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From: "Dana" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: NN,You are not alone - the Other Campaign in Tuxtepec,Feb 07
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 08:27:33 +0100
You Are Not Alone.
That is the Message of The Other Campaign, Direct from Tuxtepec
By Daniela Lima and Nick LaPoint
The Ricardo Flores Mago'n Brigade, Reporting for Narco News
February 6, 2006
Tuxtepec, a city in the northwest of Oaxaca near the frontier with the state
of Veracruz, about a five hour drive north of Oaxaca City, known for its
high temperatures and thick vegetation, received Subcomandante Marcos
("Delegate Zero") and the Sixth Commission in the evening of February 4th at
the grounds of CODECI. CODECI (Citizens' Defense Committee and Aid to Rural
Communities) was started in 1996 by indigenous Chinanteco campesinos who
were being displaced by prison construction. Since than, they have united
with Mazatecos, Cuicatecos and others to defend themselves against often
brutal attacks upon their land and culture.
With the arrival of the Commission, organizations responsible for logistics
and the program of events discussed with Delegate Zero a new agenda for
Commission's journey through the state of Oaxaca (we've attached the agenda
below). This final schedule was a compromise between the desires of some
groups in the state coordination of "The Other Campaign" and the two
priorities that the Commission Sexta had set for the tour: 1) to listen to
the testimony of adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle
and 2) to promote, through public events, the growth of "La Otra."
The first event was a march from CODECI to Juarez Park, in the center of
Tuxtepec, scheduled for the following morning. Taking off around 10:30 a.m.
with a little over 100 people, the march picked up over 1,000 as onlookers
and groups with banners representing the teachers' union, indigenous
organizations and socialist and communist parties joined along the way.
With the arrival of Delegate Zero and the Sixth Commission in Juarez Park,
members of the Unified Movement for the Triqui People, Section 22 (the
massive Oaxacan teacher's union), the Revolutionary Popular Front, the Broad
Front of Popular Struggle, and others took the opportunity to speak to the
crowd that had formed. Judging from their speeches, there is a very wide
range of opinion about what "The Other Campaign" is and for what they are
fighting. including a mention of "dicatatorship of the proletariat." And,
yes, the Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist) brought their Stalin
poster. Members of the Francisco Villa Popular Front eventually hung their
banner over the image of "Uncle Joe."
Meeting of the Other Campaign in Tuxtepec.
Photo: D.R. 2006 Nick LaPoint
Closing the event, Delegate Zero spoke about the spirit of this new
campaign: "We bring not just the Zapatista word and the word of Chiapas but
also the word of Yucata'n, the word of Quintana Roo, the word of Tabasco, the
word of Veracruz, and we will be bringing your word to those that follow."
Rather than have one group that will dominate the other groups and "lift
someone into power," the proposal is to create another way of doing
politics, starting with building a network of stories "to put faces and a
name to a national movement of rebellion" against a class and a system that
organizes to "cut the country into little pieces and sell it." Before
leaving the stage, Delegate Zero emphasized the difference in building a
movement from below: "Rather than going to listen to the speeches of the
politicians, begin to construct a movement where each person and his or her
voice counts." Thirty-four new adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the
Lacandon Jungle from Tuxtepec and other parts of Mexico (and a few from
other parts of the world) signed up at the table created by the Oaxacan
Zapatista Network.
In a state such as Oaxaca, publicly joining "The Other Campaign" is a brave
and necessary act. Meeting with 250 adherents back at the grounds of CODECI,
Delegate Zero recognized repression as a top concern. As Oaxaca is governed
by an exceptionally repressive regime, it is essential that the governor
also understands that any member of "La Otra" who is threatened or attacked
will be defended by all: "We can build a national communication network to
denounce and respond collectively to any form of repression against us." And
with a nod towards all the independent media workers in attendance, Delegate
Zero encouraged CODECI and other organizations to open up spaces in their
homes, buildings, and territories where media activists can join with them
to build this communications network.
Before leaving for Juchitan at 3 p.m., Marcos listened attentively and took
notes as adherents to the Sixth Declaration spoke of their struggles. Before
leaving, he tied their stories of struggle for land, affordable electricity,
and violence against women into the stories he had heard of similar
struggles in the Yucatan, Quintana Roo and elsewhere. This is the proposal
of "The Other Campaign": that no one will be left alone and that through a
network of communication, a movement that is building in one part of the
country can be connected to other regions that are confronting the same
problems, forming a network and campaign of national struggle. The idea is
not that everyone will be a Zapatista, but that everyone will be members of
"La Otra," a juxtaposition (and not an imposition) of forces from widely
different backgrounds committed to struggling together and defending each
other's right to exist. Near the end of the encounter, an adherent from
Oaxaca's powerful teacher's union, Section 22, spoke to this: "I am sad to
say that alone, we (the union) will not be able to defeat the new
legislation being brought against us. we need all the support of The Other
Campaign."
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