:: UPDATE

From the Red Alert to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle

The Zapatista Red Alert: Uncertainties...

The Red Alert declared by the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) on June 20th again called the attention of Mexico and the rest of the world to Chiapas. In a communiqué, the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command (CCRI-CG) declared the closing of the civil autonomous structures, whose members were placed “under protection,” while making it clear that they would continue their work in a “transient” fashion. The state of alert throughout the entire rebel territory meant, in addition to the regrouping of the military command and the support bases, the quartering of the Zapatista insurgents who had been doing “social labor” in the communities, as well as the withdrawal of members of national and international civil society present in the autonomous communities at the time of the alert. The EZLN released all of the people, civil and political organizations, as well as solidarity committees from any responsibility for its future actions. At the same time, they declared the breakdown of relations between the Zapatista civil structure and the institutions of the Chiapas state government.

This was not the first time that the EZLN has declared a “Red Alert.” The first time was in 1995 during the federal government’s military offensive against the Zapatistas and the second in 1997 due to the massacre in Acteal. However, this current alert, announced as the ongoing process of building autonomy through action continues, sparked great uncertainty due to the reappearance of an unmistakably militaristic language, causing concern about a possible return to arms. It proved the existence – for those who attempt to minimize it – of the ongoing war in which both parties (the Mexican Army and the EZLN) remain armed and recalled the declaration of war of January 1994. Only with time, and with a reading of the subsequent EZLN communiqués, did people begin to speak of an “important political sign.” It became clear that the communiqués, beyond their militaristic nature, continued in the same vein of political and ideological struggle. Making use of their discursive abilities and their capacity for communication, the EZLN carried out a risky, but at the same time “provocative,” measure through which they announced a “new step” in the Zapatista movement.

...and the Birth of a New Initiative

In a second communiqué following the announcement of the Red Alert, the EZLN stated that since mid-June it had been building parallel an internal political and military restructuring parallel to its autonomous process, which has made them capable of responding to any kind of government attack. The third communiqué explained more clearly that the Red Alert had been a “preventative measure,” initiated to protect an internal consultation called by the CCRI-CG of the EZLN. It’s important to remember that in February of 1995, while the EZLN held an internal consultation, the federal government under Ernesto Zedillo launched a military offensive aimed at detaining the Zapatista Command. The EZLN reported that the current consultation was being held by the insurgents and the support bases in order to evaluate their years of struggle and resistance before deciding upon a “new step.” In the communiqué, they acknowledge that this new direction could cost them the “loss of the much or little that has been achieved.” They also indicated that in this new process “all Zapatistas are morally free to continue, or not continue with the EZLN in its next step.”

Later, in a letter addressed to National and International Civil Society, Subcomandante Marcos dispelled any doubts, declaring that the next step would not involve military action, again drawing closer to the pro-Zapatista civil society that has long accompanied the civil autonomous process and who were disconcerted by the closing of the Caracoles and the Good Government Councils (Juntas de Buen Gobierno – JBG), the public face of the Zapatista movement. The fifth communiqué informed the public that as a result of the consultations with the community assemblies, the EZLN had decided to embark on “a new political initiative of a national and international nature,” to be explained in the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle.

It’s important to remember that the previous Declarations – except for the First one, which coincided with the declaration of war – called for the peaceful mobilization of civil society in order to bring about a holistic reform of the Mexican Republic. The Second Declaration (1994) announced the National Democratic Convention, the Third, the formation of the National Liberation Movement (MLN). In the Fourth, the creation of the Zapatista Front for National Liberation (FZLN) was announced and, in the Fifth, they launched the consultation for the Recognition of Indian Peoples and for an End to the War of Extermination. However, these various proposals did not always have the hoped-for results.

The Sixth Declaration sums up and evaluates the history and struggle of the Zapatistas during the last eleven years. In the extensive document, the Zapatistas underline that “we’ve arrived at a point which we cannot go beyond” and “a new step in the indigenous struggle is only possible if the indigenous join together with the workers of the city and the countryside.” They undertake an analysis of the current situation at a national and international level, in which they say that “a war of conquest in the whole world, a world war” is being waged. Therefore, at a national level, they propose the creation of a new “broad front”: “an agreement with people and organizations who are from the real left, because we think that it is in the political left where the possibility really exists to resist neo-liberal globalization, and to create a country where there is, for all, justice, democracy and freedom.” To make this possible, the EZLN will send a delegation to travel throughout the country for an indefinite time and to forge alliances with indigenous, worker, campesino, populist student, political and social groups, and, ultimately, unite movements against neo-liberal globalization. The objective of these meetings is to create “a national movement, but a movement that is clearly of the Left, and that is anti-capitalist.” In this way, the Zapatistas have again focused their strategy on a national level, embarking on an active strategy of alliance building. They’ve opted for reviving the general populace and “taking them out of” the logic of partisan electoral campaigns in order to create a movement for national structural change, including the writing of a new Constitution.

In addition, at an international level, the Zapatistas propose a new Intercontinental meeting in order to build networks with anti-globalization movements around the world. This meeting would follow the two “Intergalactic” meetings previously called by the Zapatistas: one in La Realidad (Chiapas) in 1996 and the other in Spain in 1997, both considered to be the origin of the global justice movements started in Seattle in 1999.

The Context of the Alert

The timing of the Red Alert was not casual. If the communiqué that announced this drastic measure of putting the Zapatista political-military structure in alert took us by surprise, it soon became clear that it was not a spur-of-the-moment act, but rather the fruit of a long process of reflection and analysis, not an end, but rather a beginning. It is important to analyze the alert within the context of the current national political scene and read it together with the communiqués released since last year. Just before the Alert, the EZLN released “The irresolvable power equation in Mexico.” In this communiqué, the EZLN affirms its opposition to the Mexican political parties, including strong criticisms of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), probable candidate for the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), who has a good chance of winning the presidency. We recall that this year all national politics revolve around the presidential elections of 2006 and that in the last months, the largest social mobilizations were prevented at impeding AMLO’s elimination from the electoral race. Considered by many a populist alternative, compared to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil or Tabaré Vázquez in Uruguay, López Obrador is not considered by the Zapatistas to be a real alternative for the Mexican Left. In their proposal for the construction of an alternative project “to the Left and towards the bottom,” AMLO represents for the Zapatistas the “moderate Right,” which will continue in the same model of a nation dependent on international capital.

Various factors came together around the Red Alert, which increased the atmosphere of tension in the region. Weeks before, the Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Bank (BBVA-Bancomer) closed nine accounts held by Enlace Civil, A.C., the organization responsible for supporting projects in the Zapatista autonomous communities, based on an accusation of “illicit money laundering.” In addition, unusual regroupings of some military and police bases occurred in Chiapas, an event without precedent since 2001. These movements occurred without any explanation from the National Defense Department (SEDENA) and were not accompanied by any statements from other government officials. Army bases were closed in El Calvario (in the canyon of the river Perla), in X’oyep and in Los Chorros (both in the Highlands region), and in Bochil and Escopetazo (northern part of the Highlands region), as were two bases located outside of the “conflict zone.” Three weeks after the Red Alert, new military movements were noted in the municipality of Chenalhó; these movements do not indicate the withdrawal of the military from Chiapas.

Diverse Reactions to the Red Alert

Until now, there have been few responses from the Federal government to the Sixth Declaration. Xóchitl Gálvez, head of the National Commission for the Development of the Indian Peoples (CONADEPI) stated that “the Presidency of the Republic is awaiting communiqués from the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) to see when and how they will carry out the announced actions.” The verbal manipulations of politicians and certain signs of war had preceded the EZLN’s proposed initiative.

On the same day as the announcement of the Red Alert, the SEDENA stated that during an operation executed on June 15, 16 and 17, they found and destroyed 44 marijuana plants in Zapatista territory. The media repeated this story, presenting the EZLN as a narco-guerilla force. Many politicians demanded explanations from the EZLN about their links with drug trafficking. Nevertheless, it soon surfaced that the municipalities in which the operation had taken place – Tapilula, Rayón, Pueblo Nuevo – are not only located outside of the so-called “conflict zone,” but also have no Zapatista presence. As a result, the Secretary of Governance had to deny the claim. It was feared that these accusations could have been used to justify a government counteroffensive on the eve of the Zapatistas’ new step.

In political power circles, the Zapatista proposal, even when the Sixth Declaration had not yet been published in its entirety, was interpreted as an abandonment of arms, the EZLN’s opting for the path of electoral politics, and even its transformation into a political party. President Vicente Fox gave “a most enthusiastic welcome to this communiqué and the EZLN’s opting for the political route and its departure from the armed path,” affirming that “he is at Mr. Marcos’s command to formulate a period of agreements and the integration of the Zapatistas into public life.” A spokesperson to the president assured that Mr. Fox was willing to cancel the long-standing arrest warrant out against Subcomandante Marcos, so that there are no obstacles to his full integration into political life. The government also insisted on its “willingness to dialogue” and on its “search for ways to come together.”

However, the Zapatistas have made clear that their new initiative does not mean returning to dialogue (that is, resuming the process of negotiation); it does not mean laying down arms; the declaration of war is not being withdrawn; and their transformation into a partisan political force has been entirely ruled out. Politicians read into the declaration what they wanted to hear, from the point of view of their own participation in the electoral process. This dissonance clearly demonstrated the distance between the two visions.

The Commission for Peace and Reconciliation (COCOPA) reminded the public that the 1995 Law for Dialogue, Reconciliation and a Just Peace in Chiapas continues to be valid. The Zapatistas, as long as they are respecting the ceasefire, are working within the framework of what is allowed by this law, and therefore do not need the arrest warrants to be lifted before they can launch their political initiative. The government commissioner for peace in Chiapas, Luis H. Alvarez, affirmed however, that “it is incompatible to choose a political path and remain armed.”

The state government, for its part, officially abstained from declaring a position on the Red Alert, “for lack of information” and because “it is a federal matter.” After two days, without providing further details, the state government announced that it too “had suspended all contact with the Caracoles and Good Government Councils.”

The Lifting of the Alert and Changes in the Civil Structure

Three weeks later, on July 11th, the CCRI-CG of the EZLN issued a new communiqué, lifting the state of Red Alert and announcing the reopening of the respective Caracoles and of all offices of the councils of the Autonomous Municipalities. At the same time, the Zapatistas extended an invitation to national and international society to resume contact with the Zapatista civil structure, whose work will gradually return to normal. In addition, as a result of the evaluation concluded during these weeks, the Zapatistas announced a reorganization within the Caracoles. In order to limit the involvement of the military wing of the EZLN in civilian life, a self-criticism made on various occasions, the Vigilance Commissions (Comisiones de Vigilancia) will be comprised only of the civilian Zapatista support bases. These commissions will serve as a bridge between the JBG and visitors. They will also keep the communities and Autonomous Municipalities informed so that they can be involved in consultations and keep an eye on the autonomous process “from the ground up.” Also, the creation of a new cell within the offices of the JBG was announced: the Information Commissions, in which they will attend to people who want to know more about the history and struggle of the Zapatistas.

Challenges of the New Initiative

The “new step in the Zapatista struggle” generates multiple challenges, not just for the Zapatista movement, but also for all of society. As they themselves have affirmed, it is a risky initiative, in its essence as well as because of the political situation in the country. This initiative has proven a variety of things. It confirms the Zapatista’s ability to launch a proposal driven by its own political vision, which addresses the particular political moment experienced by the country at large.

The release of this initiative also demonstrates that in order for the Zapatistas to be coherent in their struggle against neo-liberal globalization, it has become necessary for them to form closer ties with those international and Mexican movements that have experience in active resistance. This change in course coincides with criticisms that have been made of the Zapatistas of late: that they would continue on their path towards autonomy without undertaking concrete proposals “beyond Chiapas.”

Many of the movements and national social organizations who are in sympathy with the EZLN and also have ties to the national PRD or the network in support of Lopez Obrador, both of which belong to the institutional left, become obligated to define themselves in light of the Zapatista proposal. This could create some discomfort for those who have maintained their support for both and will determine the resonance of the Zapatista proposal in the different ‘lefts’ they’ve identified.

Also it remains to be seen how this space will be articulated, a space which, due to its broad scope, implies not only certain challenges, but also the danger of repeating frustrated experiences such as the unsuccessful formation of a Constituent Assembly (proposed in 1994). To date, some organizations have expressed their support of the new Zapatista initiative, such as the Mexican Electrician’s Union (SME) and the Indigenous National Congress which, along with the Zapatistas, declared themselves “in red alert.” The response of other sectors of civil society remains to be seen; they will surely wait for the Zapatistas to further define their actions before making concrete statements. Another challenge for the Zapatistas will include drawing in organizations that were previously out of their sphere, but who now, faced with the country’s current situation, see in the EZLN proposal a political outlet for the nation. With this goal in mind, on June 13 the Zapatistas announced the formation of two commissions: the “intergalactic” one, which will develop the proposal on an international level, and a national commission, which during the month of August, will begin holding meetings with all of the organizations and people who are in agreement with the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle.

It is relevant to point out that the ‘turning’ of the Zapatistas towards national and international politics does not mean a de facto regression in the autonomous process. The autonomous structure headed by the Caracoles and the multiple education, production and health projects embodied in these regional centers represent advances in a variety of areas. Based in the process of internal evaluation, the Zapatistas have undertaken some changes intended to improve the function of the Caracoles. Without anticipating the progress of the new Zapatista proposal at national and international levels, we can nevertheless predict that two parallel processes will be sustained: the continuation of the building of alternatives from the ground up, which respond to local needs, and the formation of an intense political process aimed outward. These two processes will surely nourish each other.

In a “non-electoral” way, while making the most of the current political schedule, in which attention will be primarily focused on the upcoming elections, the Zapatistas want to demonstrate the relevance of making “another politics possible.” Therefore, they’ve opted to continue exerting pressure on the powers that be from outside the political system and to return to motivating and uniting the general populace in mobilizing for change. Given the impossibility that the “neo-liberal war” will ever be confronted from within the system, the Zapatistas have closed ranks in order to do so from the outside, with the people.

:: FEATURE

Guerrero: A Mosaic of Hope On a Wall of Impunity

Too many Guerrerenses die on their feet.
Too many indignant dead in a state where
death by blade, sword or bullet is a natural death.
If it is true that the murdered don’t rest,
Guerrero is an immense congregation of the waking dead.

Armando Bartra. Deep South

Guerrero, Oaxaca y Chiapas: A Triangle of Poverty

It has been noted that the national and international attention on Chiapas and its armed conflict succeeded in decreasing the direct violence and in generating pressure on the state and federal governments because of the political cost of repression and its deaths. But while this concern has been focused on Chiapas, in other states, such as Oaxaca and Guerrero, social, campesino and indigenous organizations have continued to suffer threats, violence and militarization without many voices denouncing these crimes and thus leaving open a door for impunity.

In these other Mexican states, the same structural causes which provoked the uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas are also present: the lack of basic social and economic rights such as housing, education and health care along with the discrimination and racism cultivated during centuries of internal and external colonialism.

The state of Guerrero, together with Chiapas and Oaxaca, form a triangle of extreme poverty according to socioeconomic indicators for the year 2000 provided by the National Population Council (CONAPO). A third of the indigenous peoples of Mexico are concentrated in these states. The ‘indigenous population in the municipalities of Guerrero is still marginalized 95.9% of the population of Guerrero does not have access to services (Socioeconomic indicators of the indigenous peoples of Mexico-National Indigenous Institute, 2002). As for the right to education, approximately half of the population has not attended school.

Struggle and Resistance in Guerrero: Yesterday and Today

In the 60’s and 70’s, Guerrero was home to the armed revolutionary movements of Genaro Vázquez and Lucio Cabañas. Both rose up in response to the poverty and social injustice lived in Guerrero and in opposition to the corrupt and clientelistic political system of the Institutional Revolutionary Party – PRI. The partnership between the caciques, or local political bosses, and the PRI created closed circles of power that opposed the armed groups (see ‘Ideario del Partido de los Pobres’, Sierra del estado de Guerrero, March 1973).

The government employed its security forces to respond to the guerillas, persecuting not only the leaders and their guerilla cells, but also all those who could have been a civilian base for any armed group. This included the great majority of campesino and indigenous populations, especially those who had become organized to improve their living conditions.

Arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, torture and assassinations filled the pages of this period in Mexico’s history known as ‘The Dirty War.’ Currently, organizations like the Association of Families of the Detained, Disappeared and Victims of Human Rights Abuses in Mexico (AFADEM) continue to demand full disclosure about these crimes and refuse to allow the deaths to be forgotten. The association has documented more than 400 cases of disappeared people in the state of Guerrero during ‘The Dirty War.’

Due to Guerrero’s history of struggle and resistance, the armed insurrection of 1994 in Chiapas caused the government to fear the start of a similar rebellion in this state. This meant a rise in the militarization of Guerrero not seen since the times of Lucio Cabañas as well as the harrassment of leaders and members of peasant and indigenous organizations.

The massacres of Aguas Blancas on June 28th, 1995, and in El Charco on June 7th, 1998, are two examples of the State’s repression of peasant and indigenous organizations, within the rationale of the ‘struggle against armed clandestine groups’. In Aguas Blancas, 17 members of the Campesino Organization of the Sierra of the South (OCSS) were intercepted and assassinated by members of the Mexican Army when they were heading to a demonstration. During the first anniversary of the massacre of Aguas Blancas in 1996, the guerilla group, Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), publicly appeared, calling for a change of the ‘exploitative and oppressive’ government (see, ‘El Sur’, June 28, 2005). In their Manifesto of Aguas Blancas (1996), they made a call to arms against institutional violence and encouraged the creation of armed self-defense groups and popular tribunals to judge those who repress the people.

During the early morning of June 7^th, 1998, in the community of El Charco, the Mexican Army surrounded the school where representatives of different communities were sleeping. They were resting after a coordinating meeting of nearby towns, called together by the Independent Organization of the Mixtecos and Tlapanecos Peoples. In this assembly, there were also some ‘outsiders’ present, such as Efrén Cortés who had presented a project for rural development, and Ericka Zamora and Ricardo Zavala who brought a proposal for a literacy program for the communities. Once the meeting had ended, three people arrived at the gathering, identified themselves as members of a guerilla group wanting to know the opinion of the communities.

Some people returned to their communities, but those who were not from the area and other representatives decided to stay the night. At dawn, the Mexican Army massacred 11 people (among them Ricardo Zavala), 5 others were injured and 21 were detained, including Ericka Zamora and Efrén Cortés, who were accused of being commanders of the EPR. They were tortured and charged with rebellion, conspiracy, inciting rebellion and weapons possession. Efrén was sentenced to six years and six months in prison and Ericka to eight. Both were taken to the maximum-security prison, Puente Grande, in the state of Jalisco. The rest of the detainees received lesser sentences of one or two years.

Ex-political prisoners and members of OCSS and other organizations came to the most recent commemoration of the anniversary of the massacre at El Charco. The majority of these people had experienced years of torture while imprisoned in Puente Grande with Efrén and Ericka. They shared with us about the nights of harassment in which they were unable to sleep and the so-called “reeducation” to which they were subjected, obligating them to begin primary school again “to crush our dignity” (testimony of an ex-political prisoner).

History shows that counter-insurgency has not halted the creation of new guerilla groups. Recently, the “Popular Revolutionary Command - the Patria is First” appeared, announcing the judgment and sentencing of those responsible for the massacre of Aguas Blancas, executing one of them (La Jornada, July 9^th, 2005).

The Department of Defense justifies militarization as a necessary part of the war against narco-trafficking and arms smuggling. Guerrero is the main producer of poppies (raw material for opium production). Campesino and indigenous communities are held responsible for the cultivation of poppies, but the ‘anti drug’ policies don’t seek to resolve the true root causes of the problem. Extreme poverty and the fall in the prices of agricultural products have caused campesinos to see the growing of opiates as a “way out.”

International organizations have recommended to the Mexican Army that it separate itself from this type of work, which covers up grave human rights abuses. In this sense, the UN special rapporteur on summary, arbitrary, and extra judicial executions asked the Mexican State to “achieve the demilitarization of society and avoid delegating to the armed forces the maintenance of public order or the fight against crime... Begin the necessary reforms so that regular courts can judge all those accused of human rights abuses, whatever their profession.” (25/11799).

From 1996 to 2004, the Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights has documented 68 cases of human rights violations by the army (including rape and summary executions). To date, all remain unsolved.

From the Voice of the Water to the Defense of the Forests

The resistance of indigenous people and campesinos in Guerrero has not been solely an armed one. Campesino and indigenous organizations have worked daily to defend their rights and to construct new social alternatives grounded in their own knowledge and values, such as community, solidarity, mutual respect, simplicity, ritual, the power of service, dialogue and reconciliation.

At the early ‘90s, the Guerreran Council of 500 years of Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance (CG500ARINP) was formed, one of the principal indigenous organizations advocating protest against the 500th anniversary celebrations of the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

11 years ago in the Mountain region, the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights was formed with the goal of making human rights effectual, from a holistic perspective, in which economic, social and political rights are inherent to civil and political rights. With the State Forum ‘Our Word Made Path’ held on June 3^rd and 4^th of this year, the Center not only celebrated its 11th anniversary, but also created a bridge between the different organizations which it supports.

The Tlachinollan staff recognized that in its 11 years of walking together with indigenous peoples, “learning their word, they learned to be defenders of Human Rights.” And it is true that they have learned to leave behind a monocultural vision of justice and human rights: “among the people there exists a teaching of how to bring about justice, discussing, meeting with elders; a justice that speaks tlapaneco, mixteco, a justice that is on the table (...) we have to strip ourselves of the arrogant idea that we are the enlightened ones” (from the opening speech of Abel Barrerea, director of Tlachinollan).

Present in this space of meeting and reflection were the Independent Organization of the Mixteco People (OIPM) and the Organization of the Indigenous People Me’phaa (OPIM), both of the municipality of Ayutla de los Libres, location of the El Charco massacre. These organizations have fought to denounce the militarization of the territory and, specifically, they have defended the cases of two indigenous Me’phaa women, Valentina Rosendo Cantú and Inés Fernández Ortega, who have denounced the torture and sexual violence they suffered at the hands of members of the Mexican army. Obtilia Eugenio Manuel of OPIM has participated as a translator in the judicial process of the rapes of Inés and Valentina and, as a result, has received constant death threats against herself and her family.

At the forum, we learned about efforts to gain the right to housing for a community following a natural disaster which destroyed 266 homes. We also learned about the case of a Nahua community in which 1,600 community members united to reject the Certification Program of Ejido Rights (PROCEDE) due to its impact on their collective vision of land.

The testimonials and experiences of those who are exercising their rights to organize and decide upon their own way of life “from the ground up” were presented.

Radio Ñonmdaa (the word for water in Amuzgo) arose from the autonomous municipality of Xochistlahuaca, as an instrument to strengthen its autonomy. This municipality declared autonomy in 2002 as a response to the corruption existing in the official government’s party. The traditional authorities reinstated their communal form of government and decided not to accept government support. In December of 2004, they created the Ñonmdaa autonomous radio station, through which they communicate their way of understanding life and their traditions. It is the first community radio station in Guerrero and the only one in the Amuzgo language. David Valtierra, representative of the Radio Committee, affirmed that it serves to empower the Amuzgo people and also to create links between isolated communities.

They argue for the right to have their own radio station, citing the San Andrés Accords and the International Labor Organization Convention No. 169 which recognizes the collective rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. Despite this, communications inspectors tried to confiscate the project’s equipment on February 25^th. These actions accompany the harassment that the autonomous authorities have suffered since declaring their autonomy. The majority of them have outstanding warrants for their arrest.

Also present were members of the Community Police, created because of the high levels of delinquency in the Mountain Coast region and the corrupt and monocultural judicial system. The communities organized themselves to have their own Community Public Security Department. Not stopping there, they are also creating their own systems of justice and reeducation by reviving their own traditional systems and incorporating positive Mexican law. Next October 15^th will mark their 10-year anniversary and, as they say, in this period, they “have advanced much and stumbled much as well.” They created the Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities (CRAC), a community body charged with imparting community justice. Through this group they try to reeducate delinquents because, as they say, “the official jails make one more brutal.” They believe that it is much more beneficial, to both the delinquent and the society, that he be able to reintegrate himself into his community. They don’t speak of punishment, but rather of sanctions, of reconciliation or reparation of damages. Currently, there are outstanding arrest warrants against the community police.

The participation of the peasant women ecologists of the Sierra de Petatlán y Coyuca de Catalán was one of the most moving moments of the forum, because of the repression and harassment that they suffer for defending the forests against excessive clandestine logging. The president of the Organization of Women of the Sierra de Petatlán y Coyuca de Catalán, Celsa Baldovinos, is the wife of Felipe Arreaga, a recognized environmental activist in the region, who is currently in jail, imprisoned unjustly as a reprisal for his environmental work. Felipe Arreaga and Celsa encouraged the women to create this organization to fight pollution and deforestation. Today the group numbers about 60 women from various communities.

Visiting them in the Sierra de Petatlán, we were able to learn about their red cedar reforestation project and how they have managed to stop the fires that had previously ravaged the region. We also learned of their forest and river clean-up campaigns. They involve entire families in their vegetable garden projects, in an effort to recover food self-sufficiency. They have a “savings bank,” through which they loan money at a 5% interest rate to those in need. To those who do not have a savings account, they give loans at a slightly elevated interest rate and the benefits are invested in the organization’s projects.

The anger of these women who live in a climate of constant threats and harassment for “defending the forests” made their voices break when they spoke of the repression suffered by Felipe Arreaga and other campesino ecologists. In the forum they remembered the ambush recently suffered by Albertano Peñaloza, in which two of his children died, leaving him and two more of his children gravely injured. Celsa told us, “How is it possible that every time we advance as an organization, something awful happens? I am worried that it will continue, that they will never let us work.”

The Sierra is a microcosm of the injustice and impunity that govern Guerrero. The bonds between regional caciques, authorities and military officers, with narcotrafficking in the middle, gives an idea of the context in which the campesino ecologists, and the rest of the organizations mentioned, work and struggle.

This article attempts to provide a small window into a reality that is tragic, while at the same time full of hope. It is the people themselves who resist and fight the most adverse situations to bring about an end to unjust policies which would condemn them to disappear. It is true that militarization, continued repression and economic difficulties have destroyed the social fabric and have expelled many people from the communities as migrants. But there also exist many successes, such as those mentioned above, that demonstrate the energy of the communities to reinvent themselves and revive their culture.

See more :
Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña "Tlachinollan"
Amnesty International

Urgent Action :
SIPAZ: IMPRISONMENT AND PREPRESSION OF THE CAMPESINOS OF THE PETATLÁN SIERRA IN GUERRERO

:: SIPAZ ACTIVITIES

April – June 2005

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

During these months, we met at least once with each of the Good Government Councils of the 5 Zapatista Caracoles, in order to return to them the results of our previous interviews with them about autonomy.

In May, we spent 10 days in various communities and cities in the Northern region of Chiapas in order to talk with various actors about the current political context and propose a new project for systematizing our work in the region (which we’ve visited every three months since 1998).

We continued to participate in meetings and hold interviews with various religious actors in Chiapas.

At the end of May, we travelled through the state of Guerrero, as part of our objective to begin accompanying other processes in Mexico. We met with the team of Peace Brigades International. We attended the 11^th anniversary celebration of the the Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights and their forum “Our word made path.” We were also present at the commemoration of the anniversary of the massacre of “El Charco.” We met with Felipe Arreaga, campesino ecologist who has been unjustly incarcerated (see Urgent Action) as well as with the Organization of Women Ecologists of the Sierra of Petatlan.

We participated in an observation brigade in the Canyons of the Lacandon Jungle following the announcement of the Zapatista “red alert,” in coordination with the Center of Political Analysis and Social and Economic Research (CAPISE).

INFORMATION

We received visitors, delegations, students and journalists, principally from the United States and Europe. We provided information to help them understand the current political and social context of Chiapas and the work of SIPAZ. Of these visitors, we can specify the following: from the United States, members of the United Church of Christ; students from Colorado College, De Paul University and from the bi-national “Global Education” program; a delegation from Witness for Peace (part of our coalition); and from Europe, the representative from the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development (CCFD).

On May 16^th, we gave a lecture at the conference about “Peace and Militarization,” which was a part of the International Festival of Cultures in Resistance Ollin Kan 2005, organized by the Tlalpan Delegation in Mexico City.

On May 19^th, we gave a talk in the forum “War, the Current Phase of Imperialism” in the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), an event organized by the organization, Youth in Resistance.

In May and June, we met with a member of the Swiss Embassy in Mexico and the Secretary of External Relations of Switzerland.

Also during these months, a team member has continued to travel through Germany, visiting many of its cities.

We continue to participate in the study series “The works of Immanuel Wallerstein: a grammar for understanding the current world from a critical perspective,” coordinated by the Immanuel Wallerstein Center for Study, Information and Documentation. On June 23rd and 24th, Professor Wallerstein was in Chiapas. We attended the conference which he gave regarding “The World We’re In: 2005-2050.”

NETWORKING AND COLLABORATION

From March 28 to April 2, we participated in the forum “Justice, Truth and Peace,” called together by the Central American University Institute of Human Rights (IDHUCA), an event celebrated in the context of the 25^th anniversary of the assassination of Monsignor Romero in San Salvador, El Salvador. At the same time, the Latin American Peace Builders Network, of which we are a part, held a meeting. The Network launched the “Romero Call”.

We continue to participate in the Network for Peace, a space for action and reflection comprised of 15 organizations who seek to support processes of peace and reconciliation in Chiapas. In May, we also attended a meeting of the Mexican Peace Builders Network in Mexico City.

In May, several international organizations from the Coordination of International Accompaniment in Guatemala invited us there to share experiences of different methods of international accompaniment based on our diverse concrete experiences.

At the beginning of June, we participated in a open space of analysis regarding the context and the pending peace agenda called together by the Services and Consultation for Peace (Serapaz) and the Swiss Platform for Peace in Chiapas (PROPAZ), attended by more than 50 people.

PEACE EDUCATION

On April 7 and 8, we attended a workshop regarding the Transformation of Conflicts, organized by the Friedrich Eber Foundation (from Germany) and facilitated by Johan Galtung, Norwegian professor considered worldwide to be the founder of Peace Studies. We then met with him personally in order to share with him about SIPAZ and learn about his vision of the Chiapanecan conflict.

In May, we started a series of workshops “Introduction to the Transformation of Conflicts” with the organization GRAMIN/ALSOL (who provides micro-credits to indigenous women).

From June 20 to 24, we participated in a Restorative Justice course in Guatemala, organized by REDPAZ, the Network of Central America and the Caribbean, who has been working on developing the topic of conflict transformation for some years.

MISCELLANEOUS

We moved! Thank you for updating our information:

SIPAZ
Ave. Chilón #8, Barrio El Cerrillo,
CP 29220, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
MEXICO
Tel/Fax: (00-52)-967-63-160-55