------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the April 5, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- SPARKED BY ZAPATISTAS: CIVIL-RIGHTS MOVEMENT SWEEPS MEXICO By Teresa Gutierrez Mexico City Cati went to enormous lengths on March 23 to try and see the Zapatistas. A 14-year-old Mestizo girl, she lives deep in the poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Mexico City--the colonias. Her neighborhood is far from any Metro stop. That can be quite a hardship when you live in a sprawling city of 20 million people. Cati has to walk several blocks just to catch a bus to the Metro. She is poor and has no money to travel into the city. But nothing could stop her from taking part in the historic mass movement that is currently gripping all of Mexico. Defying her family and friends, who thought she was crazy, she found her way to the Mexican Congress where she believed the Zapatistas would be that day. She stood in the hot sun for three hours waiting for a rally or a glimpse of anyone from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Sadly, it so happened that a mass rally of several thousands to support the EZLN had taken place there the day before. But she was undaunted. When she met two North Americans who were also looking for a Zapatista rally, she attached herself to them like glue. She showed them her wrinkled and worn notebook that held dozens of clippings of Subcommander Marcos, pictures carefully cut out of newspapers and magazines, in all shapes and sizes. She stuck with the North Americans all day and late into the evening as they made their way to the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the place where the Zapatistas were camping out during their stay in Mexico. Her perseverance paid off. A MASS CIVIL-RIGHTS MOVEMENT Cati is but one small example of the mass awakening now sweeping Mexico. Over seven years ago, the EZLN burst onto the political arena in the southern state of Chiapas. The upsurge of primarily Indigenous people inspired not only Mexicans and hundreds of other Indigenous nations in the country but the entire world. Despite the presence of 20,000 troops in the southern part of the country, the EZLN remains a progressive and revolutionary force in Mexico. It has not claim ed to be a guerrilla movement organizing for armed struggle, but has survived heavy government repression to become a significant and historical mass movement for civil rights in a crucial Latin American country. Such a movement is considered a threat by U.S. imperialism, especially since it is right next door. This is another reason why progressives in the United States should thoroughly support this mass movement. The Zapatistas' long march from Chiapas into Mexico City in March showed once again that the Indigenous people are a force to be reckoned with. Despite brutal repression and harsh economic conditions, the Indigenous of Mexico, along with millions of campesinos or farmers, have not been silenced. They remain united and strong. They, along with other broad sectors of Mexican society inspired by the EZLN, proved to the new governments in both Mexico City and Washington that a stunning mass movement has arisen. For this reason, the government was forced to concede to the demand that the EZLN be allowed to address the Mexican Congress. Try to imagine the Congress of the United States allowing representatives of the American Indian Movement or supporters of Leonard Peltier to come before them. That would be a glorious moment for Indian people in this country as well as for the whole progressive movement. It would be a reflection of revolutionary times in the United States, a moment that cannot come soon enough. On March 22 the Mexican Congress voted on whether to let the Zapatistas address them. The vote was 220 in favor, 210 against. The Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), formerly the government party until voted out last summer for the first time in 70 years, voted with the social- democratic Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) to defeat the incumbent National Action Party (PAN). The EZLN is expected to address the Congress on March 28. One main issue they will take up is the 1996 San Andreas accords, which agree on important rights for the Indigenous peoples of Mexico. OTHER INDIGENOUS PEOPLES UNITE WITH EZLN Workers World spoke to some of the Indigenous people participating in the historic caravan who had been camping out at UNAM. Roberto and Joaquina are leaders in the Alliance of the Mazahua Otomi Indigenous People. They live not far from Mexico City in a town called San Antonio de la Laguna. Roberto said they had been active for Indigenous rights in their area for a very long time. Then in 1994 they heard in the media about the uprising in Chiapas. It sounded so much like what they were struggling for in the alliance, he said. They felt the EZLN struggle coincided with theirs. So they approached the Zapatistas and asked for more information. They have since joined with the EZLN so "we could unite our voices, reclaim our history, our constitution, and so we can have self-determination." These leaders said they felt immense joy along the route from Chiapas to Mexico City. Since 1994, they said, they no longer feel alone. Roberto and Joaquina look forward to seeing their rights defended in the Mexican Constitution--one of the main demands of the current movement. Roberto said it would be a "big event." He said that only then can they know there is respect for their forms of organization, their culture, language and territory. Their biggest problem is that the government has never taken them into account. When asked to give a message to the people of the United States, Roberto said: "We send the people of the U.S. greetings. Our support is for you, too. The people there unite with the same voices as ours to demand freedom for the political prisoners in your country who are unjustly jailed just for raising their voices. "Continue struggling, continue organizing," he said, "because it is through organizing that we change things. Don't get discouraged, give it your all." When the most oppressed of a society echo such words, you know the seeds of revolutionary struggle have been planted in fertile ground. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
