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AND THE EARTH TREMBLED! A REPORT FROM THE EPICENTER…

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To the Originary Peoples of Mexico:
To Civil Society of Mexico and the World:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the Free Media:

Brothers and Sisters:

This is the time of the originary peoples, the time for us to replant and rebuild ourselves. It is time to go on the offensive and this is the agreement that we have laid out for how to do so, from our perspective as individuals, as communities, as originary peoples, and as the National Indigenous Congress [CNI]. It is time for dignity to govern this country and this world and for democracy, liberty, and justice to flourish in its step.

We are announcing here that during the second phase of the Fifth National Indigenous Congress we meticulously analyzed the results of the consultation process that we held among our peoples during the months of October, November, and December of 2016. In that process, we issued agreements from communal, ejidal, collective, municipal, inter-municipal and regional assemblies in all of the ways, forms, and languages that represent our peoples in the geography of this country, once again bringing us to understand and confront, with dignity and rebellion, the situation that we face in our country and the world.

We appreciate the messages of support, hope, and solidarity that came from intellectuals, collectives, and peoples in response to our proposal entitled “Let the Earth Tremble at its Core,” which we made public during the first phase of the Fifth National Indigenous Congress. We also acknowledge the critical voices, many of them making fundamentally racist arguments, that expressed indignant and contemptuous rage at the idea that an indigenous woman would aspire not only to contend for presidential election, but would propose to truly change, from below, this broken country.

To all of them, we say that the earth indeed has trembled, and we along with her, and that we intend to shake the conscience of the entire nation, and that, in fact, we intend for indignation, resistance and rebellion to be present as an option on the electoral ballots of 2018. But we also say that it is not at all our intention to compete with the political parties or with the political class who still owe this country so much. They owe us for every death, disappearance, and imprisonment, and every dispossession, repression, and discrimination. Do not mistake our intentions. We do not plan to compete against them, because we are not the same as they are. Unlike them, we are not filled with lies and perverse words. We are instead the collective word of below and to the left, that which shakes the world and makes it tremble with epicenters of autonomy, and which makes us so proudly different from them that:

1. While the country is submerged in fear and terror born from the thousands of dead and disappeared, in the municipalities of the mountains and the coast of Guerrero our peoples have created conditions of real security and justice. In Santa María Ostula, Michoacán, the Nahua people have united with other indigenous communities to ensure that security remains in the hands of the people. The epicenter of the resistance there is the communal assembly of Ostula, the guarantor of the ethic of a movement that has already permeated the municipalities of Aquila, Coahuayana, Chinicuila, and Coalcomán. In the Purépecha plateau, the community of Cherán has demonstrated that by organizing to eliminate the politicians from their bad government structure and by exercising their own forms of security and government they could not only construct justice, but also, as in other geographies across this country, they showed that only from below, from rebellion, can a new social pact be constructed that is autonomous and just. And we have not and will not stop constructing from below the truth and justice denied to the 43 disappeared students from the teacher’s college of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, the 3 student compañeros who were murdered, and their compañeros who were injured, all by the Mexican narco-government and its repressive forces. Meanwhile, all levels of the bad governments criminalize social struggle and resistance and rebellion, persecuting, accusing, disappearing, imprisoning, and murdering the men and women who struggle for just causes.
2. While destruction reaches every corner of the country, knowing no limits and distancing people from their land and from that which is sacred, the Wixárika people, together with the committees in defense of life and water from the Potosino altiplano, have shown that they can defend a territory and their environment and can create an equilibrium based in an identification with nature, with a sacred vision that recreates, every day, the ancestral links with life, land, the sun, and the ancestors, reaching across 7 municipalities in the sacred ceremonial territory of Wirikuta in San Luis Potosí.
3. While the bad governments deform State policies on education, placing education at the service of capitalist corporations such that it ceases to be a right, the originary peoples create primary schools, secondary schools, high schools and universities with their own educational systems, based in the protection of our mother earth, in defense of territory, in production, in the sciences, in the arts, and in our languages. Despite the fact that the majority of these processes grow without the support of any level of the bad government, these institutions are meant to serve everyone.
4. Meanwhile, the paid media – spokespeople for those who prostitute every one of the words that they circulate and fool the people in the country and the city so that they don’t wake from their slumber – criminalize those who think and defend what is theirs, making them out to be delinquents, vandals, and misfits, while those who benefit from ignorance and alienation are the ones with high social status. Those who oppress, repress, exploit and dispossess are always made out to be the good guys, the ones who deserve to be respected and allowed to govern so that they can serve themselves. While all of this is happening, the communities have made their own media, creating ideas in different ways so that conscience cannot be overshadowed by the lies that the capitalists impose, and instead using them to strengthen organization from below, where every true word is born.
5. While the representative “democracy” of the political parties has been converted into a parody of the popular will, where votes are bought and sold like any other commodity and poverty is used to manipulate people so that the capitalists can maintain the division between the people of the countryside and the city, the originary peoples continue to care for and strengthen their forms of consensus and to cultivate assemblies as organs of government where through the voice of everyone together profoundly democratic agreements are made, across entire regions, through assemblies that articulate with agreements of other assemblies, which themselves emerge from the profound will of each family.
6. While the governments impose their decisions to benefit the few, supplanting the popular will of the people and criminalizing and repressing whoever opposes their projects of death which they impose at the cost of the blood of our peoples—such as the New Airport of Mexico City, pretending to consult them while actually imposing death—we originary peoples have consistent ways and forms for free, prior and informed consent, however small or large that may be.
7. While the bad governments hand energy sovereignty over to foreign interests through privatization, and the high cost of gasoline reveals the face of capitalism which in fact only opens a road toward inequality and the rebellious response of the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of Mexico, the powerful can neither hide nor silence this rebellion. We peoples unite and fight to stop the destruction of our territories through fracking, wind farms, mining, oil wells, and gas and oil pipelines in the states of Veracruz, Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, Morelos, Oaxaca, Yucatán and the entire national territory.
8. While the bad governments impose their toxic and genetically modified food on consumers across the countryside and in the cities, the Mayan people continue their indefatigable struggle to stop the planting of genetically modified seed on the Yucatan peninsula and across the country in order to conserve the ancestral genetic wealth that also symbolizes our life and collective organization and is the basis for our spirituality.
9. While the political class only destroys and makes empty promises, we peoples build, not only in order to govern but also in order to exist with autonomy and self-determination.

Our resistances and rebellions constitute the power of below. We don’t offer empty promises or actions, but rather real processes for radical transformation where everyone participates and which are tangible in the diverse and enormous indigenous geographies of this nation. This is why, as the National Indigenous Congress, which brings together 43 peoples of this country in this Fifth Congress, WE AGREE to name an Indigenous Governing Council with men and women representatives from each one of the peoples, tribes, and nations that make up the CNI. This council proposes to govern this country. It will have an indigenous woman from the CNI as its spokesperson, which is to say a woman who has indigenous blood and who knows her culture, and this indigenous woman spokesperson from the CNI will be an independent candidate for the presidency of Mexico in the 2018 elections.

That is why we, the CNI, as the Home for All Indigenous Peoples, are also the principles that configure the ethic of our struggle. In these principles there is room for all of the originary peoples of this country. Those principles that house the Indigenous Governing Council are:

To obey, not command

To represent, not supplant

To serve others, not serve oneself

To convince, not defeat

To go below, not above

To propose, not impose

To construct, not destroy

This is what we have invented and reinvented, not simply because we want to, but because it is the only way that we have to continue existing – by following new paths forged from the collective memory of our own forms of organization and that are the product of resistance and rebellion, in order to confront, every day, the war that has not ended and yet has not been able to do away with us. Using these forms it has not only been possible for us to build a path toward the full reconstitution of our peoples, but also toward new civilizational forms. In other words, it has been possible to build collective hope that is transformed into communities, municipalities, regions, states, and which is able to respond precisely to the real problems that the country is facing, far away from the political class and their corruption.

From this Fifth National Indigenous Congress, we call on the originary peoples of this country, the collectives of the Sixth, the workers, the coalitions and committees who struggle in the countryside and the city, the students, intellectuals, the artists, and scientists, the elements of civil society that are not organized, as well as all good-hearted people to close ranks and go on the offensive. We call on you to dismantle the power of above and to reconstitute ourselves now from below and to the left, not only as peoples but as a country. We make a call to come together in a single organization where dignity will be our final word and our first action. We call on all of you to organize with us to stop this war, and to not be afraid to build ourselves and sow our seeds on the ruins left by capitalism.

This is what humanity and our mother earth demand of us. It is the time for rebellious dignity. We will make this a material reality by convoking a constituent assembly of the Indigenous Governing Council for Mexico in the month of May 2017. From there we will build bridges toward the compañeros and compañeras of civil society, the media, and the originary peoples in order to make the earth tremble at its core, to overcome fear and recuperate what belongs to humanity, what belongs to the earth and what belongs to the peoples. We do this so that we can recuperate the territories that have been invaded or destroyed, so that the disappeared of this country can be returned, so that all political prisoners are freed, so that there can be truth and justice for all of those who have been murdered, so that there can be dignity for the countryside and the city. That is, have no doubt, we are going for everything, because we know this might be the last opportunity we have as originary peoples and as Mexican society to peacefully and radically change our forms of government, making dignity the epicenter of a new world.

From Oventik, Zapatista Territory, Chiapas, Mexico

Never Again a Mexico Without Us

National Indigenous Congress

Zapatista Army for National Liberation

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Primero de enero de 2017, Caracol de Oventic, Los Altos de Chiapas, montañas del sureste mexicano. Aquí, en un atiborrado auditorio repleto de delegados y delegadas del Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI), padres y madres de los noralistas desaparecidos y asesinados de Ayotzinapa, científicos invitados al encuentro ConCIENCIAS, adherentes a la Sexta Declaración de la Selva Lacandona y bases de apoyo, insurgentes y comandantes del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, se dio el anuncio histórico de la decisión de crear un Concejo Indígena de Gobierno para gobernar al país, cuya voz será la de una mujer indígena que se postulará como candidata a las elecciones presidenciales del 2018.

La decisión surge de la propuesta hecha por el EZLN durante la asamblea del V Congreso Nacional Indígena realizada el pasado octubre en el Cideci/Universidad de la Tierra, Chiapas. En esa ocasión, los delegados de 33 pueblos, naciones y tribus originarios acordaron iniciar una consulta en todas las comunidades del CNI para aprobar o rechazar la propuesta. Ahora, en este 23 aniversario del levantamiento zapatista, se dio a conocer el resultado de la consulta y se aprobaron los resolutivos acordados el 30 y 31 de diciembre de 2016 en asamblea, con la presencia de casi un millar de delegadxs de 43 pueblos, naciones y tribus originarias del país.

Los principales acuerdos fueron:

1. Conformar un Concejo Indígena de Gobierno con representantes hombres y mujeres de los pueblos, tribus y naciones originarias que integran al CNI.
2. Este Concejo será colectivo, o sea, “que no uno manda”, y se regirá por los siete principios de gobierno del EZLN y el CNI: obedecer y no mandar; representar y no suplantar; bajar y no subir; servir y no servirse; convencer y no vencer; construir y no destruir; proponer y no imponer.
3. Que la voz de este Concejo sea la de una mujer indígena perteneciente al CNI.
4. Que esa mujer indígena sea postulada como candidata independiente a las elecciones presidenciales del 2018.

Tanto los miembros del Concejo como su vocera serán propuestos y legitimados en asamblea y nombrados según los usos y costumbres, y sus puestos serán revocables por la asamblea del CNI. Además, se acordó una serie de medidas para fortalecer al CNI y a los pueblos indígenas, como eliminar todo aquello que divide, como partidos políticos y proyectos gubernamentales, y desarrollar la autonomía en todos sus ejes, sobre todo en la educación, la justicia y el autogobierno.

La consulta se realizó en un total de 525 comunidades de 43 pueblos en 25 estados; de esas, 430 comunidades aprobaron la propuesta. Otras 80 consultas continúan en proceso, y a éstas se sumaran otras que lo soliciten al CNI, con pueblos indígenas, afrodescendientes y migrantes. Los delegados explicaron también que en algunas comunidades no se pudo realiar la consulta por varias razones, entre ellas la violencia que se vive en varias partes del país.

Para conformar el Concejo Indígena de Gobierno, se realizará una Asamblea Constituyente en mayo de 2017.

La asamblea finalizó con las palabras del Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, quien dijo que el EZLN respalda plenamente la propuesta. “Tienen nuestro apoyo con toda nuestra fuerza”, dijo, porque “tal vez sea la última oportunidad de que estos suelos no desaparezcan entre tanta muerte”.

La propuesta y la decisión surge del brutal despojo y violencia que sufren las comunidades indígenas del país ante los proyectos de muerte en todo el territorio nacional. Un análisis detallado de este despojo se dio a conocer en octubre tras las reuniones del V Congreso Nacional Indígena (ver “Que retiemble en sus centros la tierra“).

“Que retiemble en sus centros la tierra” fue el lema que surgió de la asamblea del CNI el pasado octubre. Y retembló la tierra ante el anuncio de la consulta. Expresiones, por un lado, de un racismo profundo, visceral, enraizado en la cultura mexicana; y, por otro, la esperanza de una alternativa real para el país, fundamentada en la experiencia de autogobierno horizontal, radicalmente democrático, del EZLN y los pueblos del CNI. La esperanza de que en México pueda reinar una justicia verdadera, de que se pueda frenar la violencia y el despojo de la tríade gobierno-empresas-crimen organizado, de que entre los escombros dejados por la destrucción sistemática que nos acomete pueda florecer la vida: una casa para todos y todas, donde quepan muchos mundos.

Como en todas las iniciativas del CNI y del EZLN, lo fundamental está en el proceso. Los próximos meses prometen ser una lección, para el país y el mundo, de que es posible crear formas otras de democracia radical con justicia y dignidad.

Escucha los audios:

Lectura de resolutivos del 30 de diciembre de 2016:
(Descarga aquí)  

Lectura de resolutivos del 31 de diciembre de 2016:
(Descarga aquí)  

Carta de Gonzalo Molina, preso político de la CRAC-PC:
(Descarga aquí)  

Carta del Chanti Ollin:
(Descarga aquí)  

Carta de padres y madres de los 43 de Ayotzinapa:
(Descarga aquí)  

Palabra de padres y madres de los 43 de Ayotzinapa:
(Descarga aquí)  

“Y Retembló: Informe desde el epicentro” – Palabras conjuntas del CNI y del EZLN:
(Descarga aquí)  

Palabras de clausura del Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés:
(Descarga aquí)  

Nota: Para mejor entender la propuesta, ver: CNI y EZLN: Que retiemble en sus centros la tierra (CNI y EZLN), Preguntas sin respuestas, respuestas sin preguntas, concejos y consejos (Subcomandante Galeano), No es decisión de una sola persona (Subcomandante Moisés) y Una historia para tratar de entender (Subcomandantes Moisés y Galeano).

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Fuente: SubVersiones

Por María González
Fotografías por SubVersiones

Las afirmaciones y ejemplos de este artículo fueron recogidas durante las sesiones del 5° CNI de octubre de 2016. No es una presentación exhaustiva. Algunos datos complementarios se han obtenido de las páginas web de pueblos y medios libres compañeros. 

Las formas en que los pueblos originarios de México –participantes del Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI)– resisten y se rebelan ante los malos gobiernos, las empresas voraces y sus proyectos de muerte, implican procesos de organización popular de largo aliento. Resulta sustancial comprender que sus procesos son heterogéneos, llevan ritmos variados e implican condiciones, duraciones, obstáculos, metas y acciones diversas, aunque todos coinciden en que lo primordial es la defensa del territorio (con todo lo que implica), las comunidades que lo habitan y la vida.

Por tal motivo, resulta enriquecedor asistir a la escucha de la multiplicidad de caminos y experiencias que delegadas y delegados de cada lugar comparten cuando están junt@s. El horizonte convenido es el cumplimiento –por ahora en los hechos– de los Acuerdos de San Andrés Sacamch’en, que el gobierno federal ha incumplido desde su firma, el 16 de febrero de 1996, y que son el fruto de las negociaciones por la paz tras el levantamiento armado del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) en enero de 1994, por democracia, libertad y justicia.

Durante las mesas de trabajo que se realizaron el 11 de octubre de 2016, en el marco del 5° Congreso y 20 aniversario del CNI –que se encuentra en sesión permanente y reanuda trabajos el 30 de diciembre–, pudimos escuchar cómo los pueblos han ido implementando a lo largo de su lucha un entramado de acciones encaminadas a generar su autonomía y salvaguardar sus territorios –incluidos los bienes materiales/naturales (tierras, ríos, bosques, montañas, etc.) y los inmateriales/culturales (lenguas, costumbres, formas de organización, identidad, etc.).

Autodeterminación y democracia

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Por Alejandro Reyes
Colectivo Radio Zapatista

Los primeros rayos de la alborada se insinúan apenas tras la iglesia recortada en la cumbre del cerro, puntuado por cientos de luces minúsculas que centellean en la penumbra indecisa de la madrugada. Entonces entran los principales a la sala donde dormimos, acompañados de unas 40 personas, para prender las velas del altar y entonar los cánticos de agradecimiento al Señor de Tila por este año de autonomía y para pedir sabiduría, juicio, criterio, para enfrentar las dificultades por venir. El humo del copal llena la sala mientras las voces de decenas de personas resuenan en lengua chol, recordando la larga lucha del Ejido Tila por su tierra y su libertad.

Es el 16 de diciembre de 2016, y un día como éste, hace exactamente un año, los ejidatarios, cansados de la injusticia de la mal llamada “Justicia” mexicana, hicieron realidad una lucha de casi un siglo. Tres meses antes, el 16 de septiembre de 2015, miles de ejidatarios habían marchado de la casa ejidal a la plaza central del poblado de Tila. Allí colocaron una escalera en la fachada del edificio del Ayuntamiento, varias personas subieron a los balcones, colgaron una manta recordando a los desaparecidos de Ayotzinapa y exigiendo la salida del Ayuntamiento y el cese a los hostigamientos policiales y paramilitares. Desde el balcón, las autoridades ejidales dieron el grito de la Independencia. Y abajo, miles de voces indignadas repetían una y otra vez: “¡Si no hay solución, habrá demolición!”.

Tres meses después, el 16 de diciembre de 2015, la consigna se volvió realidad. Hartos de décadas de atropellos y la inacción del Estado mexicano, los ejidatarios decidieron expulsar por su cuenta al Ayuntamiento, ubicado ilegalmente en su territorio desde mediados del siglo XX, y recuperar las 130 hectáreas que el gobierno municipal ha intentado arrebatarles desde entonces. El Ayuntamiento, que tanto daño hizo durante tanto tiempo, fue destruido. El gran reloj en lo alto de la fachada quedó hecho pedazos y así se detuvo el tiempo kaxlán, el tiempo de la imposición mestiza, el tiempo del despojo y la violencia institucionales. Así comenzó otro tiempo, el tiempo indígena chol, el tiempo de la libertad. El milagro de Tila se había realizado.

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