:: UPDATE
Mexico, The Start of the Campaigns: Ready, Set, Go!
Within a context of Latin American governments swinging further and further to the left (Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, and most recently, Chile), Mexico is approaching its own presidential elections on July 2nd. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, representing the Alliance For the Good of All (left) made up of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the Worker’s Party (PT) and the Convergence, is a candidate strengthened by his popularity that guarantees him a broad social base. Felipe Calderón Hinojosa was named as the candidate for the National Action Party (PAN). This is the party that is currently in power, which is considered to be a disadvantage as seen by the vote of punishment carried out by members of the PAN during the internal party elections: Santiago Creel, considered the candidate preferred by President Vicente Fox, lost. In the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI), following the questioning of his and his family’s holdings, Arturo Montiel resigned from his candidacy, opening the space for Roberto Madrazo. In the internal elections on November 13, Madrazo received a resounding triumph over the little-known Priista, Everardo Moreno. As in 2000, the PRI renewed its alliance with the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).
While the polls show a slight advantage for López Obrador, the elections held since 2000 have favored the PRI, maintaining its position as the premier political force in Mexico at the municipal, state, and Congressional level. With three strong candidates, shown by the polls to have comparable support, and a large sector of the population still undecided (calculated to be up to 40%), there is concern about the temptation to generate a “vote of fear,” which is to say inhibiting people associated with a certain party from voting, to insure the victory of a different party. The increased weakening and discrediting of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) presents the risk that the IFE will not be able to serve its function as arbitrator, increasing the doubts and concerns about the electoral process.
With the electoral campaigns underway and a large sector of the population following the intense interparty disputes, the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) is not proposing the possibility of returning to negotiations with the next government. Rather the EZLN has opted for the opening of a new phase in the dialogue and the construction of non-electoral alternatives with civil society. This proposal was born from the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona (June 2005) and is called the “Other Campaign,” a clear reference to the electoral context. Growing out of the crisis in representative democracy, and unattached to the results of the upcoming elections, the Other Campaign is positioned “below and to the left,” aiming to build a plan for national, anticapitalist struggle. As was already stated in the Zapatista communiqué “The Rebellion and the Chairs” (October 2002), for the EZLN it is not so relevant to see who gets to sit in the chair (in this case the President’s seat), but rather to question the very concept of the chair, of power.
The “Other Campaign” Takes Off
Following a first series of meetings, in August and September, with various actors in a number of Zapatista communities in the Selva Lacandona, and as announced in the Plenary Session in mid-September, a new phase began in January. This new strategy aims to analyze not only the current situation in the different states of Mexico, but also the various ways the population is responding to those circumstances. The task of touring the nation has been assigned to Subcomandante Marcos, now renamed Subdelegate Zero: “It falls to me to go on tour first to see what the road we will take is like, to see if there are any hazards, and to get to know the faces and the words of the compañeros and compañeras who are different from us.”
This effort started in San Cristóbal de Las Casas on January 1st. A number of commanders and thousands of people from the support bases of the EZLN arrived to send off the Subdelegate. At this event, the Comandante David recalled: “On the twelfth birthday of the armed uprising, against exclusion, against degradation, and against all sorts of injustices that we suffer as indigenous peoples and peoples of Mexico, we say that we are here, and we will be here and everywhere, and this is why we have joined together once again in this city of San Cristóbal…, but today thousands of people from the support bases are here… to give a formal beginning to the next step that we, the EZLN, have chosen with the hundreds of thousands of compañeros and compañeras of Mexico and of the world, who have embraced the Sixth Declaration and the ‘Other Campaign’ to open paths, to open doors, and touch the hearts of other indigenous and non-indigenous brothers, poor like us, and all of those who want a real change in our country and who want a true society where we can live in real democracy, with liberty and justice for all…”
As the final speaker, Subcomandante Marcos expressed: “If something happens to me, I want you all to know that it has been an honor to struggle alongside all of you, you have been the best teachers and leaders and I am certain that you will continue to take our struggle in the right direction, showing everyone how to be better with the words of dignity. We are the wind, we are not afraid to die in the struggle. The good word has been planted in the good earth, and this good earth is the heart of all of you and in it blossoms the Zapatista dignity.”
 The tour that will cover all the states of Mexico between January and June, started in Chiapas. On January 6th, Comandanta Ramona, a founder of the EZLN, died. The tour was interrupted in Tonalá (it returned three days later), extending the Chiapas portion until January 14th. Rallies and meetings were organized throughout the state: San Cristóbal, Palenque, Chiapa de Corzo, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Tonalá, Pijijiapan, Huixtla, and Trinitaria. While the number of participants and the content of each event varied, one thing remained constant: the high level of social discontent. The presence of Subcomandante Marcos and the primarily alternative press served as a sounding board for all types of complaints, ranging from sewage problems, the high cost of electricity, the lack of relief for the area affected by the hurricanes, etc. The Subdelegate Zero sums it up in this statement: “the problem of Chiapas is the same that exists in all the states of Mexico: the system of capitalism.” In a number of places, Marcos had the chance to clarify his role within the EZLN, given the cult that has grown around his character, the role of the EZLN within the Other Campaign, as well as what the Other Campaign is, and especially what it is not. Many people approached him hoping he would resolve their most pressing issues as if he were “another candidate” for an elected position, which he has firmly denied.
In each place, the Subcomandante questioned the presidential candidates and the political parties, placing particular emphasis on the non-electoral character of the Other Campaign. For example, in Palenque on January 3rd: “everyday that they come we will hear a ton of promises, lies, trying to feed our hopes that things will get better now if we trade one government for another; time and time again, every year, every three years, every six years, they sell us that lie and once every three years, every six years, they repeat it again. We, the compañeros of the Other Campaign, of the EZLN, think that they will not give us anything. Nothing that we do not achieve from our own efforts, with our organized effort to transform things. The governments that we have, in addition to lying to us, in addition to depriving us of the little that we have, they charge us high prices for the things we buy, and for the things we produce, as campesinos and as workers, they pay us a miserable wage. (…) We believe that all this must change and it will not change from above, where the right is passing out lies in every direction, while pocketing millions and millions of pesos. We believe that change can only come from below or from the left, and that is why we invite all of you who consider yourselves humble and simple people, if you want to change things, if you want to make for yourself, for your children, for your grandchildren a world where we can live without fear. Without fear of being degraded or belittled for the color of your skin, for your way of walking, for your way of talking, for your culture, or for the position you have within this society.” In Chiapa de Corzo on January 5th, he stressed: “Do what your heart tells you, but make your heart think and give it words of dignity. Respect yourselves, and demand that those who speak to you respect you and consider you. In the campaigns you are only significant because you have a voter’s card. The Other Campaign is precisely something else.”
A fundamental element and goal of the Other Campaign is to organize and coordinate processes of struggle and resistance. In Pijijiapan, Marcos called for a “great statewide mobilization and later a national mobilization” against the climbing rates of electricity, affirming “Do like us, but without the arms! – Unite all your small struggles and make a single, but massive, one that the government cannot defeat.”
The reactions of the political actors oscillates between silence (creating an empty space around the proposal), a celebration of the political, civil and peaceful nature of the Other Campaign (by the spokesperson of the Presidency), and direct criticism affirming that the Subcomandante Marcos has lost his presence and his followers, questioning the sources of funding for the EZLN and the Other Campaign and its lack of substance, among other issues. After Chiapas, the Subdelegate Zero continued with his tour heading to Quintana Roo and Yucatán…
Chiapas in the Context of the Elections and the Other Campaign
 First, we must note that nearly half of Chiapas remains in an extremely vulnerable situation because of the effects of Hurricane Stan (October 5th) and to a lesser degree, Hurricane Wilma (October 21st), in the southern part of Mexico. Stan ravaged millions of acres in Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca and Chiapas, where the greatest damage was reported in rural areas and the poorest parts of towns and cities, because of their position in zones of great risk. There are thousands of affected homes, communities cut off from communication, destroyed highways, and hundreds of collapsed bridges. The figures vary but it is calculated that between twenty and one hundred people died.
In November a report was issued by a number of civil organizations that form a part of the Network of Organizations for the Emergency in Chiapas which stated, “we have established that the official versions are false. The humanitarian assistance to the rural populations of the Coast, Sierra, and Soconusco regions has been minimal and disorganized. The dirt roads, local roads, bridges and hanging bridges, essentially have not been repaired at all, with the exception of the few highways that connect to the rest of the state. Hundreds of rural communities in many municipalities of the Sierra remain incommunicado with no attention to their basic health, education, and nutritional needs. Meanwhile, the major part of their crops have been destroyed or they lost completely their only harvest of the year.”
 Hurricane Wilma primarily affected the hub of tourism along the Mayan Riviera and Cancun, generating a much more immediate economic response, because of the interests at stake. The south of Mexico did not receive the same attention. The reconstruction will take much longer, with the risk of an increase to the already growing migration, of Mexicans as well as Central Americans, since the whole region was affected by the two hurricanes. Also of concern are the potential and actual efforts on the part of politicians to capitalize on the disaster. In more than one space, including the tour of the Subdelegate, there have been reports of humanitarian aid being blocked so that the supplies could be used for proselitizing.
In the past months there has been a highly volatile social context in the area of Zapatista influence. This could cause some conflicts to move towards a situation of generalized violence. There are two primary “hot spots”: the area of Chilón and the area of Las Margaritas. In mid October, it was reported that members of the Organization for Indigenous and Campesino Defense (OPDDIC) were planning to dismantle the autonomous municipality of Olga Isabel and detain the community’s leaders. The Zapatista Good Government Council of Morelia also reported the presence of 35 people with firearms. In November, in Las Margaritas, the organization the Independent Center of Agricultural Workers and Campesinos (CIOAC) attributed the death of six of its members to the Zapatistas. The EZLN subsequently cut off its ties to the group. In December the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center reported that “there is a latent risk of new acts of violence (…) in the municipality of Las Margaritas, in the named conflict zone” if the situation is not adequately addressed.
Human Rights: “A Long List of Unfulfilled Promises”
On December 10th, in the context of the 57th anniversary of the enactment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, activists and defenders of human rights affirmed that “a long list of unfulfilled promises” exists in Mexico, and that there have been no concrete actions for the strengthening of basic rights. They affirmed that the lack of institutionalized policies, dedicated to the exertion of human rights, as a central axis through the three levels of government “limits the efforts made by the Fox administration, in a task of chiaroscuros in which the discourse does not always line up with the actions.”
In October, in the context of the commemoration of the 37th anniversary of the massacre in Tlatelolco on October 2nd, 1968, Amnesty International, The National Network of Human Rights: Every Right for Everyone, the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights had already denounced that “this government failed in the possibility of serving justice for the crimes of the past, the student massacres in 1968 and 1971 and the hundreds of disappeared in the Dirty War. Fox made small gestures, spoke a lot, made promises, and did not see them through. (...) In this government, impunity continues, as it did with its PRI predecessors, and many of the same human rights violations we saw in the past continue to occur: forced disappearances, illegal detentions, executions, torture, kidnapping, and many more.”
A theme that gained major relevance in the media is related to the fact that Mexico was classified, in the publication of Journalists Without Borders, as the second worst nation in the continent in terms of freedom of expression. According to the Latin American Federation of Journalists, Mexico is at the head of the list of countries in the region in the number of aggressions against reporters, with 52 murders and 2 disappearances in the last 22 years. In the past 18 months, 8 Mexican journalists were murdered, and another disappeared. In the case of Chiapas, according to Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (October 8) “the practice of the profession of journalism in our state is legally limited by sanctions within the State Penal Code on Defamation and Calumny, called the “Gag Law,” enacted in May of 2004.” Two concerning cases have occurred: at the end of October, the journalist Concepción Villafuerte, director of the newspaper “La Foja Coleta” reported that she had received threats. Members of the Municipal Police of San Cristóbal de Las Casas stated that they received orders to eliminate her and they explained in detail the threats and abuses they suffered from their superiors. Villafuerte was sued by the chief of the city’s police force for defamation. In October, the General Director of the newspaper EL ORBE and the Weekly EL ORBE, C.P. Enrique Zamora Cruz was detained after publishing information critical of the situation in the area affected by Hurricane Stan.
:: FOCUS
Celebrating Ten Years of Service to the People:
The Community Police in the State of Guerrero
Saturday October 15, 2005, Pueblo Hidalgo, Montaña, Guerrero.
 Two hundred police officers march to the rhythm of the bands, under the severe gaze and the large moustache of Emiliano Zapata (an immense mural on the ceiling), before a crowd of five hundred people: representatives of communities, indigenous, social and non-governmental organizations. After the honoring of the flag, everyone sings the Mexican national anthem, first in Tlapaneco (one of the four indigenous languages spoken in the state), then in Spanish.
This could be any official event… But this one has a different meaning. These police officers are not “official.” These two hundred uniformed men are “community police.” In addition to their own work, they ensure the safety of the people, as they volunteer out of a sense of service and duty.
When the Criminals Decided the Law
It all began in 1992. In the Costa-Montaña region (Coast-Mountain) of Guerrero, the incidence of assault, robbery, kidnapping, rape, theft of livestock, and activities related to drug trafficking was steadily increasing. All the ingredients were together for the strengthening of criminal gangs: the level of extreme poverty, the decline in prices of agricultural products, the cultivation and trafficking of drugs, the poor condition of the means of communication (even at times totally lacking), as well as others. The population lived with constant fear and felt that the police were unable to control the delinquents and were even complicit with them in some cases.
Faced with these circumstances, the Parish of Santa Cruz del Rincón, in the municipality of Malinaltepec, called on the community and religious authorities to analyze the conditions and needs of the towns of the region. Coffee and corn producing organizations joined the effort, along with the Consejo 500 Años de Resistencia Indígena, Negra y Popular (Council of 500 Years of Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance), which was initially created to coordinate protests against the five hundred years celebration of the Spanish Conquest.
Through lengthy discussions, thirty-six communities joined forces to found the “Community Police” on October 15, 1995. The Community Police, made up exclusively of volunteers, began to guard the roads and accompany trucks to prevent assaults. When they detained a delinquent, they turned them over to the official authorities. They began to note, however, that those detainees who had money could buy their freedom, and those who did spend some time in prison were often repeat offenders.
From Security to Reeducation
In 1997, in the face of this balance, the communities decided it was necessary to expand the Community Police system to include the process of imparting justice. The “Community System of Security, Justice & Reeducation” (SSJRC) was created for this purpose. Independent of indigenous and religious groups or economic interests, the SSJRC has three basic principles:
- Investigation before proceeding;
- Conciliation before sentencing;
- Reeducation before punishing.
This system of justice bears many similarities to that of the Zapatista “Caracoles” in Chiapas: “We believe that there is another way of applying justice. We do not look in a book to see which article was violated, (…) which is how the official justice system works. There is no money in it (…) The first step is the investigation, going and seeing what happened, we work with a great deal of conciliation, with mediation, being neutral. Imparting justice without the money of power. (…) We work a lot with the customs and practices (usos y costumbres). If someone stole, we need to understand why they stole, because everybody is needed” (Good Government Council of Morelia- SIPAZ Interview, March 2005).
 The SSJRC states that the delinquent is not the person to “eliminate” so that the community can “live in peace.” When a crime is committed, everyone is a victim, not only those affected, but also the delinquent (because he lost the most important part of the indigenous worldview: his honor, his word, everything that makes him a man). The community is also the victim (because “they did not realize that this person was headed down a bad path” and “they were unable to set him in a better direction.”) In this vision, justice and security are everyone’s responsibility and it is about looking for ways to restore the damaged relationship, to restore the social fabric, or structure.
When the police detain a delinquent, they take him to the corresponding community authority who then decides the adequate sanction. The delinquent does not have the right to an attorney, unless the service is free, to assure that all are equal before justice, regardless of whether they have money or not. The delinquent can be defended by a family member, or by himself. Reconciliation between the victim and the aggressor is always the priority, as well as reparation of the damage. There are no prisons, because it is believed that they do not serve to reeducate the delinquents, nor do they do anything positive for the communities. Depending on the severity of the offense, the delinquent has to provide community service, receiving food from the community, with no pay. Delinquents work in the construction of roads, bridges, and public buildings… “If we decide that the reeducated need to do work for the community, it is not with a vision of having slaves, rather it is with the idea that they must regain their work ethic, and the education that they somehow didn’t receive,” stated Regional Commander Bruno Plácido Valerio (La Jornada- 9/28/2005). Additionally, the delinquents receive “lectures” from the elders (who are the keepers of the community history and experience). If a delinquent commits another offense, their community service sentence is doubled.
A System of Justice Built from Below
Today, the SSJRC is applied in sixty-three communities (Mixtecas, Tlapanecas, Nahuas, and Mestizas) in the six municipalities of the Costa-Montaña, representing about 100,000 people. Each community has a commander and community police officers, chosen in the assembly for three years. There are 612 community police officers responsible for guarding the roads and detaining delinquents. Of the sixty-three community commanders, six are elected as regional commanders and they work in the “Executive Committee” of the Community Police for one year. This reproduces the community authorities at a regional level.
When the Community Police detain a delinquent, the offender is given the choice of having the case presented to the Public Minister or to the community justice system. The majority of delinquents opt for the latter, because, in addition to other reasons, cases are dealt with more rapidly.
The justice is administered by various authorities depending on the offense. Minor offenses, such as conflicts among intoxicated persons, petty theft, and domestic disputes are handled by the individual community commissioner of the place where the crime was committed. For more serious offenses (violent assault, drug trafficking, rape, murder…), the “Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities” (CRAC) was created. This is an agency composed of six regional commissioners who act as judges. Extremely serious crimes are handled by the “Regional Assembly of Community Authorities,” made up of all the security and justice authorities of the sixty-three communities. This organization also deals with other issues such as the relationship with the municipal, state, and federal governments, the election of the members of the CRAC and the Executive Committee, as well as the approval and modification of internal regulations.
The Repression Suffered in the Past Ten Years
In the past ten years, the effect of the SSJRC has been highly positive: they have achieved the reduction of crime in the region by 90-95%. According to the report presented at the anniversary celebration, of the 1,484 cases processed from 1997-2005:
- 1,203 were resolved through acts of reconciliation or reeducation processes;
- 247 cases remain open;
- 34 delinquents remain fugitives.
These results have generated a great deal of curiosity and interest in recent years, especially when compared to the Mexican justice system and its many shortcomings: “The existence of a fundamental problem in the penal justice system in Mexico is reflected in the fact, corroborated by the 2002 reports of the majority of the state human rights commissions and the National Human Rights Commission, that the respective state justice authorities are the officials most often responsible for the violation of human rights.” (Diagnostic Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Mexico- Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights of the United Nations in Mexico- 2003)
The communities support the legality of the SSJRC with Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), signed by Mexico in 1990. This agreement recognizes the right to self-determination of indigenous communities, as do the articles 2, 4, 115, and 139 of the Mexican Constitution and the Organic Municipal Law of Guerrero. They add that the system is legitimized by the communities themselves. These arguments do not appear to convince the state government, which has oscillated between tolerance and repression over the past ten years. Initially, it was well received, when it was simply the police officers turning over delinquents to the official justice system. In fact, the Government of Guerrero gave the SSJRC weapons in 1997, and the Mexican Army trained the officers from 1995-1997.
However, when the organization decided to start imparting justice, which is to say, developing a parallel system without appealing to the state, the repression increased: arrests of commissioners accusing them of illegal deprivation of freedom, periodic disarming of community police by the Army since 1996, fabrication of offenses and detention of the Parish Priest of Santa Cruz del Rincón, advisor, and of Bruno Plácido Valerio in 2000, as well as threats against other participants. To date, the proposals for the regulation of the Community Police by the state government have been systematically rejected by the people.
The Limitations of the Community System of Security, Justice and Reeducation
“In these ten years, we have advanced a lot, and we have stumbled a lot,” stated the commissioner Cirino Placido Valerio (11th Anniversary of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain on March 6th, 2005). Today, this model of alternative security and justice is confronted with certain limitations. The communities are addressing the priority of seeking subsistence alternatives. Many migrate to the north of Mexico or to the United States, especially the young people. Some start to question the lack of salaries for the police officers. It was agreed that the community needed to give more support to their police.
In some places, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find volunteers willing to serve as police officers, because the men cannot do so, or because they are discouraged by the risks (five lives have already been lost, by police officers and commanders). There are communities that are less involved and elders who no longer give the lectures to the delinquents. “There is no longer the same whole-hearted and courageous participation,” affirms Gelasio Barrera, a regional commander. (La Jornada- 9/28/2005)
Another concern is the search for funds to cover the operative costs (gas, maintenance of vehicles, radios, etc.) in order to maintain independence from political parties and government agencies. A civil association was created to receive funds from both public and private sources.
Another challenge is related to the role of women within the SSJRC. In 1998, five women were invited to support the CRAC to better address cases in which the offenders or the victims were women. But the internal discrimination by the men discouraged several women from continuing to participate. In the context of the 10th anniversary, the CRAC once again invited women to participate, not only in the regional organization, but also within each community. The women responded: “The goal of our participation is to create a Community Police that considers our views and listens to our voices, because in the end, the struggle is collective and in this collectivity we are the other half that seeks, along with our compañeros, a better quality of life where our rights as indigenous communities are respected.”
Another criticism of the SSJRC is the difference between the positive interpretation of human rights and the worldview of the indigenous communities. For example, for the SSJRC the crime of “witchcraft” exists, while it is not recognized by the positive interpretation of human rights. It is important to note that the normative systems are not set. The CRAC reclaims the customs and practices to discuss them and adapt them to the reality that the communities live in today: “The indigenous communities (…) have turned their gaze, their emotions, and their intelligence to their own source of culture and justice, and they have figured out how to readapt and reenergize their normative systems to be able to live as indigenous peoples and as Mexican citizens in the third millennium. (…) Tradition is recreated to adapt it to a western mold with a constitutional foundation and international legislation.” (Tenth Report of Tlachinollan)
After Ten Years, Balance and New Challenges
The anniversary of the Community Police served as a pretext for the analysis of the path it has taken, the recognition of the mistakes that have been made, and to set goals for the future. “Something that has roots and that is born from below, that has life and legitimacy has a future, it is not artificial, we have had difficulties, but we have also had great results, everyday we improve. The police have no hurry to grow. There is great demand to join, but that is decided by the people in assembly, it is not the decision of an authority,” commented Cirino Plácido Valerio. It was resolved that they would consider security and justice in a more global framework, embracing the defense of territory, the search for nutritional sovereignty, the implementation of fair trade, and the active participation of women in all of these areas. They resolved to think about the construction of a new popular nation project. A number of references were made to the Zapatistas, stating the need to apply the San Andrés Accords, to share the experiences of self-determination of the peoples and to support the Other Campaign proposed by the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation). They stressed the need to continue to reclaim the communities’ own forms of organization outside of the political parties, to look within the communities for solutions to political, agrarian, and educational problems, recuperating the ability to organize as communities at the regional level. They stressed the importance of recuperating historic memory for the education of the youth.
The challenges are great and the path ahead of them is long. In many parts of Mexico, the community system of the indigenous peoples is more difficult to maintain. But, while ruptures in the social fabric of some communities are apparent, new models and proposals are being presented by the communities themselves. “While the public policies of assistance (individual, free trade, migration, drug trafficking, and consumer culture) are causing damages to the identity, subsistence and traditional organization of the indigenous communities, opposite projects like the Community System of Security, Justice & Reeducation act as counterbalances. In the face of this situation we can expect that the identity, culture, and organization of many indigenous peoples and communities can break down, deteriorate or even disappear. Nevertheless, we can also see that many peoples and communities will not only survive, but will come out of it all stronger, with self-governing structures of organization and articulation in different areas and levels, becoming the creators of their own destiny.” (XI Tlachinollan Report)
In Guerrero, like in Chiapas, alternative systems of life that are built from below seek more and more integrity to continue and develop. These systems undertake sustenance as well as justice, education, and health. Furthermore, they perceive the necessity to articulate themselves not only at the local level, but also at the regional, state, national and international levels. Each model of autonomy has its own history and its own characteristics and cannot be reproduced in another context. Rather it is more about sharing information about these alternatives to learn from each other and to strengthen one another, as distinct and creative responses of the peoples in resistance.
:: ARTICLE
“For the dead who gave us life…”
November 2, 2005.
El Limar, Municipality of Tila, Northern Zone of the state of Chiapas, Mexico.
We find ourselves in the church of Limar. This church has been closed for several years because of the prevalent violence in the region, impeding the parishioners from using the temple. In the center of the church, an altar has been created with the same decorations used throughout the nation for the Day of the Dead celebrations. One by one, those who are present approach the altar, holding a lit candle and a small card that bears the name, the place of origin, and the date of death of one of their family members.
An older man holds a candle with the name Minerva Pérez Torres, originally from the community of Masoja Shucjá, and the date of her death: June 22, 1996. She was between 15 and 17 years old at the time. Minerva´s body was never found. Nevertheless, her death is attributed to the group “Development, Peace and Justice,” who has been accused of paramilitary activity against members of the opposition (sympathizers of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation –EZLN-, the Democratic Revolution Party –PRD-, or the Catholic Church).
 This past 2nd of November, about 200 people of the Northern Zone of Chiapas, coming from 11 communities, met to commemorate the more than 120 individuals murdered and disappeared between 1994 and 2000. For the first time, they are meeting publicly to reclaim memory and justice. Many of them are among the more than 4,000 people who were displaced and forced to abandon everything to save their lives.
From October 28th to November 2nd, a series of political and cultural events were also held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, as part of the “Week for the Dead, Disappeared, and Incarcerated.” This activity was proposed by the EZLN during the Plenary Session in mid-September for the Other Campaign. The plan was adopted by the civil society of San Cristóbal: street theater, videos, posters reclaiming the stories of recent years and victims of repression, singer-songwriters, and reflections were present throughout the center and in various neighborhoods of the city.
In both cases, the idea was to remember and revive all those who have died, been disappeared, or are being held as political prisoners for defending liberty and justice. A moment of collective historic memory aiming not only to keep memories alive, but also to nourish the current struggles and hopes in the construction of a better world for everyone.
:: SIPAZ ACTIVITIES
October 2005 – January 15, 2006
INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT
CHIAPAS
In October, we spent ten days in various communities and cities of the Northern Zone of Chiapas, interviewing different actors in the region: those who have been displaced, leaders of various political groups, government agencies, church members, zapatista bases of support, and social and campesino organizations.
At the beginning of November, we returned to the Northern Zone to assist in the organization of an event in El Limar, with the families of more than 120 murdered and disappeared individuals (between 1994-2000). At this time, we also participated in the events organized in San Cristóbal de Las Casas for the week of the Day of the Dead, the disappeared and the incarcerated (see the article).
In December, we visited a number of communities in Chenalhó to meet with the religious actors (Primarily from Catholic and Presbyterian churches) who had participated in an exchange project SIPAZ organized in the municipality between 2001-2004. We were present at the commemoration of the Acteal massacre on December 22nd.
From January 1-14, we accompanied, as international observers, the tour of the “Subdelegate Zero” through the state of Chiapas (see the final report).
From January 8-15, we participated in the observation brigades in the area affected by Hurricane Stan, coordinated by the Fray Matías de Córdoba Human Rights Center.
In these months, we met with the Good Government Councils of the five Zapatista Caracoles.
GUERRERO
From October 13-15, we were present at the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Community Police in Pueblo Hidalgo, Guerrero (see the focus article). We also met with members of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain.
At the beginning of December, we attended the forum “Defending the Territory” in Tlapa, Guerrero. The objective of this space was to analyze the issues related to the theme and to share experiences of defending territory.
INFORMATION
We received visitors, delegations, students, and journalists, primarily from Europe and the United States, with whom we shared information about the current situation in Chiapas and the work of SIPAZ.
In the past months, a member of the SIPAZ team completed her tour of a number of cities in Germany. Since the start of her tour in January 2005, she gave 75 presentations about Chiapas and SIPAZ, 180 puppet shows about the reality of indigenous communities in Chiapas, and 2 workshops about the transformation of conflicts.
In December, we met with members of the German Embassy in Mexico City.
We continue to participate in the seminar 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.
In October, we attended a meeting in which the Latin American office of WSP (War-torn Societies Project) presented a analysis that they produced: “The Current Situation in Chiapas from the Perspective of the Local Actors.“
In December, we held interviews and gave presentations about the situation in Chiapas and the work of SIPAZ in Marseille, France and Amsterdam, Holland.
NETWORKING AND COLLABORATION
From November 16-18, we participated in the event “Accompanying for the Future: First Encounter of International Accompaniment“ organized by SweFOR, held in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia.
On November 30th, we participated in the open space for analysis with a number of Mexican and Chiapan actors, organized by PROPAZ/ Serapaz, in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
We continue to participate in the Network for Peace, a space for reflection and action, made up of 16 organizations that aim to support processes of peace and reconciliation in Chiapas.
At the end of November, we participated in a two-day meeting of the Mexican Network of Peace Builders, held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. The primary project was the planning of activities fro 2006.
We had visits and meeting with members of our coalition: Peace Brigades International (PBI- Guerrero and Guatemala), SweFOR (Sweden), and CAREA (Germany).
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