Mexico
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:13 pm
AMLO to Implement San Andres Agreements Signed With Zapatistas
Adelfo Regino Montes voting during the July 1 general elections in Alotepec, Oaxaca. | Photo: @DEELAYUUK
Published 8 July 2018
The agreements were reached between the government and the Zapatistas in 1996 but were never implemented.
The future administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will promote a constitutional reform to recognize and implement Indigenous rights and finally respect the San Andres Agreements signed by the government and the National Zapatista Liberation Army (EZLN) in 1996.
The announcement was made by the lawyer and Indigenous rights defender Adelfo Regino Montes, who was appointed by AMLO as the head of the Indigenous affairs office.
The overall plan is aimed at respecting the rights of Indigenous people of Mexico and increasing their participation in public policies. It includes:
1. Development of a comprehensive regional development plan.
2. Creation of a new organism to look after Indigenous issues.
3. Transversal compliance of rights.
4. New constitutional reform.
Adelfo Regino, an Indigenous Mixe, served as Secretary of Indigenous Affairs in Oaxaca from 2010 to 2016, when he resigned in protest due to the violent reaction of the state's government towards the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) in Nochixtlan, San Pablo Huitzo and Oaxaca City.
He was appointed by Lopez Obrador to head a new institution to look after Indigenous rights, replacing the obsolete National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous People, which the president-elect says “doesn't help the people at all.”
The new office will be part of the Social Development Ministry, to be headquartered in Oaxaca in an effort to decentralize the federal government.
The EZLN has not responded to the latest developments. However, in a statement issued on Friday and signed by the subcomanders Galeano and Moises, the Zapatistas declared they don't support AMLO.
"They might change the overseer, the butlers and the foremen, but the owner is the same... at least the current illusion soothes that history of failures to which the foreseen disappointment will be added," it says.
The San Andres Agreements are a set of commitments and proposals reached between the federal government and the EZLN in 1996, in order to restructure the relationship between the Indigenous peoples of Mexico, society in general and the state.
The joint proposals main objective was to end the asymmetrical relationship between the government and the Indigenous people, as well as ending inequality, discrimination, poverty, exploitation and political exclusion.
A new legal framework was proposed to constitutionally recognize the indigenous peoples' rights not only individually, but the collective rights of the peoples, whether they are Tzeltal, Purepecha, Nahua, Wixarika, Raramuri, Ñuu Savi, or any other.
The proposals included the national recognition of their own political traditional organizations, to their autonomy, to choose their own authorities and ways of justice, to find their own way to organize work and economy, to guarantee their right to their own culture and access to state's justice, to respect their traditional knowledge and protect Indigenous migrants.
The new relationship should be based on autonomy, participation, pluralism, integrality and sustainability. They were signed in San Andres Larrainzar after four months of negotiations and two years after the Zapatista uprising in 1994.
However, the government of Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon later proposed a different reform instead, arguing the original agreements threatened the country's integrity, failing to recognize the negotiations. The EZLN rejected the new proposal and the process was halted.
In 2000 and shortly after being sworn in, Vicente Fox also proposed a new law based on the San Andres Agreements with the important exemption that it didn't recognize the right to autonomy and self-determination of the Indigenous peoples, which was also rejected by the EZLN.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0010.html
*******************************
Zapatistas: Capitalism Won't Allow AMLOs, Lulas, Correas or Evos
Published 19 April 2018
The Subcomandate Galeano warned about the next possible fraud in Mexican elections and the rise of right wing in Latin America
The Subcomandante Galeano, the most well-known spokesperson of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), said that the Capitalist Hydra won't allow any left-wing reformist governments in Latin America, and warned about the next possible electoral fraud in Mexico and the rise of the right in the region.
Speaking at the cycle of conferences titled “Looks, Listens, Words, Thinking Forbidden?” Galeano said in his firm, slow voice that the Zapatistas didn't want “neither reform nor revolution, but survival, resistance and rebellion,” because “capitalism is going for everything and won't allow any Lulas, nor Dilmas, Kirchners or Correas, nor Evos nor Lopez Obradors, nor whatever name is offering to take a breath.”
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is the candidate for the left-right wing coalition “Together We'll Make History,” and is currently the favorite by a wide margin. The last poll published by the daily Reforma gave AMLO 48 percent of the vote intention, while the right-wing Ricardo Anaya is far behind with 26 percent.
Other polls don't give such a generous margin, but most are certain that at this point, after three presidential campaigns and a general disdain for the traditional mainstream parties, AMLO is unbeatable.
But Galeano disagrees. As right-wing governments in Latin America are on the rise and the most progressive ones are under heavy international pressure or have been victims of coups, the EZLN famous spokesperson thinks Mexicans won't have it that easy.
“The institutional left is certain that Donald Trump, president of the United States, Brazil's Michel Temer and Argentina's Mauricio Macri will be followed by a Lopez Obrador south of Rio Grande. They're taking it for granted, even though Lopez Obrador is very moderate, promises everything and now is in a fight with [Carlos] Slim because of the airport...” said Galeano.
In order to achieve such a wide advantage, AMLO had to please both the general public and the economic elite of the country, promising investors that their money will be safe.
However, Lopez Obrador also promised to halt the construction of the controversial New International Airport of Mexico City (NAICM), which he claims is an unnecessary investment, to expand another already existing airport and save the country some money. This has earned him criticism from the right-wing sectors, including his former ally Carlos Slim, the richest (known) person in Mexico.
He also said that if any candidate offers to take a breath from capitalism and asks for support, the ruling class “won't allow it. And one thing is preparing for taking that breath and other preparing for a bloody, sadist, fierce persecution out of any logic we've ever seen.”
“We say that now that the hydra is running crazy, it is going for everything and everyone. Those are the reflections, what I understand out of all this, because that is what our friends, brothers and sisters from the networks are facing, and they say 'well, if they're offering us a breath we should take it,' but others say no, that we need to go all-in. And what we say is that taking that breath won't be possible,” said Galeano.
At the first day of the cycle of conferences, the EZLN spokesperson had previously warned that the institutional left in Mexico “is so drunk celebrating a victory that it still doesn't have in hand, that it doesn't realize where the fraud is coming from and doesn't have a plan B.”
En un hecho histórico, comandancia masculina del #EZLN deja la mesa de ponencia del #SemilleroMiradasEscuchasPalabras 2018 a coordinadoras interzona y comandantas de los 5 Caracoles, en mesa donde participa #Marichuy, vocera del CIG. pic.twitter.com/yQ6lBmvYd0
— nDali ri (@Dal_air) 16 de abril de 2018
“It's an historical event, the male command of the EZLN is leaving the board of the #SeedbedLooksListensWords 2018 to female interzone coordinators and commanders from the 5 Caracols, in which Marichuy, spokeswoman of the CIG, is taking part.”
The cycle of conferences is being held at the Integral Education Indigenous Center (Cideci)-Earth University, located at San Cristobal de las Casas in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Cideci is usually the scene of the Zapatista-organized conferences and congresses, to which they invite intellectuals, social organizations, scientists and activists to speak. This time, the public has also been encouraged to participate, as Galeano, who acts as the moderator, invites them to come to the front and take the microphone.
Galeano also said the EZLN has never boycotted the elections, but instead consistently invites the people to organize in their struggle against capitalism.
“We only called once to an electoral vote... during the Other Campaign (2006) in Guanajuato against the National Action Party (PAN, right-wing) to demand the liberation of some friends that were in jail, and they were freed, but we have never called to abstain from voting. First, because we can't do that ourselves, because we're forced to abstain, because we don't even have the choice to vote or not, and why would we tell someone to vote or not? We have to say 'you need to organize'.”
Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez, the Indigenous Government Council (CIG) spokeswoman backed by the EZLN who was barred from running in the elections, is also present at the event. “Mexico has been kidnapped by a few. We have a lot to do together, this doesn't end just because we didn't get the signatures,” Patricio Martinez said.
Marichuy, the Indigenous Government Council's Nahuatl spokeswoman, and the Wixarika counselor Patricio visit the Totonaca community of Huehuetla, in Puebla, Mexico. 17/11/2017. Photo | Raul Fernando
Patricio Martinez, also known as Marichuy, managed to get 281, 955 signatures in her support, relying on volunteers to get them, out of which more than 90 percent were validated by the electoral authorities as legitimate. However, she didn't get the almost 900,000 signatures needed to become an official independent presidential candidate. Other independent candidates, with far greater resources, managed to reach the goal and will be in the ballots, even though the electoral authorities declared most of their signatures fake.
“We need to come back and get involved in the bottom-up organization, with our own ways, manners and times, but we can't just remain seated thinking that we didn't make it... there's a lot to do for Mexico,” Marichuy said.
Along with delegates of the CIG, Marichuy traveled all across Mexico visiting communities in resistance, listening to their problems and their experience in their struggles.
“We listened and saw that the pains in Mexico are all alike among each other, and they're similar because there's a destruction strategy, of sacking, of control,” said Marichuy.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0004.html
Well, it's a valid assumption well supported by history. So, either ALMO support was too strong to defraud, he has made assurances that he won't go 'too far', or the fixers were asleep at the wheel, as per USA 2016. Unfortunately the middle choice is the default.
**************************
Zapatista's 'Women in Struggle' Summit Sets Historical Precedent
Published 12 March 2018
Thousands of women met in Zapatista territory against capitalist and patriarchal society.
Thousands of women from all around the world met in Zapatista territory to participate in the first Women in Struggle International Summit, hosted by Mayan Zapatista women.
The Zapatistas say over 5,000 women came to the Caracol of Morelia for the summit, which took place between March 8 and 10. Women started gathering in Caracol, located in a remote area of the Tzotz Choj zone of Chiapas, one day before the opening ceremony to begin arranging accommodation for themselves at the designated shelters or set up tents.
More than 200 political, artistic and sports proposals had been registered for workshops and showcases, including music, dance, theater, poetry, book presentations, photography, cinema, football and volleyball. Workshops about gender violence, ginecology, menstrual cycle, ecology, cyber feminism, writing, and yoga will take place, among others activities.
“I think the general feeling was being comfortable and safe,” said Berenice, a young filmmaker attending the summit, “I played soccer with a lot of different women and with a Zapatista team. We realized we share common problems everywhere and it was very interesting to see how each one of us face those problems.”
For the closing ceremony, Mayan women wearing black balaclavas read a collectively written speech thanking all women from the organizing staff and the Zapatista women that didn't attend the summit because they needed to take care of their families, animals or barracks.
Then they proceeded to reflect on the critisim and complaints they got from attending women, saying they didn't have any manual on how to organize an international summit for women, and that they would take them into account for any next meeting.
But for them, the most important thing was the participation of women from all around the world in a historical event full of rebelious spirit. “We saw and listened to you all, because if not you would've come here in vain, and what's fair is that we listen and see you all, even though we agree or not with what you say.”
Zapatista teams play a soccer match during the summit. Photo: | Berenice Fdz.
More than 2,000 Zapatista women from all the five Zapatista Caracoles, the term they use to call their regional autonomous governments, took part in the activities and organization of the event, momentarily leaving off their daily duties.
“Maybe it wasn't enough, because you're like 5,000, but some say 8,000 and others 9,000. We don't know how many women in struggle came during these days, but we can agree we're a lot,” said the woman reading the speech.
Zapatista women met for months in the different Caracoles to discuss and organize the summit, recognizing they normally take a lot of time to agree on small things and that an event as big as this took them even more time to organize.
“But anyway imagine, sisters and comrades, this what we're saying, we are saying as zapatista women, saying it while they are giving you a hug and telling you to the ear, in your language, in your way, at your time:
'Don't give up, don't sell out, don't give in'
and that way, with these words we're telling you
'Thanks sister, thanks comrade.”
They then invited all women to think collectively if the imposed capitalist and patriarchal system was the root of their pain. If so, then they could agree to fight against “capitalist patriarchy” or any patriarchy.
To close the ceremony, the masked woman called for a next summit to be celebrated on 2019, but one to be celebrated all over the world, not only in Zapatista territory. A summit organized in “each one of your worlds, according to your times and ways, meaning each of you will organize women in struggle summits or how ever you want to call them.”
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0023.html
Adelfo Regino Montes voting during the July 1 general elections in Alotepec, Oaxaca. | Photo: @DEELAYUUK
Published 8 July 2018
The agreements were reached between the government and the Zapatistas in 1996 but were never implemented.
The future administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will promote a constitutional reform to recognize and implement Indigenous rights and finally respect the San Andres Agreements signed by the government and the National Zapatista Liberation Army (EZLN) in 1996.
The announcement was made by the lawyer and Indigenous rights defender Adelfo Regino Montes, who was appointed by AMLO as the head of the Indigenous affairs office.
The overall plan is aimed at respecting the rights of Indigenous people of Mexico and increasing their participation in public policies. It includes:
1. Development of a comprehensive regional development plan.
2. Creation of a new organism to look after Indigenous issues.
3. Transversal compliance of rights.
4. New constitutional reform.
Adelfo Regino, an Indigenous Mixe, served as Secretary of Indigenous Affairs in Oaxaca from 2010 to 2016, when he resigned in protest due to the violent reaction of the state's government towards the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) in Nochixtlan, San Pablo Huitzo and Oaxaca City.
He was appointed by Lopez Obrador to head a new institution to look after Indigenous rights, replacing the obsolete National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous People, which the president-elect says “doesn't help the people at all.”
The new office will be part of the Social Development Ministry, to be headquartered in Oaxaca in an effort to decentralize the federal government.
The EZLN has not responded to the latest developments. However, in a statement issued on Friday and signed by the subcomanders Galeano and Moises, the Zapatistas declared they don't support AMLO.
"They might change the overseer, the butlers and the foremen, but the owner is the same... at least the current illusion soothes that history of failures to which the foreseen disappointment will be added," it says.
The San Andres Agreements are a set of commitments and proposals reached between the federal government and the EZLN in 1996, in order to restructure the relationship between the Indigenous peoples of Mexico, society in general and the state.
The joint proposals main objective was to end the asymmetrical relationship between the government and the Indigenous people, as well as ending inequality, discrimination, poverty, exploitation and political exclusion.
A new legal framework was proposed to constitutionally recognize the indigenous peoples' rights not only individually, but the collective rights of the peoples, whether they are Tzeltal, Purepecha, Nahua, Wixarika, Raramuri, Ñuu Savi, or any other.
The proposals included the national recognition of their own political traditional organizations, to their autonomy, to choose their own authorities and ways of justice, to find their own way to organize work and economy, to guarantee their right to their own culture and access to state's justice, to respect their traditional knowledge and protect Indigenous migrants.
The new relationship should be based on autonomy, participation, pluralism, integrality and sustainability. They were signed in San Andres Larrainzar after four months of negotiations and two years after the Zapatista uprising in 1994.
However, the government of Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon later proposed a different reform instead, arguing the original agreements threatened the country's integrity, failing to recognize the negotiations. The EZLN rejected the new proposal and the process was halted.
In 2000 and shortly after being sworn in, Vicente Fox also proposed a new law based on the San Andres Agreements with the important exemption that it didn't recognize the right to autonomy and self-determination of the Indigenous peoples, which was also rejected by the EZLN.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0010.html
*******************************
Zapatistas: Capitalism Won't Allow AMLOs, Lulas, Correas or Evos
Published 19 April 2018
The Subcomandate Galeano warned about the next possible fraud in Mexican elections and the rise of right wing in Latin America
The Subcomandante Galeano, the most well-known spokesperson of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), said that the Capitalist Hydra won't allow any left-wing reformist governments in Latin America, and warned about the next possible electoral fraud in Mexico and the rise of the right in the region.
Speaking at the cycle of conferences titled “Looks, Listens, Words, Thinking Forbidden?” Galeano said in his firm, slow voice that the Zapatistas didn't want “neither reform nor revolution, but survival, resistance and rebellion,” because “capitalism is going for everything and won't allow any Lulas, nor Dilmas, Kirchners or Correas, nor Evos nor Lopez Obradors, nor whatever name is offering to take a breath.”
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is the candidate for the left-right wing coalition “Together We'll Make History,” and is currently the favorite by a wide margin. The last poll published by the daily Reforma gave AMLO 48 percent of the vote intention, while the right-wing Ricardo Anaya is far behind with 26 percent.
Other polls don't give such a generous margin, but most are certain that at this point, after three presidential campaigns and a general disdain for the traditional mainstream parties, AMLO is unbeatable.
But Galeano disagrees. As right-wing governments in Latin America are on the rise and the most progressive ones are under heavy international pressure or have been victims of coups, the EZLN famous spokesperson thinks Mexicans won't have it that easy.
“The institutional left is certain that Donald Trump, president of the United States, Brazil's Michel Temer and Argentina's Mauricio Macri will be followed by a Lopez Obrador south of Rio Grande. They're taking it for granted, even though Lopez Obrador is very moderate, promises everything and now is in a fight with [Carlos] Slim because of the airport...” said Galeano.
In order to achieve such a wide advantage, AMLO had to please both the general public and the economic elite of the country, promising investors that their money will be safe.
However, Lopez Obrador also promised to halt the construction of the controversial New International Airport of Mexico City (NAICM), which he claims is an unnecessary investment, to expand another already existing airport and save the country some money. This has earned him criticism from the right-wing sectors, including his former ally Carlos Slim, the richest (known) person in Mexico.
He also said that if any candidate offers to take a breath from capitalism and asks for support, the ruling class “won't allow it. And one thing is preparing for taking that breath and other preparing for a bloody, sadist, fierce persecution out of any logic we've ever seen.”
“We say that now that the hydra is running crazy, it is going for everything and everyone. Those are the reflections, what I understand out of all this, because that is what our friends, brothers and sisters from the networks are facing, and they say 'well, if they're offering us a breath we should take it,' but others say no, that we need to go all-in. And what we say is that taking that breath won't be possible,” said Galeano.
At the first day of the cycle of conferences, the EZLN spokesperson had previously warned that the institutional left in Mexico “is so drunk celebrating a victory that it still doesn't have in hand, that it doesn't realize where the fraud is coming from and doesn't have a plan B.”
En un hecho histórico, comandancia masculina del #EZLN deja la mesa de ponencia del #SemilleroMiradasEscuchasPalabras 2018 a coordinadoras interzona y comandantas de los 5 Caracoles, en mesa donde participa #Marichuy, vocera del CIG. pic.twitter.com/yQ6lBmvYd0
— nDali ri (@Dal_air) 16 de abril de 2018
“It's an historical event, the male command of the EZLN is leaving the board of the #SeedbedLooksListensWords 2018 to female interzone coordinators and commanders from the 5 Caracols, in which Marichuy, spokeswoman of the CIG, is taking part.”
The cycle of conferences is being held at the Integral Education Indigenous Center (Cideci)-Earth University, located at San Cristobal de las Casas in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Cideci is usually the scene of the Zapatista-organized conferences and congresses, to which they invite intellectuals, social organizations, scientists and activists to speak. This time, the public has also been encouraged to participate, as Galeano, who acts as the moderator, invites them to come to the front and take the microphone.
Galeano also said the EZLN has never boycotted the elections, but instead consistently invites the people to organize in their struggle against capitalism.
“We only called once to an electoral vote... during the Other Campaign (2006) in Guanajuato against the National Action Party (PAN, right-wing) to demand the liberation of some friends that were in jail, and they were freed, but we have never called to abstain from voting. First, because we can't do that ourselves, because we're forced to abstain, because we don't even have the choice to vote or not, and why would we tell someone to vote or not? We have to say 'you need to organize'.”
Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez, the Indigenous Government Council (CIG) spokeswoman backed by the EZLN who was barred from running in the elections, is also present at the event. “Mexico has been kidnapped by a few. We have a lot to do together, this doesn't end just because we didn't get the signatures,” Patricio Martinez said.
Marichuy, the Indigenous Government Council's Nahuatl spokeswoman, and the Wixarika counselor Patricio visit the Totonaca community of Huehuetla, in Puebla, Mexico. 17/11/2017. Photo | Raul Fernando
Patricio Martinez, also known as Marichuy, managed to get 281, 955 signatures in her support, relying on volunteers to get them, out of which more than 90 percent were validated by the electoral authorities as legitimate. However, she didn't get the almost 900,000 signatures needed to become an official independent presidential candidate. Other independent candidates, with far greater resources, managed to reach the goal and will be in the ballots, even though the electoral authorities declared most of their signatures fake.
“We need to come back and get involved in the bottom-up organization, with our own ways, manners and times, but we can't just remain seated thinking that we didn't make it... there's a lot to do for Mexico,” Marichuy said.
Along with delegates of the CIG, Marichuy traveled all across Mexico visiting communities in resistance, listening to their problems and their experience in their struggles.
“We listened and saw that the pains in Mexico are all alike among each other, and they're similar because there's a destruction strategy, of sacking, of control,” said Marichuy.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0004.html
Well, it's a valid assumption well supported by history. So, either ALMO support was too strong to defraud, he has made assurances that he won't go 'too far', or the fixers were asleep at the wheel, as per USA 2016. Unfortunately the middle choice is the default.
**************************
Zapatista's 'Women in Struggle' Summit Sets Historical Precedent
Published 12 March 2018
Thousands of women met in Zapatista territory against capitalist and patriarchal society.
Thousands of women from all around the world met in Zapatista territory to participate in the first Women in Struggle International Summit, hosted by Mayan Zapatista women.
The Zapatistas say over 5,000 women came to the Caracol of Morelia for the summit, which took place between March 8 and 10. Women started gathering in Caracol, located in a remote area of the Tzotz Choj zone of Chiapas, one day before the opening ceremony to begin arranging accommodation for themselves at the designated shelters or set up tents.
More than 200 political, artistic and sports proposals had been registered for workshops and showcases, including music, dance, theater, poetry, book presentations, photography, cinema, football and volleyball. Workshops about gender violence, ginecology, menstrual cycle, ecology, cyber feminism, writing, and yoga will take place, among others activities.
“I think the general feeling was being comfortable and safe,” said Berenice, a young filmmaker attending the summit, “I played soccer with a lot of different women and with a Zapatista team. We realized we share common problems everywhere and it was very interesting to see how each one of us face those problems.”
For the closing ceremony, Mayan women wearing black balaclavas read a collectively written speech thanking all women from the organizing staff and the Zapatista women that didn't attend the summit because they needed to take care of their families, animals or barracks.
Then they proceeded to reflect on the critisim and complaints they got from attending women, saying they didn't have any manual on how to organize an international summit for women, and that they would take them into account for any next meeting.
But for them, the most important thing was the participation of women from all around the world in a historical event full of rebelious spirit. “We saw and listened to you all, because if not you would've come here in vain, and what's fair is that we listen and see you all, even though we agree or not with what you say.”
Zapatista teams play a soccer match during the summit. Photo: | Berenice Fdz.
More than 2,000 Zapatista women from all the five Zapatista Caracoles, the term they use to call their regional autonomous governments, took part in the activities and organization of the event, momentarily leaving off their daily duties.
“Maybe it wasn't enough, because you're like 5,000, but some say 8,000 and others 9,000. We don't know how many women in struggle came during these days, but we can agree we're a lot,” said the woman reading the speech.
Zapatista women met for months in the different Caracoles to discuss and organize the summit, recognizing they normally take a lot of time to agree on small things and that an event as big as this took them even more time to organize.
“But anyway imagine, sisters and comrades, this what we're saying, we are saying as zapatista women, saying it while they are giving you a hug and telling you to the ear, in your language, in your way, at your time:
'Don't give up, don't sell out, don't give in'
and that way, with these words we're telling you
'Thanks sister, thanks comrade.”
They then invited all women to think collectively if the imposed capitalist and patriarchal system was the root of their pain. If so, then they could agree to fight against “capitalist patriarchy” or any patriarchy.
To close the ceremony, the masked woman called for a next summit to be celebrated on 2019, but one to be celebrated all over the world, not only in Zapatista territory. A summit organized in “each one of your worlds, according to your times and ways, meaning each of you will organize women in struggle summits or how ever you want to call them.”
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ ... -0023.html