AUT: Cross-posting to Chiapas Lists (fwd)

[Spoon Collective <spoons@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sisters and Brothers:

I am writing to you as one of the moderators of the Chiapas95 lists which
were created to accelerate the circulation of information and organization
around the struggle for indigenous rights and democracy in Chiapas and
Mexico more generally.

Because we recognize the need to weave a web of cooperation and
collaboration among all indigenous people --both within Mexico and
throughout the world-- and between the indigenous and others struggling
for life against the exploitation and repression of the planetary work
machine (capitalism), we subscribe to several lists devoted to indigenous
struggles in the US and Canada. Whenever we can see important linkages or
possible linkages between struggles in Mexico and those elsewhere we cross
post messages from these lists to the Chiapas95 lists. We also subscribe
to a certain number of other lists which deal with non-indigenous
struggles.

However....

Over the last two years we have come to understand two things very
clearly:

First, the flow of information is enormous and increasing every
day, to the point where no one can possibly cope with it all, even as a
full time effort, even as a dedicated activist who takes information from
the Net into the streets and other forms of mobilization. We have been led
by repeated requests from activist-subscribers to create a Chiapas95-lite
list, which contains ONLY material dealing with Chiapas (and thus much
less than the main Chiapas95 list) and then, more recently, a
Chiapas95-english list which contains ONLY material in English on
Chiapas (leaving out the mass of postings in Spanish and thus carrying
even less material).

As the number of activists grows and the number of
contributions to the Net grow with them, as web sites multiply and more
and more groups of those in struggle come on-line, this situation is going
to get more and more problematic. It is not hard to forsee the day, not so
far off historically speaking, where virtually every struggle of all
peoples will find expression and connection through the Net to others. We
are well on our way towards building that "Network of Alternative
Communication and Struggle" that the Zapatistas called for at the
Intercontinental Encounter in the Summer of 1996. The problem is how are
we to manage all this?

Second, although we can sometimes perceive direct connections between
struggles elsewhere in the world and those in Chiapas the form in which
postings are created is often designed for those directly involved in
the struggle at hand and not for others and therefore not in a form which
makes the connections readily apparent. From time to time we can write a
brief introductory note explaining the relevance for those preoccupied
with the fight in Chiapas, but not always. Either we just don't have the
time, or we don't have the understanding necessary.

Therefore, we see the need for individuals, or small groups of
individuals, to stand at the Internet interface between struggles and to
take responsibility for interpreting/explaining the linkages
that exist or can be constructed. Just as "organizing" in the
non-cyberspacial regular world requires people to make concrete links
among groups in struggle by meeting face to face and exchanging
information so as to come to the same or complementary conclusions (thus
augmenting the possibilities of complementary action), so too in
cyberspace.

Let me give you an example of such an interface:

During the struggle to save the life of Ken Saro-wiwa, spokesperson for
and activist among the Ogoni people in Southern Nigeria, I worked with a
counterpart in the Nigerian lists. I posted information about the
situation of the Ogoni, about how to help save Ken Saro-wiwa's life, etc.
to the Chiapas95 lists. At the same time my counterpart posted material
about the struggles in Chiapas to the Nigerian lists. In the process we
created and strengthened linkages between the two movements. I was able to
do this because I had some knowledge and familiarity with the Ogoni
struggles. In the effort to save Ken Saro-wiwa's life we failed. He was
murdered along with several other activists by the military junta that
rules Nigeria. But the links we created certainly strengthened both
struggles on either side of the Atlantic.

Clearly there are a great many dimensions of the struggles that we are
involved in and much to be learned and much strength to be gained by
greater familiarity and collaboration among efforts. Moreover, we also
understand quite well that todays struggles encompass people all over
the world who are all, all faced with what those in Latin America call
Neoliberalism --the pro-market, pro-profit, anti-life economic and
political project of accentuating exploitation while attacking
democracy and freedom. We all have at least one common enemy. But,
returning to the first point above, individuals can only process so much
information.

Therefore, we decided to make an appeal to our sisters and
brothers who are deeply engaged in struggles outside of Mexico to consider
the possibility of devoting some time and energy to crafting presentations
of your own struggles to those in Chiapas & Mexico, and to those involved
in their struggles, in such ways as to make the linkages obvious and
clear. We are not talking "official spokespersons" here but rather an
informal effort made by those who see such linkages and feel so inclined
to explain them to those who might not.

As many of you know, since the Acteal Massacre on December 22, 1998, the
situation in Chiapas has reached a new phase. The slaughter of over 40
men, women, children and babies by paramilitary thugs financed, trained
and coordinated by the Mexican government signaled an intensification of
the so-called "low intensity war" aimed at destroying the will of the
Zapatista and pro-zapatista indigenous communities to resist repression.
Currently this on-the-ground repression is being complemented by two other
directions of attack: the detention and deportation of foreign observers
who have born witness to the government's crimes and served as the eyes of
the world to hold those crimes in check, and a public relations campaign
to bolster the government's international image through a hypocritical
proposal to enshine "indigneous rights" through constitutional reforms
which will not ensure them at all.

We have no doubt that while the forms may vary from country to country,
there are many similarities between the repression being carried out in
Chiapas (and elsewhere in Mexico) and that being employed in the US, in
Canada, in Nigeria and in many other countries. So too are there
undoubtedly similarities and differences in the struggles of
resistance to such policies from which we could learn a great
deal where ever we are.  But to learn as much as possible not only must we
study these things locally, we must study them collectively. We must share
(as we have been doing in cyberspace through cross postings) but share in
ways which allow us to get the most out of that sharing. Time and
experience will undoubtedly teach us how to do this ever more effectively,
but only if we make a concerted effort in this direction.

To conclude. We at Chiapas95 hope that in the days to come, we will
receive from those of you involved elsewhere messages and
postings of information about your struggles particularly crafted for
audiences mainly preoccupied with Chiapas & Mexico. At the least this
might consist of introductory paragraphs tacked onto postings aimed at
other audiences, at the most it might consist of entire messages crafted
with the object of building linkages. We are not looking for a large
number of messages --a flood of them would simply overwhelm and not
achieve the desired result-- but for a few, on a regular basis, which
could provide information, build undertanding and tie informal knots in
the web of our struggles.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, please send messages to
chiapas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In solidarity and struggle,

Harry

............................................................................
Harry Cleaver
Department of Economics
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78712-1173  USA
Phone Numbers: (hm)  (512) 478-8427
               (off) (512) 475-8535   Fax:(512) 471-3510
E-mail: hmcleave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cleaver homepage:
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/index.html
Chiapas95 homepage:
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html
Accion Zapatista homepage:
http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave/
............................................................................



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