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Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 19:59:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: Mary Ann Tenuto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: En;En:Aubry,Part I
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada
March 24, 2007
www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/03/24/index.php?
sectionopinion&article021a2pol
Translation: Mary Ann Tenuto-Sa'nchez
__________________________________
Andre's Aubry / I
Chiapas: The New Face of the War
The new pollution that disturbs what is called the conflict zone is
due to old actors that changed tactics, gave themselves a new face
and other names: URCI and Opddic. Before identifying them and
analyzing the worrisome, profound and dangerous transformation of the
Lacando'n Jungle's new panorama, it's important to traverse the
process from its beginnings to the recent situation revealed by the
spate of communique's that emanated not from the General Command but
from the Good Government Juntas of all their Caracoles. The current
objective of the counterinsurgency presents itself as a disturbance
of the territorial geography, to return to their old owners "the
recuperated lands" or those progressively liberated by the EZLN since
the times of their clandestinity.
Dispute over the "recuperated lands"
Before the conflict broke out, the owners of the Jungle were
successively the lumber camps for looting the forest's wealth, the
chicleros, the unconstitutional large estates progressively converted
into cattle ranches, the drug traffickers and 400 Lacando'n finally
"concentrated" by Echeverri'a in what now is the national Montes
Azules Biosphere Reserve. Between these empires existed wilderness
spaces, the national lands, which were offered to migrations of
landless campesinos with the promulgation of "the opening of the
agricultural frontier" by Jose' Lo'pez Portillo. The EZLN was born in
this space in 1983.
In the second half of the six-year term of Carlos Salinas de
Gortari, the Zapatistas were already a powerful movement, although
clandestine, and towards it converged thousands of migrants who
aspired to make the jungle theirs, cradle of civilization, forming
there new ejidos with cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, never
finalized. The EZLN presented itself as a defensive army, to protect
them from the old owners; that is to say, just as president La'zaro
Ca'rdenas had given weapons to the campesinos to defend their first
ejidos and rural schools a long time ago, so the EZLN progressively
cleaned the jungle of those who had usurped it.
The first to go were the narcos (drug dealers), therefore the police
(always present now) did away with their weapons, offering them
without problem to the Zapatistas, because they confused them with
the cattle ranchers' pistoleros (hired guns), but didn't sell them
(illegally of course) without prior training of their clients. Thus
began a bad time for the cattle ranchers but also a good one for the
campesinos: they were recuperating land with ejidos in formation
until Salinas, in 1992, reforming Article 27 of the Constitution,
declared that no longer would land be distributable. Under pressure
from January 1, 1994, the large cattle ranchers also abandoned the
Jungle.
Since then, the EZLN initiated its public phase. To create the
conditions of the first peace dialogue, that in the Cathedral, the
commissioner Camacho's diplomacy achieved creating a "gray zone,"
without soldiers (grosso modo, that of the former national lands), in
exchange for which the EZLN released former governor Absalo'n
Castellanos Dominguez. Sub- sequently, the tragic day of February 9,
1995 happened, which endangered the truce pacted January 12 of the
previous year. On March 11, the Law of Dialogue
was promulgated, which made possible another dialogue, that of San
Andre's. Camacho's gray zone, but without it in that new
circumstance, was converted into the space in which the EZLN, in
accordance with the new law, were transforming themselves from an
armed movement into a "political force," with the progressive and
peaceful creation of the Zapatista autonomous municipalities
(counties). Starting in 2003, the creation of the Caracoles gave
birth to an enormous peaceful and political effort, fed by
alternative schools and clinics, agroecology programs and a direct
(without intermediaries) promissory alternate economy of organic
products.
This ejido space (with presidential resolution favorable but not
executed) is that which the EZLN calls "recuperated lands," not only
in its agrarian aspect but also in terms of social management. Today,
with URCI, the Opddic and even finqueros whose old ownerships were
paid a good price by the government, it is once again threatened and,
in spite of the cancellation of the agrarian distribution by Salinas
in 1992, is now on the path to legali- zation through the Agrarian
legal office for the benefit of these new usurpers. What is in play,
therefore, is a return of the old prewar owners to the status quo
ante. The victims are not just Zapatistas, but also the rest of the
campesinos not affiliated with the EZLN, also beneficiaries of the
plural management of the Caracoles.
______________________________________________________________
--Apple-Mail-1--400128273
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
charsetWINDOWS-1252
Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada
March 24, 2007
www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/03/24/index.php?sectionopinion&article021a2pol
Translation: Mary Ann Tenuto-Sa'nchez
__________________________________
Andre's Aubry/ I
Chiapas: The New Face of the War
<SPAN class"Apple-tab-span" style"white-space:pre"> </SPAN>The new pollution
that disturbs what is called the conflict zone is due to old actors that
changed tactics, gave themselves a new face and other names: URCI and Opddic.
Before identifying them and analyzing the worrisome, profound and dangerous
transformation of the Lacando'n Jungle's new panorama, it's important to
traverse the process from its beginnings to the recent situation revealed by
the spate of communique's that emanated not from the General Command but from
the Good Government Juntas of all their Caracoles. The current objective of
the counterinsurgency presents itself as a disturbance of the territorial
geography, to return to their old owners "the recuperated lands" or those
progressively liberated by the EZLN since the times of their clandestinity.
Dispute over the "recuperated lands"
<SPAN class"Apple-tab-span" style"white-space:pre"> </SPAN>Before the conflict
broke out, the owners of the Jungle were successively the lumber camps for
looting the forest's wealth, the chicleros, the unconstitutional large estates
progressively converted into cattle ranches, the drug traffickers and 400
Lacando'n finally "concentrated" by Echeverri'a in what now is the national
Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. Between these empires existed wilderness
spaces, the national lands, which were offered to migrations of landless
campesinos with the promulgation of "the opening of the agricultural frontier"
by Jose' Lo'pez Portillo. The EZLN was born in this space in 1983.
<SPAN class"Apple-tab-span" style"white-space:pre"> </SPAN>In the second half
of the six-year term of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the Zapatistas were already
a powerful movement, although clandestine, and towards it converged thousands
of migrants who aspired to make the jungle theirs, cradle of civilization,
forming there new ejidos with cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, never
finalized. The EZLN presented itself as a defensive army, to protect them from
the old owners; that is to say, just as president La'zaro Ca'rdenas had given
weapons to the campesinos to defend their first ejidos and rural schools a long
time ago, so the EZLN progressively cleaned the jungle of those who had usurped
it.
<SPAN class"Apple-tab-span" style"white-space:pre"> </SPAN>The first to go
were the narcos (drug dealers), therefore the police (always present now) did
away with their weapons, offering them without problem to the Zapatistas,
because they confused them with the cattle ranchers' pistoleros (hired guns),
but didn't sell them (illegally of course) without prior training of their
clients. Thus began a bad time for the cattle ranchers but also a good one for
the campesinos: they were recuperating land with ejidos in formation until
Salinas, in 1992, reforming Article 27 of the Constitution, declared that no
longer would land be distributable. Under pressure from January 1, 1994, the
large cattle ranchers also abandoned the Jungle.
<SPAN class"Apple-tab-span" style"white-space:pre"> </SPAN>Since then, the
EZLN initiated its public phase. To create the conditions of the first peace
dialogue, that in the Cathedral, the commissioner Camacho's diplomacy achieved
creating a "gray zone," without soldiers (grosso modo, that of the former
national lands), in exchange for which the EZLN released former governor
Absalo'n Castellanos Dominguez. Sub- sequently, the tragic day of February 9,
1995 happened, which endangered the truce pacted January 12 of the previous
year. On March 11, the Law of Dialogue
was promulgated, which made possible another dialogue, that of San Andre's.
Camacho's gray zone, but without it in that new circumstance, was converted
into the space in which the EZLN, in accordance with the new law, were
transforming themselves from an armed movement into a "political force," with
the progressive and peaceful creation of the Zapatista autonomous
municipalities (counties). Starting in 2003, the creation of the Caracoles gave
birth to an enormous peaceful and political effort, fed by alternative schools
and clinics, agroecology programs and a direct (without intermediaries)
promissory alternate economy of organic products.
<SPAN class"Apple-tab-span" style"white-space:pre"> </SPAN>This ejido space
(with presidential resolution favorable but not executed) is that which the
EZLN calls "recuperated lands," not only in its agrarian aspect but also in
terms of social management. Today, with URCI, the Opddic and even finqueros
whose old ownerships were paid a good price by the government, it is once again
threatened and, in spite of the cancellation of the agrarian distribution by
Salinas in 1992, is now on the path to legali- zation through the Agrarian
legal office for the benefit of these new usurpers. What is in play,
therefore, is a return of the old prewar owners to the status quo ante. The
victims are not just Zapatistas, but also the rest of the campesinos not
affiliated with the EZLN, also beneficiaries of the plural management of the
Caracoles.
______________________________________________________________
--Apple-Mail-1--400128273--
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