Zapatistas, La Realidad

[jya@xxxxxxxxxxxx (John Young)]

   The New York Times, August 7, 1996, p. A3.


   For Zapatistas, Talk Turns to Unarmed Struggle

   By Julia Preston


   La Realidad, Mexico, Aug. 3 -- About 2,000 sympathizers of
   the Zapatista rebels came from around the world to meet for
   three days on a plain of oozing mud in an Indian hamlet in
   southern Mexico to ruminate about the shortcomings of
   capitalism.

   Leftists from 43 nations bathed in a turbid river and slept
   in string hammocks under tin-roof shelters that barely kept
   out the warm jungle downpour. In free-form debates that
   stretched into dawn hours they denounced the global trend
   toward free trade economic policies and brainstormed about
   carrying the Zapatista cause to their home countries.

   The gathering, which ended on Saturday, was a high moment
   for the masked Indian guerrillas and their enigmatic
   leader, Subcommander Marcos, who stunned Mexico with an
   armed uprising on New Year's Day 1994. But as the
   participants of this conference slithered through the rainy
   season bog, the conclave also became an example of the
   trouble the Zapatistas are having in holding the political
   ground they seized in their one-week war.

   Their motley military force long ago ceased to pose any
   threat to the Mexican Government, if ever it did. Now they
   are holed up in distant rain forest canyons in the state of
   Chiapas, struggling to build on the fame and credibility
   they gained from the rebellion to mobilize an unarmed
   nationwide opposition movement.

   In their ambition to grow, the Zapatistas organized a
   series of colorful conventions in Chiapas in recent months
   that brought together leftist intellectuals and activists
   to talk about political reform in Mexico.

   Subcommander Marcos himself unstrapped his automatic rifle
   and traveled unarmed to a city outside the jungle to
   preside over some of the sessions. The meetings kept
   Zapatista leaders in the media spotlight and insured a
   steady flow of high-profile visitors through the Indian
   communities they control.

   But these communities, in whose name the uprising was
   fought, by and large are still waiting to see the
   improvements in their lives that the Zapatistas said they
   hoped to bring.

   As usual, the Zapatistas' strategy is novel. Rebel armies
   in Central America, like the contras the United States
   sponsored in Nicaragua or the leftist guerrillas in El
   Salvador, waited until the ink was dry on comprehensive
   peace accords before disarming and going into above-ground
   politics.

   The Zapatistas, who have been in negotiations with the
   Government of President Ernesto Zedillo since October 1995,
   are not waiting for a formal peace before starting to
   change into an unarmed movement. In 1995 they conducted a
   poll on the Internet to ask Mexicans what they wanted the
   rebels to do. A majority of 1.5 million people who answered
   by E-mail said the Zapatistas should give up fighting and
   become a grassroots organization. So in a declaration they
   issued from the Chiapas jungle on Jan. 6, they said they
   would.

   "The Government is capable of stalling the talks for years
   -- we have to move forward in spite of them," said Javier
   Elorriaga, a journalist who was jailed for more than a year
   for his ties to the Zapatistas and is now in charge of
   organizing their nonmilitary front as a "landing field" for
   the guerrillas after peace is reached.

   On paper at least, the front is growing quickly. More than
   400 civilian Zapatista committees have been organized,
   covering virtually all of Mexico. With their knack for
   communications, the Zapatistas linked together their
   civilian supporters through an Internet network. They are
   ready to go to CD-ROM format, making discs that would allow
   their followers to visit them in their jungle strongholds
   via computer without having to wade in the mud of this
   village, whose name means "Reality" in Spanish.

   But the description Subcommander Marcos and top Indian
   commanders have provided of the purpose of the civilian
   front is so vague that even Mr. Elorriaga is not sure how
   to describe what it does. The commanders have mandated only
   that front members cannot run for political office or
   aspire to Government positions, and they must, of course,
   support the Zapatistas' eclectic socialist cause.

   "It's a rainbow," was as concise as Mr. Elorriaga could be.

   The Zapatistas made an alliance with an organization of
   bank debtors and emerged as Mexico's most effective popular
   movement during the recession of 1995. The biggest left-of-
   center political party, the Party of the Democratic
   Revolution, flirted with the rebels but then pulled back.
   No Zapatista front group has yet staged a protest action
   that has gained any attention.

   The rebels are working hard on their civilian power base
   partly to leave no doubt about their commitment to
   nonviolence. They stuck to their position even when a new
   masked and armed group claiming to be leftist guerrillas
   appeared in the western state of Guerrero in June.
   Subcommander Marcos carefully distanced his rebels from the
   Guerrero group, denying there were any ties.

   But Zapatista leaders are aware that the Government wins
   and they lose as the peace talks drag on over time. [A new
   round of talks began Tuesday in a Chiapas village.]

   "It seems the Government delegation is just there to give
   the appearance of dialogue," Subcommander Marcos told
   reporters here. "It makes us think those talks are bound to
   be a failure, and our stay up here in the jungle will be
   much longer than we thought."

   The rebels say they cannot build a powerful opposition
   group unless they can move around Mexico. While talks are
   under way all arrest warrants and military operations
   against them are suspended, but they must remain in the
   territory they control. They want to hold a demonstration
   in Mexico City, but the Government has denied their demands
   for safe conduct.

   As a result of donations the Zapatistas attracted through
   their international ties, La Realidad and several
   communities like it have electricity for the first time.
   The Zapatista presence finally convinced the Government to
   fix the treacherous road into this village -- primarily so
   army vehicles could get through.

   A partial accord the Zapatistas signed in February called
   for an overhaul of the justice system in Chiapas to give
   fairer representation to Indians. But that pact has yet to
   produce changes that can be felt in the communities.

   Meanwhile, within the Zapatistas' army there is a sense
   they are still short of their goals -- and there is
   resistance to leaving the armed struggle.

   Commander Trini -- the highest-ranking Zapatista woman --
   gave a fiery answer when asked what she thought of the
   proposed transformation.

   "Our weapons are our treasure," she said. "As long as we
   have them we are not ever going to give them up."

   [Photo] About 2,000 sympathizers of the Zapatista rebels
   met in La Realidad, a Mexican village, last week. They were
   entertained by a group of musicians playing traditional
   instruments, including a cow's jawbone.

   [Photo] Commando Tacho, left, and Commander David of the
   Zapatista army attended a new round of talks with the
   Mexican government yesterday.

   [Two maps] Zapatistas seemed weaker politically at the
   talks in Realidad.

   [End]

   To see photos:

      http://pwp.usa.pipeline.com/~jya/zap.jpg

   For anonymity, access the site via:

      http://www.anonymizer.com








     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---