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January 31, 2005
Oventic, Chiapas, Mexico
The fog and mist ran away with its damp, cold tail between its legs as if it knew what was to happen. After a dripping wet week of weariness the almighty sun scared away the clouds and bounced basketball warmth off the ground. The powerful rays spilled an immense royal orange carpet down the Oventic slope welcoming visitors from lands near and airplane-days-away. Native weathered hands set up open temp-tents with sticks and tarps promising shade by day and shelter by night. Non-familiar feet from afar moseyed around and mingled with other foreign feet. All apendages shed their heavy gear with glee as they became the popcorn balls of energy for this county fair. Their experiences were worlds apart, but they shared an excitement that was as solid as the surrounding mountains. In solidarity, thousands of shades and shapes were making a sober manifest as sweet as the atole they sipped. This symbolic celebration they shared was an out of the extra-ordinary new year's eve festival with a revolutionary dedication to the continuous struggle for indigenous rights...
After suffering colonization and five hundred years of discrimination, hundreds of thousands of indigenous minds and bodies decided they would take a stand to preserve their culture and assert their independence. This persistent people of the Mexican Southeast are the great-Mayan-grandchildren who were so saturated with oppression and poverty that they said "enough is enough" to the Mexican government. In the wee morning hours of January 1st, 1994 armed women and men of the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) took temporary control of five head municipalities of Chiapas, Mexico (more information: zapatista timeline and zapatista rebellion).
The Zapatista revolution was intentionally initiated on the precise day that NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was enacted. Powerful politicians in Canada, United States, and Mexico created this trade negotiation to boost profits and consolidate the global market for large business owners. They aired the NAFTA variety show as a promise for more jobs, increased wealth, and general development for all. However, the NAFTA reality show has revealed the dire consequences imposed on millions of farmers who can not compete with the mammoth companies of the North. Although the Mexico-U.S. border has erupted with low-paying, dangerous jobs for many desparate Mexicans, the fruits of progress and prosperity were only picked by a handful. With eleven years of increased poverty and suffering under its belt, NAFTA is trying to lasso an even larger chunk of the Americas by inviting us to dine with its equally dangerous younger brother CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement). This infamous "race to the bottom" is precisely the kind of unequal trade that concentrates wealth for the few and creates poverty for the more-than-many. The Zapatistas, and millions around the globe, are unanimously and actively rejecting this so-called "development," shouting "No to Neoliberalism!".
The continual selling-out of indigenous campesinos by the Mexican goverment has set the stage for this grave conflict. Contantly betrayed and ignored by the ruling parties, the Zapatistas demand to be recognized as the dignified natives that have cultivated and cared for the land for centuries. To combat the racism that sneers down at indigenous people, the Zapatistas utilize a powerful symbol of rebellion to ruffle the elitist feathers.
Masks are worn symbolically and practically. Decidely the most profound motive is that they, as indigenous campesinos, have been ignored and overlooked for centuries by the modern, developing, mover-n-shaker world. Often in the cities, their dark faces and small frames are valued only as much as the goods they sell. However, when a group of Mayan Indians marches through the streets in ski masks shouting for freedom it makes a vivid statement that they will be heard. The striking sight of a Tzotzil woman's eyes piercing over a masking bandana sends an irrefutable message that she deserves be taken seriously. In public the Zapatistas keep their individuality under wraps to establish a solidarity and equality where all members of the movement enjoy the same importance as any other. Lastly, hiding their defining characteristics is a way of protecting them from government sponsored assassinations. And as many Zapatistas would tell you, it will also keep you warm in the frigid mountain air.
Since their symbolic uprising in 1994, the Zapatistas have concentrated heavily on strengthening their communities by taking autonomous control of feeding, healing, educating, and governing themselves with respect for their own customs and ideals. With the Juntas de Buen Gobierno (Good Government Councils) located in five Caracoles (social-organizing centers) the Zapatistas have established a radical alternative to the goverment's ruling thumb. Currently they democratically declare and practice autonomy in approximately thirty municipalities thoughout the state of Chiapas. In this way their collective vision is expressed proudly and deliberately with their desire to create "one world in which many worlds are possible." Their firm stance is not to rise up and take political power, but to allow for diverse voices to be seen as legitimate and important. It is in this way that they have encouraged repressed discontents all over the globe to support, learn from, and stand up with them to fight for justice in their respective movements.
...We laughed in the 2005th new year with a couple thousand dancing Zapatistas and esteemed guests. Bands presented a mix of religious hymns, popular ranchero music, and revolutionary songs until an hour before sunrise. Some retired in sleepy droves to the rustic barn auditorium to locate a nest among the hundreds. They shared blankets for the cold and nestled themselves into cozy sleeping nooks. Even after the tunes had been laid to bed, people loitered around drinking hot coffee and hovering over their campfires. When the sun announced the new day, locals had already broke camp and returned to their humble homes and precious lands. The few remaining visitors stuffed their packs and left with strengthened hearts ready to handle the heavy load.
