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Communiqué from the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Originally published in Spanish by the EZLN
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Translated by irlandesa
Mexico.
October of 2004.
To the people of Mexico:
To national and international civil society:
Brothers and sisters:
The EZLN is addressing you in order to state the
following:
First. - Owing to harassment by paramilitary
groups and the intolerance
encouraged by the Institutional Revolutionary
Party [PRI] in some
communities, dozens of zapatista indigenous
families found themselves
forced, some time ago, to move and to form small
population groups in the
so-called “Montes Azules biosphere.”
During the time that they have been in this
terrible situation, far from
their native lands, the displaced zapatistas have
gone to great effort to
carry out our laws which mandate that the forests
be cared for.
Nonetheless, the federal government - at the hand
of the transnationals
who are trying to gain control of the wealth of
the Selva Lacandona - has
threatened, time and again, to violently
dislocate all the villages in
that region, including the zapatista ones.
The compañeros and compañeras from various
communities threatened with
dislocation decided to resist as long as the
government failed to comply
with the San Andrés Accords. Their decision has
been respected and
supported by the Zapatista Army of National
Liberation. At that time we
pointed out, and we are now reaffirming: if any
of our communities are
violently dislocated, we, all of us, will respond
in kind.
Second. - With the advance of the “good
government juntas,” a large
number of the zapatista indigenous communities
have been provided with
the means of substantially improving their living
conditions. The rebel
communities have achieved successes, especially
in health and education -
without any federal, state or official municipal
help - which easily
surpass those of the official communities.
This has been possible because of help from
brothers and sisters from all
over Mexico and the world.
These benefits, however, have not managed to
cover all the rebel
communities. The displaced populations in Montes
Azules, in particular,
have not benefited from these advances.
Third. - Respecting their autonomy, the
Comandancia General of the EZLN
addressed the “Hacia la Esperanza” Good
Government Junta in the selva
border region, headquartered in La Realidad, in
order to ask for their
help in matters of health, education and commerce
for these displaced
communities. The Good Government Junta has
responded that they will do
everything necessary, as far as they are able, to
attend to these
zapatista brothers and sisters.
The distance and scattered nature of some of
these villages, however,
present important difficulties. The EZLN has
therefore agreed, with the
express consent of their residents, to
reconcentrate some of the
zapatista villages in that region, so that they
can thus be taken in by
the Good Government Junta of the selva border
region.
The following are the villages to which we are
referring:
Primero de Enero.
San Isidro.
12 de Diciembre.
8 de Octubre.
Santa Cruz.
Nuevo Limar.
Agua Dulce.
There are a total of 50 families.
We would like to make it clear that they are not
the only zapatista
villages in the Montes Azules. There are other
zapatista population
centers in that region who are continuing to live
with the threat of
dislocation.
Fourth. - The Comandancia General of the EZLN
has been holding talks for
several months with the compañeros and compañeras
of these villages, and
it has reviewed with them the paths for improving
their difficult
situation a bit.
Together, the conclusion has been reached that it
would be best if some
villages were reconcentrated in one place. In
that way they will be able
to better resist the threats, they will be able
to better care for the
selva, they will be participants in the advances
of the good government
junta, and they will be able to better
participate in the EZLN’s struggle
for the respect and recognition of indigenous
rights and culture.
Fifth. - With the backing of those villages and
of the Good Government
Junta of the selva border region, the EZLN is
turning to national and
international civil society for their moral and
economic support of this
reconcentration, because, in compliance with
zapatista resistance, these
villages have declared that they will not receive
any help from the state
and federal governments.
Sixth. - With the same backing, the Comandancia
General of the EZLN has
turned to social activist Rosario Ibarra de
Piedra, in order to
respectfully ask her to agree to create whatever
is necessary so that
national and international civil society can help
in this task,
financially and with their work. This is with
the understanding that a
clear accounting will be presented and that the
EZLN is publicly
committing itself to absolutely making sure that
this money is not used
for anything other than the reconcentration,
under dignified conditions,
of the compañeros and compañeras.
Once Doña Rosario has accepted, and the involved
communities so decide,
the EZLN will announce the details of the stages
and work for this
reconcentration.
Seventh. - We sincerely hope that national and
international civil
society will respond to our call to help these
communities and thus to
improve their zapatista living conditions, that
is, their struggle and
resistance.
Democracy!
Liberty!
Justice!
>From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
By the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous
Committee -
General Command of the Zapatista Army of National
Liberation.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.
Mexico, October of 2004, 20 and 10.
