May 21, 2021 12:08 pm
Mexico is preparing to witness the most ridiculous elections in its history. In June we will be able to vote for a series of second-class celebrities from football, wrestling or beauty pageants, or alternatively for individuals accused of rape or drug trafficking. One of the candidates, the legendary Paquita la del Barrio, immortalized the phrase we should all write on the ballot paper: “Are you listening to me, you fool?”. Really, is there anyone who listens to the population?
Meanwhile, a Zapatista delegation sails to Europe to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan, without a revanchist spirit but of dialogue in diversity. Since 1994, Zapatismo has made versatile proposals. A few days after the insurrection of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), the movement had laid down its arms to try to obtain autonomy for the indigenous through legal means. The goal was not to split the country, but to find a fairer structure for the peoples exploited for centuries. In 1996, the San Andrés Accords were signed with the Zedillo government, but Congress did not convert them into law. In 2001, when democratic alternation seemed to promise change, the Zapatistas embarked on the March of the color of the earth. Commander Esther spoke in front of the congress and asked for the laws to come into force, but no party wanted to honor the agreements signed. And so the Zapatistas returned to their territories, where in precarious conditions they transformed education, health and justice, protecting the environment and promoting gender equality. The results of the Juntas de buen gobierno were so positive that people outside the communities were forced to present their disputes there.
In 2017, the EZLN supported María de Jesús Patricio Martínez as an independent candidate in the 2018 elections. It was not looking for a share of power, but a forum to give voice to indigenous peoples. The discriminating conditions for collecting signatures (smartphones were indispensable, inaccessible to the purchasing power of communities) stopped that adventure.
A powerful voice in defense of the natives of Chiapas
The EZLN’s path has gone through significant changes, from the repudiation of weapons to the extinction of the figure of Subcomandante Marcos, who had achieved world media prominence. With an unusual twist, his new identity, Subcomandante Galeano, has been transformed into that of a symbolic executor of Marcos’ writings and today he holds the role of commentator of a movement that accompanies, but does not lead.
“Let’s go slowly because the path is long,” said the Zapatistas. In August 1994, about six hundred people gathered in the Tojolabal forest to meet the rebels. In his outstanding speech, Marcos spoke of the presidium as a ship’s bridge and referred to the boat in Fitzcarraldo’s forest and Noah’s ark. Heaven got in tune with his words and a deluge worthy of the bible or of One hundred years of solitude fell upon us. The stage gave way and we found ourselves rolling in the mud. When asked what was the weak point of that meeting, Marcos replied with irony: “The stage”.
The meeting 27 years ago teased what just happened. On May 2, seven Zapatistas set sail for Europe. The ship is called La Montaña and proves that geography is mobile.
The sailors (four women, two men and one non-binary person) prepared for the expedition in a replica of the boat built in the forest, which only needed water. If astronauts have sought life in outer space, the Zapatistas will investigate an even greater mystery: “Is there life on Earth?”
Climate change has pushed the country to the brink of collapse. And now those who protect corn plantations from below and ask for forgiveness when they plant a seed, embark on this journey in search of global answers to the unbridled exploitation of nature.
The indigenous sects speak tojolabal, cho’ol, tzeltal and tzotzil, as well as Spanish. All the indigenous people of Mexico are at least bilingual.
Marijosé, a person who represents diversity, will land first or first and will baptize the place as Slumil K’Ajxemk ‘Op: “rebellious land” or “land that does not resign”. Another world is possible, and it began on May 2nd.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)
This article was published by the Mexican newspaper Reforma.
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