The "Otra Campaña": Week One
by Magalí Rabasa
January, 2006
In July 2005, the EZLN announced their plans to take the movement in a new direction. In the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona, they expressed their desire to expand the scope of Zapatismo to truly work towards the goal of “National Liberation” as stated in the acronym EZLN (Zapatista Army for National Liberation). They called this new strategy “la Otra Campaña” (the Other Campaign) and commenced with planning sessions in September 2005 in the Caracol Resistencia Hacia Un Nuevo Amanecer at La Garrucha.
The title “Otra Campaña” refers in part to the desire to do something different, something new. It is also a reference to the campaigns underway for the 2006 Mexican Presidential election. The EZLN stated that a national tour would take place over the first six months of 2006 to allow for genuine consultation with labor, campesino, indigenous, student, and civil organizations throughout the country in an effort to create a more unified leftist front in Mexico. While many organizations from around Mexico were present at the planning sessions in La Garrucha, many were unable to make the trip to Chiapas. The Otra Campaña is, therefore, an effort to make Zapatismo more accessible to the rest of Mexico as well as to construct networks of communication between progressive, anti-capitalist organizers throughout the country. The ultimate goal of this process is the development and implementation of a new Mexican constitution. The EZLN announced that Subcomandante Marcos would travel, unarmed, to every state of Mexico as the representative for the Otra Campaña. His civilian title for this role is Delegado Zero.
On December 31, 2005 a celebration was held in La Garrucha to commemorate the twelfth anniversary of the armed uprising of the Zapatistas. Zapatistas from the base communities, as well as members of national and international civil society were present.
In a statement by the Junta de Buen Gobierno (Junta of Good Government), the process of autonomy, as experienced by the Zapatista communities, was described and celebrated: “Autonomy has allowed the peoples to build their regulatory, political, economic, social and cultural systems by themselves. We want autonomy so that we are all of value all the time, so that the one who governs, governs obeying.” This event was not only a commemoration of the past twelve years of struggle, it was also a send-off party for Delegado Zero and his mascot, el Pingüino, a rooster with a limp who, like a penguin, stands upright. They began their journey aboard a motorcycle named Sombraluz (“shadowlight”) on the morning of January 1, 2006.
When the EZLN announced the schedule for the Otra Campaña they stated that it would begin “where it all began twelve years ago in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.” And so, on the first night of 2006, Marcos, Pingüino and their accompanying caravan of Zapatistas drove into the colonial city and arrived at the Cathedral Plaza, also known as the Plaza of Resistance. They arrived to a massive crowd of thousands of sympathizers and members of autonomous Zapatista communities.
The first speaker was Comandante Tacho, who addressed both workers and campesinos. Then came Comandantas Kelly and Hortensia who spoke of the power of women in confronting machismo. Next, Comandante Zebedeo addressed the youth and Comandante David, the indigenous peoples. Finally, Delegado Zero, previously known as Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, took the microphone, explaining the goals and structure of the Otra Campaña, and also warning of difficulties the tour will undoubtedly face along the way. The general command of the EZLN (the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee- General Command, [CCRI-CG]) then passed Marcos on to members of the San Cristóbal Zapatista support organization, the Sexta Coleta, who would accompany him throughout his tour of Chiapas. With this event, the Otra Campaña was officially underway.
The following day, the Zapatistas held a “town hall” style event at the Universidad de La Tierra; an indigenous university located in Nueva Maravilla (New Wonder), a neighborhood on the outskirts of San Cristóbal de Las Casas. More than 300 people representing indigenous groups, non-governmental organizations, campesino organizations, students, academics, community leaders, feminist groups and collectives attended the meeting. The debate centered on how to achieve the goals of the Otra Campaña and set the tone for meetings to take place throughout Mexico over the next six months.
On January 3, Marcos and the caravan left San Cristóbal de Las Casas and headed north to Palenque, a mid-sized city near the famous Mayan ruins of the same name. Thousands of Zapatistas and sympathizers marched into the main square of the city to receive the Otra Campaña and hear Delegado Zero speak.
After this rally, the march moved to the offices of the Central Unida de Trabajadores (Central Worker's Union) where Marcos had a closed meeting with the union's leaders as well as leaders of the organization Pueblos Unidos en Defensa de la Energía Eléctrica (People United in Defense of Electric Energy). At the press conference that followed, Marcos asked that the alternative media make their best effort to cover the next sixth months of the Otra Campaña so that the events throughout Mexico are recounted by reliable sources. “Alternative media is the back bone of this, the Otra Campaña,” he said. Marcos also noted that he would release a weekly report throughout the tour.
The caravan returned to San Cristóbal de Las Casason January 4. In the early afternoon, a public meeting was held in a neighborhood on the periphery of the city, La Hormiga. Marcos spoke with the drivers and market vendors of this area, thanking them for their role as allies to the Zapatistas during the occupation of San Cristóbal in 1994. Marcos also addressed the problems he sees with the structure of political parties in Mexico, urging Zapatista supporters not to participate in the fraudulent system of electoral politics. He also announced a public festival to be held in front of the Cathedral later that afternoon. This somewhat impromptu event was organized by the Sexta Coleta after Monday's meetings at the Universidad de La Tierra. The festival featured dozens of local and international musicians, community leaders and organizers, storytellers, and a speech by Delegado Zero.
After a brief stop in Chiapa de Corzo for a community meeting, Delegado Zero arrived in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez on January 5. More than 1,000 people arrived in the central plaza to hear the Delegado Zero's address. After this public event, a community forum was held at the local Teacher's Union Hall, which was attended by approximately 250 people of varying occupations. The meeting lasted many hours and when an international participant suggested that time limits be set for commentary, Delegado Zero shook his head and said, “We came here to listen to everyone even if takes us all night long,” to which the crowd responded with applause. The community consultation that is central to the indigenous Zapatista form of government often results in slow, lengthy meetings.
The following day, Friday, January 6, the Otra Campaña arrived in Tonalá, near the northern part of the Chiapas coast. In the Frente Cívico Tonalteco Auditorium in Tonalá, Chiapas, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos stepped away from the stage for a few moments, returning with the news that Comandanta Ramona of the EZLN had died earlier in the day. He made a brief comment before leaving Tonalá with his convoy to head back to the Altos region of the state. (See article “Celebrating the Life of Comandanta Insurgente Ramona”) The Otra Campaña tour was temporarily suspended for a series of memorial events over the weekend in the Caracol at Oventic and Ramona's hometown, San Andrés Sac'amchen de los Pobres. On Sunday, January 8, the CCRI-CG released a communiqué in which they presented a new, slightly adjusted calendar for the remainder of the Otra Campaña tour.
On Monday, January 9, the tour resumed in Tonalá, where it had been interrupted three days earlier. The next stops on the tour were the coastal towns of Joaquin Amaro and San Isidro, where meetings were held on January 10. On the 11th, the tour arrived in Huixtla, a town severely affected by Hurricane Stan. The Chiapas portion of the tour concluded Friday January 13, with the Delegado Zero traveling through Palenque before entering the second state of the tour, Quintana Roo. This region to the east of Chiapas also suffered serious devastation following Hurricane Wilma in October 2005.