“20 years after (the March of the Color of the earth, in which the Zapatistas toured Mexico), we will sail and walk to tell the planet that, in the world that we feel in our collective heart, there is room for everyone. Simply because that world is only possible if everyone fights to build it “

Zapatista Army of National Liberation, 2021

Preparation of the Zapatista air delegation to Europe © thefreedomonlie.wordpress.com

On June 22^nd, the maritime section of the Zapatista delegation visiting Europe landed in Vigo, Galicia. Four of them are women, two are men and one is non-defined. 4, 2, 1. Squad 421. In April, Lupita, Carolina, Ximena, Yuli, Felipe, Bernal and Marijose began their “Journey for Life – Europe Chapter”. “The delegation received the mandate from the Zapatista peoples to take our thoughts, that is, our hearts, far away. Not only to embrace those who rebel and resist on the European continent, but also to listen and learn from their stories, geographies, calendars and ways”, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) stated.

At the time of writing, 177 other Zapatistas, led by Insurgent Sub-commander Moises, are awaiting their departure from Mexico on September 13^th. In addition, a delegation, made up of ten people, from the Indigenous Council of Government of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI-CIG) will travel, as well as three militants from the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water from Tlaxcala, Puebla and Morelos.

The airline company that they will use was baptized “La Extemporanea”, due to the fact that the Mexican State called the Zapatistas “extemporaneous Mexicans”, when they tried to carry out official procedures. “As we saw in the dictionaries, ‘extemporaneous’ means ‘that it is inappropriate, inconvenient’ or ‘that it is inappropriate for the time that it happens’ Never before have they defined us so adequately”, the Zapatistas stated in a July 16^th communiqué. Because they were “extemporaneous”, many members of the CNI and the EZLN had difficulties obtaining their passports. On the other hand, the “Extemporaneous” could have problems entering Europe due to the restrictive measures in place in order to stop Coronavirus.

“For Life”

On January 1^st, 2021, the EZLN published a communiqué, “For Life”, in which it announced its trip to Europe between July and October 2021 and, at a later date, to Asia, Africa, Oceania and America.

Departure of the Zapatista maritime delegation, Journey for Life © SIPAZ

The Journey for Life has the objective of joining with other collectives, organizations and movements in the anti-capitalist struggle, which implies a global action “everywhere, all the time”, which “does not recognize borders, nationalities, flags, languages, cultures, races.” The EZLN considers that this fight is directed primarily against “violence against women; the persecution and contempt of those who are different in their affective, emotional, and sexual identity; the annihilation of childhood; genocide against natives; racism; militarism; exploitation; dispossession; the destruction of nature.” The Zapatistas’ journey seeks to unite local struggles, exchange experiences and learnings, build solidarity networks, and form a global struggle against capitalism and for humanity.

“They did not conquer us” – 500^th Anniversary of the Beginning of Indigenous Resistance

August 13^th, 2021 marked the 500^th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan and the European invasion of Mexico. Squad 421 of the Zapatistas held a demonstration in Madrid this day and declared “that 500 years ago there was not a conquest but the beginning of a resistance (…) therefore, Spain does not have to apologize for those events”, (Enlace Zapatista, 2021). It represents an antagonistic response to the speech given by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who asked the Spanish government to apologize for the grievances caused by the conquerors.

On the same day, indigenous peoples demonstrated in various separate actions in Mexico, “indigenous peoples, who raise our voices and organize ourselves because we need to tell the true story, the one we have written in 500 years and that will not stop until we liberate our world and our Mother Earth from the capitalist lie”, reported Avispa Midia. These peoples share the feeling that the conquest is being maintained, although with different faces: the indifference of the government, racism, foreign companies and megaprojects that wish to violently establish themselves in native territories.

500 years after the European invasion of Mexico, the Zapatista tour symbolizes the “return” route. The native peoples return to the lands from where these colonial companies left, but with a different mission, that of “coming together to help stop the collapse that humanity is experiencing. It is a time of global crisis and the only way to the unity of the struggles in all areas and levels” (Camino al Andar, 2021).

“Listen to those who rebel and resist”

The Journey for Life is a trip to “the other Europe”, referring to “the places where ‘you’ resist, rebel, fight”, not the one that conquered America, but the Europe of the rebels and below, those of the Paris Commune and the Republic, the resistance against fascism, the struggles of women, of other women, of non-binary, of natives, etc. (Enlace Zapatista, 2021). The Zapatistas recognize the differences and do not want to build a false unity in the struggle, like the “bad” governments through nationalism, borders, etc. They come to Europe to listen and learn. “Each one faces one or more heads of the Hydra”, the monster of Greek mythology, which for the Zapatistas represents capitalism, and the one that would have to be destroyed to achieve the survival of humanity, according to the EZLN (Camino al Andar, 2021). The Journey for Life is a response to the advance of neoliberal policies, exploitation and the dispossession of the land. It aims to break with historical relations of domination and subordination and continues to open non-hierarchical relationships in times of violence. “We have learned that seeds are exchanged, sown and grow on a daily basis, in their own soil, with the knowledge of each person”, said Squad 421.

The Other Europe – Unsubmissive Land

Across Europe, groups, collectives and individuals from different movements and organizations from below and to the left have come together to organize the journey for life. The planning of the trip is organized on the one hand by interregional working groups and on the other hand through local networks. There are thematic working groups such as feminism, anti-racism, climate justice, etc., and the delegates of the different movements study together what exchanges and joint actions could be organized. In addition, there are technical-organizational working groups, called structural groups, which work, among other things, in finance, translation and transport.

Journey for Life © SIPAZ

Squad 421 traveled to the cities of Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Valencia and arrived on July 8^th in Toulouse, France. Between music and graphic arts, organizations and committees, they denounced, in the presence of Squad 421, the dispossession of land, police violence, racism and inequalities in France. “This year is historic, because of the visit of the Squad 421 and because we commemorate 150 years of the Paris Commune, not just 500 years since the fall of Tenochtitlan. There are no words to describe the happiness and excitement that we are feeling because the journey for life of the Zapatistas goes beyond being an event, it is really already part of history”, said a member of the Yellow Vests (Pie de Pagina, 2021).

On July 24^th, the Zapatistas joined a demonstration of the Sans Papiers (Without Papers) movement in Montreuil. According to the article “Zapatista Squad Joins the Protests of the Without Papers in Paris” (2021), they gathered to demand the free entry of all people and the regularization of thousands of migrant workers.

Subsequently, the Squad participated in a meeting of women, trans, inter and non-binary people from Other Europe at the ZAD (Zone a Defendre) Camp in Nantes. ZAD is a territory of 1,650 hectares, which was occupied in 2007, in resistance against the construction of an airport.

On August 13^th, Squad 421 led a march commemorating the “500 Years of Resistance and Rebellion” in Madrid and stated, “when on any given day, someone asks them ‘what did the Zapatistas come for?’, together we can respond, without shame for you and without shame for us, ‘they came to learn’” (Enlace Zapatista, 2021). Multiple activities are still awaiting…