Chiapas: Denunciation of paramilitary attack on the El Rosario community, pertaining to the La Garrucha caracol

(@SIPAZ)

In a communique from 25 June, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) made known the facts of a new attack on Zapatistas on recuperated lands in the El Rosario community, which belongs to the autonomous municipality of San Manuel. The Subcomandante also includes the denunciation made by the La Garrucha Good-Government Council (JBG) regarding the events.

The “Path to the Future” JBG explains that 28 “paramilitaries” from the Chiquinibal neighborhood of the Pojkol ejido arrived on 24 June to El Rosario, 8 of them openly carrying firearms. According to the JBG, in this community there live 21 “paramilitaries” who occupy lands recovered by the EZLN in 1994. According to the JGB, there was a meeting between these paramilitaries with an engineer and Guadalupe Flores, the owner of the lands in question before the 1994 uprising. The JBG claims that this group carried out measurements of the lands, supposedly to plan the subsequent construction of a church and homes. It adds that 10 gunshots were fired behind the home of a Zapatista support-base (BAEZLN) to intimidate the population, and that the aggressors entered two other homes and destroyed yet another, robbing the belongings of its inhabitants: animals, construction materials, tools, food, and cash. The JBG concludes that the engineer and the landowner are advisors to the paramilitary group.

It should be recalled that the La Garrucha JBG had in August 2014 denounced actions taken by this same group, including the killing of a stud bull, the destruction of homes and a collective store, robbery, the defoliation with pesticides of common grazing lands, shooting of live ammunition, and the writing of “Pojkol territory” on burned-out homes. In May 2015, the JBG denounced that one of them shot at a BAEZLN girl.

The JBG affirms that these events are a provocation which form part of the government’s counter-insurgent strategy. “We say clearly that we will not remain with our arms crossed while our comrades are attacked by any of the means that the bad government uses against us. We have said clearly that we will defend our lands, because on them were we born, from them we live, and on them we will die, regardless of the costs.”

The JBG holds the federal, state, and municipal governments responsible for any acts that might follow, and it calls on the public to remain attentive.

For more information (in Spanish):

Nuevo ataque de paramilitares. Caracol Resistencia Hacia un Nuevo Amanecer. La Garrucha. (Enlace Zapatista, 25 de junio de 2015)

Denuncia EZLN un ataque de paramilitares a indígenas de Ocosingo (La Jornada, 26 de junio de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: La Garrucha Good-Government Council (JBG) denounces two paramilitary attacks (17 May 2015)

Chiapas: Update regarding forced displacement of EZLN support bases belonging to the La Garrucha caracol (2 September 2014)

Chiapas: Forced displacement of EZLN support-bases belonging to La Garrucha caracol (29 August 2014)

Chiapas/National/International: Seminar on “Critical Thought amidst the Capitalist Hydra” ends

Seminar on “Critical Thought amidst the Capitalist Hydra,” May 2015 (@SIPAZ)

From 3 to 9 May, the seminar entitled “Critical Thought amidst the Capitalist Hydra” was held at the Center for Comprehensive Indigenous Training (CIDECI) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, as the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) had called for.  Over the course of the week, more than 1,500 people from Mexico and other countries participated in the event.  Many interventions were made physically, by writing, or audiovisual means, produced both by intellectuals and activists.  The work sessions were facilitated and closed by the Zapatistas present at the event, including Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano, Comandanta Miriam, and Commanders David and Tacho, among others.

At the conclusion of the event, Subcomandante Moisés noted that “Our tasks, obligations, and thoughts are grand, so our comrades will leave with much to think about and to imagine.  Go forth and speak to the rest of your comrades wherever you live, as we will have to find new ways of working together in the future to come.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Cobertura audios, fotos y primeros escritos (Radio zapatista, mayo de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN renders homage to the philosopher Luis Villoro Toranzo and the Zapatista teacher Galeano (14 May 2015)

Chiapas: New communiques from the EZLN (21 March 2015)

Chiapas: threats against families sympathizing with the EZLN(29 December 2014)

Chiapas: Close of the Global Festival for Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion

Photo @ SIPAZ

3 January 2015 marked the end of the First Global Festival for Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion: “Where those from above destroy, we from below rebuild.”  Organized by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), the Festival ended in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, after having shared spaces in four Mexican states.

The events in Chiapas began in the Caracol II of Oventik, “Resistance and Rebellion for Humanity,” where 21 years since the Zapatista uprising of 1994 was celebrated on 31 December and 1 January.  Following speeches from family-members of the 43 disappeared students from the Raul Isidro Burgos Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés read a communiqué and recalled that “only as organized peoples will we find the truth.  All that we want as people is what we have to build among ourselves.  It is in this way that the relatives of the murdered and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa are developing their search for justice and truth.”

Sup Moisés invited those assembled in Oventik to imagine “how a new society could be,” so that they began to struggle using “the example that the relatives of Ayotzinapa present us, that is, that it is better that we who suffer from this disease known as capitalism search each other out and meet.”  He stressed that “what is now most urgent is the truth and justice for Ayotzinapa,” given that “the most painful and indignant reality is that the 43 are not with us.”

Beyond this, Moisés individually embraced the group of relatives and students who were listening to his comments on stage: an embrace “of caring, respect, and admiration.”  Nor did he forget to name the 46 “absent” individuals, including the 3 students who were found on 27 September.

Lastly, on 2 and 3 January, the Festival ended with the sharing of conclusions, agreements, and pronunciations at the CIDECI-Unitierra.  Members of indigenous peoples of the CNI indicated that “we share this same pain that is called capitalism, [and we hope that] our path will be constant.”  One of the students from Ayotzinapa mentioned that “when we bid our farewells to Subcomandante Moisés, we told him that we also desire autonomy for our rural normal schools and […] we believe that with courage, dignity, and the determination of 43 families and thousands of people in the country and throughout the world, this and much more will be possible.  Many thanks.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Clausura del Festival Mundial de las Resistencias y las Rebeldías Contra el capitalismo, en Chiapas (Colectivo Pozol, 3 de enero de 2015)

Entrevistas al final del Festival Mundial de las Resistencias y Rebeldías contra el Capitalismo (Radio Zapatista, 6 de enero de 2015)

EZLN celebra 21 aniversario del alzamiento, abrazando al movimiento de Ayotzinapa (Chiapas Paralelo, 1 de enero de 2015)

Palabras del EZLN en el 21 aniversario del inicio de la guerra contra el olvido. Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés(Enlace Zapatista, 1 de enero de 2015)

Clausura del Primer Festival de las Resistencias y las Rebeldías Contra el Capitalismo (Somos el medio, 5 de enero de 2015)

Todos debemos acompañar a los padres de Ayotzinapa: EZLN (Aristegui Noticias, 1 de enero de 2015)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National: Inauguration of the First World Festival of Anti-Capitalist Resistance and Rebellion (30 December 2014)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN to cede its place to relatives and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa (19 December 2014)

Chiapas: New actions by the EZLN to support Ayotzinapa (26 October 2014)

National/International: Multiple mobilizations and marches for the “Pain” and “Rage” of Ayotzinapa (12 October 2014)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN to cede its place to relatives and disappeared students of Ayotzinapa

In a communique signed by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés on 14 December, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) reports that it will cede its place to the relatives and disappeared students from Ayotzinapa during the First Global Festival for Resistance and Rebellion against Capitalism, to be held from 21 December to 3 January in different places in Mexico, though it clarified that it still will participate in the work.

The EZLN calls for a commission comprised of 10 persons, 10 male and 10 female, who are relatives or comrades of the murdered and disappeared normalist students of Ayotzinapa, because “we said that the first and most important or urgent matters is to listen to the relatives and comrades of the disappeared and murdered [students] from Ayotzinapa.  It is these voices that have touched the hearts of millions in Mexico and throughout the world.”

Subcomandante Moisés added that the “nightmare of Ayotzinapa is neither local, state, or national.  It is instead global […] because this is not just against the youth or males.  It is a war within many wars: the war against the other, the war against indigenous peoples, the war against youth, the war on those who in their work make the world run, and the war against women.”

Yet this, as he notes, “was already [clear] from different calendars and geographies.  What places Ayotzinapa on the world map is the dignity of the relatives and comrades of the murdered and disappeared youth: their tenacity and intransigent insistence on the search for justice and truth.”

For more information (in Spanish):

De Ayotzinapa, del Festival y de la histeria como método de análisis y guía para la acción. Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, Enlacezapatista, 14 de diciembre de 2014

El EZLN invita a padres de normalistas a participar en el Festival Mundial de las Resistencias, Proceso, 15 de diciembre de 2014

Cede EZLN lugar a normalistas de Ayotzinapa en Festival Mundial de Resistencia, La Jornada, 15 de diciembre de 2014

Invita EZLN a estudiantes y padres Ayotzinapa a Festival Mundial de las Resistencias, radio formula, 15 de Diciembre, 2014

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

National/Chiapas: Day of actions for Ayotzinapa to observe the Mexican Revolution (7 December 2014)

Mexico/Chiapas: National Brigade for the presentation with life of the 43 disappeared normalist students from Ayotzinapa (6 December 2014)

Chiapas: New actions by the EZLN to support Ayotzinapa (26 October 2014)

National/International: Multiple mobilizations and marches for the “Pain” and “Rage” of Ayotzinapa (12 October 2014)

Chiapas: New communique from Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés (@SIPAZ)

In a new communique published on 25 July, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés reported that the support-bases from the La Realidad caracol have decided to share 59,000 pesos that have been collected for the reconstruction of the autonomous clinic and school that were destroyed in May to support the transportation of members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) which is soon to be held in Chiapas.  It should be recalled that from 4 to 9 August, this meeting between Zapatistas and other indigenous peoples belonging to the CNI will take place in La Realidad.

Subcomandante Moisés explained that this decision has been made public “because we cannot be like the bad governments, which say that money is dedicated to one thing but ends up being moved elsewhere.”  He expressed furthermore that “the construction of the accommodations for our indigenous brothers and sisters has now been completed, and we are finishing the last details so that everything will be ready with joy in our hearts to receive our guests.  The construction of the new school and clinic continues, also with joy.  Because while those from above destroy, we from below rebuild.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Comunicado “Para que sepan” (Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, 25 de julio de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN requests support for the reconstruction of the autonomous school and clinic in La Realidad (June 13, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces dates for the exchanges between Zapatistas and indigenous peoples of the CNI (June 12, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces upcoming activities (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: New communique, “Accounts of reconstruction”

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, 24 May 2014 @ SIPAZ

On 7 July, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) released a communique expressing gratitude for the support that has been provided for the reconstruction of the autonomous school and clinic that were destroyed in the La Realidad caracol.  Within a month, since the announcement of the need for financial support for reconstruction, the EZLN had obtained more than it needed, “because we asked for $200,209.00 and we succeeded in receiving $365,336.50.”  The remainder will be used for equipment and medicines.

With regard to the “Compañero David Ruiz García” Meeting between the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the Zapatistas which will be held in La Realidad from 4 to 8 August, a page was created on the Enlace Zapatista website to announce the conference and arrange housing or transport for participants.

The comrades from “free, alternative, autonomous, or however-you-call-them media” are also invited on 9 August, at the end of the conference, so that they “carry the words of indigenous peoples far from those who participate.  And thus maybe that way we will be able to make a press conference, or whatever it is called, as we had promised to do last time.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Cuentas de la reconstrucción (Enlace Zapatista, 7 de julio de 2014)

Apoyo a CNI (Enlace Zapatista, 8 de julio de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN requests support for the reconstruction of the autonomous school and clinic in La Realidad (13 June 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces dates for the exchanges between Zapatistas and indigenous peoples of the CNI (June 12, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces upcoming activities (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN pays tribute to murdered Support-base and announces organizational changes (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN requests support for the reconstruction of the autonomous school and clinic in La Realidad

Zapatista Women (@SIPAZ)

Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, spokesperson of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), reported that at a meeting was held with “Zapatista comrades from La Realidad” who agreed to ask to “the comrades of the Sixth Declaration in Mexico and the world” to organize and try to get some money for the purchase of construction materials with which a new autonomous school and clinic could be built in the caracol.

The Zapatista facilities were destroyed last May 2 by members of the Historical Independent Center of Agricultural Workers and Campesinos (CIOAC-H), who also assaulted several Zapatista support bases, and killed the Zapatista support base José Luis Solis Lopez (“Galeano”).

The total cost for the building, which will be a two-story building both for the school and the clinic, is 200,209 pesos. Apart from building materials, “health equipment, the thermometer, baumanometer, auriscope, etc., and also the medicine are needed.”

Subcomandante Moisés concluded: “Well compas of the Sixth, that is what I wanted to tell you. You see if you are able to gather any money together”.

In response to the request made by the EZLN, individuals and organizations in Mexico and the world have organized the “Global Campaign for the reconstruction of the school and clinic in La Realidad, Chiapas, Mexico”, in order to collect the necessary funds.

For more information (in Spanish):

Una reunión en La Realidad zapatista hace unos pocos días. Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés (Enlace Civil, 8 de junio de 2014)

Circular informativa Campaña mundial para la reconstrucción de la esculea y clínica de La Realidad, chiapas, México (Enlace Civil, 8 de junio de 2014)

Pide EZLN 200 mil pesos para obras en La Realidad (El Universal, 8 de junio de 2014)

EZLN llama a La Otra Campaña a reunir 200 mil pesos para construir escuela y clínica en La Realidad (SDP Noticias, 8 de junio de 2014)

“Con ley o sin ley” practicaremos autonomía en derechos y cultura: EZLN (La Jornada, 9 de junio de 2014)

EZLN reconstruirán escuela y clínica en La Realidad, pide solidaridad de adherentes (Chiapas Paralelo, 9 de junio de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: EZLN announces dates for the exchanges between Zapatistas and indigenous peoples of the CNI (June 12, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN announces upcoming activities (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas: EZLN pays tribute to murdered Support-base and announces organizational changes (June 10, 2014)

Chiapas/National: Second issue of “Zapatista Rebelliousness” released

(@Rebeldía zapatista)

On 24 April, the second issue of the magazine Zapatista Rebelliousness came out; it includes “an evaluation by Zapatistas of the Escuelita,” an open organizational process that began last August.  In the editorial, signed by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) made a call for organization both in rural and urban settings when “the neoliberal capitalists do not rest in thinking of how to succeed in always being the dominators.”  It noted that “in only 19 years we have dodged the the bad system which has dominated for 520 years, and now we are the beneficiaries of liberty and democracy.  And we are only a few thousand women and men who self-govern.  What would happen in we organized with the millions of others from the cities and countryside?”

“Who says it cannot be done?” they asked, affirming that “now is the time for us to organize the poor of the land and the cities and it is the time that the peoples of the city and countryside take their destiny into their own hands.  That is to say, to govern themselves rather than just for a few people, particularly rich people; we know what they are doing […].  Let us leave this place, leave them alone to see if they can live without exploiting us and all the rest of us.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Editorial 2. Rebeldía Zapatista. La palabra del EZLN (Enlace Zapatista, 24 de abril de 2014)

Dejemos solos a los poderosos a ver si pueden vivir sin explotarnos: EZLN (Radio Formula, 24 de abril de 2014)

“¿Quién dice que no se puede?”: mensaje del subcomandante Moisés del EZLN (La Jornada, 25 de abril de 2014)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Presentation of new EZLN magazine (2 March 2014)

Chiapas: Celebration of 20 years since the Zapatista uprising (15 January 2014)

Chiapas/National: “Rebobinar 2: On Death and other excuses” (1 January 2014)

Chiapas: New communique from Subcomandante Marcos, Rebobine 3 (7 December 2013)

Chiapas: The EZLN announces new activities, meeting of indigenous peoples, and “Ethics amidst looting”

In a March 2014 communique, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) announced a series of activities for the months of May and June.

From 26 to 30 May will take place the meeting of indigenous peoples: “At this meeting we will exchange our thought and history of struggle and resistance as indigenous that we are.”  Some 30 peoples have been invited, including the Wixárika, Nahua, Zoque, Purépecha, Mazahua, Afromestizo, Triqui, Peninsular Maya, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol, Zoque, and migrants.  The letter stresses that the “invitation is closed and is ONLY for the indigenous peoples invited during this first round.  Those who are not invited will not be allowed to enter.”

In other news, “On Saturday 31 May 2014 in the Oventik caracol, we will announce together with our brothers and sisters from other indigenous communities our conclusions and a declaration for future plans in terms of resistance against the looting which we suffer, as well as our rights and indigenous culture.”

Furthermore, “Sunday 1 June 2014, also in the Oventik caracol, we will make a simple homage to our fallen comrade Don Luis Villoro Toranzo.  This event is open and all are invited to attend.  The event will take place at approximately 2pm, and female and male commanders from the Revolutionary Clandestine Indigenous Committee-General Command of the EZLN, the writer Juan Villoro, and Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés will participate.”

In the end will be held a final activity: “From Monday 2 June 2014 until Sunday 8 June of this year, there will be held in the Oventik caracol and at CIDECI in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, a seminar on the question of ‘ETHICS AMIDST LOOTING,’ which will also commemorate our comrade Don Luis Villoro Toranzo.  This seminar is open and all are invited.”

For more information (in Spanish):

Anuncia EZLN encuentro de pueblos; irá ‘Marcos’ “si su salud se lo permite”, La Jornada, 1 de abril de 2014

EL EZLN ANUNCIA ACTIVIDADES CON PUEBLOS ORIGINARIOS, HOMENAJE A DON LUIS VILLORO Y SEMINARIO SOBRE “ÉTICA FRENTE AL DESPOJO”, ASÍ COMO NUEVA INICIATIVA PARA LA SEXTA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL, Enlace Zapatista, 31 de marzo de 2014

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Presentation of new EZLN magazine (2 March 2014)

Chiapas: Celebration of 20 years since the Zapatista uprising (15 January 2014)

Chiapas/National: “Rebobinar 2: On Death and other excuses” (1 January 2014)

Chiapas: New communique from Subcomandante Marcos, Rebobine 3 (7 December 2013)

Chiapas: EZLN criticizes structural reforms (13 November 2013)

Chiapas: Tens of thousands of Zapatistas mobilize themselves in 5 cities (27 December 2012)

Chiapas: Presentation of new EZLN magazine

Cover of magazine “Rebeldía Zapatista”

As had been announced in the previous communique made by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) “Bad and not so bad news” (November 2013), the “Zapatista Rebelliousness” magazine has been born, as directed and written by indigenous Zapatistas.

In the first volume, an editorial signed by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés presents the magazine: “We have spent 30 years constructing how to think and live better, this before the people of Mexico and of the world.  Humble but sanely  the autonomous way we want to govern ourselves has been decided by thousands of women and men.  There is nothing hidden in what we are doing or what we seek and desire; instead it is there for everyone to see […].  We are sharing with our comrades from Mexico and the world our humble thought of a new world we desire and think about.”

The magazine also features more reviews of the Zapatista Escuelita from BAEZLN themselves: “In this first volume we will begin to share the words and thoughts of our comrade Zapatista support bases, families, guardians, teachers, on how they see the Escuelita that we have been presenting, and also how they saw the student comrades.”  With reference to anarchists, Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés notes that “there are other brothers and sisters who are rebels and not indigenous who can write and share in this medium, so as to share how it is that they think and how they see this system that desires to put an end to planet Earth.  For this reason, in this volume we share some words provided by anarchist comrades.”

For more information (in English):

Nace nueva publicación del EZLN (Desinformémonos, 28 de febrero de 2014)

Editorial. Rebeldía Zapatista. La palabra del EZLN (Enlace Zapatista, 28 de febrero de 2014)

Malas y no tan malas noticias (Enlace Civil, noviembre de 2013)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English):

Chiapas: Celebration of 20 years since the Zapatista uprising (15 January 2014)

Chiapas/National: “Rebobinar 2: On Death and other excuses” (1 January 2014)

Chiapas: New communique from Subcomandante Marcos, Rebobine 3 (7 December 2013)

Chiapas: EZLN criticizes structural reforms (13 November 2013)

Chiapas: Tens of thousands of Zapatistas mobilize themselves in 5 cities (27 December 2012)