Fourth Part and First Approach Alert.
Several Necessary Deaths.
November 2023

To the people who subscribe the Declaration for Life:

We inform you of the following:

FIRST. – A few months ago, after a long and profound critical and self-critical analysis, and after consulting all the Zapatista towns, it was decided to disappear the Zapatista Rebel Autonomous Municipalities (MAREZ) and the Good Government Juntas.

SECOND. – All seals, letterheads, positions, representations and agreements with the name of any MAREZ or any of the Good Government Juntas are invalid from this moment on. No person can present themselves as a member, authority or representative of any MAREZ or Good Government Junta. The agreements held before this date, with Non-Governmental Organizations, social organizations, collectives, solidarity groups and instances in Mexico and the world are maintained until their expiration, but new agreements cannot be made with these bodies of Zapatista autonomy, for the simple reason that they no longer exist.

THIRD. – The Caracoles remain, but they will remain closed to the outside world until further notice.

FOURTH. – We will tell you the reasons and process by which this decision was made little by little in the following texts. I can only tell you that this evaluation, in its final phase, began about 3 years ago. We will also explain to you what the new structure of Zapatista autonomy is like and how it has been developing.

All that, and more things, will appear at the right time.

FIFTH. – We inform you that we will hold a celebration to mark the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the war against oblivion. This, in the months of December 2023 and January 2024. All people who signed the “Declaration for Life” are invited.

However, it is our duty, while inviting you, to discourage you. Contrary to what the official press, self-proclaimed cool-progre-chill, reports and misinforms, the main cities of the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas are in complete chaos. The municipal presidencies are occupied by what we call “legal hitmen” or “Disorganized Crime.” There are blockades, assaults, kidnappings, “cobro de piso”, forced recruitment, shootings. This is the effect of the protection of the state government and the dispute over the political charges that is in process. What is being confronted are not political proposals, but rather criminal societies.

So, of course we tell you that, unlike other years, it is not safe.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, Las Margaritas and Palenque, to mention some municipal seats, are in the hands of one of the disorganized crime cartels and in dispute with another. This is confirmed by the so-called hotel, tourism, restaurant and service industries. Those who work in these places know this and have not reported it because they are threatened and, furthermore, because they know that any request is useless, because the state and municipal authorities are the ones who commit crimes and know no limit in the robbery they are doing.

In rural communities the problem is even more serious. This is what is being shouted by those who live in all the regions of Chiapas, particularly in the entire border strip with Guatemala.

What is read, heard and seen in the majority of local and national media is just a bad and shameless echo of the state government’s social networks. The truth is that the official authorities are the problem. Yes, like in the rest of the country.

Federal, state and local military and police forces are not in Chiapas to protect the civilian population. They have the sole purpose of stopping migration. That is the order that came from the North American government. As is their way, they have turned migration into a business. Human trafficking is a business of the authorities who, through extortion, kidnapping and buying and selling of migrants, shamelessly enrich themselves.

So, we do not advise you to come. Unless, of course, you organize yourselves very well to do so.

So, although we are not waiting for you, we are inviting you. The tentative dates of the commemorations are between December 23, 2023 and January 7, 2024, the central celebration being December 30-31 and January 1-2. We will tell you the place afterwards. That is to say, we do want you to come, although we don’t recommend it.

Even if you don’t arrive, don’t worry. We will still send you photos and videos.

Well, that is if there still is a world in those dates, anyway.

See it for yourselves.

From the Mountains of the Mexican Southeast
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés
Mexico, November 2023.

Third Part: Deni

The late SupMarcos said that the reasons for the uprising could not be understood without first knowing the story of Paticha, the girl under 5 years old who died in his arms due to lack of a fever pill. I now tell you that you will not be able to understand what Insurgent Subcommander Moisés will later explain to you in detail if you do not know the history of Deni.

Dení is an indigenous girl, of Mayan blood and Mayan roots. She is the daughter of an “insurgenta” and an “insurgente” indigenous Zapatistas. When she was born, about 5 years ago, they gave her that name to honor the memory of a woman comrade who died many years ago.

The late SupGaleano met Dení when she was a Patz. In other words, a tamalito, because of how fat she was. In fact, that’s what the Sup called her: “Patz.” Now she is skinny, because she walks from one place to another. When the insurgents meet to do a job, Dení begins, according to her, to give them autonomous health classes. And she draws some doodles that, as she later explained, are health promoters. She says that female promoters are better because from time to time, men do not understand “as women that we are.” She firmly posits that, to be a health promoter, one has to know how to inject in a way that does not hurt. “Because, what if you need an injection and you don’t want to, because it hurts?”

Now we are in a meeting of the Zapatista leaders. Dení’s father and mother are not present, but the girl arrived following Tzotz and Pelusa, who are lying at the feet of Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés and, apparently, are paying attentiont to what is being said.

Someone is explaining:

“Deni is present here and she is, let’s say, the first generation. In 20 years, Dení will have a female offspring and she will name her “Denilita”, she would be the second generation. Denilita, 20 years later, is going to conceive a girl who will be called “Denilitilla”, she is the third generation. Denilitilla, now 20 years old, is going to have a girl who will be called “Denilititilla”, she would be the fourth generation. Denilititilla, when she turns 20, will give birth to a girl and will call her “Denilí”, the fifth generation. At 20 years old, Denilí is going to have a girl who will be called “Dení Etcétera”, she is the sixth generation. «Deni Etcetera, 20 years later, that is, in 120 years, will have a girl whose name we cannot see, because her birth date has already been removed from the calendar, but she is the seventh generation.»

Here Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés intervenes: “So we have to fight so that that girl, who is going to be born in 120 years, is free and is whatever she wants to be. So we are not fighting for that girl to be a Zapatista or a ‘partidista’ or whatever, but rather for her to be able to choose, when she has judgment, what her path is. And not only that she can decide freely, but also and, above all, that she takes responsibility for that decision. That is, take into account that all decisions, what we do and what we don’t do, have consequences. So, this is about that girl is able to grow up with all the elements to make a decision and to take responsibility for its consequences.

That is to say, that she doesn´t blame the system, the bad governments, her parents, her relatives, the men, her partner (whether male or female or whatever), the school, her friendships. Because that is freedom: being able to do something without pressure or obligation, but being responsible for what was done. In other words, knowing the consequences beforehand.”

SubMoy turns to look at the now deceased SupGaleano, as if to say “your turn.” The deceased who is not yet deceased (but who already knows that he will soon be), foresees that one day he will have to talk about this to strangers and begins:

“Will that Deni to the N Power no longer speak ill of the darned men? Yes, she is going to do it, as usual. But her arguments will not be that because they made fun of her, despised her, violented her, harassed her, raped her, beat her, disappeared her, murdered her, dismembered her. No, it’s going to be because of normal things and issues, like the darned man farting in the bed and stinking the blanket; or that he doesn’t hit the toilet bowl; or that he burps like a calf; or that he buys his favorite team’s shirt, puts on shorts, socks, and special soccer shoes, and then sits down to watch the games while stuffing himself with popcorn with lots of hot sauce; or that he takes great care in choosing the “outfit” that he will wear for decades: his favorite t-shirt, his favorite pants, and his favorite flip-flops; or because he doesn’t let go of the television control; or that he doesn’t tell her that he loves her, even though she knows that he loves her, but a little reminder is not bad from time to time.»

Among those listening, the women nod their heads affirmatively as if to say “well, yeah, as usual”; and the men smile nervously.

The SubMoy knows that it is SupGaleano’s trick and that now he is going to start, in what he calls “gender solidarity”, to ill speak about women, so he interrupts him just when the now deceased is starting to say: “But the thing is that the women…»

“Well,” says SubMoy, “now we’re talking about a girl who’s going to be born in 120 years and we’re going to focus on that.” The one who senses that he will be dead sits down, regretting not having been able to present his brilliant thesis against women. The SubMoy continues:

“Then we have to think about that girl. To see far, pues. And, looking at what seems very far away, we need to see what we have to do for that girl to be free.

And this is important because the storm is already upon us. The same one we warned about almost 10 years ago. The first thing we see is that the destruction comes faster. What we thought would happen in 10 years is already here.

You have already explained it here. You have told us what you see in your Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Cho’ol, Tojolabal, Mame, Zoque, Quiché areas. You already know what is happening with Mother Earth because you live and work on it. You know that the weather is changing. “The climate”, as the citizens say. That it rains when it’s not the time for it, that it is dry when it’s not supposed to. And so. They know that sowings can no longer be decided like our previous ones did, because the calendar is crooked, changed, pues.

But not only. We also see that the animals’ behaviors have changed, they appear in areas that are not their custom and in seasons that are not their turn. Here and in the geographies of brother peoples, what they call “natural disasters” increase, but they are a consequence of what the dominant system, that is, capitalism, does and does not do. There is rain, as usual, but now it is fiercer and in places and seasons that are not the same as before. There are very terrible droughts. And now it happens that, in the same geography – for example here in Mexico -, on one side there are floods and on the other there is drought and they are left without water. There are strong winds, as if the wind became angry and said “ya basta” and wanted to knock everything down. There are earthquakes, volcanoes, plagues like never before. As if Mother Earth were saying that’s it, no more. As if humanity were a disease, a virus that must be taken outside, vomiting destruction.

But, in addition to seeing that Mother Earth is as if dissatisfied, as if protesting, there is the worst part: the monster, the Hydra, capitalism, which is like crazy stealing and destroying. He now wants to steal what he didn’t care about before and continues destroying the little that remains. Capitalism now produces misery and those who flee from it: migrants.

The COVID Pandemic, which is still ongoing, showed the inability of an entire system to give a real explanation and to take the necessary measures. While millions died, a few became richer. Other pandemics are already looming and the sciences give way to pseudo-sciences and quackery turned into political projects for government.

We also see what we call Disorganized Crime, which are the very same bad governments, from all political parties, that hide and fight over money. This Disorganized Crime is the main trafficker of drugs and people; the one who gets the majority of federal supports; the one who kidnaps, murders, disappears; the one who makes business with humanitarian aid; the one who extorts, threatens and collects “derecho de piso” with taxes that are used so that a candidate may say that now things are going to change, that now they are going to behave well.

We see brother indigenous peoples who, tired of scorn, mockery and lies, arm themselves to defend themselves or to attack the Caxlanes. And the citizens are getting scared, when it was them, with their shitty ways, who fueled that hatred that they now suffer and that no longer has control. Just as in the proud Jovel, they reap what they sow.

And we also see with sadness that they fight even among indigenous people of the same blood and language. They fight among themselves to get the miserable supports of bad governments. Or to take away from one another the little they have or that arrives. Instead of defending the land, they fight for alms.

-*-

​We warned the citizens and the original brothers of all this almost 10 years ago. There will be those who paid attention, and there are many who did not even take us into account. As they saw and still see as if all that horror was very far away, in time and distance. As if they only saw what’s in front of them. They don’t see any further. Or they see, but they don’t care.

As we know, in all these past years, we have been preparing for this darkness. For 10 years we have been preparing for these days of pain and sorrow for those of us who are all the colors of the earth. 10 years self-critically reviewing what we do and what we don’t do, what we say and don’t say, what we think and look at. We have prepared ourselves despite betrayals, slander, lies, paramilitaries, information sieges, contempt, resentment and attacks from those who reproach us for not obeying them.

We did it in silence, without noise, calmly and serenely because we looked far away, as our previous ones taught us todo. And out there yelling at us to just look here, just a calendar and a geography. What they want to make us look at is very small. But as Zapatistas that we are, our gaze is the size of our heart, and our journey is not one day, one year, one six-year period. Our step is long and leaves a mark, even if we do not look at it now or ignore and despise our path.

We know well that it has not been easy. And now everything is worse, and anyway we must look at that girl in 120 years. In other words, we have to fight for someone we are not going to know. Neither us, nor her children, nor her children’s children, and so on. And we have to do it because it is our duty as Zapatistas that we are.

Many misfortunes are coming, wars, floods, droughts, diseases, and in the midst of collapse we have to look far away. If migrants now number in the thousands, soon they will be tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands. Fights and death will come between brothers, between parents and children, between neighbors, between races, between religions, between nationalities. The great buildings will burn and no one will be able to say why, or who, or for what. Although it seems like not anymore, but yes, it’s going to get worse.

But, just as when we work the land, before planting, we see the tortilla, the tamales, the pozol in our homes, so we have to see that girl now.

If we don’t look at that girl who is already with her mother, but in 120 years, then we won’t understand what we are doing. We are not going to be able to explain it to our own colleagues. And much less will be understood by people, organizations and sister people from other geographies.

We can now survive the storm as Zapatista communities that we are. But now it is not only about that, but about going through this and other storms that will come, it’s about surviving the night, and reaching that morning, 120 years from now, where a girl begins to learn that being free is also being responsible for that freedom.

For that, looking at that girl there in the distance, we are going to make the changes and adjustments that we have been discussing and agreeing on together in these years, and that we have already consulted with all the Zapatista peoples.

If someone thinks that we are going to receive a prize, or a statue, or a museum, or some golden letters in history, or payment, or gratitude; well, it’s time for him to look elsewhere. Because the only thing we are going to receive is that, when we are about to die, we will be able to say “I did my part” and know that it is not a lie.

-*-

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés remained silent, as if waiting for someone to walk out. Nobody did. They continued discussing, contributing, planning. Lunch time arrived and they came to ask when they were going to stop to rest.

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés answered: “After a while, within 120 years.”

-*-

I’m going to be honest with you, as usual. I, the captain, can dream of that moment when a girl is born without fear, that she is free and that she takes responsibility for what she does and what she does not do. I can also imagine it. I could even write a short story or a tale about it. But these women and men that I have in front of me and by my side, Zapatista indigenous people all of Mayan roots, my bosses, do not dream or imagine that girl. They see her, they look at her. And they know what they have to do so that that girl is born, walks, plays, learns and grows in another world… in 120 years.

Just as clearly as when they look at the mountain. There is something in their gaze, as if they were looking beyond time and space. They look at the tortilla, the tamales and the pozol on the table. And they know that it is not for them, but for a girl who is not even in the intention of those who will be her parents, because they have not been born. Neither them, nor their parents, nor their grandparents, nor their great-grandparents, nor their great-great-grandparents, and so on up to 7 generations. Seven generations that begin to count from this Dení, the First Generation Dení.

I tell you, we are going to achieve it. It’s just that it’s going to take a little time, but not much either.

Just a little over a century.

From the mountains of the Mexican southeast.

Capitán Insurgente Marcos.

Mexico, November 2023.

P.S.- Every bomb that falls in Gaza also falls in the capitals and major cities of the world, it’s just yhat they haven’t realized it yet. From the rubble the horror of tomorrow’s war will be born.

P.S. SEVERAL WARS BEFORE (the day before, almost 120 years ago):

– “Wouldn’t it be better to declare war frankly?

The professor answered simply: -Our Government undoubtedly wants others to declare it. The role of the victim is always the most pleasant and justifies all subsequent decisions, no matter how extreme they may seem. Over there we have people who live well and do not want war. It is convenient to make them believe that it is the enemies who impose it on us, so that they feel the need to defend themselves. Only superior spirits come to the conviction that great advances are only achieved with the sword, and that war, as our great Treitschke said, is the highest form of progress.” The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1916). by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (Spain 1867-1928).

Sorry, this entry is only available in Mexican Spanish. 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.

Escucha el #NotiFrayba:

• Demandas históricas y actuales;
• Las luchas de los pueblos y comunidades por la vida, donde abordamos la #lucha y resistencia a 531 años de #despojo y genocidio de los pueblos originarios;
• Les contamos sobre el encuentro “Hasta la #justicia: juntando fuerzas contra la #tortura” que se realizó el pasado 13, 14 y 15 de octubre;
• Además del comunicado urgente de la Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas por la agudización de la violencia en la región frontera.
• Exigimos la libertad inmediata de José Días, Base de Apoyo del #EZLN.

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Fuente: Avispa Midia

Por Javier Bedía Prado

^{Foto de portada: Red de Comunicación Regional}

En riesgo de acceso a alimentos se encuentra la mitad de la población peruana, situación profundizada por la crisis hídrica a causa del fenómeno El Niño. La sequía ha ocasionado pérdidas de miles de hectáreas de cultivos este año y afectado las reservas del líquido, por lo que en septiembre el gobierno declaró en estado de emergencia 544 distritos, pertenecientes a 14 regiones.

De acuerdo a la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y Agricultura (FAO), el 50% de habitantes del Perú vive en condiciones de inseguridad alimentaria, uno de los índices más altos de América Latina. En 2022, el país registró la mayor cifra de Suramérica, con 16,6 millones de personas que carecían de alimentos nutritivos.

En este contexto, en los últimos meses el precio de algunos productos de primera necesidad se incrementó en niveles no registrados en las últimas dos décadas, debido a fuertes precipitaciones e inundaciones en zonas costeras. El valor del limón llegó a subir hasta en 500%. La variabilidad del clima se percibe en escenarios laborales: hay 8,5 millones de personas en peligro elevado de no poder cumplir sus actividades económicas por el déficit hídrico, advierte la Sociedad de Comercio Exterior del Perú.

El retraso de las lluvias en los Andes y el Altiplano, que se esperaban en septiembre, causó estragos. En Puno, la región más golpeada por la sequía, se perdieron cerca de 17 mil hectáreas de cultivos. Según la Encuesta Nacional de Siembras, no se cosecharon 9 mil hectáreas de quinua, lo que representa la cuarta parte de la producción esperada. De papa, un alimento básico en gran parte del país, se estropearon 5 mil de las 60 mil hectáreas trabajadas. La crianza de alpaca para textiles y la ganadería son otros de los sectores perjudicados por la sequía en el sur andino.

“El período 2022-2023 fue crítico, no hubo lluvias a tiempo, la producción agrícola fue afectada, se había anunciado esta situación, son cíclicas. Ahora ya llegaron las lluvias, serán de corto tiempo, de acuerdo a nuestras observaciones, y la tercera siembra, a finales de noviembre, será mejor. En las comunidades hay técnicas de acumulación de agua que al Estado no le importan como políticas públicas, creen que la tecnología occidental lo resuelve todo. El Ministerio Agricultura debería considerar nuestras observaciones y técnicas. Hay cuencas para almacenamiento para tiempos de sequías”, declaró para Avispa Mídia el vocero del Consejo de Autoridades Originarias, Mallkus, Jilacatas y Mama Tallas de Puno, Rubén Apaza Añamuro.

Un efecto notorio del cambio climático en el Altiplano es la disminución del nivel de agua del emblemático lago Titicaca, que este año descenderá hasta 80 centímetros como consecuencia de temperaturas altas durante el día, informó el Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología. Entre las implicancias sociales, especialistas observan un posible éxodo migratorio de la población puneña.

Agua para extractivismos y contaminación de cabeceras

El uso del agua en el Perú lo acapara la agroindustria. La Autoridad Nacional del Agua precisa que este sector emplea el 87,7% del líquido, mientras que a la población se destina el 9,9%. La minería utiliza el 1,5%, sin embargo su impacto se amplifica al dañar las cabeceras de las cuencas. El 38% de proyectos extractivistas en el Perú se localiza en territorios indígenas y campesinos, y el 56% en áreas sobre los 3 mil metros de altura, donde nacen los ríos.

“La agroindustria se centra en la costa norte, en los Andes principalmente son las mineras las que concentran el agua. Atentan contra las cuencas. Al Estado no le interesa si contaminan el pasto para producción ganadera. Los ríos se ven amarillentos, por los residuos de óxidos, y esto se transmite a los pastos, luego a los lácteos, por lo tanto afecta a todo el país. Hay que evitar especialmente la contaminación en las cabeceras de cuencas, nosotros como comunidades ponemos énfasis en esto”, añadió Apaza, autoridad originaria de la provincia puneña Huancané.

Al respecto, en septiembre, el relator especial de la ONU para los derechos humanos al agua potable y el saneamiento, Pedro Arrojo, subrayó que la destrucción de acuíferos, humedales y bosques húmedos se debe principalmente a la minería. El informe alerta que las consecuencias son devastadoras: el 31% de la población del Perú (más de 10 millones de personas, de las cuales el 84% son menores de edad), enfrentan riesgos cotidianos de contaminación por metales pesados y otros tóxicos.

Como alternativa de conservación, la Sociedad Peruana de Alpacas Registradas propone la creación de un organismo autónomo de protección de los bofedales andinos y altiplánicos. “Queremos resaltar de que de estos bofedales nacen los pequeños ríos que al final originan los grandes ríos que desembocan en el lago Titicaca”, señala un representante de la organización. Puno, Cusco y Arequipa albergan más del 50% de bofedales del Perú, de acuerdo al Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Glaciares y Ecosistemas de Montaña.

Entre la ausencia de lluvias y las perforaciones de pozos para minería, se vienen secando estos tipos de humedales altoandinos, lo que se suma a la sequía en períodos cada vez más frecuentes y al descenso de las reservas.

“Hay experiencias para evitar que se produzcan ecocidios, hay países que han sido arrasados, al sistema de producción no les interesa las personas, los seres vivos, nosotros actuamos desde la madre naturaleza para asegurar nuestras actividades. Confrontamos abiertamente el modelo extractivista neoliberal que considera los recursos naturales como instrumentos de uso para enriquecerse, nosotros consideramos que la naturaleza, la madre Tierra tiene vida. Las élites promueven semillas transgénicas, no piensan en la convivencia, como autoridades originarias, nosotros, los pueblos indígenas y campesinos, estamos haciendo que las formas de vida y producción estén en armonía”, acotó Apaza.

En semanas recientes la situación ha obligado a racionar la distribución del agua a la población, en más de la mitad de las 25 regiones, entre ellas Lima. El 10% de peruanos carece de agua potable y se ve obligado a pagar un mayor precio. La cuarta parte de los 25 departamentos recibe el servicio menos de doce horas al día.

En este panorama de escasez hídrica y crisis climática, hay voces desde el Ejecutivo y el Congreso que sugieren la privatización del agua en Lima. Para la ministra de Vivienda, Hania Pérez de Cuéllar, hay que “analizar si lo mejor es la reestructuración o la privatización”.

Cuando la gestión privada del recurso fracasó en la única región donde se aplicó, Tumbes, que presenta el indicador más bajo de acceso, con apenas siete horas diarias, el abastecimiento de agua en la capital, Lima, la segunda ciudad más grande del mundo asentada en un desierto, así como en el resto del Perú, entra a un debate abierto por representantes de grupos de poder aliados al régimen de Dina Boluarte.

STOP THE REPRESSION AGAINST THE OTOMÍ INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY RESIDING IN MEXICO CITY

NO TO THE EVICTION OF THE HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE “SAMIR FLORES SOBERANES”

To the people of Mexico and the world,
To the organizations and groups that defend human rights,
To the media.

In response to the recent acts of repression against the Otomí Indigenous Community residing in Mexico City and the attempted eviction of the “Samir Flores Soberanes” House of Indigenous Peoples and Communities, we declare:

On the 16^th of October, this year, at dawn, more than 500 grenadiers surrounded the House of Indigenous Peoples and Communities “Samir Flores Soberanes” with the order to carry out the eviction of the Otomí Community. This attempted eviction left 10 companions badly beaten and injured, including 13-year-old adolescents, older adults, and companions with different abilities.

The Otomí Community managed to repel the aggression and make the grenadiers retreat, but the result of this repression is the following: a 28-year-old man received strong blows to the body and was injured with a shield in his forehead, causing a deep injury that required suture; a 17-year-old teenager was attacked by a group of 5 grenadiers who kicked and hit him, causing immobility of one of his legs; a 13-year-old girl was beaten by 3 male grenadiers who kicked her head causing her to faint; an 18-year-old teenager was pushed by an element with a shield, causing her to fall, she was pulled by her hair by a male element, 8 other elements arrived who hit her ribs and back, she was kicked repeatedly, they did not want to let her go, they insulted her, pulled her hair to lift her up, and hit her with a shield on her back, causing pain in her back, ribs, head, arms, and hands; 2 elderly women were beaten and thrown to the floor by several elements and a person who was documenting the attack was attacked by a group of at least 8 elements, who beat her, sprained her finger, and broke one of the lenses of her camera and tried to take away his photography equipment and the cell phone with which she was documenting.

Worse still, and as a true act of provocation, almost an hour after the repression a group of more than 6 motorcyclists approached the House of Peoples to attack and provoke. An hour later, the motorcyclists returned and fired three shots at the members of the Otomi community, not only putting at risk the lives of the members of the Otomí community, but also of those who were in the vicinity.

These acts of repression, discrimination and racism against the Otomí indigenous community took place three days after they celebrated the third anniversary of the occupation of the INPI offices, today named the “Samir Flores Soberanes” House of Indigenous Peoples and Communities.

It is regrettable that more than three years after the INPI occupation, the demand for “decent and decorous housing” continues to be ignored just as it was 3 years ago, but also as it was 30 years ago. No matter the color of the government in power, the indifference and contempt remains the same.

Almost twenty days after the Otomí Indigenous Community began the blockade on Mexico-Coyoacán Avenue, and after the bloody repression of last October 16, the response of the government of Mexico City is an ominous silence that leads us to think about the very high probability that at any moment the government will try again to evict and repress the Otomí Community. Consequently, with the above, we demand the cessation of repression and any attempt to evict our brothers who are members of the Otomi Community.

STOP THE WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO AND THE WORLD, TOWARDS THE ZAPATIST PEOPLE AND TOWARDS THE ORIGINARY PEOPLE OF MEXICO!

STOP THE EVICTION OF THE HOUSE OF THE SAMIR PEOPLE FLORES SOBERANES!

NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US!

FOR THE INTEGRAL RECONSTITUTION OF OUR PEOPLE!

SINCERELY

MEXICO, OCTOBER 2023.

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION

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Fuente: Avispa Midia

Por Santiago Navarro F

Mientras que Israel endurece el bombardeo hacia la Franja de Gaza asegurando que ha realizado al menos 320 ataques a objetivos militares del grupo armado Hamás, los medios y periodistas locales aseguran que la mayoría de los ataques han sido dirigidos hacia casas-habitación, escuelas, hospitales y centros civiles.

Los ataques de Israel han dejado al menos 5 mil muertos y, de ellos, se contabilizan 2 mil niños y niñas, según los medios palestinos. Solo en las últimas 24 horas se han reportado más de medio millar de personas muertas. Suman también 21 periodistas perecidos mientras cubrían los hechos según datos del Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ).

La solidaridad hacia el pueblo palestino va en aumento. Estallan cientos de protestas en diversas partes del mundo exigiendo que se detenga el bombardeo israelí.

Desde los Estados Unidos, donde su gobierno ha respaldado políticamente y con armas a Israel, diversas colectividades han convocado a realizar múltiples acciones organizadas para exigir un alto al fuego hacia Gaza. Hacen un llamado a boicotear a empresas que apoyan a Israel como Amazon, Google, entre otros, además de medios de comunicación masivos.

Desde Washington D.C., la organización La Mayoría Creciente (The Rising Majority) ha exigido que el presidente Joe Biden y el Congreso de EEUU pidan un alto al fuego inmediato en Gaza.

“Somos personas de conciencia, que nos unimos por encima de credos, razas y generaciones, para decirle al presidente Biden y al Congreso que tienen que tomar una decisión: defender el valor de la vida humana y reducir la violencia o seguir apoyando la masacre del pueblo palestino por parte del gobierno israelí”, ha expresado la organización.

De la misma forma, La Red Media Justice ha emitido una declaración en solidaridad con la resistencia palestina y ha denunciado la complicidad de las grandes empresas tecnológicas con lo que llaman “el apartheid israelí”.

Denuncian los cortes de internet, la desinformación, la tecnología de vigilancia utilizada por Amazon y la policía desplegada en Gaza y el silenciamiento de la disidencia. “Estamos viendo en tiempo real los peligros de un entorno mediático y tecnológico que funciona con impunidad en nombre del interés del colonialismo”, puntualiza la Red.

Esta organización va más allá al señalar a las corporaciones de los medios de comunicación que vinculan a todo el pueblo Palestino con los actos realizados por Hamás, creando una narrativa que desinforma.

“Existe un largo historial de medios de comunicación que han fallado a comunidades históricamente marginadas, comunidades de color y a sus historias de resistencia. Las narrativas raciales del colonialismo justifican la violencia infligida a los palestinos. Sabemos que los medios de comunicación y la tecnología son así. Los grandes medios de comunicación representan al poder, eligen quién puede contar sus historias y quién puede representar sus intereses”, asevera la La Red Media Justice.

Así mismo, otras colectividades relacionadas con el uso de diversas tecnologías, como La Asociación para el Progreso de las Comunicaciones (APC), el Centro de Derechos Constitucionales y diversas organizaciones de la sociedad Civil exigen a las empresas tecnológicas, sobre todo a las de redes sociales, que respeten los derechos básicos de la información.

La APC cita al Centro Árabe para el Avance de los Medios Sociales, quién documentó en días pasados que al menos 19 mil tuits, de un total de 23 mil mensajes en hebreo de la plataforma “X”, incluía, entre otras cosas, “incitación al odio y racismo contra los palestinos. Por otra parte, diferentes plataformas de medios sociales están inundadas de desinformación, lo que contribuye a etiquetar, deshumanizar y estereotipar a los palestinos”, dice APC.

La Red Media Justice ha registrado que, Amazon Web Services (AWS) y Google, firmaron desde 2021 un contrato de 1.200 millones de dólares con el gobierno de Israel para un proyecto emblemático llamado “Proyecto Nimbus”, con el fin de proporcionar un “ecosistema” de servicios en la nube para el gobierno israelí.

Los dos gigantes tecnológicos ganaron, en el año 2021, los concursos públicos para construir y proporcionar a Israel sus centros de datos y servicios regionales basados en la nube. Este proyecto permitirá a los órganos de gobierno israelíes transferir sus datos alojados la nube proporcionados por Google y AWS en Irlanda, Holanda y Fráncfort. Este proyecto esta pensado a gran escala, dirigida conjuntamente por la Administración de Contratación Pública de la División del Contable General y la Agencia Digital Nacional, junto con la Dirección Nacional Cibernética de Israel, el Departamento de Presupuestos del Ministerio de Hacienda y el Departamento de Gobernanza y Asuntos Sociales de la Oficina del Primer Ministro.

Para los activistas de la Red Media Justice, Nimbus está diseñado para ampliar las capacidades de inteligencia artificial de Israel, “incluidas las utilizadas para vigilar a los activistas palestinos, vigilar la frontera de Gaza, obligar a los palestinos a abandonar sus tierras y operar el sistema de seguridad Cúpula de Hierro de Israel”.

Tras la firma de este convenio surgió en EEUU el movimiento #NoTechForApartheid, quienes han logrado recabar más 40 mil firmas de ciudadanos estadounidenses, a través del cual exige a Google y Amazon que “dejen de tratar con el régimen de apartheid israelí y se retiren del proyecto Nimbus”, señalan los integrantes de esta campaña.

“Por eso nos solidarizamos con nuestros compañeros de Mpower Change y Jewish Voices for Peace en la campaña #NoTechforApartheid, que ha organizado a cientos de estudiantes, trabajadores tecnológicos y activistas para que las empresas tecnológicas rindan cuentas por suministrar tecnología para la guerra y la violencia de Estado”, puntualiza la Red.

Esta Red ha trabajado en el informe Open for Business del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, que pone de relieve la inversión de las grandes empresas tecnológicas en la potenciación de la policía local. “Utilizan el reconocimiento facial, las cámaras corporales y otras formas de vigilancia tecnológica”, denuncia el colectivo.

En las multitudinarias protestas se han sumado las voces de miles de personas desde Francia, Chile, Filipinas, Egipto, Sarajevo, Herzegovina, Uruguay, Irlanda a Escocia, del Reino Unido, Alemania, Italia, España, Francia a Polonia, de Rumanía a Bosnia, de Dinamarca a Bélgica, Australia, Canadá, EEUU y México, donde se han movilizado miles de personas que exigen un alto a los ataques contra Palestina.

Los activistas advierten que hay personas que están siendo intimidadas en línea para reducir el apoyo público a Palestina, incluso, usando el llamado “doxxing” que es una forma de acoso en línea que consiste en exponer públicamente el nombre real, la dirección, el trabajo y otras informaciones personales.

“La solidaridad pro-palestina está siendo activamente silenciada a través de algoritmos de redes sociales, la manipulación de los medios de comunicación, la magnificación de la retórica racista y el doxxing activo de individuos y organizaciones que se atreven a hablar”, arremete La Red Media Justice

La Red apela al derecho a la información y a la libertad de expresión como algo fundamental y básico para la dignidad de todas las personas.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Mexican Spanish. 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.

Fuente: Avispa Midia

Por Andrés Kogan Valderrama

Sorry, this entry is only available in Mexican Spanish. 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.

Second Part: Do dead people sneeze?

October 2023

SupGaleano died. He died just as he lived: unhappily.

Of course, he took care, before passing away, of returning the name to the one who is flesh and blood inherited from Master Galeano. He recommended keeping him alive, that is to say, fighting. So Galeano will continue walking in these mountains.

In all other regards, it was something simple. He started humming something like “I know I’m piantao, piantao, piantao”, and, just before he expired, he said, or rather asked: “Do dead people sneeze?”, and that’s it. Those were his last words. No sentence for history, nor for a tombstone, nor for an anecdote told in front of a fire. Only that absurd, anachronistic, extemporaneous question: “Do the dead sneeze?”

He then remained still, his tired breathing suspended, his eyes closed, his lips finally silenced, his hands clenched.

We left. Almost as we left the ‘champa’, already at the doorway, we heard a sneeze. SubMoy turned to look at me and I at him, with a barely hinted “bless you.” None of us had sneezed. We turned back to see where the deceased’s body lay and nothing. SubMoy just said “good question.” I didn’t say a word, but I thought «he must surely be hanging with the moon walking down Callao.»

Then of course, we spared the funeral. Although we lost the opportunity for coffee and tamales.

-*-

I know that no one is interested in another death, and least of all that of the now deceased SupGaleano. In truth, I tell you this because he left that poem by Rubén Darío with which he began this series of texts. If we ignore the obvious hint to the Nicaragua that resists and persists – it could even be seen as a reference to the current war of the State of Israel against the people of Palestine, but, at the time of his death, the terror that overwhelms the world today had not restarted-, he left that poetry as a reference. More as a response to someone who asked how to explain what is happening now in Chiapas, Mexico and the world.

And, of course, as a discreet tribute to maestro Galeano –from whom he inherited the name-, he left what he called a “reading report”:

Who started it? Who is to blame? Who is innocent? Who is the god guy and who is the bad guy? In what position is Francis of Assisi? Who failed: him, the wolf, the shepherds or all of them? Why does the man from Assisi can only conceive making an agreement based on the wolf giving up being what he is?

Even though this happened months ago, the text sparked allegations and discussions that continue to this day. So, I will describe one of them:

It is a kind of meeting or assembly or some sort of roundtable. The best of each house is there: learned specialists in everything, militants and internationalists of all causes except of those in their own geography, spontaneous people with a PhD in social networks (the majority), and one or two who, upon seeing the noise, approached to see whether they were giving away buckets, caps or t-shirts with the name of whatever political party it was. There were quite a few who came near to find out what all the fuss was about.

“You are nothing more than an agent of expansionist and imperial Zionism!,” shouted one.

“And you are just a propagandist of fundamentalist Arab Muslim terrorism!,” responded another, furiously.

There had already been several outbreaks of quarrel, but it had not yet gone beyond a “meet you outside” kind of pushing and shoving.

That point was reached because they were analyzing Rubén Darío’s poem “Los Motivos del Lobo”.

Not everything had been an exchange of adjectives, jabs and bad faces. It started like everything else in those parts: with good manners, forceful phrases, “brief interventions” – which usually lasted half an hour or more –, and a great deal of quotes and footnotes.

Purely male, of course, because the debate was organized by the so-called “Toby’s Hipertextual Club”

“The Wolf is the good guy,” someone said, “because he only killed out of hunger, out of necessity.”

“No,” argued another, “he is evil because he killed sheep, which were the shepherds’ sustenance. And he himself admitted that “sometimes he ate lamb and shepherd.”

And another: “the bad guys are the people from the village, because they didn’t fulfill the agreement.”

One sitting over there: «it’s Assisi’s fault, who gets the agreement by asking the wolf to stop being a wolf, which is questionable, and then doesn’t stay to hold the pact.»

And one sitting over here: “But Assisi points out that human beings are bad by nature.”

They reaffirm themselves on both sides. But it turns out that, if a poll were taken right now, the wolf would have a comfortable double-digit lead over the shepherd village. But a clever maneuver on social networks managed to get the hashtag “killer wolf” to be TT far above #deathtotheshpherds. So, the triumph of the pro-shepherd influencers over the pro-wolf influencers was clear, although only on social networks.

There were some who argued in favor of two States coexisting in the same territory: the Wolf State and the Shepherd State.

And some others for a Plurinational State, with wolves and shepherds, living under the same oppressor, sorry, I meant under the same State. Another responded that this was impossible, given the background of each party.

A man in a suit and tie stands up and asks to speak: “If Ruben (he said this, ignoring the Darío bit), followed the legend of Gubbio, then we can do the same. Let’s continue the poem:

The shepherds, using their legitimate right to defend themselves, attack the wolf. First by destroying his burrow with bombings, and then by entering with tanks and infantry. It seems to me, colleagues, that the end is set: the terrorist and animal violence of the wolf is annihilated and the shepherds can continue their bucolic life, shearing sheep for a powerful transnational corporation that makes clothing for another equally powerful multinational corporation that, in turn , owes an even more powerful international financial institution; which will lead the shepherds to become efficient workers on their own lands – yes, with all the legal labor benefits -, and will elevate that village to first world levels, with modern highways, tall buildings and even a tourist train where Visitors from all over the world will be able to appreciate the ruins of what once were meadows, forests and springs. The annihilation of the wolf will bring peace and prosperity to the region. Sure, some animals will die, no matter the number nor the species, but they are just perfectly forgettable collateral damages. After all, bombs cannot be asked to distinguish between a wolf and a sheep, nor to limit their blast wave so as not to damage birds and trees. Peace will be achieved and no one will miss the wolf.”

Someone else stands up and points out: “But the wolf has international support and inhabited that place in advance. The system cut down trees for pasture fields, and that altered the ecological balance, reducing the number and species of animals that the wolf consumed to live. And it is to be expected that the descendants of the wolf will take fair revenge.”

“Ah, so the wolf also killed other beings. “He’s just like the shepherds,” someone replies.

Thus, they continued, giving as good arguments as those indicated here, full of wit, a wealth of erudition and many bibliographical references.

But the restraint did not last long: it went from wolf and shepherds to the Netanyahu – Hamas war and the discussion escalated until it reached what heads this anecdote, postmortem courtesy of the now deceased SupGaleano.

But at that moment, at the back of the room, a small hand was raised asking to speak. The moderator couldn’t see whose hand it was, so he gave the floor «to the person who is raising his hand back there.»

Everyone turned to look and was about to shout out in scandal and disapproval. It was a girl who was carrying a teddy bear, almost equal to her in size, and she was wearing a white blouse with embroidery and pants with a kitten near her right ankle. Anyways, the classic “outfit” for a birthday party or something like that.

The surprise was such that everyone remained silent and kept their eyes on the girl.

She stood up on the chair, thinking that this way they would hear her better and asked:

“What about the kids?”

The surprise then turned into a condemning murmur: “Which kids? What is this girl talking about? Who the hell let a woman enter this sacred precinct? And worse, she is a girl-woman!”

The girl got down from the chair and, always carrying her teddy bear with clear signs of obesity – the bear, of course -, headed to the exit door saying:

«The kids. That is, the pups of the wolf and the pups of the shepherds. Their little babies, ‘pues’. Who thinks about the kids? Who am I going to talk to? And where are we going to play?”

From the mountains of the Mexican southeast.

Captain Insurgent Marcos.

Mexico, October, 2023.

P.S.- Unconditional freedom for Manuel Gómez Vázquez (taken hostage since 2020 by the state government of Chiapas) and José Díaz Gómez (hostage since last year), indigenous Zapatista bases imprisoned for that reason, for being Zapatistas. Afterwards, don’t ask who sowed what you reap.

P.S.- OTIS Hurricane: Collection center for indigenous peoples in the state of Guerrero: at the address of the “Casa de los pueblos ‘Samir Flores Soberanes’”, located at Av. México-Coyoacán 343, colonia Xoco, Alcaldía Benito Juárez, Ciudad de México, C.P. 03330. Deposits and bank transfers in support of these towns and communities in the account number 0113643034, CLABE 012540001136430347, SWIFT code BCMRMXMMPYM, BBVA bank in Mexico, branch 1769. In the name of: “Ciencia Social al Servicio de los Pueblos Originarios”. Phone number: 5526907936.

IN SUPPORT OF OUR ORIGINARY BROTHERS IN GUERRERO

October 2023

TO THE PEOPLES AND GOVERNMENTS OF MEXICO AND THE WORLD:
TO THE SIXTH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL:
TO THE MEDIA:

With great concern we have seen how Hurricane Otis has hit the coasts of the state of Guerrero with unusual fury, causing the death of dozens of human beings and the destruction of towns and cities. Our brothers and sisters from the Organización Campesina de la Sierra del Sur, in the municipality of Coyuca, state of Guerrero, and members of the Congreso Nacional Indígena (National Indigenous Congress), have informed us of the damage that this hurricane has caused in the indigenous and peasant communities of said state and particularly in the towns of the Costa Grande of said entity.

This hurricane is not an atypical phenomenon, as media and bad governments are saying, it is a direct product of the destruction caused by capitalism, of the increasingly greater damage that large companies and government policies, cause to our Mother Earth. What is atypical is not the hurricane, but rather this violent system that is sustained on wars, pandemics and the stark exploitation and dispossession of millions and millions of human beings and nature.

Faced with these serious events that occurred in Guerrero, we observe the way in which the government of the so-called fourth transformation concentrates its support on the large hoteliers and merchants of the port of Acapulco, while forgetting the thousands of poor families, mainly peasants, who are being affected by Otis.

We know that, as bad governments are used to, they will only mock our suffering, they will take a picture standing over the rubble and profit from the pain of peoples in misfortune, which is why we call on good-hearted men and women, we call out to the collectives of the Sixth National and International and the peoples of Mexico and the world, to show solidarity and to concentrate non-perishable food and medicines in support of the affected indigenous peoples of the state of Guerrero, at the address of the Casa de los Pueblos “Samir Flores Soberanes”, located at Av. México-Coyoacán 343 colonia Xoco, Alcaldía Benito Juárez, Ciudad de México, CP03330, likewise, we call for deposits and bank transfers to be made in support of these towns and communities in the following account Number: 0113643034, CLABE 012540001136430347, SWIFT code BCMRMXMMPYM, of the BBVA bank in Mexico, in the name of: Social Science at the Service of Native Peoples.

MEXICO, OCTOBER 27, 2023

FOR THE INTEGRAL RECONSTITUTION OF OUR PEOPLES
NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION