Thank you Part III:

The Most Expensive Building in the World

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés.  Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano.

February-March, 2015

[showtime]

It is the eve of the big day… in the wee hours of the morning. The cold bites under the cover of shadow. On the solitary table that furnishes this small hut (which has no sign but is known to now be the headquarters of the Zapatista Command), there is a handwritten, wrinkled sheet of paper detailing the accounts for the construction of the clinic-school in the Zapatista community of La Realidad. A voice summarizes the gazes, silences, smoke, rage:

The accounts don’t balance. The life of any Zapatista is worth more than Peña Nieto’s white house and the houses of all of the rich in the whole world combined. The entirety of the funds required to construct the huge buildings where the powerful hide in order to organize their thievery and crimes would not be enough to pay for a even a single drop of Indigenous Zapatista blood. That is why we feel that this is the most expensive building in the world.

So must state clearly that what doesn’t appear in the accounts is the blood of our compañero Galeano. All of the papers in the history of the world would not be enough to balance that account.

And so that is how it should appear in those lists that come out in the press where they name the richest people, and where the poorest live. The rich have first names, last names, lineage, and pedigree. But the poor only have a geography and a calendar. So they should say that the most expensive building on the whole planet is in Zapatista La Realidad, Chiapas, Mexico. And that the Indigenous Zapatista girls and boys attend the most expensive school in the world. And that the men, women, boys, girls, elderly, indigenous, Zapatistas, Mexicans, when they get sick in La Realidad, will be treated in the most expensive clinic on earth.

But the only way to balance these accounts is to struggle to destroy the capitalist system. Not to change it. Not to improve it. Not to make it more human, less cruel, less murderous. No. To destroy it completely. To annihilate each and every one of the heads of the Hydra.

Even then there would be more to do, as what we want here is to construct something better: another system, one without masters, without patrons, without bosses, without injustice, without exploitation, without disrespect, without repression, without dispossession. One without violence against women, children, anyone who is different. One where work is paid justly. One where ignorance does not rule. One where hunger and violent death are just bad memories. One where no one can be above on the backs of others below. One that is reasonable, one that is better.

Then and only then, the Zapatistas can say that the accounts are even.

(Continuar leyendo…)

Capitalism Destroys, the People Build

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

The words of the EZLN’s General Command in the voice of Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés in the Zapatista community La Realidad at the presentation of the Zapatista Autonomous School, “Compañero Galeano” and the Autonomous Clinic 26 of October, “Subcomandante Insurgente Pedro” to the Zapatista bases of support, March 1, 2015.

[showtime]

Good morning to everyone, compañeros and compañeras of this zone, in this caracol of La Realidad, Selva Fronteriza zone.

We are here with you today, compañeros, compañeras of this zone, to officially turn over these buildings to the compañeros and compañeras bases of support of this Zapatista community, La Realidad, Nueva Victoria, as it is called in the struggle for us as the Zapatista Army for National Liberation.

Compañeros and compañeras, what we must make clear and understand is that the pain carried by each Zapatista continues, not only the Zapatistas in Mexico, but across the world, because we do not have with us the compañero whose name this new construction carries: compañero Galeano.

This construction was the fruit and the work, the efforts and the organization of the compañeros and compañeras of the International Sixth and the National Sixth. Here we are demonstrating what we Zapatistas are, in Mexico and in the world.

(Continuar leyendo…)

On Sunday, March 1, 2015, after more than six months of work, the building that houses a health clinic and a school was presented to the Zapatista bases of support of La Realidad. The solidarity of people and collectives throughout the world made this construction possible. Here we present to you the accounts, the words expressed during this event, and some photos from that day.

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On the Bulletin Board

Zapatista Army for National Liberation
Mexico

February 2015

To: Doña Emilia Aurora Sosa Marín.
From: Subcomandates Insurgentes Moisés and Galeano
EZLN, Chiapas, Mexico

Compañera Emilia:

We got the news just a few hours ago. We don’t know how long it will take for these lines to reach you, but we know that regardless of the date, you will be able to read in these words the collective embrace that we send you.

That is because here we also feel the pain and sorrow of the death of Don Félix Serdán Nájera, honorary officer in our Zapatista Army for National Liberation, this past February 22 in the early morning hours.

We remember Don Félix’s firm and tender gaze, but we also remember your presence. It is as if between the two of you your journey was complete. That’s why we say that his absence brings us pain, but we also hurt for the pain that you feel in your heart today, Doña Emilia.

That is why with these words we not only want to salute the memory of compañero Felix Serdán, but to embrace you as well.

(Continuar leyendo…)

Escucha el audio aquí:
(Descarga aquí)  

EJÉRCITO ZAPATISTA DE LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL.
MÉXICO.

31 de Diciembre del 2014 y 1 de Enero del 2015.

Compañeras y compañeros familiares de los estudiantes de Ayotzinapa asesinados y desaparecidos por el mal gobierno de este sistema capitalista:
Compañeras y compañeros del Congreso Nacional Indígena:
Compañeras, compañeros y compañeroas de la Sexta de México y del mundo:
Compañeras y compañeros Bases de Apoyo del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional:
Compañeras y compañeros comandantes y comandantas, jefas y jefes del Comité Clandestino Revolucionario Indígena-Comandancia General del EZLN:
Compañeras y compañeros milicianas y milicianos:
Compañeras y compañeros insurgentes e insurgentas:

Compas:

Por mi voz habla la voz del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional.

Reciban todas, todos y todoas que están y no están presentes, el saludo de los hombres, mujeres, niños y niñas, ancianos y ancianas zapatistas.

Sea bienvenido el paso, la voz, el oído, la mirada, el corazón colectivo de abajo y a la izquierda.

Tenemos como invitados de honor a los familiares de quienes nos hacen falta en Ayotzinapa, en México y en el mundo.

(Continuar leyendo…)

Zapatista Army for National Liberation
Mexico

December 19, 2014

To the National Indigenous Congress:
To the National and International Sixth:

Compas:

Greetings to all of you. We are writing to let you know how participant registration is coming along for the First World Festival of Resistance and Rebellion against Capitalism: “Where those above destroy, we below rebuild.”

1. Originary Peoples of Mexico: Representatives from organizations, traditional authorities, and persons from the following native peoples have confirmed their registration:

(Continuar leyendo…)

Zapatista Army for National Liberation
Mexico

December 2014

To the compas of the National and International Sixth:
To the National Indigenous Congress:
To the family members and compañeros of those killed and disappeared in Ayotzinapa:

Sisters and brothers:

Compañeros and compañeras:

There are many things we want to tell you. We won’t tell you all of them because we know right now there are more urgent and important issues for all of us.[i] Thus we ask for your patience and your attentive ear.

We Zapatistas are here. And it is from here that we see, hear, and read that the voice of the family members and compañeros of the murdered and disappeared of Ayotzinapa is beginning to be forgotten and that now, for some people out there, the more important things are:

-the words coming from other people that have taken stage;

-the discussions over whether the marches and protests belong to the well-behaved or the badly behaved;

-the discussion about whatever it is that appears most frequently and rapidly in social media;

-the discussion over what tactic and strategy will “move beyond” the movement.

And we think that the 43 from Ayotzinapa are still missing, as are the 49 from the ABC Daycare, the tens of thousands of murdered and disappeared citizens and migrants, the political prisoners and disappeared prisoners.

(Continuar leyendo…)

First World Festival of Resistance and Rebellion Against Capitalism

Listen to the audio here:
(Descarga aquí)  

Words of the General Command of the EZLN, presented by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, concluding the event with the caravan of the families of the disappeared and students of Ayotzinapa, in the caracol of Oventik, November 15, 2014.

Mothers, Fathers, and Family members of our murdered and disappeared brothers in Iguala, Guerrero:
Students of the Escuela Normal[1] “Raúl Isidro Burgos” in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero:
Brothers and Sisters:

We thank you with all our heart for sharing your word with us.

We know that in order to bring us your word directly, without intermediaries or outside interpretations, you had to travel many hours and endure fatigue, hunger, and exhaustion.

We also know that for you this sacrifice is part of the duty that you feel.

It is the duty to not abandon the compañeros disappeared by the bad governments, to not sell them out, to not forget them.

It is because of this duty that you began your struggle, even when no one was paying any attention and the disappeared brothers were being called “amateurs”, “rabble rousers” “future delinquents who deserved what they got,” “agent provocateurs,” radicals,” “hicks,” and “agitators.”

(Continuar leyendo…)