Words of the EZLN’s Sixth Commission at the Gathering of Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG) and its spokeswoman

(Expanded version)

Given time restrictions, we were unable to present these thoughts in full during the gathering. We promised you the full version, and we include the full transcription here, including the parts that were not read at the gathering. You’re welcome. Don’t mention it.

300
Part I:
A Plantation, a World, a War, Slim Chances.

August, 2018.

Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano:

Good morning, thank you for coming, for accepting our invitation and for sharing your words with us.

We are going to begin by explaining our way of doing analysis and evaluation.

We start by analyzing what is happening in the world, then move to what is happening at the continental level, then to what is happening in this country, then to a regional and finally to a local level. From there, we develop an initiative and begin to move back up from a local level to a regional level, then to the national, the continental, and finally the global level.

We think that capitalism is the dominant system at the global level. In order to explain this system both to ourselves and to others, we use the image of a plantation. I’m going to ask Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés to explain this part.

-*-

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés:

Compañeros and compañeras: we interviewed our own compañeros and compañeras who are our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, some of whom are still alive. The following is what they told us and what they helped us understand: how the rich, the capitalists, want to turn the whole world into their plantation.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Altamirano, Chiapas. 9 de agosto. La sonrisa de los abuel@s, la reflexión de las mujeres, las miradas llenas de curiosidad de los niñ@s, son imágenes que sobresalen en el Festival CompArte Zapatista 2018. “Nuestros caracoles floreciendo están”, “Nuestra lucha no va a terminar”, “democracia, justicia y libertad”, se escucha en las melodías que interpretan las y los indígenas chiapanecos en este también XV aniversario en el cual celebran su decisión de organizarse en Los Caracoles y las Juntas de Buen Gobierno (JBG).

Desde el Caracol de “Morelia”, con canciones y obras de teatro situaciones cotidianas son recreadas por niños, jóvenes y adultos Bases de Apoyo Zapatistas, para ejemplificar lo que viven las familias que han decidido estar en “resistencia y rebeldía”.

Los programas asistencialistas del gobierno federal y estatal son una constante en las dramatizaciones de los rebeldes chiapanecos, sobre como el Estado “desmoviliza la resistencia”. Frente al hostigamiento gubernamental las y los indígenas chiapanecos han respondido con organización y propuestas en rubros que van desde la salud, la educación, la justicia, la alimentación, la seguridad, entre otros.

De manera lúdica y profunda, las y los zapatistas exponen en sus obras teatrales problemáticas en las que se ven refleja@s niñ@s, adolecentes, jóven@s, mujeres, ancianos y hombres de la comunidad. Tales situaciones tienen que ver con el consumismo y su repercusión en problemas de salud, económicos, sociales y culturales.

En una de las actuaciones en el CompArte 2018, se escenifica claramente la línea que sigue el sistema capitalista al afectar a las comunidades: la mala alimentación enferma a la población, la cual tiene que solicitar atención médica costosa, lo que lleva a mujeres y hombres a vender sus pocas propiedades y hasta la tierra para saldar sus deudas. En la otra cara que muestran los indígenas en resistencia en sus escenificaciones, la salud es para toda la población y no se necesita grandes sumas para ser atendidos en sus clínicas y hospitales autónomos. Y también se convoca a trabajos colectivos para apoyar al enferm@.

La historia también se hace presente dentro del CompArte Zapatista, y son abordados pasajes desde la Revolución hasta las pasadas elecciones presidenciales del mes de julio. Problemas sociales como el desempleo, la explotación, la represión, la criminalización de la protesta social, se exponen en el encuentro de las y los indígenas chiapanecos con asistentes nacionales e internacionales.

En el mensaje principal de la Comandancia del EZLN, participan l@s niñ@s: Amado, Defensa Zapatistas junto con el Gato Perro, Esperanza Zapatista junto con su Oso, y Pablito. En la mesa también se encuentran los Subcomandantes Moisés y Galeano, así como el mando de la zona, el Comandante Zebedeo. El sub Galeano ejemplifica el proceso actual del zapatismo con el cuento: “La última mantecada en el sureste mexicano” (AUDIO).

“Cuidar la esperanza zapatista”, es el mensaje que enfatizó el EZLN, ante Comandant@s y miles de Bases de Apoyo Zapatistas, así como asistentes nacionales e internacionales. Los rebeldes chiapanecos indicaron que si sus “sueños y aspiraciones”, no caben en un mundo, crearán otro. “El mundo no es uno solo”, enfatizaron y añadieron que no se puede seguir un solo esquema o concepto. El mensaje principal a los “capataces (gobiernos capitalistas) pasados, presentes y futuros”, al final de la participación de los insurgentes, fue la mano en forma de caracol.

INFORMACIÓN RELACIONADA: https://www.facebook.com/EnlaceZap/

El problema con el zapatismo, dice el Sup Galeano, es que “si sus sueños y aspiraciones no caben en un mundo, imaginan otro nuevo y sorprenden con sus empeños por lograrlo” (AUDIO).

Tejiendo organización en colectivo – Encuentro de redes en apoyo al CIG

Texto, imágenes y audios tomados de Radio Pozol.

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Altamirano Chiapas. 6 de agosto. Inicia en el caracol zapatista de “Morelia”, el festival: CompARTE POR LA VIDA Y LA LIBERTAD “, Píntale caracolitos a los malos gobiernos pasados, presentes y futuros”, convocado por las Bases de Apoyo del EZLN.

Del 6 al 9 de agosto, en el caracol ubicado en el municipio de Altamirano, se podrán apreciar a musiquer@s, teatrer@s, bailador@s, pintor@s, escultor@s, declamador@s, etceter@s, de las comunidades zapatistas en resistencia y rebeldía, comunicó la Comisión Sexta del EZ. De igual forma se presentarán manifestaciones artísticas de asistentes nacionales e internacionales.

Este 6 de agosto, en el templete principal del Caracol de Morelia, se estarán presentando del caracol zapatista de Oventic, región Altos, las obras de teatro: “Los siete principios del Mandar Obedeciendo”; “la destrucción Ambiental y social” y “La nueva forma de Autogobernarnos”.

Del caracol zapatista de Roberto Barrios, amenizarán con música de mariachi los grupos: Las cinco estrellas; Orgullo Zapatista; La Voz del Pueblo; Jóvenes Rebeldes y Renacimiento Maya Chol. También se presentarán l@s solistas Chántee; El Rebelde; Roy Ser; Voz de las Mujeres; Valero y Mi Raíz. La música de trío no puede hacer falta por lo que este lunes se escucharán a los grupos: La flor y Semilla de la libertad. En este inicio del festival se podrá disfrutar del duo “Camino de la vida” y de l@s intérpretes de música Rap: Por la vida y estoy Aquí.

Otra obra de teatro que invita a la reflexión es la que presentarán Jóvenes y Jóvenas del caracol anfitrión, denominada: “Trabajar para vivir o Trabajar para Morir?.

Del Caracol de la Realidad, se podrá disfrutar de la música de grupos como: Luchadores del Pueblo; Cro Eleazar; Los Bamex; Cro Manayer; Tócame si puedes capitalista; Creadores Rebeldes del Sur; Dúc Rebelde; Trío Rebelde; Los Primos; Cro Yorch; Hijos del Pueblo; Colibrí del sur; Juventud rebelde y Seguidores de la Lucha.

Previo al inicio del festival, la tarde de este domingo cinco de agosto, al término del Encuentro de redes de apoyo al Concejo Indígena de Gobierno (CIG), del Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI), el Subcomandante Moisés al dirigirse a l@s asistentes, reiteró la lectura que como zapatistas dan al contexto nacional e internacional actual. El vocero zapatista fue tajante al decir que no hay “patrón bueno”, en referencia a las diferentes formas de la explotación y despojo capitalista y sus representantes, a los que equiparó como “Capataces” (presidentes), “Mayordomos” (gobernadores) y “Caporal” (presidentes municipales).

Por su parte el subcomandante Galeano, siguiendo las palabras del subcomandante Moisés, indicó que cualquier capataz “va ser enfrentado”, esto al ver que el capitalismo está volviendo a los métodos que le dieron origen, “la guerra de conquista de nuevos territorios”. Al darle prioridad al consumo la economía mundial predadora, “destruirá lo más que pueda”, alertó Galeano. También señaló que las nuevas “mercancías” del capitalismo, están en territorio de los pueblos originarios y son: el agua, la tierra, el aire, entre otros. Ante las crisis que produce el sistema como la migración y catástrofes naturales, “el capitalismo está ensayando un repliegue hacia dentro como una antiglobalización para poder defenderse”, expuso el vocero zapatista. Diferentes muros van a seguir levantándose y van a proliferar como archipiélagos para separar a los ricos de los pobres, añadió.

Galeano también destacó el papel de los diferentes colectivos que trabajaron en apoyo al CIG y su vocera María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, en la recolección de firmas para que “Marichuy”, lograra su registro como candidata a la presidencia de la república. “Con todo en contra, los colectivos y vocera, denunciaron al sistema depredador”, expresó el insurgente, que pese a que el registro oficial no se logró, externó que junto con el congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI) y los grupos de apoyo, ahora consultarán hacer más grade el Concejo, esto para que esta iniciativa “no absorba y anule las diferencias; sino que las potencie”, a nivel internacional. “Nuestro llamado no es solo a los originarios, sino a tod@s los que se rebelan en todos los rincones del mundo”, compartió el rebelde chiapaneco.

COBERTURA DEL FESTIVAL COMPARTE: https://www.facebook.com/EnlaceZap/?hc_ref=ARQyLElgcLeOImLsA3GuE2NDoPY2lEpyipbCkLY_e0Gd2Z6Iy9-uQ7NoBu2uXZJXjnA&fref=nf

AUDIO DE LA CLAUSURA DEL ENCUENTRO DE REDES EN APOYO AL CIG: https://archive.org/details/ezln_5ago2018_morelia

Texto e imágenes tomadas de Radio Pozol

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico

To the People of Mexico:
To the People and Governments of the World:
To the Free, Alternative, Autonomous, or whatever they’re called Media:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the National Indigenous Congress and the Indigenous Governing Council:
To the National and International Press:

July 17th, 2018.

Since yesterday and during today, media has been running a story backed by declarations of Mister Alejandro Solalinde (who presents himself as a presbyter, priest, clergyman or however its said, christian, catholic, Roman Apostolic), of a supposed approach between EZLN and Mister Andrés Manuel López Obrador and that “the EZLN already agreed to have a first dialogue” (textual words by Mister Solalinde).

About this lie EZLN declares:

First: The CCRI-CG of EZLN, the political, organizational and military directorate of EZLN, hasn’t agreed to a first dialogue with anyone. As its well know by whoever has the minimum knowledge of EZLN and its ways, a matter like this would have been made public well in advance.

Second: EZLN hasn’t received from Mister Solalinde anything but lies, insults, libel and racist and sexist comments, by assuming just like it was done during the days of Salinismo and Zedillismo, that we are poor ignorant indigenous manipulated by the -quoting his own words- “Caxlanes who administer Zapatismo” that don’t allow us to look down and kneel to the mister whose Solalinde considers the new savior.

Third: We understand Solalinde’s need to be on the spotlight and his demand for our submissiveness, but he is wrong about EZLN’s Zapatismo. Not only he is wrong about that. We don’t know much about it, but it seems like one of the church commandments to whom Mister Solalinde supposedly serves, which goes: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, and you won’t lie”.

(Continuar leyendo…)

Convocation to a Gathering of Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council; to CompARTE[i]  2018, “For Life and Freedom”; and to the Fifteenth Anniversary Event of the Zapatista Caracoles entitled, “Píntale Caracolitos a los malos gobiernos pasados, presentes y futuros” [ii]

July, 2018.

To the individuals, groups, collectives and organizations of the Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council:

To the National and International Sixth:

First and last point:

The Grand Finale.

You arrive at the grand stadium. “Monumental,” “colossal,” “an architectonic marvel,” “the concrete giant”—these and similar descriptors roll off the lips of TV broadcasters who, despite the different realities that they describe, all highlight the enormously proud structure.

To get to the magnificent building, you’ve had to wade through rubble, cadavers, and filth. Older folks say that it wasn’t always like this, that it used to be that homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and buildings were erected around the great sporting hub. Rivers of people would rush all the way up to the gigantic entrance, which only opened once in a while and on whose threshold was inscribed, “Welcome [Bienvenido] to the Supreme Game.” Yes, “bienvenido” in the masculine, as if what occurred inside was exclusively a men’s affair, as used to be the case with public bathrooms, bars, the machinery and tools sections of hardware stores…and, of course, soccer.

(Continuar leyendo…)

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Jueves 21 de Junio

7 a 10 am: entrevistas con medios alternativos y comerciales de Mexicali.

11 a 13 horas: Encuentro con los pueblos indígenas de Baja California. Escuela Primaria del poblado El Mayor.

17 a 19 horas: Encuentro con la Red de Apoyo, Colectivos, Organizaciones e Individuos (as-oas) que se adscribieron y decidieron apoyar la propuesta del CIG y su Vocera. Salón Social de los Jubilados Burócratas, calle H # 444, casi esquina con Av. Zaragoza, Colonia Nueva.

Viernes 22 de junio.

15 a 20 horas: Festival Cultural y Encuentro con la Red de Apoyo, Colectivos, Organizaciones e Individuos (as-oas) que se adscribieron y decidieron apoyar la propuesta del CIG y su Vocera. Lugar por confirmar.

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El pasado 19 de mayo se llevó  a cabo el II Encuentro Metropolitano de Redes, Colectivos, Organizaciones, Individu@s y Adherentes a la Sexta en apoyo al CIG y su vocera Marichuy en la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH).

(Continuar leyendo…)

Mexico City, 2 May 2018.- Today at noon a press conference was held by the National Indigenous Congress, the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG), and the Sixth Commission of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, where they announced the aggreements of the CIG’s second work session (held on April 28 and 29 in Mexico City).

Communiqué by the CNI-CIG-Sixth Commission of the EZLN, in the voice of María de Jesús Patricio (Marichuy).

Words by Carlos González, of the Indigenous Governing Council.

Evaluation by council members regarding the achievements and difficulties of the CIG’s tour in Mexico (4’33 min.)

Communiqué by the CNI-CIG-Sixth Commission of the EZLN:
(Source: Enlace Zapatista)

WHAT’S MISSING IS YET TO COME

April 2018.

To the CIG and Marichuy Support Networks:
To those who participated in the Civil Association entitled, “The Hour for Our Peoples to Flourish Has Come”:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the Mexican people:
To the free, autonomous, alternative and independent media:
To the national and international press:

Faced with the intensification of war, dispossession, and repression in our communities, and as the electoral process advances, we, in accordance with the path walked by our spokeswoman Marichuy together with the councilmembers of the CIG [Indigenous Governing Council], respectfully address the Mexican people to say:

We hear the pain of all the colors we are, all of the colors which make up Mexico from below.

Under the pretext of collecting signatures, we traveled throughout the indigenous territories of our country where together we grew our political proposal from below, and through this process made visible the struggles, problems, and proposals of many originary peoples.

Through our participation in this electoral process, we reiterated to the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of Mexico that we will not be silent while those above steal and destroy our land, which we inherited from our grandparents and which we owe to our grandchildren. We will not remain silent while they poison rivers and blow holes in mountains to extract minerals; we will not sit idly by as they turn the peace and life that we have been building every day into war and death via the armed groups that protect their interests. Have no doubt: our response will be organized resistance and rebellion to heal the country.

With the massive mobilization of thousands and thousands of compañeras and compañeros from the support networks around the country, we realized, and it became shamelessly clear, that to get on the ballot we would have had to prove ourselves as bad as or worse than those above. If we collect signatures, they must be fraudulent or else they won’t count; if we spend money it should come from a shady source; if we say anything it has to be a lie; if we come to any serious agreements, they must be with corrupt politicians, extractivist corporations, bankers, or drug cartels, but never, ever, with the Mexican people.

Getting on the ballot is only for those who seek to administer power from above to oppress those below, because the power they seek is rotten to the core.

It’s a competition that can be won with deceit, money, and power, as the political class’ elections are merely a commodity. There is not nor will there ever be room there for the word of those below—those who, whether they are indigenous or not, despise power and build democracy by making collective decisions which then become a form of government in the street, barrio, town, ejido, collective, city, or state.

The electoral process is one big pigsty where the competition is between those who can falsify thousands of signatures and those who have billions of pesos to coerce and buy votes. Meanwhile, the majority of the Mexican people are caught between poverty and misery.

That’s why our proposal isn’t like theirs. That’s why we’re not campaigning, falsifying signatures, or collecting and spending the monies that the people of Mexico need to meet their basic needs. That’s why we don’t need to win any election or get involved with the political class. Rather, we’re in search of power from below, born of the pain of the peoples. That’s why we’re seeking out the suffering of all the colors that make up the Mexican people: that’s where hope lies, in a good government that rules by obeying and which will only be able to emerge from organized dignity.

The racism inherent in the political structure is not the only thing that kept our proposal off the ballot. Well, even if those who oppose the destruction wrought by the capitalist system on the world had different eyes, whether they were blue or red, public policy and this supposed democracy would still be meant to exclude them.

The originary peoples and those of us who walk below and to the left don’t fit in their game. This is not because of our color, race, class, age, culture, gender, thought, or heart, but rather because we are one and the same with the Mother Earth and our struggle is to stop everything from being turned into a commodity, as this will mean the destruction of everything, starting with our destruction as peoples.

This is why we struggle and organize ourselves. This is why not only do we not fit into the structure of the capitalist state, but we also feel more disgust each day for the power above which makes its profound contempt for all Mexicans more obvious by the hour. Our peoples are facing a very serious situation, a situation which has only gotten worse in recent weeks as repression and displacements have increased, and this has been met with complicit silence by every candidate.

As a consequence, and as agreed upon during the second working session of the Indigenous Governing Council which took place April 28-29 in Mexico City, neither the CIG nor our spokeswoman will seek or accept any alliance with any political party or candidate, nor will they call for people to vote nor for people to abstain from voting. Rather, we will continue to seek out those below to dismantle the rancid power above. Whether you vote or not, organize yourselves. We will walk forward by building the keys to heal the world.

Among the originary peoples of this country—where the formation of the Indigenous Governing Council was decided, and where our spokeswoman walked, weaving bridges as she was mandated to do by the general assembly of the CNI—we find the resistances and rebellions that give shape to our proposal for the whole nation. For this reason, we traveled together with the councilmen and councilwomen from every state and region through their geographies, where every day people face war and the invasion of the capitalist monster; where people are expelled from their land so that it can be taken out of collective hands and transferred into the hands of the rich, so their territories can be occupied and destroyed by mining companies, so the aquifers can be devastated by fossil fuel extraction, so the rivers can be poisoned and the water privatized in dams and aqueducts, so the sea and air can be privatized by wind farms and aviation, so native seeds can be contaminated by genetically modified seed and toxic chemicals, so cultures can be turned into folklore, so territories can be configured for the ideal functioning of international drug trafficking, and so that organization from below can be suppressed by the terrorist violence of narcoparamilitaries at the service of the bad governments.

We saw ourselves reflected on paths illuminated by the worlds that have preserved their cultures, where the words and plans of all the indigenous peoples are being drawn, and where from each struggle and each language arise the fundamental reasons for the existence of the Indigenous Governing Council.

That’s where we see the glimmer of hope we set out to find. We also see it in the parts of civil society organized as the Sixth and in the CIG Support Networks and groups that stepped forward not only to show their solidarity and create an agenda for the whole country, but also to build, from below and out of these capitalist ruins, a better country and a better world. We have deep admiration and respect for all of them.

We call on all the women and men of the Mexican people, all the compas from the CIG Support Networks in all the states of the country, and all the compañeras and compañeros who made up the “The Hour for Our Peoples to Flourish Has Come” Civil Association to continue their process of discussing and evaluating our work, making assessments, and finding and walking the paths we decide upon, always organizing ourselves, regardless of whether we vote or abstain from voting for any candidate. Your words, feelings, and proposals are important to us.

We will continue to extend respectful bridges toward those who live and struggle in order to together grow the collective word that helps us resist injustice, destruction, death and dispossession, and to reweave the fabric of the country with the consciousness of those below who dream and rebel with their own geographies, cultures, and customs.

The collective proposal of the peoples contains our word that we share with the world. We will continue walking further below, towards the indigenous peoples, nations and tribes we are. For this reason we call for a General Assembly of the National Indigenous Congress in October 2018 in order to announce the results of the evaluations by the originary peoples who make up the CNI, and to advance on the next step.

Sisters and brothers of the Mexican people and the world, let us continue together, as what’s missing is yet to come.

For the Integral Reconstitution of Our Peoples
Never again a Mexico Without Us

National Indigenous Congress
Indigenous Governing Council
Sixth Commission of the EZLN

May 2, 2018

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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…)

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.