Comunicado del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional. Decreta ALERTA ROJA GENERAL y el cierre de los caracoles y Juntas de Buen Gobierno, así como del Centro de Información Zapatista. / CCRI-CG EZLN Red Alert
21 Jun 2005 04:07 GMT
"A PARTIR DEL DÍA DE HOY, EL EJÉRCITO ZAPATISTA DE LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL HA DECRETADO, EN TODO EL TERRITORIO REBELDE, UNA
ALERTA ROJA GENERAL...
...EN ESTOS MOMENTOS SE ESTÁ REALIZANDO EL CIERRE DE LOS CARACOLES Y LAS OFICINAS DE LAS JUNTAS DE BUEN GOBIERNO
...QUE HAN SIDO LLAMADOS A FILAS TODOS LOS ELEMENTOS DE NUESTRO EZLN (...) QUE HAN SIDO ACUARTELADAS NUESTRAS TROPAS REGULARES...
...QUE EL EZLN DESLINDA A TODAS LAS PERSONAS Y ORGANIZACIONES CIVILES, POLÍTICAS, CULTURALES, CIUDANAS, NON GUBERNAMENTALES, COMITÉS DE SOLIDARIEDAD Y GRUPOS DE APOYO O QUE SE HAN ACERCADO A ÉL DESDE 1994, DE CUALESQUIERA DE NUESTRAS ACCIONES FUTURAS .
<a href="http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113782"> Lee el comunicado completo</a>
bad formatting
kilroy 21.Jun.2005 15:25
sorry about the bad formatting - i was in a rush last night and left out a lot.
http://chiapas.indymedia.org
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113783
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113785
this communique originally appeared on chiapas.indymedia.org at 11:09pm Monday, June 20th. its content is striking but there is little or no other information, other than a post by the FZLN saying their webserver had been taken down, and then a short post saying that the outage seems to have been coincidental.
useful links:
-kilroy
|CCRI-CG EZLN Red Alert |
Autor(a): CCRI-CG/EZLN
Fecha: 11:09pm Lunes 20 Junio 2005
Categoría: Notícias Generales / General News
Originally published in Spanish by the CCRI-CG of the EZLN
************************************
Translated by irlandesa
Communiqué from the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee – General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
Mexico.
June 19, 2005
To the People of Mexico:
To the Peoples of the World:
Brothers and Sisters:
As of today, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation has declared, throughout all rebel territory, a
GENERAL RED ALERT
Based on this, we are informing you:
First - That at this time the closure is being carried out of the Caracoles and the Good Government Offices which are located in the zapatista communities of Oventik, La Realidad, Morelia and Roberto Barrios, as well as all the headquarters of the authorities of the different Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities.
Second - That also being carried out is the evacuation of the members of the different Good Government Juntas and the autonomous authorities, in order to place them in shelter. Now, and for an indefinite time period, they will be carrying out their work in a clandestine and nomadic manner. Both the projects as well as the autonomous government will continue functioning, although under different circumstances than they have been up until now.
Third - That basic community health services will continue functioning in the different Caracoles. Civilians will be in charge of these services, and the CCRI-CG of the EZLN is distancing them from any of our future actions, and we are demanding that they be treated as civilians and with respect for their life, liberty and goods by government forces.
Fourth - That there has been a call-up of all members of our EZLN who have been engaged in social work in the zapatista communities and those of our regular troops who have been in their barracks. In a similar fashion, all broadcasts by Radio Insurgente, “The Voice of Those Without Voice”, in FM and in short wave, have been suspended for an indefinite period of time.
Fifth - That, simultaneous with the publication of this communiqué, national and international civil societies who are working in peace camps and in community projects are being urged to leave rebel territory. Or, if they decide freely of their own volition, they remain on their own and at their own risk, gathered in the caracoles. In the case of minors, their departure is obligatory.
Sixth - That the EZLN announces the closing of the Zapatista Information Centre (CIZ), not without first thanking the civil societies who have participated in it, from the time of its creation until today. The CCRI-CG of the EZLN formally releases these persons from any responsibility for the future actions of the EZLN.
Seventh - That the EZLN releases from responsibility for any of our future actions all persons and civil, political, cultural, citizens and non-governmental organizations, solidarity committees and support groups who have been close to us since 1994. We thank all of those who have, sincerely and honestly, throughout these almost 12 years, supported the civil and peaceful struggle of the zapatista indigenous for the constitutional recognition of indigenous rights and culture.
Democracy!
Liberty!
Justice!
From the Mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
By the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee – General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
Mexico, in the sixth month of the year 2005.
USAID forces other countries to use GE Crops and destroy Local Farmers.
Nina Gomez 21.Jun.2005 15:29
Is our country next on USA's Hit List?
http://manila.indymedia.org/?action=newswire&parentview=3763
Significado Deslindar
alexzapa 21.Jun.2005 16:19
Deslindar: Do dicionário...v.tr.dir. Estabelecer a demarcação; extremar. 2.Desenredar. 3.Averiguar, apurar
Zapatistas: War in Chiapas likely to resume
Rafael 21.Jun.2005 21:12
Civil Zapatistas evacuating an administration center
Last Sunday, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation has put her regular army and her militia on red alert. Dozens of members of autonomous regional zapatista governments, the Councils of Good Government, fled to the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state. From now on they work in a clandestine and nomadic manner. The offices of the autonomous municipalities and regions have been closed. Members of civil society who are in Chiapas right now are urged to leave rebelious territory, or stay at their own risk. The motivations for the red alert are unknown right now. It is very likely that the shooting war, that cost hundreds of lives in january of 1994, will be resumed.
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113783
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/06/20/mexico.zapatistas.ap/
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113483
http://Chiapas.indymedia.org
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/~archive/chiapas95/2005.06/
http://www.narconews.com/ (I expect them to publish an article shortly)
http://www.fzln.org.mx
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/~archive/chiapas95/2005.06/
http://www.el-universal.com.mx 3
http://Chiapas.indymedia.org
INTRODUCING THE ZAPATISTAS
After a short shooting war in january of 1994, the Zapatistas fought, in a non-violent but sometimes spectacular fashion, for democracy, freedom, justice, ethnic minority rights, women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, rights for transvestites, rights for transsexuals and the protection of the rain forest. For “a world in which all worlds can fit”. After long negotiations between the zapatista rebels and the federal government, a treaty of one of many zapatista demands, indigenous rights, was signed. The Zapatistas mobilised millions of people in Mexico and around the world in support of this treaty. However, the law that was passed in the Mexican parliament in august of 2001 was a completely altered version of the treaty. The Zapatistas felt betrayed and entered, once more, a period of silence. Periods of silence traditionally follow periods of public appearance of the Zapatistas. In these periods of silence they built the strength of their organisation and deliberate on their next strategic moves.
In silence the Zapatistas strengthened their autonomous organizations according to the agreements of the treaty that later was watered down by the government. By now there are approximately some hundreds of thousands of (mostly indigenous) zapatista support bases who are organized in thousands of autonomous rebel communities, some thirty autonomous municipalities and five overarching regions, who each have their representative councils. In these regions they built and organised, with financial aid of many NGO’s and private donators, hundreds of autonomous primary schools (for children who otherwise would not have acces to any form of education, most of the indigenous of Chiapas are illiterate), a couple of secondary schools, autonomous commercial cooperations, dozens of microclinics, a few larger hospitals, a few media collectives to, a few rebel radio stations and they trained many health promoters in an area where 55% of the people suffer from malnutrition and one in every foru infants dies of curable diseases like chronic diarrhea. But the most remarkable achievement of the movement is the creation of an highly developed, multi-level autonomous government.
The Mexican political system for decades has been characterized by widespread clientelism, in which local political bosses, caciques, are supported by national, dinosaur-like, parties and can do whatever they want in their territories, as long as they ensure support for this party throughout their territory. They traditionally use these powers for their own good and that of their allies. However, in the autonomous territories “the people command and the government obeys”. All major decisions in the communities are made after extensive deliberations in which all members have had the opportunity to speak. The translocal decisions are made by the communities. There is no such thing as a supralocal government. The elected Zapatista officials have to obey thes orders. When they use their position to do anything else than execute the instructions of the people, they will be removed from their positions. The Zapatistas have no illusions about the corrupting influence of power, nor should they after decades of caciquismo. The Zapatistas reject the notion of the necessity of a professional political class. They think the leadership will eventually act in its own interest, and not in that of the people. As a simbol, administrative officials all hide their faces behind ski masks or scars. This emphasizes the the unimportance of the leader as a person. He or she has to get the job done, and if they mess up, they are immediately replaced.
RED ALERT
In may of 2005 the Zapatistas released a communiquee in which they announced to send a delegation to Europe. Their spokesman, “Subcomandante Marcos” ended with a post scriptum:
"P.S. in the tone and volume of a sports announcer – The Sup, using the tactics of the Uruguayan Obdulio Varela in the final against Brazil (World Cup, Maracaná Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, 7/16/1950), ball in hand, having traveled as if in slow motion (since May of 2001), from the zapatista goalpost. After complaining to the referee about the illegitimacy of the goal, he puts the ball in the center of the field. He turns around to look at his compañeros and they exchange glances and silences. With the scorecard, the bets and the entire system against them, NO ONE has any hope for the zapatistas. It starts to rain. A watch reads almost 6. Everything appears ready for the game to resume…"
And the game resumed last Sunday. Today on Tuesday, when I’m writing this article, it is still unclear what prompted the red alert. There are a few possible explanations:
A peaceful solution to the conflict seemed impossible to the Zapatistas. The Zapatista support bases have decided to restart the shooting war to achieve their objectives. This explanation seems highly unlikely to me. The past ten years the Zapatistas moved away from armed struggle to achieve their goals. Furthermore, they lack the military capabilty to confront the Mexican federal army in a full-out war.
The Zapatistas have been alarmed by troop movements of the federal army. They foresee a possible attack and prepare to defend themselves. According to spokespersons of the Mexican government there have been no troop movements that can be explained as such. Moreover, the Zapatista spokesperson wrote ended the communiquee of last Sunday with: “Vale. Health, and pay attention, because down below the watch reads six”. This might mean that back in may the Zapatistas already knew they were preparing for this red alert”.
The Zapatistas fear an attack by a paramilitary organisation. The pas eleven and a half years, hundreds of civil Zapatistas and members of the civil society have been assassinated by forces that were trained, armed and directed by the federal army and the political parties. Although the murderers and the intellectual authors of these murders were rarely prosecuted and convicted, the Zapatisata have never retaliated these crimes. They denounced the murders by the official government and waited for justice.
A fourth possible reason is to my opinion the most probable. About six months ago a communiquee was released in which the Mexican justice department was urged to arrest and trial the murderers of unarmed civilians in Chiapas and end the impunity that had reigned Chiapas for eleven years. They warned the government that if justice would not be achieved, the zapatistas, after turning the other cheek for 11 years, would arrest and trial these murderers themselves. It is very likely that they are about to do just that. And they expect retaliation by the paramilitaries and the army who are intimately connected.
Last Sunday, “the EZLN release[d] from responsibility for any of our future actions all persons and civil, political, cultural, citizens and non-governmental organizations, solidarity committees and support groups who have been close to us since 1994. We thank all of those who have, sincerely and honestly, throughout these almost 12 years, supported the civil and peaceful struggle of the zapatista indigenous for the constitutional recognition of indigenous rights and culture”. Also “basic community health services will continue functioning in the different Caracoles. Civilians will be in charge of these services, and the CCRI-CG of the EZLN is distancing them from any of our future actions, and we are demanding that they be treated as civilians and with respect for their life, liberty and goods by government forces”. And “the EZLN announced the closing of the Zapatista Information Centre (CIZ), not without first thanking the civil societies who have participated in it, from the time of its creation until today. The CCRI-CG of the EZLN formally releases these persons from any responsibility for the future actions of the EZLN”.
Since 1994, many social (non-violent) activists were targeted by the army and the paramilitaries because the Zapatistas were well protecten. Dozens of villages, from which the villagers had fled, were raided an plundered by the federal military and many houses were boobytrapped in case the people returned to their homes. At this moment, seven thousand displaced persons live in refugee camps because they can not go home. Right now the Zapatistas want to distance themselves from the civilians to make clear that these people are not responsible for what will happen in the near future.
Will be continued…
LINKS:
The communiquee, dated june 19th, in which the red alert is declared (in English):
The second communiquee dated june 19th which deals with the Mexican political system (in Spanish)
An article on CNN about this second communiquee:
The communiquee, dated may 25th, which announces the journey to Italy:
Sites on which you can find updates about the situation in English:
Sites on which you can find updates about the situation in Spanish:
Http:www.jornada.unam.mx
thanks for the explanation
Johnny Sam 22.Jun.2005 01:48
Rafael, thanks for the explanation of why Subcomandante Marcos wears a ski mask. I originally thought it was to look scary.
If you carry on propagating the anti tribal communist pyscopathic ideology...
King Amdo 22.Jun.2005 08:45
...and misusing the sacred goddess occult pentagram in the plastic shammanic red star communist trip then you will have problems as a result of negative karmic influences.
IS THAT QUITE FUCKING WELL CLEAR?
Blessed be.
TIBETAN TRIBAL SOVERIGNTY!
CHIAPAS TRIBAL SOVERIGNTY!
Update wednesday
Rafael 22.Jun.2005 09:37
New developments:
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113840
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113833
First - As has been made public, starting June 19, 2005, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation established the general Red Alert in rebel territory.
The reason for this general Red Alert is that the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee – General Command of the EZLN has called to consulta their insurgent troops, all their comandantes and comandantas, regional and local responsables and their support bases.
This Red Alert is a precautionary defensive measure. As you will recall, in February of 1995, while the EZLN was carrying out an internal consulta, it was attacked by government forces. At that time the betrayal was carried out by Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (then the head of the federal executive and today employed by transnational companies) and Esteban Moctezuma Barragán (then the Secretary of Government and today employed by Salinas Pliego).
Second - During this internal consulta…
- The EZLN leadership is recognizing the sacrifice, willingness and heroism of their support bases, responsables and activists, and of the insurgentes and insurgentas, for these almost 12 years of war and resistance. All the good that we have done and achieved has been by them. The zapatista leadership has been exclusively responsible for errors that have been committed.
- The CCRI-CG of the EZLN is presenting its members with an assessment of the stage our organization is in and an analysis of the current national situation. They are also proposing to their support bases – who make up the supreme command of our movement – a new step in the struggle, a step which entails, among other things, risking the much or little which has been achieved and worsening the persecution and harassment of the zapatista communities.
- Through this means, by speaking to its members, the EZLN is returning the word it gave on the first of January of 1994. All zapatistas are now morally free to continue with the EZLN, or not, in the next step which is being consulted upon, if it is approved by the majority.
Third - When this internal consulta is concluded, we shall inform national and international public opinion of the results.
Communiquees in English
to rafael
XaViER 22.Jun.2005 10:07
is this your article? i would like to translate it on polish. can you send me an email? xav_ier [] o2.pl
Update wednesday
Rafael 22.Jun.2005 11:49
New developments:
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113840
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=113833
First - As has been made public, starting June 19, 2005, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation established the general Red Alert in rebel territory.
The reason for this general Red Alert is that the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee – General Command of the EZLN has called to consulta their insurgent troops, all their comandantes and comandantas, regional and local responsables and their support bases.
This Red Alert is a precautionary defensive measure. As you will recall, in February of 1995, while the EZLN was carrying out an internal consulta, it was attacked by government forces. At that time the betrayal was carried out by Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (then the head of the federal executive and today employed by transnational companies) and Esteban Moctezuma Barragán (then the Secretary of Government and today employed by Salinas Pliego).
Second - During this internal consulta…
- The EZLN leadership is recognizing the sacrifice, willingness and heroism of their support bases, responsables and activists, and of the insurgentes and insurgentas, for these almost 12 years of war and resistance. All the good that we have done and achieved has been by them. The zapatista leadership has been exclusively responsible for errors that have been committed.
- The CCRI-CG of the EZLN is presenting its members with an assessment of the stage our organization is in and an analysis of the current national situation. They are also proposing to their support bases – who make up the supreme command of our movement – a new step in the struggle, a step which entails, among other things, risking the much or little which has been achieved and worsening the persecution and harassment of the zapatista communities.
- Through this means, by speaking to its members, the EZLN is returning the word it gave on the first of January of 1994. All zapatistas are now morally free to continue with the EZLN, or not, in the next step which is being consulted upon, if it is approved by the majority.
Third - When this internal consulta is concluded, we shall inform national and international public opinion of the results.
Communiquees in English
to Xavier
Rafael 23.Jun.2005 13:04
Dear Xavier,
Of course you can translate my article into Polish. You can expect an update of this article in a few days when the consulta is over and the motivations of the red alert are clear.
Sincerely,
Rafael
chiapas inymedia error
sean 23.Jun.2005 20:30
i can no longer open the three communiques from chiapas.indymedia.org
are others having this problem? just curious if someone might be interfering..??
EZLN: A letter of explanation...or, perhaps, farewell
Translated by irlandesa 24.Jun.2005 08:35
EZLN: A letter of explanation...or, perhaps, farewell
Originally published in Spanish by the EZLN
********************************
Translated by irlandesa
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico.
June 21, 2005.
To National and International Civil Society:
Señora, señorita, señor, young person, boy, girl:
This is not a letter of farewell. At times it is going to seem as if it is, that it is a farewell, but it is not. It is a letter of explanation. Well, that is what we shall attempt. This was originally going to go out as a communiqué, but we have chosen this form because, for good or for bad, when we have spoken with you we have almost always done so in this most personal tone.
We are the men, women, children and old ones of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Perhaps you remember us - we rose up in arms on January 1, 1994, and ever since then we have kept up our war against the forgetting, and we have resisted the war of extermination which the different governments have waged, unsuccessfully, against us. We live in the furthest corner of this country which is called Mexico. In that corner which is called "Indian Peoples." Yes, like that, plural. Because, for reasons we shall not give here, the plural is used in this corner for everything: we suffer, we die, we fight, we resist.
Now, as you know quite well, it so happens that, ever since that dawn of the beginning of '94, we have dedicated our struggle - first with fire and then with the word - our efforts, our life and our death, exclusively to the Indian peoples of Mexico for the recognition of their rights and their culture. It was natural - we zapatistas are overwhelmingly indigenous. Mayan indigenous, to be more precise. But, in addition, the indigenous in this country - despite having been the foundation of this Nation's great transformations - are still the social group which has been the most attacked and the most exploited. If they have shown no mercy against anyone with their military wars and the wars disguised as "political", the wars of usurpation, of conquest, of annihilation, of marginalization, of ignorance - it has been against the indigenous. The war against us has been so intense and brutal that it has become routine to think that the indigenous will only be able to escape from their conditions of marginalization and poverty if they stop being indigenous...or if they are dead. We have been fighting to not die and to not cease being indigenous. We have fought to be - alive and indigenous - part of this nation which has been lifted up over our backs. The Nation for whom we have been the feet (almost always unshod) with which it has walked in its decisive moments. The Nation for whom we have been the arms and hands which have made the earth bear fruit and which have erected the large buildings, edifices, churches and palaces that those who have everything take such pride in. The Nation of which - through word, look and manner, that is, through culture - we are the root.
Are we raining insult upon injury? Perhaps it's because we are in June, the sixth month of the year. Well, we just wanted to point out that the beginning of our uprising was not just a "Here we are", shouted to a Nation that was deaf and dumb because of the authoritarianism above. It was also a "This is what we are and shall continue to be...but now with dignity, with democracy, with justice, with liberty." You know this quite well, because, among other things, you have been accompanying us since then.
Unfortunately, after more than 7 years committed to that path, in April of 2001, politicians from all the parties (primarily the PRI, PAN and PRD) and the self-styled "three branches of the Union" (the presidency, the congress and the courts) formed an alliance in order to deny the Indian peoples of Mexico the constitutional recognition of their rights and culture. And they did so without caring about the great national and international movement which had arisen and joined together for that purpose. The great majority, including the media, were in agreement that that debt should be settled. But the politicians don't care about anything that doesn't get them money, and they rejected the same proposal that they had approved years before when the San Andrés Accords were signed and the Cocopa drafted a proposal for constitutional reform. They did so because they thought that, after a little time had passed, everyone would forget. And perhaps many people forgot, but we did not. We have memory, and it was they: the PRI, the PAN, the PRD, the President of the Republic, the deputies and senators and the justices of the Supreme Court of the Nation. Yes, the Indian peoples continue today in the underbelly of this Nation, and they continue to suffer the same racism they have for 500 years. It doesn't matter what they are saying now, when they are preparing for the elections (in other words, to secure positions that will make them profits): they are not going to do anything for the good of the majority, nor are they going to listen to anything that isn't money.
If we zapatistas pride ourselves on anything it's honoring the word, the honest and principled word. All this time we have been telling you that we will try the path of dialogue and negotiation in order to achieve our demands. We told you that we would make great efforts in the peaceful struggle. We told you that we would focus on the indigenous struggle. And so it has been. We have not deceived you.
All the help which you have so generously contributed to this noble cause and through those means has been for that and for nothing else. We have used nothing for anything else. All the humanitarian help and aid which we have received from Mexico and from throughout the world has been used only for improving the living conditions of the zapatista indigenous communities and in peaceful initiatives for the recognition of indigenous rights and culture. Nothing of what was received has been used for the acquisition of arms or for any war preparations. Not only because we haven't needed it (the EZLN has maintained its military capacity intact since 1994), but above all because it wouldn't have been honest to tell you that your help was for one thing and to use it for another. Not one centavo of the help received for peace with justice and dignity has been used for war. We have not needed help for making war. For peace, yes.
We have, of course, used our word to refer to (and in some cases to express our solidarity with) other struggles in Mexico and the world, but just that far. And many times, knowing that we could do more, we had to contain ourselves, because our efforts - as we had told you - were exclusively by and for the indigenous.
It has not been easy. Do you remember the March of the1,111? The Consulta of 5000 in 1999? The March of the Color of the Earth in 2001? Well, imagine then what we felt when we saw and heard the injustices and the hatred directed against campesinos, workers, students, teachers, working persons, homosexuals and lesbians, young people, women, old ones, children. Imagine what our heart felt.
We were touched by a pain, a fury, an indignation which we already knew because it has been, and is, ours. But now we were touched by it in the other. And we heard the "we" which inspires us wanting to become larger, to make itself more collective, more national. But no, we had said just the indigenous, and we had to honor that. I believe it's because of our way - in other words, that we would prefer to die before we would betray our word.
Now we are consulting with our heart in order to see if we are going to say and do something else. If the majority says yes, then we are going to do everything possible to honor it. Everything, even dying if it's necessary. We do not want to appear dramatic. We are only saying it in order to make it clear how far we are willing to go.. In other words, not "until they give us a position, an amount of money, a promise, a candidacy."
Perhaps some may remember how, six months ago, we started with the "what is missing is missing." Then fine, as is obvious, the hour has arrived to decide whether we are going to proceed to find what is missing. Not to find, to build. Yes, to build "something else."
In some of the communiqués of the past few days, we let you know that we have entered into an internal consulta. We shall soon have the results, and we will inform you of them. Meanwhile then, we are taking the opportunity to write you. We have always spoken to you with sincerity, and also to those who are our heart and guardian, our Votan Zapata, the zapatista communities, our collective command.
It will be a difficult and hard decision, just as our life and our struggle have been. For four years we have been preparing the conditions in order to present our peoples with doors and windows so that, when the moment comes, everyone had all the ingredients in place for choosing which window to peer through and which door to open. And that is our way. In other words, the EZLN leadership does not lead, rather it seeks paths, steps, company, direction, pace, destination. Several. And then they present the peoples with those paths, and they analyze with them what would happen if we follow one or the other course. Because, depending on the path we travel, there are things which will be good and things which will be bad. And then they - the zapatista communities - speak their thoughts and decide, after discussing and by majority, where we are all going. And then they give the order, and then the EZLN leadership has to organize the work or prepare what is needed to walk that path. Of course the EZLN leadership doesn't just look at what happens only to them, but they have to be bound to the peoples and to touch their hearts and to make themselves, as they say, the same thing. Then it becomes all our gazes, all our ear, all our thoughts, all our heart. But what if, for whatever reason, the leadership does not look, or hear, or think, or feel like all of us. Or some parts aren't seen or something else isn't heard or other thoughts aren't thought or felt. Well, then, that is why everyone is consulted. That is why everyone is asked. That is why agreement is taken among everyone. If the majority says no, then the leadership has to seek another way, and to present another way to the peoples in order to propose until we collectively reach a decision. In other words, the people govern.
Now the collective which we are will make a decision. They are weighing the pros and cons. They are carefully making the calculations, what is lost and what is gained. And, seeing that there is not a little to be lost, it will be decided whether it is worth it.
Perhaps, in some people's scales, there will be much weight given to what we have achieved. Perhaps, in other people's scales, there will be more weight given to the indignation and shame caused by seeing our earth and skies destroyed by the stupid avarice of Power. In any event, we cannot remain passive, just contemplating, as a gang of ruffians strips our Patria of everything that gives it and everyone existence: dignity.
Ah, well, many turns now. We are writing you for what may be the last time in order to give you back your promised word of support. It is not little that we have achieved in the indigenous struggle, and that has been - as we have told you in public and in private - because of your help. We believe you can be proud, without any shame, of all the good that we zapatistas, along with you, have built up to this point. And know that it has been an honor, undeserved in any light, that people like you have walked at our side.
Now we shall decide whether we are going to do something else, and we will make the results public at the proper time. We are now making clear - in order to end the speculations - that this "other thing" does not entail any offensive military action on our part. We are not, on our part, planning nor discussing reinitiating offensive military combat. Ever since February-March of 1994 our entire military presence has been, and is, defensive. The government should say whether, on its part, there are any offensive war preparations, whether by the federal forces or by their paramilitaries. And the PRI and the PRD should say if they are planning any attack against us with the paramilitaries they are supporting in Chiapas.
If it is the decision of the zapatista majority, those who have helped us up to now in the exclusively indigenous struggle can, without any shame or regret, distance themselves from the "other thing" to which Comandante Tacho referred in the San Cristóbal de Las Casas plaza in January of 2003, two and a half years ago. In addition, there is a communiqué which establishes, from here out, that release and which can be presented in a job application, curriculum vitae, coffee klatch, editorial office, roundtable, grandstand, forum, stage, book jacket, footnote, colloquium, candidacy, book of regrets or newspaper column and which, in addition, has the advantage of being able to be exhibited as defense evidence in any court (don't laugh, there's a precedent: in 1994, some indigenous detained by the bad government - and who weren't zapatistas - were released by a judge, validating a letter from the CCRI-CG in which it released those persons from what the EZLN had done. In other words, as the lawyers say, "there is legal precedent").
But those who find in their heart an echo, even if it is small, of our new word and who feel themselves called by the path, step, pace, company and destination which we have chosen, may perhaps decide to renew their help (or to participate directly)...knowing that it will be "another thing". Like that, without tricks, without deceit, without hypocrisy, without lies.
We thank the women. All the girls, teenagers, young women, señoritas, señoras and old ones (and those who were changing from one to the other of those calendars throughout these 12 years) who helped us, who accompanied us and who, not a few times, made our pain and our steps their own. To all of them, Mexicans and from other countries, who helped us and who walked with us. In everything we did you were the huge majority. Perhaps because we share along with you, although each in their own way and place, discrimination, contempt...and death.
We thank the national indigenous movement, which did not sell itself for government posts, for travel allowances, for the flattery that the powerful classify as "fit for indigenous and animals." The one which listened to our word and gave us theirs. The one which opened its heart, its home, to us. The one which resisted and resists with dignity, raising very high the color we are of the earth.
We thank the young men and women of Mexico and of the world. Those who were boys, girls or teenagers that '94 and who nobly grew up without holding back their eyes or their ears. Those who reached youth or, despite the pages torn from the calendar, remained there, extending the hand of their rebellion to our dark hand. Those who chose to come and share days, weeks, months, years, our dignified poverty, our struggle, our hope and our foolish endeavor.
We thank the homosexuals, lesbians, transsexuals, transgender persons and "everyone in their own way." Those who shared with us their struggle for respect for difference, knowing that it is not a defect to be hidden. Those who demonstrated that courage has nothing to do with testosterone and who, time and again, gave us some of the most beautiful lessons of dignity and nobility we have received.
We thank the intellectuals, artists and scientists, from Mexico and the world, who helped us in the struggle for the indigenous. Few movements or organizations can pride themselves on having had the backing (always critical, and we thank them for that) of so much intelligence, ingenuity and creativity. You already know that we always listened to you with respect and attention, even when we didn't share your points of view and that something of the light you shone helped to illuminate our dark paths.
We thank the honest workers of the press and the decent media who showed, truthfully and to the entire world, what they saw and heard, and who respected, without distorting, our voice and path. We extend you our solidarity in these hard moments you are going through in the exercise of your profession, where you are risking your lives, you are attacked and, like us, you find no justice.
And, so that no one is missed, we thank everyone who, honestly and sincerely, helped us.
I said, at the beginning of this letter, that it was not a farewell. Well, it so happens that for some people it is. Although for others it will be what is, in reality, a promise...Because what is missing can now be seen...
Vale. Salud and, from heart to heart, thank you for everything.
In the name of all the zapatistas of the EZLN.
>From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
Mexico, in the sixth month of the year 2005.
PS - You can see now that we aren't thinking about playing football. Or not thinking only about that. Because some day we will play against the Internazionale of Milan. We, or what is left of us.
reichsbank robbery
propogandamatrix.com 02.Jul.2005 16:26
The Peron government in Argentina was receiving the Nazi flight capital with open arms. "The Guinness Book of Records lists the missing Reichsbank treasure [estimated at $2.5 billion dollars] as the greatest unsolved bank robbery in history. Where did it go? . . . . into Italy. Dulles's contacts were waiting at the Vatican. The Peron government in Argentina was receiving the Nazi flight capital with open arms. Allen and his brother John Foster were not just any lawyers. They were international finance specialists