[PEN-L:11150] Zapatista Election Statement

[Michael Eisenscher <meisenscher@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

 (fwd)
*ZAPATISMO NEWS UPDATE*--July 5, 1997

A service of the Zapatista Front of National Liberation.

More information regarding the FZLN and the Zapatista struggle in Mexico
can be found at:
        http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln  (English)
        http://spin.com.mx/~floresu/FZLN  (Spanish)

This and previous news updates can also be found at:
http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln/news.html

Please send comments to: joshua@xxxxxxxx

   ____________________________________________________________________

    SPECIAL PRE-ELECTORAL NEWS UPDATE (JUNE 22 - JULY 5, 1997):

   1. Many indigenous communities will refrain from voting in the
        elections: EZLN and CNI
   2. The effect of the elections on the peace process,
        "uncertain": CONAI
   3. Mexican Army to stay in its barracks on July 6th
   4. Paramilitary violence continues in the north of Chiapas

     _________________________________________________________________

         EZLN: Many Indigenous Communities will Refrain from Voting

   In a lengthy communique dated July 1st, Subcomandante Marcos announced
   that, due to the "climate of civil war promoted by the government", as
   well as the failure of the government to implement the San Andres
   Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture (which include a recognition
   of the right of indigenous communities to practice their own forms of
   electing leaders and representatives) and the militarization of
   indigenous communities across the country, the Zapatista Army of
   National Liberation supports those indigenous communities who have
   decided not participate in the July 6th elections.

   In response to criticisms received by the EZLN for its relative
   silence in recent months regarding the electoral process, the 7-page
   document also clearly spells out the EZLN's position and political
   proposal with respect to electoral democracy in general:

       "In electoral moments or outside of them, our political position is
       and has been clear. We are not in favor of any political party, but
       neither are we against them; we are not electoral, but neither are we
       anti-electoral. Our position is against the State-party system, it is
       against presidentialism, it is for democracy, liberty and justice,
       it is of the left, it is inclusive, and it is anti-neoliberal.

       "There have been many criticisms which we have received for this
       position of seeking to construct "another" politics, and there
       have been many attempts to dilute or politically "normalize" those
       non-partisan civilian manifestations. The case of Alianza Civica,
       which would have had to renounce its right of electoral
       observation in exchange for its "registration" as a political
       association, is a sample of the monopoly which exists in politics.
       The political parties (and some intellectuals, found today in the
       presidency of the Federal Electoral Institute), view every
       non-partisan proposal as if it were really partisan.

       "But the "other" politics does not seek to occupy the space of
       party politics; it is born from the crisis of the parties and
       tends to occupy the space which is not covered by partisan tasks.
       The "other" politics seeks to organize itself in order to
       "overturn" the logic of party politics, and seeks to construct a
       new relationship between the Nation and its parts: citizens who
       have the right to be full-time citizens, differentiated and
       specific, united by a history and by that which arises from that
       history. This new relationship involves the government as well as
       the political parties, the communications media, the churches, the
       army, private business, the police, the Judicial Power, as well as
       the Congress of the Union."

       (...)

       "Democracy is not only electoral, but it is also electoral. The
       electoral arena does not just refer to the confrontation of
       candidates and/or political proposals at the ballot box. It also
       has to do with the viability of that route, the equitable
       conditions it demands, and the relationship of the elected
       officials with the electors...

       "Democracy is not the alternating of Power. If the political
       system continues to exclude its citizens, if it continues to
       "kidnap" political tasks, if the only thing achieved is a
       "widening" or "alternating" of the leadership of authoritarianism
       (yesterday one-party, tomorrow bi- or tri-party), then democracy
       will continue to be out of reach of the citizens and other forms
       of struggle which are non-partisan, including the armed struggle,
       will continue to be not only a possibility but a reality in any
       Mexican mountain or street."

   With respect to the current electoral process, culminating on July
   6th, Marcos explains the position of the CCRI-CG of the EZLN:

       "If, in some places, the vote represents a possibility of rebellion
       and a blow against the Mexican political system, the citizen
       should exercise at the ballot box his or her right to say "Ya
       basta!" to the politics which leads us to war and national
       disintegration.

       "If, in other parts, the vote is only the legitimation of
       authoritarianism, in addition to facilitating and complying with
       the imprisoned conditions of entire communities, then the citizen
       can abstain and demand, in exchange, new and better political and
       social conditions, not only for voting, but for living, not only
       to be citizens for a day, but at all times.

       "In the Mexican south and southeast (particularly in the states of
       Hidalgo, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas), the indigenous and rural
       Mexico lives in an authentic state of siege, and the specific
       needs and affairs of the indigenous peoples in terms of government
       and culture are ignored by the current political system and its
       parties. The militarization in indigenous zones makes normal life
       impossible; there can be no planting, walking, meetings, commerce,
       washing clothes. Now the Mexican political system attempts to
       simulate a return to normality in those zones, but only for a few
       hours so that voting may occur. Afterwards, all will return as it
       was. For this reason, Zapatista and non-Zapatista indigenous
       communities of the Mexican south and southeast have decided not to
       participate in the upcoming electoral process for three
       fundamental reasons:

            "First.- As a protest against the militarization and the climate
            of civil war promoted by the local and federal governments.

            "Second.- As a protest against the failure to implement the
            San Andres Accords, signed by the federal government, which
            recognize the democratic rights of the indigenous peoples.

            "Third.- As a call of attention to the political parties
            which have ignored the particular social and political
            reality of indigenous Mexicans, and who only address
            themselves to them during electoral times, and/or to attempt
            to make up for, with deals and compromises, their lack of
            serious proposals and political work in the heart of the
            national indigenous movement.

       "How can this decision of the indigenous communities be called
       into question, and who can object to it? On what basis can these
       communities be called to vote when they don't even live in normal
       conditions? Can they be asked to pretend a civic normality for one
       day, and then be told to return to a situation of daily terror for
       the rest of the year?

       "The EZLN supports the decision of these indigenous communities,
       many of whom live in rebel resistance, as well as the decision
       taken by citizens who can freely exercise their right to vote."


   The diagnostic of the EZLN regarding the conditions for elections has
   been supported by a wide variety of human rights groups and civic
   organizations as well.

   The Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, the Coalition of
   Non-Governmental Organizations for Peace (CONPAZ), the Fray Bartolome
   de las Casas Human Rights Center, the Civilian Democracy Movement
   (MDC), and the urban neighborhood movement in San Cristobal (BACOSAN)
   all coincided this week in that the conditions simply do not exist for
   free and fair elections in Chiapas.

   The Diocese of San Cristobal, in a joint communique issued with the
   Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center, asked the state and
   federal authorities last week to "officially recognize the grave
   situation which exists in various zones of Chiapas, and which make the
   realization of truly free and democratic elections impossible".

   For its part, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) pointed out in a
   communique this week that due to the increased militarization and
   repression against indigenous communities all over the country, there
   is little chance that the elections can be carried out in a fair
   manner in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Veracruz. The
   CNI further adds that for these reasons, abstentionism in indigenous
   communities is likely to be very high on a national level, and not
   only in Chiapas.

   ABSTENTIONISM AND PARTICIPATION

   The indigenous communities in Chiapas that have announced they will
   not vote in the July 6th elections (or, in some cases, will refuse to
   allow the installation of ballot boxes) include the majority of
   Zapatista communities in the Lacandon Jungle; the civilian Zapatistas
   in dozens of communities of the northern municipalities of Chenalho
   and Pantelho; and the EZLN and/or PRD supporters in the municipalities
   of Amatan and Nicolas Ruiz. The PRI militants of San Juan Chamula and
   the PRD/EZLN supporters of San Andres Sacamch'en de los Pobres
   (Larrainzar), on the other hand, have both reversed earlier decisions
   to boycott the vote, and announced on July 4th that they will
   participate in the elections.

   The autonomous social organizations active in southeast Chiapas,
   meanwhile, are divided on whether or not to participate. The Emiliano
   Zapata Campesino Organization (OCEZ) has called for a full boycott,
   and has blocked highways in the municipalities of Comitan and
   Tapachula in recent days, signalling that fair elections in Chiapas
   are impossible as long as the militarization continues and the
   government refuses to implement the San Andres Accords.

   The Coalition of Autonomous Organizations of Ocosingo (COAO), for its
   part, has made a last-minute decision to participate in the elections.
   The COAO--made up primarily of civilian Zapatistas, PRD supporters,
   and members of the ARIC-Independiente credit union in six
   municipalities in and near the Lacandon Jungle--had boycotted the last
   elections in Chiapas, in 1995. While the COAO acknowledges that the
   conditions do not exist in Chiapas for the realization of free and
   fair elections, the organization manifested its support for Tzeltal
   candidate Nicolas Lopez Gomez, an indigenous leader and civilian
   Zapatista supporter, running on the PRD ticket for federal deputy.
   According to an analysis conducted by La Jornada journalist Juan
   Balboa, a boycott of the COAO--the second largest indigenous
   organization in the region, after the EZLN--would probably result in
   an abstention rate greater than 80% in the third electoral district of
   Chiapas. However, the participation of the COAO--with a membership
   close to 25,000--will likely lead to a victory for Lopez Gomez, with a
   difference of 1,000 or 2,000 votes over the PRI candidate in the zone
   (assuming that the 20,000 soldiers of the Mexican Army in the district
   cast their votes for the PRI).

                    ___________________________________


   THE EFFECT OF THE ELECTIONS ON THE PEACE PROCESS, "UNCERTAIN": CONAI

   Gonzalo Ituarte, technical secretary of the National Intermediation
   Commission (CONAI), told the press this week that "no matter what, the
   July 6th elections and their results will have an effect on the
   dialogue process, although we do not know in what form".

   Responding to the "hopes" of some officials and politicians that the
   peace talks between the government and the EZLN will be renewed
   "automatically" once the elections are over, Ituarte warned that "it
   won't be a quick jump, because the conditions which caused the
   suspension of the San Andres Dialogue have still not been resolved".

   For his part, Gerardo Gonzalez, director of the Coalition of
   Non-Governmental Organizations for Peace (CONPAZ), mentioned that the
   elections "represent a variable that could facilitate the
   dialogue"--if the results lead to the implementation of the San Andres
   Accords and the remaining conditions layed out by the EZLN for a
   resumption of the dialogue process--"or the other way around:
   complicating the dialogue process even more due to the political
   conditions created by the elections".

   Gonzalez also mentioned that the future composition of the Commission
   on Concordance and Pacification (COCOPA) will also be an important
   variable in the post-electoral context, since half of the members of
   the COCOPA end their congressional terms in September. The federal
   deputies who will be leaving the COCOPA after the elections are: Jaime
   Martinez Veloz and Marco Antonio Michel (of the PRI); Rodolfo Elizondo
   Torres and Fernando Perez Noriega (of the PAN); Cesar Chavez and Juan
   Guerra (of the PRD); and Jose Narro Cespedes and Oscar Gonzalez (of
   the PT).

                             _________________


   MEXICAN ARMY TO STAY IN ITS BARRACKS ON JULY 6TH

   General Mario Renan Castillo, commander of the 7th Military Region,
   and General Luis Garfias Magana, president of the Defense Commission
   in the Mexican Congress, announced this past week that the Mexican
   Army will be confined to its barracks beginning on July 5th, and that
   on the following day the army troops will vote as civilians, out of
   uniform. Thus, on the day of the elections--Sunday, July 6th--the army
   insists that there will not be a single uniformed soldier in the
   streets, plazas, or communities in Chiapas.

   Nevertheless, there was a confusion about the number of soliders who
   will be voting in the third electoral district of Chiapas, which
   covers most of the southeast "conflict zone" and the Zapatista
   communities, and in which nearly 20,000 army soldiers are stationed
   (the vote of the army in this district could be crucial to the outcome
   of the election). General Renan Castillo told the opposition PRD party
   in Chiapas that no more than 500 troops in the conflict zone will
   vote, and even less will do so in the north of the state, since the
   vast majority of soldiers stationed in Chiapas have voting credentials
   from other parts of the country.

   General Garfias Maganas, however, said that any soldier of the Mexican
   Army has the right to vote in any area where he may be stationed, and
   that "those of us in the military can vote in any state...regardless
   of the fact that we may be registered or appear on the voting lists in
   another state".

                             _________________


   PARAMILITARY VIOLENCE CONTINUES IN NORTHERN CHIAPAS

   Adding to the already tense pre-electoral climate, violence returned
   to the northern Chiapas municipality of Sabanilla the last week of
   June, leaving seven indigenous Choles dead, and at least ten others
   wounded. The incidents began on June 22nd, when members of Paz y
   Justicia arrived in the community of Emiliano Zapata, shot an 11-year
   old boy to death, and wounded various other members of the
   community--supposedly in retaliation for the killing of one of Paz y
   Justicia's leaders on June 15th in the nearby community of Pasija. The
   killings at the hands of the paramilitary group continued for the next
   two days in Emiliano Zapata and Shushupa, taking the lives of six
   additional unarmed civilian supporters of the EZLN or the PRD.

   Following the violence, the communities of Pasija, Shushupa, and
   Emiliano Zapata were left nearly deserted, as families on both sides
   of the conflict left their homes out of fear of continued attacks or
   retaliation.

   The Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center has since filed a
   formal complaint for "negligence" against the state Attorney General,
   Jorge Enrique Hernandez Aguilar, for the lack of action on the part of
   state authorities in response to the murders in Sabanilla. The
   Attorney General "has done nothing, and thus there is little
   advancing" in the investigation, said Marina Patricia Jimenez,
   executive secretary of the human rights organization.

   "The state police have done nothing to disarm the people [in the
   municipality], when that is a crime to be pursued by the authorities,
   and the Attorney General as head of the police is also responsible for
   this situation", added Jimenez.

   Meanwhile--in somewhat related news--the Mexican government has agreed
   to reopen the investigation into the deaths of three members of the
   ejido of Morelia (municipality of Altamirano), at the request of the
   Interamerican Human Rights Commission. The three Tzeltales were
   presumibly assassinated by Mexican army soldiers in the first days of
   the armed conflict in Chiapas in January, 1994. According to
   well-documented reports from local and national human rights groups,
   Severiano Santis Gomez, Sebastian Santis Gomez, and Hermelindo Santis
   Gomez were detained by the Mexican Army on January 7th, 1994 in
   Morelia, and were found dead near the ejido four days later. The
   original investigation into the killings had been relegated to the
   Army itself, which immediately denied responsibility for their deaths.


     _________________________________________________________________


   Primary sources for all news articles: La Jornada, Proceso, El
   Financiero, and Siglo 21.

   The primary responsibility for the content of this news page lies with
   its author, Joshua Paulson, and not necessarily with a commission,
   civil committee, or other dependency of the Zapatista Front of
   National Liberation.

     _________________________________________________________________

   Comments: joshua@xxxxxxxx

[END]



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