Letter of Solidarity
and Support for Zapatista Resistance and Autonomy
We, intellectuals, academics, artists, activists and people
of goodwill, as well as organizations, associations and collectives, from
various countries, express our solidarity with the Zapatista Army of National
Liberation (EZLN) in this crucial moment in its history, and strongly reject
the current campaign of disinformation, lies and slander directed against the Zapatistas.
For us, as well as for many other people around the world,
the Zapatista struggle represents an example of resistance, dignity, congruence
and political creativity. 25 years ago, the cry of Ya Basta! was an action of great transcendence and one of the first
strong reactions at a planetary level against neoliberal globalization, opening
the way toward the rejection and criticism of a model that at that time seemed
unquestionable. It was also, and continues to be, an expression of the
legitimate struggle of indigenous peoples against the domination and contempt
they have suffered for centuries and continue to face today, as well as in
favor of their rights to autonomy. The peoples’ self-government that the
Zapatistas have put into practice with the Juntas
de Buen Gobierno (Good Government Councils) in the 5 Caracoles is an example of radical democracy that inspires peoples around
the planet, and that should be studied in all schools of social science in the
world. For us, the Zapatista construction of autonomy represents the persistent,
honest and crucial search for an alternative, emancipatory model of great importance for a
humanity facing the challenges of a world that is rapidly sinking into a deepening
crisis that is simultaneously economic, social, political, ecological and
human.
Therefore we express our concern over the situation currently
faced by Zapatista communities and many other indigenous peoples in Mexico, as
their territories are attacked by mining, tourism, agribusiness, large
infrastructure projects, etc., as recently denounced by the National Indigenous
Congress (CNI) and the Indigenous Council of Government (CIG) of Mexico. Right
now we are worried about a series of large-scale mega projects being imposed by
the new Mexican government, such as the Trans-isthmus Corridor, the million
hectares of commercial tree planting, and the so-called "Mayan
Train", recently denounced as an humiliation and a provocation by
subcomandante Moisés, spokesman of the EZLN, as it would have very serious
impacts on the territories of the Mayan peoples that inhabit the Mexican
southeast.
In addition to the devastating environmental effects of this
project and the massive tourist development it is designed to detonate, we are
concerned about the rush to start laying the tracks for the "Mayan
Train", behind the obfuscation of a pseudo ritual to ask permission from Mother
Earth, denounced by the Zapatista spokesperson as an unacceptable mockery. We
are outraged by these further attacks that are being prepared against
indigenous territories, and that the rights of indigenous peoples have been
ignored, evading the obligation of real, prior, free and informed consultation
and consent, as established in Convention 169 of the ILO and the UN Declaration
on Indigenous Peoples. It is not trivial that this violates the international
commitments assumed by Mexico.
We share the total rejection of these and other mega
projects expressed by the EZLN, projects that seriously threaten the
territories and ways of life of peoples. We denounce in advance any aggression
against Zapatista communities, either directly by the Mexican State, or through
groups or organizations of armed or unarmed "civilians." We hold the Mexican
government accountable for any confrontation that may arise in the context of
the implementation of these mega projects, which correspond to an already
superseded, unsustainable and devastating model of "development," decided
at the highest spheres of power in violation of the rights of original peoples.
We call on all people with a good heart to see through the
current wave of disinformation both about the Zapatistas and about the proposed
mega projects, and to be alert to the imminent risk of aggression against
Zapatista communities and other indigenous peoples.
