In this article, Magali offers a detailed account of the days she spent following la Otra Campaña during its stay in Oaxaca. Magali is currently a volunteer with the Servico Internacional Para la Paz (SIPAZ).
As announced in the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona last June, the EZLN (Zapatista Army for National Liberation) launched the new civilian initiative of the “Otra Campaña,” or “Other Campaign,” in January 2006 in Chiapas. The Campaign involves Subcomandante Marcos, who has adopted the civilian title of Delegado Zero, touring every state of Mexico to build a broad leftist network of students, workers, campesinos, indigenous peoples, and “others.” After traveling through the eastern states of Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz, the caravan accompanying Delegado Zero arrived in Oaxaca on February 4th. The caravan includes a security convoy of between three and five cars, surrounding the Delegado's vehicle, followed by anywhere from ten to thirty vehicles occupied by observers, supporters, independent media reporters and photographers, as well as correspondents for La Jornada, Mexico's most progressive national newspaper. The first stop in Oaxaca was in Tuxtepec, where Delegado Zero met with campesinos and indígenas at the Codeci (Comité de Defensa Ciudadana- Committee for Citizens' Defense) office before the rally in the main plaza.
As a volunteer with the Chiapas Peace House, for the past six months, I have been working with one of our partner organizations in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, SIPAZ (Servicio Internacional Para la Paz- International Service for Peace). On the night of February 4th, I traveled with one of my SIPAZ coworkers to the Istmo of Tehuantepec, in the southeastern region of Oaxaca, to join the Otra Campaña as international observers. We arrived in Juchitán in the early hours of Sunday February 5th. From there we made our way by public transportation to the community of Boca del Monte, located about two hours north of Juchitán. We arrived about forty minutes before the caravan and when we registered with the local security committee, we were told that they had already registered over one thousand people. The open-air auditorium was packed with Zapatista sympathizers, eager to receive the Delegado Zero in their town. The strongest presence in Boca del Monte was of the UCIZONI (Union de Comunidades Indígenas de la Zona del Istmo- Union of Indigenous Communities of the Istmo Region), though the Consejo Indígena de Uxpanapa (Indigenous Counsel of Uxpanapa) and the FPR (Frente Popular Revolucionario- Popular Revolutionary Front) were also visibly present.
Following the caravan's entrance to Boca del Monte, the event commenced with a series of speeches by members of the aforementioned groups and local community leaders. Many of the speeches were delivered in a number of indigenous languages, including Ayuuk, Zapoteco, and Mixe. The messaged that resonated in each of the speeches was that “the Istmo is not for sale- the Istmo will not be sold!” This was a clear response to the wave of efforts to capitalize on the regions rich natural resources as well as its valuable position as “the waist of Mexico,” where Central America connects to the North. Delegado Zero delivered his speech last, stating that the Istmo represents a new sort of “borderland.” For developers and free trade promoters, the Istmo region represents an important corridor for the implementation of Plan Puebla Panamá.
After the meeting, my coworker and I found a place in the caravan, riding in the back of a pick-up truck. We arrived in Unión Hidalgo a few hours later, where the caravan was welcomed by the local Consejo Ciudadano (Citizen's Counsel) at their community library. They greeted us with tamales, coffee and pan dulce and invited the fifty or so members of the caravan to make themselves at home with the hammocks and cots they shared with us. In the morning we were fed, once again, and the hospitality we felt in this community was our first glimpse of the incredible organization, warmth, and energy that we would receive from the Otra Campaña organizers throughout Oaxaca.
On February 6th, the first event of the day was in the nearby town of La Venta. Before arriving at the central plaza, the caravan made a brief stop at the nearby “wind farm” (corredór eólico) where wind turbines have been installed amidst great controversy. The geographic landscape of the Istmo causes it to be a major wind corridor and this is a fact that international corporations have attempted to capitalize on, despite the many negative repercussions for the communities and wildlife living around them. While the caravan was stopped, for what seemed to be little more than a photo opportunity, two men with a heard of cattle approached the caravan. Moments later, one of the men threw a large rock towards the front of his heard, where a number of caravan members were standing. The rock struck one man in the head, causing him to bleed profusely and sending him to a nearby hospital for treatment. While the man's intentions were somewhat unclear to us, the possibility that this was meant to be a provocation and an act of harassment certainly occurred to us. The following day, in La Jornada, Hermann Bellinghausen wrote that the rock-thrower is a known PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) supporter as well as a promoter of the wind power project. Bellinghausen also noted that he is the pitcher of the local baseball team and that the person he injured with the rock is a known local opponent of the wind turbines. Based on this report, our instinctual feeling that it was an act of provocation and intimidation seems correct.
At the public event in the main plaza of La Venta, many local leaders spoke out, once again, against the wind farm, citing not only the detrimental effects on wildlife (birds, bats, butterflies, etc.) but also on the communities that exist around the turbines. In addition to the harmful effects of the noise produced, the magnetic waves emitted by the turbines can cause long-term health problems. Issues related to labor and the community's right to be consulted before such projects are constructed (under Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization) were also brought up. During his speech, Delegado Zero made reference to his favorite book, Don Quijote de la Mancha, written four hundred years earlier. Marcos described how upon encountering some windmills Don Quijote and his companion, Sancho Pansa, began to debate whether they were windmills or giants. Don Quijote insisted that they were giants, and as Marcos said, four hundred years later, we have realized that they really are giants. Today they represent the giant corporations that are destroying the people and nature and doing what we thought was impossible: commercializing the wind.
Following the rally in the intense heat and midday sun, the caravan returned to the Consejo Ciudadano's library in Unión Hidalgo for a delicious lunch of mole de camarón, a local specialty, and a meeting with the community elders, organizers, and students from a local high school. The people of Unión Hidalgo gave an emotionally charged account of the years of repression they have suffered at the hands of the local government and the corruption that leaves the people without access to basic health care and other social services. At this event, Marcos gave a very moving speech during which he drew a map of Mexico in the dirt to illustrate the importance of the Istmo and the need to defend it from the greedy and manipulative hands of the multinational corporations and “bad governments” that wish to control it.
The caravan then traveled to the center of Juchitán for a public rally in the main plaza. Again, local leaders spoke before Delegado Zero gave his speech. The environment was somewhat unsettled with the obvious presence of PRI supporters and opponents of the EZLN. A young man, who had performed a dance earlier in the day at La Venta, was weaving through the crowd dressed in a clear plastic dress, to which he had affixed over a dozen corporate logos. He held a sign that read “$ Informes: PRI-PRD-PAN” (“$ Inquiries: PRI-PRD-PAN”- the three main political parties). He wore gold platform high-heeled shoes and elaborate make-up, reflecting the “muxe,” or gay, culture in Juchitán, where transvestism is accepted and even embraced. The next event in Juchitán was with “jóvenes y estudiantes” (young people and students), at the Casa de la Cultura. There was some confusion over who would be allowed to enter and finally it was closed to the public. This caused a large, anxious crowd to form outside the door, and moments later a few individuals approached the crowd and expressed their disapproval for the Otra Campaña, causing one or two EZLN supporters to react. A heated debate ensued until people in the crowd encouraged the EZLN supporter to back down and not allow the situation to escalate.
From Juchitán, the caravan made its way to San Blas Atempa, where a marching band and a large crowd received the caravan at the entrance to the town. Once we reached the public event, we saw hundreds, possibly over one thousand, supporters who cheered and applauded as Marcos arrived. A group of women had two enormous pots of beef stew and tortillas prepared for us, the visitors, and insisted everybody eat. The welcome we received was incredible, particularly in contrast to the mixed climate in Juchitán. San Blas is a town in resistance. In the fall of 2004, in the municipal elections, the independent candidate won the election. When it came time for him to take power on January 1st, 2005, the PRI leaders refused to recognize that he had won, and took over the municipal presidency illegally. A number of community leaders were imprisoned for their acts of protest. The people of the town burned a few police cars, and the charred and rusted shells of the vehicles remain parked near the plaza as a testament of the resistance. The non-PRI leaders organized themselves and formed the “Ayuntamiento Popular y Autónomo” (“Autonomous Popular City Hall”), in front of which the Otra Campaña rally was held. On March 1, 2006 at approximately 3:00 am, 120 highly armed state police officers entered the Ayuntamiento Popular y Autónomo. The latest report, from the afternoon of March 1st, stated that there were 300 officers present. This is highly concerning and reflects the state of repression and hostility that characterizes Oaxaca under the rule of the Governor Ulises Ruíz, who took power in January 2005.
Returning to the Otra Campaña tour, after the energetic event in San Blas Atempa, the caravan traveled to Jalapa de Marqués, because there was some concern over what the situation would be like for the caravan to stay the night in a divided and tense town. We arrived at nearly midnight on February 6th, and the house that was receiving us was unprepared for the fifty or so people in the caravan, so after a snack of tamales and coffee, we set up camp in the street where the event would be held the following day. The residents of Jalapa offered us an enormous tarp and so we slept under the stars in the heat of the Istmo.
Early on the morning of the 7th, the caravan traveled to the Centro de Rehabilitación Social de Tehuantepéc (a prison), where Marcos met with five political prisoners who are incarcerated there. These inmates are from San Blas and were imprisoned following the conflict in January 2005. A large crowd had formed outside the prison, including many family members of the prisoners. Large banners demanded the liberation of the political prisoners and denounced the illegal actions of the local politician, the Diputada Agustina Aceveda.
We returned to Jalapa in the late morning and for the next few hours a meeting was held in the street. Surprisingly, a very vocal group in the crowd were some ten or twelve ejidatarios, mostly women, from San Salvador Atenco, in the state of México. San Salvador Atenco has been the site of a major popular resistance since the federal government tried to expropriate approximately 5,000 hectares of communally organized land, for the construction of a new airport. The people from San Salvador Atenco who arrived in Jalapa de Marqués bore machetes, a trademark of their movement, red bandanas, and t-shirts that read “Pueblo en Defensa de la Tierra. ¡En pie de lucha!” (“The people defending the land. Standing up in the Struggle!). The community of Jalapa fed everybody a delicious local specialty, caldo de camarón, and following the meal, we traveled north, six hours, to Guelatao, a mountain town north of the capital of Oaxaca.
We arrive just after dark in Guelatao, the birthplace of Benito Juárez, and again, the caravan was greeted by a marching band and an enthusiastic crowd. Marcos entered the City Hall for a brief meeting with the local leaders before retiring to the community dining hall for dinner and dancing. The following morning a meeting was held with Mixes, Zapotecos, and Chinantecos from the area. The banner behind the panelists read “Mëda'k na' muk" (“vamos todos” or “moving forward together” in Zapoteco). The main message conveyed by the participants was their consciousness that the destruction of the indigenous peoples is a major objective of transnational capitalism. In this system, everything is commercialized: the land, the water, the air… everything. The speakers identified this moment in a time as a new war of conquest.
The next stop for the caravan was the prison at San María Ixcotel, near the capital of Oaxaca. Here the Delegado Zero met with prisoners, many of whom are from Loxicha region, and were imprisoned for being suspected of having affiliations with the EPR (Ejército Popular Revolucionario- Popular Revolutionary Army), an armed guerrilla that appeared in 1996. The organizations most visibly present at the prison were the CIPO-RFM (Consejo Indígena Popular Oaxaqueño- Ricardo Flores Magón), COMPA (Coordinadora Oaxaqueña Magonista Popular Antineoliberal), OIDHO (Organización Indígena de Derechos Humanos de Oaxaca), and the FPR (Frente Popular Revolucionario).
Later in the day there was another meeting with adherents at the Hotel del Magisterio. Here, in addition to the aforementioned groups, we witnessed the presence of many workers from the IMSS (Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social) who are very active in their labor struggle. The following night, Thursday February 9th, this building was the site of a major conflict, during Marcos' meeting with the teachers' organization of Oaxaca. My coworker and I were not present at this event, so I do not feel that I am in a position to comment on what took place. More information is available at the sites listed below. During the earlier part of Thursday four meetings were held with different groups in different locations, simultaneously. The locations and meetings were as follows: 1) Hotel del Magisterio: Workers and Unions, 2) OIDHO: Indígenas and Campesinos, 3) CRENO (Centro Regional del Educación Normal de Oaxaca): Students and Youth, 4) Universidad de la Tierra: Otros, Otras y Diferentes. Marcos made appearances at all four before the very delayed public event in the central plaza of Oaxaca.
The final day of activities in Oaxaca, Friday February 10th, started with a quiet morning. The scheduled events were cancelled because of the very late meeting the night before at the Hotel del Magisterio. At about 4pm, an event began with all the organizations and adherents of Oaxaca, at the offices of the CIPO-RFM. Here anyone who wished to speak was given a chance and after about four hours, when finally no one else was raising their hand to speak, the coordinator of the event passed the microphone to Marcos. At this point he insisted that he had come to hear everyone who had a message to share, and insisted that if anyone else wished to speak, that they please do so. A number of people decided to speak up and so the meeting continued until about 11pm, when Marcos finally took the microphone again. Eighty-three individuals had spoken over the seven plus hours of the meeting.
Marcos spoke briefly about what had occurred the night before and expressed his appreciation for all of the groups being together in one place that afternoon. He urged the people of Oaxaca to unite in the struggle for the liberation of the political prisoners and the cancellation of the arrest warrants that have been issued against many other activists and community leaders. The meeting ended with one organization offering to host a follow-up meeting at their office a week later, to continue what had been initiated by the Delegado Zero's visit. As they said, “It is wonderful that Marcos is here. But we do not need him here to work to defend ourselves and our rights.” And so, following days of divisionism and conflict among the adherents of the Otra Campaña in Oaxaca, some sense of unity and collective force was achieved.
The opportunity to gain brief glimpses of the complex local social and political processes of the Istmo and the Sierra, and the diverse forms of popular organization in each place, is an experience I think would be difficult to reproduce. While Marcos' charisma and celebrity status is certainly a major factor in bringing the people together, the outcome of this process is just what the Otra Campaña has set out to do: create a broad, diverse, united leftist movement to construct a better future for the people of Mexico and the world. The networking made possible by the events of the Otra Campaña is very significant, especially as we approach a crucial moment in Mexican politics: the presidential election on July 2nd, 2006. My trip through Oaxaca only confirmed the importance of constructing networks of international solidarity in Oaxaca to combat the repression suffered by activists and communities throughout the state. It will be very exciting to see how this process of unification and interaction manifests itself throughout the remainder of the Otra Campaña.