Chiapas: EZLN announces activities for 2016

EZLN march, December 21, 2012, Palenque. Photo @ SIPAZ

On February 29 of this year, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) published a convocation for upcoming activities that they will organize in 2016. Signed by Insurgent Sub-commander Moises, considering that “the sciences and the arts represent the only serious opportunity to build a more just and rational world”, they announced three events: the festival “CompARTE[i] FOR HUMANITY”, which will be held from July 17 to 30; a festival in homage to the National Indigenous Congress (Congreso Nacional Indígena – CNI) for its 20 years of struggle and resistance, to be celebrated on October 12 in CIDECI in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas; and finally the meeting “THE ZAPITISTAS AND THE conSCIENCIAS[ii] FOR HUMANITY”, which will also be held in CIDECI between December 25, 2016 and January 4, 2017. In the communiqué, people who wish to attend the events are asked to register beforehand at the email addresses given and which can be seen at “ZAPATISTA CONVOCATION FOR 2016 ACTIVITIES”

The EZLN also recently published four other communiqués. After “MEANWHILE IN…the political party affiliated communities”, in which they described different situations of dispossession in the communities ruled by the political parties, the published “AND IN THE ZAPATISTA COMMUNITIES?”, in which they described the achievements in the autonomous municipalities in terms of education, health, economy, working the land, etc. In it they highlighted the participation and progress of Zapatista women: “We see a fault: Zapatista women are advancing more than the men. They are not advancing equally.” In the same communiqué they stated that, “We are not going to be fooled by ecclesiastic, secular or lay stupidities, of supposed ‘new constituents’ that want ‘to save us’ and who recur to the same old methods of coercion that they claim to criticize.”

On another note, “WHY DON’T YOU SELF-PRESCRIBE THIS?”, published after charges of sedition, mutiny, terrorism and conspiracy since 1995 against Sub-commander Marcos, now Galeano, were lifted, along with charges against 12 other Zapatistas. In it, ‘SupGaleano’ wrote, “it is only theater that simulates justice where there is impunity and shamelessness, and pretends to be ‘institutional government’ where there is only pillage and repression.”

Finally, “The arts, sciences, originary peoples and the basements of the world” was a letter for Juan Villorio Ruiz, son of the deceased philosopher assessor of the EZLN, Luis Villorio Toranzo. “The sciences and arts unite, connect, they convert borders into ridiculous cartographic points”, writes Sub-commander Galeano, as well as “I have mentioned originary peoples and the basements of the world because they have the best chance of surviving the storm and the only ones capable of creating ‘something else.'”

[i] Play on words of the Spanish verb ‘to share’, with ‘compa’ and ‘arte’

[ii] Play on the words ‘conscience’ and ‘with science’ in Spanish

For more information in Spanish:

CONVOCATORIA ZAPATISTA A ACTIVIDADES 2016 (Enlace Zapatista, 29 de febrero de 2016)

¿Y EN LAS COMUNIDADES ZAPATISTAS? (Enlace Zapatista, 23 de febrero de 2016)

ASÍ QUE MEJOR AUTOPRESCRÍBANSE ESTO: (Enlace Zapatista, 25 de febrero de 2016)

Las artes, las ciencias, los pueblos originarios y los sótanos del mundo. (Enlace Zapatista, 28 de febrero de 2016)

Zapatistas: las mujeres van más adelante en la construcción de la autonomía (Desinformémonos, 24 de febrero de 2015)

“Maquillaron todo para mostrar al Papa otra realidad”, acusa el EZLN (Proceso, 24 de febrero de 2016)

Prescriben delitos imputados al Subcomandante Marcos (ahora Galeano) y 12 zapatistas más (Chiapas Paralelo, 23 de febrero de 2016)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Nacional: Acuerdos de San Andrés: incumplidos 20 años después (24 de febrero de 2016)