And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 06:22:33 -0600 (CST) >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Chiapas95-english) >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: En;GX response to Washington Post editorial, Dec 4 > >This message is forwarded to you as a service of Zapatistas Online. > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 22:52:31 -0600 >To: chiapas95 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: GX's response to Tuesday's Washington Post editorial > >Dear subscribers, > >Please find below Global Exchange's response to Tuesday's Washington Post >editorial on Chiapas conflict. > >The letter to the editor follows the original editorial. > > >The Comandantes' War > >Washington Post >Tuesday, December 1, 1998; Page A24 > >THE WORLD PRESS snapped up the Zapatista rebel movement when its leaders >wearing black ski masks surfaced in Mexico's remote and desperate Chiapas >province and, thinking big, demanded the removal of an elected president >and the surrender of an undefeated army. Five years later, though the >president and army remain on the scene, "Chiapas" has come to mean not >simply a particular insurrection but also a condition of disorder mocking >the country's capacity to govern. Chiapas is in Mexico, but the disorder it >exemplifies is found in many parts of the world and gives many others >reason to keep a nervous eye on how things are unfolding at the scene of >the real thing. > >The insurgents have been able to sustain a local physical presence, and an >international media presence, but have done little to improve life for >their constituencies among the poor and indigenous. This suggests the >tenacity of the popular grievances on which the movement feeds. > >It suggests as well the difficulties of the Mexican government. The >government portrays Chiapas as a political conflict with some violence. The >comandantes portray it as a continuing class war with some dialogue. For >the government, the purpose of the dialogue is to gain the time and space >to advance its reforms. But the guerrillas repudiate the official mediators >and use the fitful dialogue to string the authorities along. > >The Zapatista leadership is devoted to a primitive Marxism at odds with >what the rest of the world has learned about change in the 20th century. >The alienation of the 35 percent Mayan Indian population in Chiapas is >centuries old. But President Ernesto Zedillo, struggling to modernize, is >forced to rely on the same corrupt ruling party, the PRI, blamed for >paramilitary outbursts like the one that left 45 indigenous dead, and no >one punished, at Acteal a year ago. > >Many Mexicans, though they may not agree on a prescription in Chiapas the >place, understand that "Chiapas" the anarchic condition compels urgent >engagement. The Zedillo government, which says that in Mexico political and >social change cannot be achieved by force of arms, needs to listen to its >own advice. > > CR Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company > >In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,this material is distributed >without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest. >This information is for non-profit research and education purpuses only. > > ><><><><><><><><><> > >December 4, 1998 > >Dear Editor > >I am writing in response to your editorial, The Comandantes's War, >published on Tuesday, December 1st. > >I would just like to point out a number of errors and ommissions that we >have perceived regarding your analysis of the Chiapas conflict. > >1. Firstly, you are correct to state that the Zapatistas "have done little >to improve life for their constituents among the poor and indigenous," and >that this is due to "the tenacity of the popular grievances on which the >movement feeds." > >There is no doubt that desperate poverty was the driving force behind the >initial uprising by indigenous communities against the Federal Government >in Chiapas in January 1994. The violent insurrection followed decades of >peaceful, democratic struggle for indigenous rights by communities that >have some of the worst infant mortality rates in the country, a fact >reinforced in a recent report by the Galileo group, a faction of >progressive PRI deputies in the Mexican Congress. Citing the worsening >poverty statistics in Chiapas, the report blamed the conflict on the >appalling socio-economic conditions that persist. > >During the last five years, the Zapatistas have been unable to reverse the >declining living standards of their communities largely due to the low >intensity war that the government has waged against the insurgent's support >bases since the peace negotiations broke down three years ago. > >Since the massacre at Acteal last December, Global Exchange and other human >rights organizations have documented the systematic incursion of rebel >communities by federal troops in clear violation of the dialogue laws >established to promote the peace process in March 1995. The federal troops, >who are under the direct command of the Mexican Presidency, have used these >incursions to steal property, massacre livestock, destroy crops and homes, >and generally terrify the insurgent population. This is has had a >devastating effect on the health and livelihoods of affected communities >who are often unable to go about their daily business unmolested. Many >suffer from chronic mental disorders. > >2. Paragraph three of the editorial claims that the "The comandantes >portray [the conflict] as a class war with some dialogue." > >At no point in the five year conflict have the EZLN portrayed the it as a >"class war." If anything they have made stringent efforts to clarify that >their's is an indigenous uprising based on a legitimate demand for >indigenous and basic rights. A fact acknowledged by the federal government >when it recognized the EZLN as a legitimate belligerent force "of dissident >Mexicans" in the dialogue laws mentioned above. > >In August this year, a national opinion poll by the Rosenblueth Foundation >indicated that more Mexicans (44%) recognize the EZLN as legitimately >representing the interests of indigenous people than don't (40%). And this >despite a concerted propaganda campaign by the powerful PRI-controlled >media to discredit the Zapatista movement as being dominated by foreign >interests, including foreign human rights observers. > >3. Paragraph four states that "The Zapatista leadership is devoted to a >primitive Marxism at odds with what the rest of the world has learned about >change in the 20th Century." > >Throughout their short history as an insurgent and now political movement, >the Zapatistas have demonstrated, at first through their written >declarations, and later through their negotiations with the government and >Mexican civil society, that they have developed a very subtle and >intelligent analysis of the problems facing Mexico, and its indigenous >population in particular. > >One of the greatest achievements of EZLN has been its ability to focus the >international community on the devastating effects of uncontrolled >financial globalization on the survival of indigenous communites, not just >in Mexico, but in the whole of Latin America, if not the world. To this >end, they have hosted several international conferences, such as the >"Meeting Against Neo-liberalism and for Humanity." The event, which took >place at the EZLN headquarters in La Realidad, was attended by thousands of >concerned Mexican and international citizens. The Zapatistas have >understood from their own experience the proliferation of problems that can >result from a globalized economy that is based on the interests of capital, >not communities. > >They have also demonstrated a sophisticated analysis of the problems facing >Mexico as a whole at the end of this century. In particular, they have >brought attention to the urgent need for a more inclusive, participative, >and listening form of democratic government that serves the interests of >all sectors of society, not just the financial and commercial interests of >the few. This is not a narrow "Marxist" position as you suggest, but rather >one that is shared by a wide range of political opinion in Mexico about the >need for democratic reform. The recent Fobaproa scandal (where Mexican >bankers linked to the ruling PRI helped themselves to millions of dollars >of public funds) is just one example of the urgency for this kind of reform. > >4. In paragraph four you kindly let Zedillo off the hook by putting all the >blame on the PRI party machine for corruption and the massacre at Acteal. >But surely it is the responsibility of the President to stamp out >corruption in his government, something that Zedillo, "the modernizer," has >clearly failed to do. The lack of action on punishing those guilty of the >Fobaproa fraud, plus his unwillingness to sack the ministers responsible, >demonstrate little interest in either modernization or a serious interest >in combatting corruption in his own party. > >As for Acteal, several Mexican human rights organizations have condemned >the role of the Federal Army in the training and arming of anti-Zapatista >paramilitary groups. The massacre could not have taken place without the >direct collusion, or at the very least, protective presence of the Mexican >Army. One of the justifications for maintaining approximately one third of >the Federal Army in Chiapas has been to disarm the kind of paramilitary >groups that attacked Acteal. One year on, despite the identification of 12 >pro-government paramilitary groups in Chiapas, the army has failed to >disarm or disband a single one of these groups. > >The American public especially needs a careful analysis of this situation, >given the role which the U.S. government has played in the Chiapas conflict >through millions of dollars of military aid to the Mexican army and the >training of hundreds of Mexican army officers, including many destined for >active duty in Chiapas. > > > >Yours respectfully, > > >David Huey >Chiapas Coordinator >Global Exchange > > >------------------------------------- >Global Exchange >2017 Mission St., Rm. 303 >San Francisco, CA 94110 >Phone: 415.255.7296 Fax: 415.255.7498 > http://www.globalexchange.org >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe from this mailing list send mail to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >with the word "unsubscribe" in the body. > > > >-- >To unsubscribe from this list send a message containing the words >unsubscribe chiapas95 to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Previous messages >are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html >or gopher://eco.utexas.edu. > &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment ...http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"`
