FOREWORD
This interview was created and conducted by El Kilombo Intergaláctico. We are a people of color collective made up of students, migrants, and other community members in Durham, North Carolina. Our project is to create a space to strengthen our collective political struggles while simultaneously connecting these struggles with the larger global anti-capitalist movement.
When we designed this interview in our community assembly, we wanted to bring out several thematic layers. We wanted to talk about issues unique to the US: a particular set of race relations and our own perspective on the battle between capital and color; the historic and contemporary predominance of migrant, displaced, and “in-flight” populati... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) “War is a matter of vital importance for the state; it is the province of life and death, the road which leads to survival or elimination. It is essential to study it in depth”. Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
As a world system, neoliberalism is a new war for the conquest of territory. The ending of the third world war — meaning the cold war — in no sense means that the world has gone beyond the bipolar and found stability under the domination of a single victor. Because, while there was certainly a defeat (of the socialist camp), it is hard to say who won. The United States? The European Union? Japan? All three?
The defeat of the “evil empire” has opened up new markets, and the struggle over ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) “Marcos, the quintessential anti-leader, insists that his black mask is a mirror, so that ‘Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the Metro at 10 p.m., a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains’. In other words, he is simply us: we are the leader we’ve been looking for.”
— Naomi Klein
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We received the letter that, dated January 1st, ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) National Commission for Democracy in Mexico
FROM: LA JORNADA, JANUARY 18, 1995,
To the weekly magazine PROCESO; the national newspaper EL FINANCIERO; the national newspaper LA JORNADA; the local newspaper of SCLC TIEMPO: January 16, 1995
Sirs: Here go some communiqués which indicate a change of direction in the winds. You are threatening us with unemployment again. I hope this time it’s serious. They tell me that Mr. Robledo Rincon [fraudulently elected PRI Governor of Chiapas] is huddled with his armed guards, self-named “state public security police,” in some place in the governor’s palace. Even though those who oppose the popular will are limited to four neighborhoods of the old capital of Chiapas, Tuxtl... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Acknowledgments
THIS BOOK could not have been were it not for the generosity of spirit, talent, and daring of many people, more than could possibly be named in this short page or retained in this faulty memory of mine. To the dedicated people who translate the Zapatista communiqués so that they may circulate the world through the Internet, we owe a great debt for keeping the issues in Chiapas ever-present and for helping breach the Mexican government’s cordon of silence and denial. In Mexico, first and foremost, to the organization of Enlace Civil for the bridges they build between the communities of resistance and civil society, and for the guidance and care they shared with us during our visits to Chiapas. To Javier Elorri... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Brothers and Sisters of Rebel Italy:
Greetings from the men, women, children and old ones of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Our word is made cloud in order to cross the ocean and to reach the worlds which are in your hearts.
We know that today demonstrations are being held throughout the world in order to say “No” to Bush’s war against the people of Iraq.
And it must be said like that, because it is not a war by the North American people, nor is it a war against Saddam Hussein.
It is a war by money, which is represented by Senor Bush (perhaps in order to emphasize that he is completely lacking in intelligence). And it is against humanity, whose fate is now at stake on the soil of Iraq.
This is the war of f... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Good afternoon, good evening. My name is Marcos, Insurgent Subcommander Marcos, and I am here to introduce you to Insurgent Lieutenant Colonel Moisés. Within the EZLN General Command, he is in charge of international work, what we call the Intergalactic Commission and the International Sixth Declaration, because of all of us, he is the only one who has the patience for you all.
Vamos a hablar despacio, para la traducción. We will speak slowly, for the translation. Nous allons parler doucement, pour la traduction.
We want to thank you for having come all the way here to understand directly what is happening with this Zapatista process, not only with the attacks we are receiving, but also with the processes that are being buil... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) “Until death if it is needed.”
“Until death if it is needed!”
I heard this sentence in 1992, in Tzeltal… in Tzotzil… Ch’ol, Tojoloab’al… I think also in Mam… and also in Spanish. In 1992, 500 years after the Spaniards came to conquer these lands. I heard it when our peoples, our men, women, children and elderly decided to take arms against the supreme government.
Nine months ago, or a bit more, we published the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona.[1] We committed ourselves to make an effort to unite all the resistances, all the rebellions, and all the fights that rose from below and from the left in Mexico, against the voracity of the governments and the powerful one... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) To the People of Mexico:
To the Peoples of the World:
Brothers and Sisters:
As of today, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation has declared, throughout all rebel territory, a GENERAL RED ALERT
Based on this, we are informing you:
First — That at this time the closure is being carried out of the Caracoles and the Good Government Offices which are located in the zapatista communities of Oventik, La Realidad, Morelia and Roberto Barrios, as well as all the headquarters of the authorities of the different Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities.
Second — That also being carried out is the evacuation of the members of the different Good Government Juntas and the autonomous authorities, in order to place them in shelter... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
