Two and a half years ago, the Mexican government signed the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture, recognizing the right of the indigenous peoples to autonomy. Today, those peoples are still waiting for the constitutional reforms that will provide legal recognition for autonomy. However, they have not been waiting with their hands folded. They have undertaken the construction of autonomous counties and regions, beginning in 1994 even before the San Andres Accords legitimated indigenous autonomy. Currently there are 32 autonomous counties functioning in the highlands, the northern region, the Lacondon jungle, and the border region of Chiapas. Ten of them function openly, but the majority keep a low profile. In addition there are eight autonomous regions.

The autonomous counties

The autonomous counties are self-governing entities, including villages and towns, in largely rural areas whose boundaries are loosely defined by the extent of strong Zapatista influence. For the most part, they exist parallel to the constitutionally recognized counties which, unlike the autonomous counties, receive federal government funding.

In recent months, the autonomous counties have been a focal point in the conflict in Chiapas and the principal target of the government, the police, and the Mexican Army. In April, May and June, combined police-military operations were undertaken to dismantle the autonomous counties of Ricardo Flores Magon (headquartered in Taniperlas in the constitutional county of Ocosingo), Tierra y Libertad (headquartered in Amparo Agua Tinta in the county of Las Margaritas), and Nicolas Ruiz (a constitutional county that declared itself autonomous). The three operations employed overwhelming force. Illegal arrests were made and the security forces stole personal and communal belongings and damaged property. The official National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) criticized irregularities in the arrests in these operations. According to statements of the Zapatistas, the autonomous counties that were dismantled continue to operate with the elected substitutes of the authorities who are imprisoned.

On June 10 the police and military launched another operation against the autonomous county of San Juan de la Libertad (headquartered in El Bosque, the seat of the county of the same name.) In violent confrontations between security forces and Zapatista sympathizers, two police and eight Indians were killed. In all of these cases, the state government argued that the operations were necessary in order to re-establish “the rule of law.” The government charged that the autonomous authorities engaged in illegal activities and usurped functions that are the exclusive domain of the constitutional government.

Indigenous autonomy

The justification for the indigenous peoples’ demand for autonomy is based on their right to live according to their own “practices and customs.” This right is recognized in Covenant 169 of the International Labor Organization, to which Mexico is a signatory. The broad concept of autonomy that the indigenous defend includes the right to their own forms of government and administration of justice, to their culture, and to the natural resources that exist in their territory. In the words of Augustin Gomez Patistan, member of the Executive Council of the Multi-ethnic Autonomous Regions (RAP), “The law and justice come from on top, although we know how to resolve our own problems. We have our own laws, and we know how to apply them. But the government does not recognize that. It does not take us into account.”

The right to the benefits of the natural resources does not mean that they reject the right of the federal government to those resources. Rather it means that they want to have a say in the exploitation of the resources, and they want a share of the income. As the RAP representative says, “The government may go in, but only when we agree to it and when we receive a percentage.”

Two currents

In Chiapas there are two currents within the movement for indigenous autonomy. One is the “Zapatista project” with its 32 autonomous counties, and up till now, two autonomous regions. The autonomous counties are an expression of the strong Zapatista support in those areas.

The other current is represented by the Multi-ethnic Autonomous Regions (RAP), coordinated regional initiatives involving indigenous, peasant, political, and social organizations whose goal is increased self-sufficiency, autonomy, and social change. Currently there are six RAPs.

While the Zapatistas reject any contact or collaboration with the government and accuse the leaders of the RAPs of being coopted by the government, the RAPs are less radical. Augustin Gomez Patistan notes, “Yes, we accept support from the government but we are very critical. It is not like we are kept quiet with a little funding that the government gives us. The problem is that the people who face a daily struggle just to survive can’t make it without some help.”

The practice of the autonomous counties

The autonomous counties do not have a well-defined territory. Communities or groups within the communities decide in assembly if they want to belong to the autonomous county or not. The communities also elect their representatives to the autonomous county council. Each representative has an area of work, such as health, education, justice, production, human rights, or women. The president of the autonomous county of Ernesto “Che” Guevara says, “The assembly consists of all the inhabitants over the age of 16. And it always has the right to withdraw the mandate of any member of the council that does not perform well.”

Justice is administered according to indigenous practices and customs, and those vary from county to county. One common idea is reparation for the harm caused as a punishment for delinquency. Instead of a jail term or a fine, the penalty may be community service. Some critics of the system of practices and customs mention that it may violate human rights, for example in the case of expulsions of dissidents from the community. This is common in the county of San Juan Chamula, where thousands of evangelicals have been expelled. It also occurred at the beginning of June in the autonomous county of Nicolas Ruiz, where the assembly expelled some PRI families that were accused of violating local laws.

The autonomous counties have broken with the government. That is why they are also called “counties in rebellion.” They do not receive government funds for salaries, infrastructure or projects. Some autonomous counties request contributions from their members. Some receive support from the international community or from solidarity groups elsewhere in Mexico. The autonomous county of Polho, for example, receives humanitarian assistance for the thousands of displaced who have taken refuge there. In Moises Gandhi, the seat of the autonomous county of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a clinic was opened in May that is financed by international and national organizations and built by the voluntary labor of the community. Some autonomous counties occupy the official government offices in the constitutional county seat. This is the case in San Andres and it was the case in El Bosque before June 10. In these situations, the PRI authorities of the constitutional county had to rent their own offices.

Even in the absence of operations to dismantle the autonomous counties, their inhabitants suffer a great deal from the military presence and the harassment of the soldiers from the nearby military camps. The president of Ernesto “Che” Guevara told SIPAZ about one of those incidents: “In January a group of soldiers tried to enter the community, but the women and the children stopped them. The men stayed back so as not to provoke violence.” In February the soldiers combed the hills around Moises Gandhi. “They were looking for something, and they didn’t want to tell us what. It really frightened us. The people did not dare to out to work in their fields.” In Moises Gandhi, the people maintain a guard 24 hours a day, the same as in other autonomous counties.

The rock in the shoe of the government

There are a number of reasons that the government does not accept the autonomous counties. Amado Avendano, former PRD candidate for governor of Chiapas, mentions one simple reason: “The autonomous counties take away votes from the PRI.” It is also true that indigenous autonomy breaks with traditional political structures. If grassroots democracy works, it will call into question even more the current political system. There may be an element of racism as well, for example when the governor of Chiapas stated, “To govern by practices and customs is primitive.”

It must also be noted that the autonomous counties are a key project of the Zapatistas and show their strength. In the prolonged and acute crisis of the peace process, and during the silence of the EZLN command, the dynamism of their support bases was expressed precisely in the activities and statements of the autonomous counties. Their annihilation would signify a heavy blow to the credibility of the Zapatista struggle and a demonstration that the current correlation of forces favors the government.

There are also economic interests. In some of the autonomous counties, the people don’t go to the legal county government to attend to their affairs. As a result, those governments receive less income. Most of those who live in the autonomous counties do not go to the main market in the constitutional county seat. Moreover indigenous autonomy based on practices and customs and economic self-sufficiency clashes with government efforts to establish a free market economy open to the world.

Conclusion

Considered according to white, Western political logic, the autonomous counties don’t make any sense. They are without resources, without any real power or legal status, and they suffer from hunger, sickness, and the threats of security forces and paramilitary groups. However, for the indigenous peoples they constitute an eloquent symbol of a culture that resists and challenges the dominant culture, putting into practice a different manner of understanding politics and of organizing the economy, society and even human relations.

It is unlikely that a military solution could resolve such a profound political and cultural conflict. Instead the political commitments already assumed by the Mexican government, including Covenant 169 of the International Organization of Labor and the San Andres Accords, point the way to the successful incorporation of indigenous peoples into the national political society.