero también puede ser potencia imaginativa y práctica, se trasladó al resto de la jornada cuando el EZLN, en voz del Sup Galeano, explicó que según su mirada el Capitalismo ha decidido no permitir más respiros (gobiernos progresistas) e intentará conquistar todo y destruirnos a todxs. Es por ello que la apuesta no es “Reforma ni Revolución, sino Supervivencia, es decir Resistencia y Rebeldía”. Allí él probable efecto Marichuy: las ganas de trabajar por la vida no sólo con la palabra, efecto que ojalá germine también no sólo dónde ya existe la tierra fértil de la organización autónoma.

Alicia Castellanos, Carlos Aguirre Rojas, Gilberto López y Rivas y Alejandro Grimson se sumaron a la marea de reflexión, teoría, historia política y esfuerzos comunes en América Latina. Por ejemplo, Alejandro explicó que vale la pena celebrar si se cambian las torturas militares por elecciones o se aumentan los salarios, los hospitales y las escuelas, pero recalcó que la lucha central es, sobre todo, “incrementar cualitativamente las autonomías de nuestros actores, donde tengamos la ambición de erosionar esos poderes inmensos que parecen inconmovibles y que sólo pueden ser movidos con fuerzas políticas y sobre todo culturales que apunten a cambiar el mundo cada día”; y Alicia Castellanos resaltó que se está consolidando en México una identidad política de apoyo a los pueblos originarios capaz de trasladar e inscribir sus palabras y formas de vida a nuevos oídos, artes, espacios públicos, redes de apoyo, colectividades e irrupciones políticas.

Si, como evocó Gilberto López y Rivas, es en la participación de lxs de abajo de donde proviene la esperanza real de cambiar el mundo, la tormenta añade a la utopía de siempre una variante en sus reglas del juego: para poder disentir o elegir opciones es necesario mantenerse primero con vida. A golpes de realidad, esta variante cada vez está haciendo más explícitos los cambios y las dificultades de imaginar, organizarse y hacer política en esos abajos señalados por Gilberto, quién además concluyó que, pese a todo, toca “darle duro, sin confusiones ni derrotismo; y el que quiera criticar, primero que trabaje”.

Escucha/descarga las ponencias:

Conversación entre lxs ponentes:

 

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Radio Zapatista

(Español) ¿Cumplimos o no cumplimos? – Día 2, Conversatorio “Miradas, escuchas, palabras: ¿prohibido pensar?”

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Tras la incursión al espacio de la democracia electoral permitida y promovida por el sistema político institucional, ¿cumplimos o no cumplimos?, ¿terminamos en lo mismo o realmente hicimos otra cosa? Así la pregunta, la reflexión, la autocrítica, el verdadero examen y el espejo propuestos por el EZLN en voz del SubComandante Insurgente Galeano en el primer día de charlas del conversatorio “Miradas, escuchas, palabras: ¿Prohibido pensar?”. Con esta invitación ha iniciado este lunes 16 de abril en el CIDECI-UNITIERRA de San Cristóbal la valoración colectiva de la etapa en la cual el Concejo Indígena de Gobierno intentó contar con una vocera que participara como candidata en las elecciones presidenciales de este año. Algunas de las primeras respuestas compartidas fueron: “Faltará en la opinión pública el nos están matando”; “Se logró un importante avance pues se construyó, reinstaló y amplió un auténtico espacio político que abre el camino y el horizonte de los pueblos”; “Tal vez como experiencia estuvo buena, pero debemos cuidarnos de no repetirla”; “Sabemos muy bien que nuestros sueños no caben ni cabrán jamás en sus urnas, en cualquier tipo de urnas”; “Nosotros decimos que no legitimamos al sistema sino que lo desnudamos” o “La verdad, hicieron un desmadre”.

A la par de éstas y las próximas reflexiones sobre la recolección de firmas como pretexto para generar organización colectiva autónoma –el SubGaleano incluso declaró que ellos pensaron que a lo mucho se obtendrían 100,000 firmas y que de ellas quizás 10,000 personas entenderían la propuesta–, en el primer día de este nuevo “semillero” sobresalió lo que en su momento era la agenda secreta del zapatismo. Al contarnos el origen y el camino para preparar el Primer Encuentro Internacional de las Mujeres que Luchan, las compañeras de base y coordinadoras de los cinco caracoles zapatistas, así como Mercedes Olivera, Márgara Millán, Sylvia Marcos y María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, trazaron veredas sobre cómo pensar y hacer hoy, juntxs y desde abajo, una transformación radical, ese “caminar que va lento, de lo pequeño a lo mayor, se va apropiando del territorio, tiene reglas desde el trato hasta lo que se produce y lo que se consume, se burla del dinero, reencuentra el juego, el espacio de la fiesta, se niega a la victimización, distribuye y disemina el poder y es siempre atento al poder de las estructuras de género”.

Entonces, ¿valió la pena el reciente esfuerzo al que fuimos convocadxs? A decir de Marichuy, en el CIG-CNI querían promover el poder y la organización desde abajo. El recorrido fue con esa finalidad y les dio gusto encontrar organización en los lugares donde imperaban el dolor, el despojo, la criminalización y la división comunitaria impuesta por los partidos políticos. “Más que ir nosotros a decirles, aprendimos mucho. Y yo creo que eso nos va a servir mucho al CNI. El recorrido fue un primer paso de muchos que se avecinan. Vamos a seguirle porque hay mucho qué hacer. Sigue lo que sigue. No podemos pensar que ya no la hicimos, sino que tenemos que seguir fortaleciendo los trabajos que hacemos de por sí. Falta mucho por hacer”, sintetizó Marichuy. A las preguntas zapatistas de los últimos años –¿Valió la pena el esfuerzo? ¿El trabajo generó organización o no? ¿Somos más grandes en horizonte (que no en número) y en capacidad? ¿Cumplimos o no cumplimos?– Marichuy respondió “Cumplimos”, pero acaso el auditorio del CIDECI se inundó con la sensación de que quedaron y quedan pendientes muchas más respuestas en muchxs otrxs lugares.

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Radio Zapatista

(Español) Sigan bailando porque la lucha sigue – Arranca el Conversatorio “Miradas, escuchas, palabras: ¿prohibido pensar?” con concierto musiquero

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.

Ayer 15 de abril inició el Conversatorio “Miradas, escuchas, palabras: ¿prohibido pensar?” con un festivo y combativo “concierto musiquero” en el Cideci/Universidad de la Tierra Chiapas. Los Originales de San Andrés abrieron el concierto a las 4:30 de la tarde, animando el baile… “preparando el zapato, la zapatilla y la chancla”, invitando al público a cantar y a bailar, y a la 1 de la madrugada cerró con un ensamble de todas las bandas zapatistas de los caracoles y con la cumbia de Marichuy. En un ambiente festivo, el público bailó y coreó las canciones, mientras se recordaban a los ausentes y se denunciaba el sistema de muerte. Varias rolas zapatistas se dedicaron al Maestro Galeano, asesinado en 2014, a las compañeras víctimas de feminicidio en Ciudad Juárez y otras geografías, a los 43 de Ayotzinapa. Celebrar, recordar, denunciar, resistir… La música y la palabra poética sembrando vida en tiempos de muerte. Presentamos aquí el registro fotográfico del Concierto, que da inicio al Conversatorio/Semillero, que en los próximos 9 días reúne pensadores dedicados a reflexionar sobre la tormenta que nos acomete y los siguientes pasos en la resistencia de la vida. Mirar, escuchar, decir… pensando.

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SupGaleano

(Español) Programa del Concierto Musiquero del domingo 15 de abril

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Domingo 15 abril, a partir de la hora que se pueda, ¿a las 1600 está bien?, sale y vale, a las 1600 horas, en el CIDECI-UniTierra:

¡Gran Concierto Musical!

(oh, bueno pues, ¡Mediano Concierto Musical!
¿Tampoco?  Bueno, “¡Concierto Musical a Secas!”, ¿ah verdad?)

Batalla Campal Musiquera

(batidillo musiquero –ni idea de qué resulte-, o sea que será algo así como los tacos campechanos con harrrrrrrta salsa.  Ojo: el antiácido va por su cuenta).

“Falta lo que Falta”
(o sea la paga, ésa siempre falta)

/porque viera que hay, oiga usted, joven, caballero, damita, ´onde quiera se consiguen, ya no digamos en blanco y negro, hasta fotocopias a color; impresiones en 3D de credenciales del INE –no, el photoshop se cobra aparte-; firmas con el DNA incluido; encuestas al gusto del que pague; un padrón electoral a modo; dos figuritas de acción, ¡edición limitada!, de Lorenzo Córdova y Ciro Murayama, para la casa, la oficina, oiga usted, para la dama, el caballero, la señorita, el niño, la niña, para regalo, presente u obsequio, llévelas –opcional: dos máscaras de los susodichos y una calcomanía con la leyenda “Yo en el INE sí confío” y otra que dice “Nah, ni madres”, para el carnaval de abril a julio-; boletas electorales ya con la elección de su preferencia (ah, ¿ésas ya las tienen? Mta, ¿no les digo?, si falta como quien dice “prospectiva” empresarial); más de un millón de followers para la red social más cercana a su esmarfon; hay para todos los presupuestos… bueno, no para todos, ni modos…/

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Equipo de apoyo

Program for the Roundtable: “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

Program for the Roundtable:
“To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

I.
Poster and Photography Exhibition
April15-25, 2018, at the CIDECI-UniTierra, in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México

Images of Hope
Poster art from Marichuy’s campaign
Curated by Alejandro Magallanes

Absences and Presences
Disappeared Women, Women of Dignified Rage
Photographs by Maya Goded and Graciela Iturbide

II.
Music Concert
Sunday April 15, beginning at 4pm, at the CIDECI-UniTierra
Program to follow

III.
Roundtable Sessions:

Monday April 16, 4pm:
Marichuy Patricio Martínez
Mercedes Olivera
Márgara Millán
Sylvia Marcos

Tuesday April 17, 4pm:
Carlos Aguirre Rojas
Alicia Castellanos
Gilberto López y Rivas
Alejandro Grimson

Wednesday April 18, 4pm:
Films and documentaries:
Tobías. Directed by Francisca Dacosta, with an introduction by the director.
Somos Lengua.  Directed by Kyzza Terrazas, with an introduction by the director.
La libertad de diablo.  Directed by Everardo González, with an introduction by the director.

Thursday, April 19, 4pm:
Fernanda Navarro
Lupita Vázquez Luna
Erika Bárcena Arévalo
Jaime Martínez Luna
Carlos López Beltrán

Friday April 20, 4pm:
Jorge Alonso
Carlos Mendoza
Jacobo Dayán
Mónica Meltis
Irene Tello Arista

Saturday April 21, morning session beginning at 10am:
Daniela Rea
Marcela Turati
Javier Risco
Emilio Lezama
Luis Hernández Navarro

Saturday April 2, afternoon session beginning at 4pm:
Marichuy Patricio Martínez
Mardonio Carvallo
Carlos González
Adolfo Gilly
Juan Carlos Rulfo
Juan Villoro
Pablo González Casanova

Sunday April 22, morning session beginning at 10am:
Bertha Navarro
Ximena Antillón, Mariana Mora y Edith Escareño
Mauricio González González
John Gibler

Sunday April 22, afternoon session beginning at 4pm:
Juan Carlos Rulfo
Paul Theroux
Cristina Rivera-Garza
Abraham Cruzvillegas y Gabriela Jáuregui
Enrique Serna

Monday April 23, 4pm:
Sergio Rodríguez Lascano
Magda Gómez
Bárbara Zamora
Rafael Castañeda

Tuesday April 24, 4pm:
Natalia Beristáin
Néstor Quiñones
Daniel Giménez Cacho
Yásnaya Aguilar Gil

Wednesday April 25, 4pm:
Support team for the CIG [Indigenous Governing Council] and its spokeswoman / Chiapas Collective.
Support team for the CIG and its spokeswoman / Mesa de Bellas Artes Collective
Raúl Romero
Pablo González Casanova
Roundtable Closing

From the Support Team
April, 2018

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Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas

(Español) Bases de Apoyo Zapatistas en riesgo de desplazamiento forzado

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.

El Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas A.C. cuenta con información del desplazamiento forzado de 90 familias tsotsiles de la comunidad de Koko’, municipio de Aldama, Chiapas, México, el pasado 24 de marzo de 2018, por el actuar violento de un grupo armado proveniente de Manuel Utrilla, Chenalhó. Las familias se encuentran dispersas en la montaña, sin condiciones de seguridad ni de asistencia humanitaria que garanticen sus derechos como pueblos indígenas en desplazamiento.

Adicionalmente, familias Bases de Apoyo del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (BAEZLN) de comunidades del municipio de Aldama y del ejido Manuel Utrilla, Chenalhó, se encuentran también en grave riesgo de desplazamiento forzado así como de amenazas a su vida, integridad y seguridad por el mismo grupo armado que provocó el desplazamiento, el 20 de marzo de 2018, de 145 familias tsotsiles de Tabak, Aldama.(1)

Estos hechos son la continuidad de la violencia en la región con la crisis humanitaria por el desplazamiento forzado de 5 023 personas en Chalchihuitán2 y el desplazamiento forzado de 7 familias de Aldama desde mayo de 2016. La ineficacia del gobierno de Manuel Velasco Coello ha generado impunidad en la zona, protegiendo a la presidenta municipal de Chenalhó, Rosa Pérez Pérez, y a los grupos armados que operan en la región.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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SupGaleano

EZLN invites to the dialogue (or seedbed) “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?” 15-25 Apr 2018

The Sixth Commission of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation convokes a ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION (or seedbed, depending on who you ask): “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION
Sixth commission of the EZLN.

Mexico.
March, 2018.

To the persons, groups, collectives and organizations throughout the world who understood and took on as their own the initiative of the Indigenous Governing Council and its spokeswoman:

To the national and international Sixth:

To everyone who contributed their signature in support of the Indigenous Governing Council’s spokeswoman:

CONSIDERING:

First and only:

The Happy Family.

A town, or a city, or whatever it’s called. A place in the world. A wall. Hung on the rough surface of the huge wall is a flyer, a poster, or whatever you call it. In the image, a man and woman smile in front of a table brimming with a wide variety of food. To the couple’s right, a smiling girl; to their left, a boy grinning to display gleaming teeth. Above them in large and intimidating letters reads “THE HAPPY FAMILY”. The poster is old by now, time’s march forward having muted the colors that, we assume, were once bright and, yes, happy. Anonymous hands have added small paper signs to the wall: “The happy family is happy only with God’s blessing”; “No to gay parenting! Death to faggots and dykes!”; “Motherhood is what defines a happy woman”; “We unclog pipes: no-obligation estimates”; “Happy home available for rent to a happy family. Unhappy families need not apply”.

 Along the sidewalk that runs in front of the wall, people hurry from one place to another without paying any attention to the opaque image. Occasionally, someone is crushed to death under a huge chunk that falls off the decrepit wall. In fact, these partial rockslides are becoming more and more frequent. Loose pieces of the wall break off and crush sometimes one person, sometimes a small group, sometimes whole communities. The crowd is thrown into commotion only for an instant before resuming its trajectory under the pale gaze of the happy family.

Catastrophes big or small, these should not distract us from what is most important now: every so often, the supreme maker of “happy families” announces the free and democratic election of who will preside over the poster.[i] And precisely at this moment, you are just now noticing, a happy calendar that can be seen behind the happy family indicates that it’s election season. Around this time, a feverish activity runs through the crowd that, without stopping, discusses, offers opinions and argues about the different options presenting themselves as potential stewards of the enormous poster.

There are those who point out the danger posed to the image on the already battered poster—the symbolic identity of the city or town or whatever—by their opponents’ obvious inexperience. One person offers to renovate the poster and return to it the brightness and color it once had (in reality, nobody remembers that time, so we can’t be sure that it actually existed—if, of course, we can in fact attribute existence to time). Someone else says that previous administrations have neglected the image, and that this is what has caused its visible deterioration.

The different proposals ignite arguments among passers-by: accusations, insults, fallacies, arguments of a purely ephemeral base, condemnations and apocalyptic predictions fly back and forth. People reflect on the importance and transcendence of this moment, on the necessity of conscious participation. It wasn’t for nothing that they struggled for so many years to be able to choose who presides over the happy image of the happy family.

Factions are formed: on one side are those who insist on a sensible renovation; on the other are those who insist on the scientific postulate, “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”; another faction consists of those calling for proper behavior, good taste and modernity. A few here and there shout, “Don’t think! Vote!”. A giant placard obstructs the flow of people; it reads “Any call to think rationally about voting is a call to abstention. This is not a time to think, it is time to take sides”.

The discussions are not always level-headed. The selection of the steward of the image is so important that many times the competing groups resort to violence.

Some talk of the boundless happiness that accrues to whomever ends up the victor, but, far from mundane worldly interests, the severe faces of the contenders belie the seriousness of the matter: it’s an historic task; the future is in the trembling hands of those who must choose; this most serious responsibility weighs heavily on the shoulders of the people. Happily, though, this weight will be lifted once the winner is known and sets him or herself to the task of procuring happiness for the happy image of the happy family.

The frenzy is such that everyone forgets entirely about the image portrayed. But on the lonely wall, the happy family still displays its perennial and useless smile.

t the foot of the long, high wall, a little girl raises her hand, asking to speak. The factions barely take notice, but someone finally says, “Poor little thing, she wants to talk, we should let her.” “No,” says another faction, “it’s a trick from the opposition group, an attempt to divide the vote, a distraction designed to stop us from reflecting on the gravity of the moment, a clear call to abstention.” Another faction objects: “What capacity could a little girl have to even opine about the poster? She needs to study, grow, and mature.” And from another wing: “We’re not going to waste time listening to a little girl. We should concentrate on what’s important: deciding who is best suited to take care of the poster.

The “Commission on Transparency and Legitimacy for the Election of the Person in Charge of Stewarding the Image of the Happy Family” (abbreviated CTLEPCSIHF) released a brief and serious memo, in accordance with the gravity of the times: “The rules are clear: NO LITTLE GIRLS ALLOWED.

Specialized analysts publish new reflections: “The only thing the little girl achieved was the legitimization of the CTLEPCSIHF. In asking for the floor, the girl entered the game and lost; the rest is consolation.”; “The failure of the girl is symptomatic of the failure of the renovation process, the institutions should let the girl talk”; “It was very moving, the little girl with her little hand raised, asking for attention, poor little thing”; “It was an adverse outcome, the product of an erroneous analysis of the conjuncture, the context and the correlation of forces. This signals the absence of a revolutionary vanguard to direct the masses”; “Etcetera”.

 But the discussions lasted only a few minutes before the coming and going of footsteps and injustices continued its course. No one listened to the girl speak as she pointed, not to the image, but to the wall upon which the happy family shone its by now deteriorated tranquility.

Standing on a pile of rubble, surrounded by the cadavers of little girls and broken stones, she stated, flatly, the obvious:

“It’s going to fall.”

But no one listened…

Just a minute…no one?

(To be continued?)

-*-

Based on the above statement, the Sixth Commission of the EZLN convokes:

A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION (or seedbed, depending on who you ask):

“To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?”

 In which various participants from the National Indigenous Congress, the Indigenous Governing Council, the arts, the sciences, political activism, journalism and culture will share with us what they are seeing and hearing.

The roundtable will take place from April 15-25, 2018, at the CIDECI-Unitierra in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.

The following, among others, have confirmed their participation:

Marichuy (spokeswoman for the Indigenous Governing Council).
Lupita Vázquez Luna (councilwoman of the Indigenous Governing Council).
Luis de Tavira Noriega (theater director).
Mardonio Carballo (writer).
Juan Carlos Rulfo (filmmaker).
Paul Leduc (filmmaker).
Cristina Rivera-Garza (writer).
Abraham Cruzvillegas (visual artist).
Néstor García Canclini (anthropologist).
Emilio Lezama (writer and political analyst).
Irene Tello Arista (columnist and activist).
Erika Bárcena Arévalo (lawyer and anthropologist).
Ximena Antillón Najlis (psychologist specializing in victims of violence).
Jacobo Dayán (academic and human rights activist).
Marcela Turati (investigative journalist).
Daniela Rea Gómez (journalist).
Carlos Mendoza Álvarez (philosopher).
John Gibler (journalist).
Javier Risco (journalist).
Alejandro Grimson (anthropologist).
Enrique Serna (novelist).
Paul Theroux (writer).
Juan Villoro (writer).
Pablo González Casanova (sociologist and Zapatista, not necessarily in that order).
Gilberto López y Rivas (anthropologist).
Alicia Castellanos Guerrero (anthropologist).
Magdalena Gómez Rivera (lawyer).
Bárbara Zamora (lawyer).
Margara Millán Moncayo (feminist sociologist).
Sylvia Marcos (psychologist and feminist sociologist).
Jorge Alonso Sánchez (anthropologist).
Fernanda Navarro y Solares (philosopher).
Néstor Quiñones (graphic artist).
Raúl Romero (sociologist).
Rafael Castañeda (political militant).
Luis Hernández Navarro (journalist).
Carlos Aguirre Rojas (sociologist and economist).
Sergio Rodríguez Lascano (political militant).
Carlos González (lawyer and activist for the struggles of originary peoples).
Adolfo Gilly (political militant, historian and analyst).
Carolina Coppel (video artist).
Mercedes Olivera Bustamante (feminist anthropologist).
María Eugenia Sánchez Díaz de Rivera (sociologist).
“Lengua Alerta” (musician).
“Panteón Rococó” (musicians).
“El Mastuerzo” (guacarocker[ii]).
“Batallones femeninos” (feminist musicians).
“Los Originales de San Andrés” (Zapatista musicians).
“La Dignidad y la Resistencia” (Zapatista musicians).

As the rest of those invited confirm their attendance (and whose names are not listed here so as to protect the innocent) the complete list will be made public, as well as the dates and times of each participant’s contribution.

The email address to register as a listener-observer, or member of the free or paid press, is:

asistentesemillero@enlacezapatista.org.mx

Please include your name, city, state or country, and whether you are attending as an individual or member of a collective.

That said, don’t miss it… or do miss it, the point is that you watch, listen, and think.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.

For the Sixth Commission of the EZLN (Department of “Invitations and Stating the Obvious”).

SupGaleano.

Mexico, March, 2018.

 

[i] The original Spanish used here is “cartel,” which can mean a poster or sign, but also literally means cartel, as in, for example, a drug cartel.

[ii]Guacarock” was coined by Mexican rock band “Botellita de Jerez” (of which “El Mastuerzo” was a member) to describe their unique style of fusing Mexican popular rhythms with the sounds of rock’n’roll. The term combines the Mexican word for avocado (aguacate) with rock.

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CNI, CIG, EZLN

Convocation for the Next Step in our Struggle

Convocation for the Next Step in our Struggle

Sisters and brothers, compañeras and compañeros of the countryside and the city, in Mexico and around the world:

The National Indigenous Congress (CNI), the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG), the Civil Association “The Time for the Flourishing of Our Peoples Has Come,” and the Zapatista Army for National Liberation here address those individuals, groups, collectives, organizations, peoples, barrios, tribes, and nations that, in Mexico and in other countries, took on as their own the initiative to register the CIG spokeswoman, María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, as candidate for the Mexican presidency.

The information that we have been able to verify is the following:

  • Signatures received by the National Electoral Institute (INE): 281,955. Of these, 10,624 were registered on paper, rather than via the digital application. Of those paper registrations, the vast majority came from community assemblies.
  • According to the INE’s own criteria, 94.5% of the signatures collected were found to be valid.
  • Auxiliaries: 14,117 people registered as auxiliaries, with 5,704 actively registering signatures. With respect to the difference between registered and active auxiliaries (8,413), of 5,322 emails that were sent to those who registered as auxiliaries but did not document any signatures, there were 2,137 replies. Of those replies, 1,618 explained that they did not have an adequate mobile device with which to gather signatures, either because of the requirements of the INE application or because of the quality of the camera on their device.
  • Average number of signatures per active auxiliary: 49.43 (information from the webpage of our brothers and sisters at Cryptopozol, who processed this information from November 3, 2017, through February 24-26, 2018. See: https://criptopozol.github.io/avance_marichuy/
  • The following is an approximate (but not precise) count of auxiliaries by state:

Location not listed        4930

Aguascalientes             89

Baja California              251

Baja California Sur        69

Campeche                    42

Chiapas                        864

Chihuahua                    188

Mexico City                 3398

Coahuila                       92

Colima                          30

Durango                       42

Mexico State                1070

Outside Mexico            105

Guanajuato                  345

Guerrero                       99

Hidalgo                         179

Jalisco                          1040

Michoacán                    264

Morelos                        274

Nayarit                          63

Nuevo León                  257

Oaxaca                         242

Puebla                          407

Querétaro                     301

Quintana Roo               189

San Luis Potosí             197

Sinaloa                          98

Sonora                          149

Tabasco                        48

Tamaulipas                   69

Tlaxcala                        94

Veracruz                       367

Yucatán                       151

Zacatecas                    89

(Note: the final count does not match the registered auxiliaries because, we are told, some auxiliaries registered more than once out of desperation because the INE did not respond in a timely manner).

-*-

Compañeras and compañeros, sisters and brothers:

As is evident, we did not reach the necessary number of signatures to register Marichuy as a presidential candidate.

We think explanations for and evaluations of this fact should stem from a serious and rigorous analysis.

Had we reached the number of signatures necessary we would have been able to take advantage of this space to continue to reveal the suffering and struggle of the originary peoples and to point to the criminal character of the system, as well as to echo the pain and rage that seethes across the entire national territory and to continue to promote self-organization, resistance, and rebellion.

We did not reach that goal, but we must continue on our path, seeking out other ways, methods and forms with ingenuity, creativity, and boldness to achieve what it is that we want.

Our purpose was never to take Power, but was and will be for self-organization, autonomy, rebellion and resistance, for solidarity and mutual aid and for the construction of a world built on democracy, freedom, and justice for all.

The National Indigenous Congress’ initiative to form the Indigenous Governing Council and run its spokeswoman, Marichuy, as candidate for the Mexican presidency has completed another stage. The first stage was marked by the decision made during the Fifth National Indigenous Congress on our twentieth anniversary in October of 2016 to hold a referendum on this initiative among all of our peoples and communities. The second stage consisted of the CNI’s internal referendum from October through December of 2016 on whether to form the CIG and name its spokeswoman. The third stage culminated in the Constitutive Assembly of the CIG and the naming of María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, by consensus of that Assembly, in May of 2017. The fourth stage consisted of the collection of signatures for Marichuy’s presidential bid, a process that we have just concluded.

Our path continues. The fundamental difference between the current moment and the previous stages is that there are now many more originary peoples walking together with us, and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, that there are many more people, groups, collectives, and organizations focused on finding our own solutions, solutions that we know will never come from above.

This last stage was marked by the involvement of many more people and sectors, beyond the originary peoples and the CNI, in a civil, peaceful, and inclusive struggle for a just cause using legal, legitimate, and honest methods toward a horizon of the radical transformation of the reality we all suffer today. This is something that no member of the institutional political class can say.

Faced with the undeniable fact that we did not reach the number of signatures required by law to continue this stage, we call for an analysis and evaluation that, like the entire process so far, is collective, participative, inclusive, honest, and true.

For these reasons, and for others for which we have no words:

First: We thank with all our hearts the people who, in Mexico and in other countries, gave their signatures. For us, each of them is an embrace and encouragement to continue on without fail. We salute each and every one of them and, in response, reaffirm our commitment to not falter on this path.

Second: We offer special thanks to those who, with or without the label of “auxiliaries,” understood the reach of our initiative and made it their own, offering their time, resources and labor in the process of creating, growing, and consolidating collective and communitarian organization in order to be able to confront in better conditions the storm that we are all living through.

Third: The Civil Association “The Time for the Flourishing of Our Peoples Has Come,” the National Indigenous Congress and all who constitute it, the Indigenous Governing Council, and the Zapatista Army for National Liberation have begun a serious internal analysis and evaluation of the stage which has just concluded.

Fourth: We think this analysis is not just up to us. We believe that, given the collective effort put into this initiative which far surpassed the horizon of the originary peoples, we want to consolidate and maintain this broader desire to build another way of doing politics.

Thus, we convoke:

All those individuals, groups, collectives, organizations, nations, tribes, peoples, and communities of the countryside and the city, indigenous and non-indigenous, in Mexico and in other countries, who committed themselves to this process and took it on with work, dedication, and honesty: we invite you carry out an analysis and evaluation of this effort using the objectives announced by the CNI and the CIG and above all, the objectives you yourselves established, and to send it to us at the following email:

valoraciones@congresonacionalindigena.org

We would also like to announce that, parallel to these analyses and evaluations, the Civil Association “The Time for the Flourishing of Our Peoples Has Come,” the National Indigenous Congress, the CIG, and our Zapatista brothers and sisters will convoke a series of public activities open to all those who participated in the process in order to follow through with this struggle that, as we know, has only just begun. These activities will be announced by the convoking bodies.

We also invite you to hold your own activities for analysis and evaluation of what is happening in Mexico and around the world according to your own ways, times, and criteria. As the CIG and its spokeswoman Marichuy have said time and again, the horizon of our struggle is not marked by July 1, 2018, nor does it apply only to Mexico.

Resistance, rebellion, and the endeavor to build a world where many worlds fit is an international one and is not limited by the calendars or geographies of those above who exploit, disrespect, rob, and destroy us.

Mexico, March 2018.

NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US

NEVER AGAIN A WORLD OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS

INDIGENOUS GOVERNING COUNCIL

CIVIL ASSOCIATION “THE TIME FOR THE FLOURISHING OF OUR PEOPLES HAS COME”

ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION

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Las mujeres zapatistas

Words of the Zapatista women at the closing ceremony of the First International Gathering of Politics, Art, Sport, and Culture for Women in Struggle

Source: Enlace Zapatista

Listen here (in Spanish): (Descarga aquí)  

Words of the Zapatista women at the closing ceremony of the First International Gathering of Politics, Art, Sport, and Culture for Women in Struggle in the Zapatista Caracol of the Tzotz Choj Zone

March 10, 2018

Good evening, good morning, good afternoon, compañeras and sisters in struggle, wherever you may be.

Sisters and compañeras who have accompanied us in this First International Gathering of Women in Struggle:

We are going to say a few words on behalf of all of us, the Zapatista women of the five caracoles.

We would like to thank the compañeras from the city who worked as part of the support teams: we know very well how fucking hard they worked to handle the emails, registration, organization of transportation, and the scheduling of times and locations for all the activities.

We would also like to send our regards to our Zapatista compañeras who could not come to this gathering, and who stayed behind attending to other tasks so that we could be here.

Similarly, we would like to thank our compañeros who had to stay behind to take care of our families, animals, homes, barracks, and fields, and who were on alert in case the bad governments committed any malicious acts against this gathering.

But our final words are especially for you, sisters and compañeras, women in struggle.

(Continuar leyendo…)