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Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano

Dolphins!

  • Date:13 May 2021

Dolphins!

May 2021.

It was a dramatic moment. Cornered between loose ropes and the railing, the insect menaced the crew with his sword, while out of the corner of his eye he tracked the raging sea in which a Kraken, of the “kraken escarabujos” species (specialists in beetle-eating), was lurking. Then, the intrepid stowaway gathered his bravery, raised his multiple arms to the sky and roared, drowning out the sound of the waves crashing against the hull of La Montaña:

Ich bin der Stahlkäfer, der Größte, der Beste! Beachtung! Hör auf meine Worte! (I am the stainless-steel beetle, the biggest, the best! Attention! Listen to my words!)

The crew stopped short: not because a schizophrenic insect was threatening them with a toothpick and a plastic jar cap, nor because he spoke in German. It was because upon hearing their mother language after so many years of hearing only tropical, coastal Spanish, they were transported back to their homeland as if by a spell.

Gabriela would say later that the insect’s German was closer to that of an Iranian immigrant than that of Goethe’s Faust, but the captain defended the stowaway, insisting that his German was perfectly intelligible. And, since where the captain is in charge Gabriela is not, Ete and Karl approved, and Edwin, even though he only understood the word “cumbia,” agreed. What follows is the insect’s story translated from the German:

-*-

“The indecisiveness of my attackers gave me time to rethink my defensive strategy, repair my armor (because it’s one thing to die in an unequal fight, and another to do so in rags), and launch my counteroffensive: a story…

It was several moons ago, in the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. Those who live and struggle there had set a new challenge for themselves, but at that time they were living under a cloud of worry and discouragement because they lacked a vehicle for their journey. That was how I, the great, the ineffable, the etcetera, Don Durito of the Lacandón Jungle, A.C. de C.V. de (i)R. (i)L. arrived at their mountains (the abbreviations, as you should all know, stand for “Knight Errant of Versatile Cavalry and Unlimited Responsibility”)[i]. As soon as word of my arrival got out, a throng of women of all ages, from teenagers to the elderly, came running to greet me. But I remained firm and did not succumb to vanity. I proceeded towards the quarters of the individual in charge of the as-yet unsuccessful mission. For a moment I was baffled: the impertinent nose of he who checked and re-checked the calculations of the cost of the punitive expedition against Europe reminded me of the captain who later became known as SupMarcos, whom I spent years teaching and training with my wisdom. But no: although his appearance is similar, he who calls himself SupGaleano still has much to learn from me, the greatest of the knights errant. (Continuar leyendo…)

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Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano

At Sea

  • Date:06 May 2021

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.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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EZLN

The Boarding

  • Date:02 May 2021

From the Notebook of the Cat-Dog

The Boarding

We boarded La Montaña [The Mountain] on April 30, 2021, at the scheduled time. The boat was docked about 50 breaststrokes away the harbor, “far from the hustle and bustle / of fake society.”[i] Fluttering around the boat were laughing gulls, cormorants, frigate birds, corococo birds, and even a little lost hummingbird making a nest in the pulpit. In the ship’s hull beneath the water, bottlenose dolphins drummed the beat of a cumbia, a whale shark kept the rhythm with its fins, and a manta ray moved its black wings like flying hips.

The buccaneer group, headed up by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés who, along with a troop made up of an insurgenta[ii] who is part of the Tercios Compas [Zapatista media team], an insurgente who is a driver and a mechanic, a driver who is a Zapatista base of support, 5 more Terci@s Compas, a comandanta and two comandantes[iii] came to send off the maritime delegation—the 421st Squadron—and make sure that the group had everything that they needed for the nautical epic. A support team from the Sixth Commission also attended in order to write the obituaries of those who might die during the mission.

 The ship’s crew didn’t put up any resistance. In fact, the captain had previously ordered that a large banner be raised on the mast of the boat with an image depicting the Zapatista maritime delegation, thereby including La Montaña and the whole crew in the struggle for life. With the masts and spars exposed, the symbol of Zapatista delirium rippled even more brightly in the wind.

We could say that it was a consensual boarding. There wasn’t any aggression on the part of the Zapatista troops nor by the vessel’s crew. You could say that there was a sort of mutual understanding between us and the crew of La Montaña even though in the initial meeting they were as surprised as we were.

We would have stood there looking at each other if it weren’t for an insect looking extraordinarily like a beetle who came out of the stern and screamed, “Boarding! If there’s a lot of them, we’ll run! If there’s only few, we’ll hide! And if there’s nobody, onward! We were born to die!” That was what settled everything. Bewildered, the crew looked first at the bug and then at us. We didn’t know if we should apologize for the interruption or join the pirate attack.

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés thought it the right moment for introductions, so he said: “Good afternoon. My name is Moisés, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, and these are…” Turning around to present the troops, SubMoy realized that no one was there.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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SupGaleano

Yesterday: Theory and Practice

  • Date:30 Apr 2021

From the notebook of the Cat-Dog:

Yesterday: Theory and Practice

The scene: an assembly in a village of the mountains of Southeastern Mexico. It must be around July or August, likely of last year as coronavirus was taking over the planet. You can tell it’s not just any meeting, not only because of the madness that brought the assembly together, but because of the marked distance between seats and the way the fog on people’s face shields clouds the color of their face masks.

The EZLN’s political-organizational leadership is there, as are a few military leaders, although they are silent unless asked to speak on a particular topic.

There are many more people present than one might imagine. Among them they speak at least six different Mayan originary languages, but communicate with each other in Spanish, or “castilla” as we call it around here, as an intermediary language.

Many of those present are “veterans” who were part of the January 1, 1994 armed uprising and who came down from the mountains and into the cities as just one of many compañeras and compañeros. There are also “new” people, men and women who have become part of the Zapatista leadership after an extensive learning process. The majority of the new ones are women, of all ages and of various languages.

The assembly itself resembles those carried out in the Zapatista communities in its format, pace, and structure. There is a coordinator for the meeting who is responsible for indicating the previously agreed upon topics to be discussed and for giving each speaker the floor. There are no time limits on each person’s contribution, so time acquires a rhythm of its own.

Right now someone is telling a story or a history or a legend. No one is concerned with whether it is reality or fiction, but rather with the message the tale conveys.

It goes like this:

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Tercios Compas

Meanwhile, in the Lacandón Jungle…

  • Date:24 Apr 2021

Meanwhile, in the Lacandón Jungle…

(Terci@s Compas)

Clips of some of the Zapatista indigenous communities’ farewell for the Zapatista delegation, along the shores of the Jataté, Tzaconejá, and Colorado Rivers, in the mountains of Southeastern Mexico, Chiapas, Mexico, America, Latin America, Planet Earth.

Music from the clip with the boats: La piragua (by José Barros), covered by Trío Los Inseparables (Rebajada[1] Version by Sonido Dueñez / Sabotaje Dub.  Sabotaje Media (2021).

Alright then, cheers, and “if you don’t come, I’ll carry you in my heart, I’ll carry you here in my song.”[2]

SupGaleano cutting a rug to slow-mo cumbia, carving the earth, loving it, defending it, dancing with it (which is similar but not the same). Living life. “See you on another continent of Planet Earth.”

 

[1] Rebajada refers to a slow-motion cumbia track with heavy bass, a genre which came out of the barrios of northern Mexico.

[2] Lyrics from Colombian singer and accordionist Lisandro Meza’s “Te llevaré”.

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Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano

421st SQUADRON (Zapatista Maritime Delegation)

  • Date:17 Apr 2021

421st SQUADRON

(Zapatista Maritime Delegation)

April 2021.

The calendar? An early morning in April. Geography? The mountains of the Mexican Southeast. A sudden silence overtakes the crickets, the distant barking of dogs, and the echo of marimba music. Here, in the belly of the mountains, it sounds more like a whisper than a shout. If we weren’t where we are, you might think it was the murmur of the open ocean. But it’s not the sound of waves crashing against the coast, the beach, or the cliff edge marked by a sheer drop. No, it’s something more than that. And then… a long wail and a sudden, brief tremor.

The mountain gets up, shyly lifting its skirts a bit and, not without some difficulty, pulls its feet out of the earth. It takes a first step, grimacing in pain. Far from maps, tourist destinations and catastrophes, the soles of the small mountain’s feet are bleeding. But here all are in on the plan, so an unexpected rain falls to wash its feet and cure its wounds.

“Take care, daughter,” says the mother Ceiba tree. “You can do it!” says the Huapác tree, as if to itself. The paraque bird leads the way. “Go east, friend, go east,” it says as it hops from side to side. Clothed in trees, birds, and stones, the mountain walks, and with each step, sleepy men, women, persons who are neither men nor women, and boys and girls grab onto her skirts. They climb up her blouse, crown the tip of her breasts, continue up her shoulders, and, when they have reached the top of her head, they awaken.

To the east, the sun, just edging above the horizon, slows its stubborn daily rise. It’s quite a sight to see a mountain, with a crown of humans, walking along. But besides the sun and a few gray clouds that the night left behind, no one here seems surprised.

“So it was written,” says Old Man Antonio as he sharpens his double-edged machete, and Doña Juanita nods and sighs. The fire smells like coffee and cooked corn. A cumbia is playing on the community radio. The lyrics speak of an impossible legend: a mountain traversing history against the grain.

-*-

Seven people, seven Zapatistas, will make up the maritime division of our delegation to Europe. Four men, two women, and one other (unoa otroa). 4, 2, 1. The 421st Squadron is already stationed at the “Zapatistas Maritime-Land Training Center” located in the Comandanta Ramona Seedbed in the Tzotz Choj zone.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

Journey to Europe…

  • Date:12 Apr 2021

Traducione Italiano (Italiano)
Türkçe çeviri (Turco)
Ελληνική μετάφραση (Griego)
Nederlandse Vertaling (Holandés)
Tradução em portugês (Portugués)
Deutsch Übersetzung (Alemán)
Original en español (Español)
Traduction en Français (Francés)
فارسی (Farsí)

Journey to Europe…
Sixth Commission of the EZLN
Mexico

April 10, 2021

To the people, groups, collectives, organizations, movements, coordinating bodies, and indigenous peoples in Europe that await our visit:
To the Sixth in Mexico and abroad:
To the networks in resistance and rebellion:
To the National Indigenous Congress:
To the peoples of the world:
Brothers, sisters, and compañer@s:

On April 10, 2021, the compañer@s who make up the first delegation of our Journey for Life, European Chapter, gathered together at the “Semillero Comandanta Ramona” to begin their voyage across the ocean.

During a small ceremony held in accord with our customs and practices, the delegation received the mandate of the Zapatista people to carry our thought far and wide, that is, to share what is in our hearts. Our delegates carry with them a big heart, not just to embrace those on the European continent who are in rebellion and resistance, but also to listen and learn from their histories, geographies, calendars, and ways of being.

This first group will remain in quarantine for 15 days, isolated in the Semillero to make sure that no one is infected with COVID-19 and also so that they can prepare themselves for the time that it will take to cross the ocean. During these two weeks, they will be living in a replica of the boat that was built in the Semillero for that purpose.

On April 26, 2021, they will leave for a port in the Mexican Republic, arriving no later than April 30, and board the boat that we have named “The Mountain.” For two or three days and nights, they will remain on board the boat, and on May 3, 2021, the day of Saint Cruz, Chan Santa Cruz, “The Mountain” will set sail with our companer@s toward the coast of Europe on a journey estimated to take 6 to 8 weeks. They are expected to land on the European coast during the second half of June, 2021.

Beginning on April 15, 2021, our companer@s who are bases of support from 12 different Zapatistas municipalities will hold activities to send off the Zapatista delegation that will travel across land and water to that geography called “Europe.”

During this part of what we have called the “Journey for Life, European Chapter,” the Zapatista delegates will meet with those who have invited us to discuss our shared histories, pain, rage, successes, and failures. Up until now, we have received and accepted invitations from the following places:

Germany
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Catalonia
Sardinia
Cyprus
Croatia
Denmark
Slovenia
Spain
France
Greece
Holland
Hungary
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Basque Country
Poland
Portugal
United Kingdom
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey

-*-

Starting on that day, Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano will be publishing a series of texts in which we will share who makes up the Zapatista maritime delegation, the work that they have done, some of the problems that they have faced, and so on.

In conclusion: we are off on our journey to Europe.

That’s all for now.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés
Sixth Commission of the EZLN
Mexico, April 2021

 

 

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Mujeres zapatistas

The Women Who Are No Longer With Us

  • Date:08 Mar 2021

The Women Who Are No Longer With Us

Their histories

Their joys and sorrows

Their pain and rage

Their memories and omissions

Their laughter and tears

Their presence and absence

Their hearts

Their hopes

Their dignity

Their calendars:
The pages they were able to turn
The ones they left unturned and the ones left to us to turn

Their screams

Their silences

 Yes, above all, their silences

Whoever you are, do you hear these women?
Who does not recognize him or herself in them?

Women who struggle
Yes, us

But above all, them:
Those women who are no longer here
But who are with us nonetheless

We do not forget them
We do not forgive those who took them from us
We struggle for those women, and with them

From the Indigenous Zapatista Women
March 8, 2021

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Radio Kurruf

(Español) Entrevista a Nadia Nair en Marruecos: realidad social y situación de las mujeres

  • Date:07 Mar 2021

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.

En este 8 de marzo y a poco de cumplirse 10 años del inicio de las manifestaciones en Marruecos en el marco de la llamada Primavera Árabe, tenemos el agrado de presentarles la entrevista que realizamos en Marruecos a Nadia Nair, integrante de la Unión de Acción Feminista (UAF). La entrevista tuvo lugar en la ciudad de Tetuán y en ella Nadia nos habla sobre la realidad social y política del país del norte africano y la situación de las mujeres en el mundo árabe.

La UAF es una organización que comenzó a funcionar en 1983, como un grupo informal bajo el nombre de Movimiento 8 de marzo en referencia al Día Internacional de la Mujer. El Grupo, que se ha convertido en un gran movimiento para luchar por la promoción de los derechos de la mujer marroquí, dio a luz a la Unión de Acción Femenina, legalmente establecida en marzo de 1987, creando al mismo tiempo varias secciones en las diferentes ciudades del país. La UAF ha jugado un papel motor y determinante en el acercamiento de las mujeres a la esfera pública, la política y la sociedad en su conjunto, y en la movilización de las mujeres contra la discriminación y la marginación.

La primera parte de la entrevista aborda la situación actual de Marruecos, describiendo el sistema político monárquico que impera en el país y sus cambios desde el fin de la época colonial a medidos del s. XX. También se trata el perfil económico del país y el impacto del neoliberalismo en la precariedad laboral y el medio ambiente, la influencia del Islam en la sociedad y las opresiones que viven las mujeres. Además, Nadia nos explica el ambiente cultura y la evolución de los movimientos sociales, así como la realidad de la migración y la relación de Marruecos con Europa.

La segunda parte de la entrevista trata de lleno la situación de las mujeres en el mundo árabe y la historia reciente de los movimientos de mujeres y las reformas que sea han logrado en el plano de las nuevas legislaciones en Marruecos, los derechos ganados en las últimas décadas como la libertad de matrimonio y de contrato laboral sin necesidad de contar con la tutela de hombres, como era hasta hace poco. Finalmente, la entrevista aborda el cambio en la representatividad parlamentaria y política, la situación del aborto y las luchas contra las violencias hacia las mujeres.

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EZLN

Part One: A DECLARATION… FOR LIFE

  • Date:01 Jan 2021

Deutsch Übersetzung (Alemán)
Traduction en Français (Francés)
Norsk oversettelse (Noruego)
Перевод на русский язык (Ruso)
Ελληνική μετάφραση (Griego)
Euskarazko Itzulpena (Euskera)
فارسی (Farsí)
Tradução em portugês (Portugués)
Traducione Italiano (Italiano)
Türkçe çeviri (Turco)
Katalánský překlad (Catalán)
Český překlad (Checo)
Español

Part One: A DECLARATION…

FOR LIFE

 

January 1st, 2021

TO THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD:

TO PEOPLE FIGHTING IN EUROPE:

BROTHERS, SISTERS AND COMPAÑER@S:

During these previous months, we have established contact between us by various means. We are women, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, transvestites, transsexuals, intersex, queer and more, men, groups, collectives, associations, organizations, social movements, indigenous peoples, neighbourhood associations, communities and a long etcetera that gives us identity.

We are differentiated and separated by lands, skies, mountains, valleys, steppes, jungles, deserts, oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, lagoons, races, cultures, languages, histories, ages, geographies, sexual and non-sexual identities, roots, borders, forms of organization, social classes, purchasing power, social prestige, fame, popularity, followers, likes, coins, educational level, ways of being, tasks, virtues, defects, pros, cons, buts, howevers, rivalries, enmities, conceptions, arguments, counterarguments, debates, disputes, complaints, accusations, contempts, phobias, philias, praises, repudiations, boos, applauses, divinities, demons, dogmas, heresies, likes, dislikes, ways, and a long etcetera that makes us different and, not infrequently, opposites.

Only very few things unite us:

That we make the pains of the earth our own: violence against women; persecution and contempt of those who are different in their affective, emotional, and sexual identity; annihilation of childhood; genocide against the native peoples; racism; militarism; exploitation; dispossession; the destruction of nature.

The understanding that a system is responsible for these pains. The executioner is an exploitative, patriarchal, pyramidal, racist, thievish and criminal system: capitalism.

The knowledge that it is not possible to reform this system, to educate it, to attenuate it, to soften it, to domesticate it, to humanize it.

The commitment to fight, everywhere and at all times – each and everyone on their own terrain – against this system until we destroy it completely. The survival of humanity depends on the destruction of capitalism. We do not surrender, we do not sell out, and we do not give up.

The certainty that the fight for humanity is global. Just as the ongoing destruction does not recognize borders, nationalities, flags, languages, cultures, races; so the fight for humanity is everywhere, all the time.

The conviction that there are many worlds that live and fight within the world. And that any pretence of homogeneity and hegemony threatens the essence of the human being: freedom. The equality of humanity lies in the respect for difference. In its diversity resides its likeness.

The understanding that what allows us to move forward is not the intention to impose our gaze, our steps, companies, paths and destinations. What allows us to move forward is the listening to and the observation of the Other that, distinct and different, has the same vocation of freedom and justice.

Due to these commonalities, and without abandoning our convictions or ceasing to be who we are, we have agreed:

First.- To carry out meetings, dialogues, exchanges of ideas, experiences, analyses and evaluations among those of us who are committed, from different conceptions and from different areas, to the struggle for life. Afterwards, each one will go their own way, or not. Looking and listening to the Other may or may not help us in our steps. But knowing what is different is also part of our struggle and our endeavour, of our humanity.

Second.- That these meetings and activities take place on the five continents. That,  regarding the European continent, they take place in the months of July, August, September and October of the year 2021, with the direct participation of a Mexican delegation integrated by the CNI-CIG, the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa del Agua y de la Tierra de Morelos, Puebla y Tlaxcala, and the EZLN. And, at later dates to be specified, we will support according to our possibilities the encounters to be carried out in Asia, Africa, Oceania and America.

Third.- To invite those who share the same concerns and similar struggles, all honest people and all those belows that rebel and resist in the many corners of the world, to join, contribute, support and participate in these meetings and activities; and to sign and make this statement FOR LIFE their own.

From one of the bridges of dignity that connect the five continents.

We.
Planet Earth.
January 1, 2021.

From the various, unequal, different, unlike, dissimilar, distant, and distinct
corners of the world (in art, science, and struggle in resistance and rebellion):

(Continuar leyendo…)