The San Andres Accords are the product of dialogue and negotiation between the federal government, the EZLN and different representatives of more than 47 indigenous peoples of Mexico, signed on February 16, 1996 in San Andrés Larrainzar, Chiapas, corresponding to Negotiation Table 1, on Indigenous Rights and Culture. On August 29, 1996 the EZLN suspended the dialogue, conditioning the restart of dialogue on government compliance with the San Andres Accords, along with four other points.  In the work to find a peaceful solution, between the tables of September and December of 1996, there were three meetings known as “Three Parts” (CONAI- National Mediation Commission, COCOPA- Commission on Peace and Agreement and EZLN- Zapatista National Liberation Army).  In these meetings, the Cocopa presented a proposal for a law (this is why the San Andrés Accords are also referred to as the Cocopa law) that was accepted by the Zapatistas and the government, for discussion and approval in federal Congress sessions.  However, President Ernesto Zedillo not only denied to comply, but in March of 1998 presented a counterproposal, arguing that the San Andres Accords would provoke a balkanization of the country, open the door for a division between first and second class Mexicans, and would establish special privileges with the implementation of autonomy for the indigenous peoples.

Zedillo’s counterproposal originated between different political parties and Senators and Representatives of the federal congress, and led to the PAN (National Action Party) and the PVEM (Green Ecology Party of Mexico) presenting their own initiatives of law, while the PRD joined in the defense of the San Andres Accords.  In this manner, the presentation and discussion of the law was postponed, and Zedillo decided to continue in Chiapas a tactic of constant attacks on the communities through militarization and paramilitarization and let the conflict continue to fester, bestowing it to the next government.

In this situation Vicente Fox became President of the republic, inheriting the non-compliance with the Accords, the increase in militarization and paramilitarization, the project of “re-municipalization” started by the ex-Governor of Chiapas Roberto Albores Guillén, the more than 22,000 displaced people, etc., all of which Fox’s campaign promised to resolve in 15 minutes.

Now Fox faces the challenge of not only the non-compliance with the Accords and the series of problems he inherited from Zedillo, as well as the three other initiatives proposed by the other political parties.  In order for Fox to comply with his words, he needs to first establish a process of dialogue and negotiation with the PAN, PRI and PVEM, and clear the path so that the San Andres Accords does not have counter-proposals.  As we wrote in Bulletin number 227, Fox appears to be in a hurry to “comply” in order to try to avoid the Zapatista march to Mexico City, and therefore Fox called for the Federal Congress to hold a special assemble for the month of February, before the 25^th which is the date the Zapatistas will begin their march.

However, some of the obstacles to compliance with the San Andres Accords are the following:

1.  The San Andres Accords establishes that, “… in the municipalities with a majority Indigenous population, the right of the Indigenous people and communities to elect their traditional and municipal authorities will be recognized, in accordance with their norms and customs, and granting judicial validity to their institutions and practices.” Specifically it recognizes the roles of the system of positions, assemblies, popular discussions and open town councils (Source:  San Andres Accords. Document 3.1). 

In other sections, the San Andres Accords considers that, “It is advisable to establish mechanisms that permit the participation of indigenous communities and peoples in electoral processes, without obligating their participation in political parties, and guaranteeing the effective proportional participation of indigenous people in the Citizen Electoral Advisories and in the diffusion and vigilance of the electoral processes” (Ibid.  Document 3.1).  If this was made legal, it would serve as an example of true democracy, and its repercussions would be a positive effect on the country, and we would enter an era of collapse of the system of political parties in Mexico, that for a long time have given the appearance of a democratic system. 

Given that the majority of the different internal currents of the parties and especially some politicians who direct the Municipal Committees up to the National Executive Committees, they take on the direction of the parties as positions of power and not as true spaces to lead the struggle of peoples and social organizations that look for spaces for social participation.  One example is the situation where the PRD has dared to act in contradiction with the CIOAC-PRD-PRD. These party schemes are very corrupt and impede the fluidity that is needed for distinct expressions of social organization.  If the Mexican Constitution recognized new forms of democratic representation, they would be recognizing new ways of doing politics and new ethical and moral values that a new society and the leaders of social movements demand.

2.  The possibility of free association in the municipalities is something established in the San Andres Accords, where it states that, “the communities and municipalities with a majority Indigenous population, in character of subjects with  powers already expressed in the law, can agree and associate with each other to undertake regionalized actions that optimize forces and resources, therefore increasing the capacity of management and development and coordination of their actions as indigenous peoples.” (Ibid 3.1)  These municipalities with a majority Indigenous population, also would have the power, “…not to recognize their municipal authorities when they contradict practices of rights of customs and norms and the Local Congress will respect and approve their decision” (Ibid 3.1).  This free association in terms of the power of indigenous communities would be a great counterweight to the regional caciques (local party bosses) of ranchers and

3. In reference to strategic natural resources:  The Indigenous peoples have, “… a right to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources in their territories, according to definitions in Articles 13.2 and 14 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), through the government body or the administration they establish, excluding the resources of strategic areas and those whose dominion pertains exclusively to the Nation” (Ibid 3.1).  In this sense, Chiapas is very important, not only for the Indigenous peoples but also for national and international companies, both sectors with a total conflicting interest.  Chiapas is the state that produces 52% of the national hydroelectric energy; together with Tabasco, Chiapas forms the Mesozoic Area and contributes a third of the national petroleum production.  The area also contains large areas of forests and jungles with lots of biodiversity, of interest to big businesses like the Pulsar Group of Alfonso Romo, a group supported by Vicente Fox.  The region also has cloud rainforests in the municipalities of Tila, Tapalapa, Chilón, Chalchihuitán, that are in the chage of Pronatura Chiapas, but under the direction of International Conservation.  These Chiapan forests are of extreme interest to companies like Novartis, Novara, and Diversa, that are only waiting for better political conditions to participate in research in the region.  What is certain is that the strategic natural resources belong to the Nation, for the exploitation of these resources the San Andres Accords establishes that a basic principle is respect, that is to say it will not be permitted for the machines of PEMEX and CFE to penetrate in communities without their permission and without giving them reparations for the harms they cause.  In addition the accords state that a certain quantity of economic resources should be returned to the communities, proportional to the natural resource that is exploited.  In this sense, the challenge of Vicente Fox is the reconciliation of the interests and necessities of the indigenous communities with the interests of the big businesses that Fox represents and that are gaining more power and presence in the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP).

4.  “ The State Government will promote before the Local Congress an initiative of Law of Justice and Agricultural Development, that includes the dispositions conducive to the breaking up and sanction of the latifundium (large land estates) and establish the necessary conditions for an agrarian core, Indigenous communities and peoples, to generate their own development through enjoyment of the resources on their territories in terms of the Articles 13.2 and 14 of the ILO (Ibid Document 3.1). 

Those who will be affected by the compliance with the San Andres Accords and with the implementation in this manner will be the “Chiapan family”, that is those 23 families (Castellanos Domínguez, Caballero, Orantes, etc.) who own the most and best quality of land, and to some degree the law would counterbalance Article 27 of the Constitution that guarantees the privatization of lands through the Program of Certification of Common Land Rights (PROCEDE).

5.  Document 3.2 (Actions and Measures for Chiapas Compromises and Joint Proposals of the State and Federal Governments and the EZLN), about the means of communication establishes that, “the peoples, communities and social groups have a right to access the existing mass media, whether they are property of the State or private.  It is recommended in corresponding instances the opening of a space for use by civil society and the Indigenous peoples in the existing means of communication.”  This section establishes that the 17 radio stations of the National Indigenist Institute (INI) should be turned over to the indigenous communities of the respective nations with the permits, infrastructure and necessary resources.  In this sense the San Andres Accords opens the spaces in the media not only for the Indigenous, but for civil society in general.  The media has been nearly totally inaccessible due to the television and radio monopoly of Televisa and Television Azteca. 

The few radio stations that exist in Chiapas, the “Red Radio Chiapas”, that should be cultural, have only served to stir up racial confrontations between Indigenous people and Mestizos (note the program of the City of Enoch Hernández Cruz in XERA of San Cristobal), and to promote local businesses in the indigenous languages.

Complying with the San Andres Accords would open a new chapter of building a foundation for the national state, where Neoliberal thought comes up against the customs and traditions of the indigenous peoples because these are obstacles for the functioning of the ruling economic model. To comply with the San Andres Accords is to go against the interests of the transnational corporations.

 This explains why the ex-President Ernesto Zedillo did not comply with his word he pledged in San Andres.  With the new government of Vicente Fox, the reforming of groups in power, be they the PRI or the PAN or whatever other party, that oppose the accords, because they know their economic interests, established in distinct Free Trade Agreements will be effected.

 If it is true that Fox is calling for a special session of Federal Congress so that before February 25th they comply with the Accords, the question is who will guarantee the verification of compliance with the Law?.  In addition, the arguments in Congress focus in whether the Cocopa Law will pass as it is or if it will return for debate, while the EZLN in previous communiqués has said that it will not accept that even one comma is taken out, some Representatives and Senators say that the law has a series of “technical errors” that need to be discussed.

There are no guarantees that the sending of the initiative of the Law to Congress means the compliance with the San Andres Accords, given that the other obstacle is that the PRI still holds a relative majority with 270 Representatives and Senators of the 628 that make up the Federal Congress.  The advantage that the PRI has is that some Representatives of the PAN support their initiative, and the disadvantage of the PRI is that they are not sufficiently consolidated and there are strong internal divisions about the direction of the party.

The PAN has said that it will not obey Fox’s orders to approve the initiative, however they condition their support on the inclusion of the role of the Municipal Charters.

At the same time, different social movements of Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Pueble, Mexico City, and various international solidarity groups are preparing to receive the Zapatista delegation that will arrive in Mexico City on March 11^th (not the 6^th as previously announced).  The Governors of Oaxaca and Veracruz anre the only ones who have stated that the Zapatistas will enjoy security while passing through those states;  while the FARP (Armed Revolutionary Forces of the People) said they will give orders to communities where they have a presence to support the Zapatista march and its passage through Oaxaca, the state of Mexico and Guerroro.

On the other side, there are several sectors like COPARMEZ, CONCANACO, CANACINTRA, the church hierarchy, including the Governor of Queretaro (who went so far as to propose the death penalty for the Zapatistas), the sector of Tourism that argues they have lost money due to the Zapatista mobilization, among others, that as the date of the march approaches the situation is getting more polarized and the most reactionary forces continue exercising a series of pressures so that the Zapatistas do not leave Chiapas, arguing that the Law for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Dignified Peace in Chiapas restricts the circulation of the Zapatistas to the state of Chiapas and that if they leave the “conflict zone” with or without facemasks they run the risk of being detained, as the head of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) has stated.  Nevertheless, facing the approaching date of departure, in the last few days there have been several agreements between Vicente Fox and the Cocopa in the sense that before the EZLN delegation leaves there need to be certain accords between the Cocopa and the EZLN and the say that if there is no dialogue before the march to Mexico City it will be necessary to reevaluate the visit.  Seperately, Vicente Fox said that the Zapatista march to Mexico City requires previous accords in which the logistics and conditions of necessary security are defined; also in this statement the President for the first time called the Subcommandante Marcos “Mr. Sebastián Guillén” to whom he asked for actions for peace.

However, the EZLN stated in their last communiqué on January 20^th that they will leave Chiapas unarmed, with facemasks because that is the symbol of Zapatismo, and that they will go to dialogue with the Federal Congress for the compliance of the San Andres Accords.  They also stated that they will not dialogue with the government while the three minimal signs are not complied with, and at the same time they mention that Fox continues referencing the EZLN as part of his post-electoral campaign.

In this context, Luis H. Alvarez, Coordinator for Dialogue and Negotiation in Chiapas arrived in Chiapas to inform that for the restarting of dialogue with the EZLN the federal government will install offices in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, San Cristobal and they already installed what he called a “liaison office” in Guadalupe Tepeyac, municipality Las Margaritas.  This gives the impression that facing the possibility of new peace talks, that would take place outside of the war zone, given that they are using the same logic of Ernesto Zedillo in the sense of fencing in as much as they can the highlands, northern and jungle regions, in order to prevent national support to the EZLN and from other state sectors so they do not get involved in the agenda of negotiations and national themes.

Meanwhile, in their desperation the COCOPA pressured the EZLN to have a dialogue without defining the role they would play, because they never had the role of a link between the government and the Zapatistas, their role has been the assistance in the dismantling of the CONAI, as well as the reinitiating of dialogue that needs a mediator to be named and the reactivation of the Commission of Monitoring and Verification of the Accords (COSEVER).  Because it is noting to serve to arrive at accords if they are not complied with, and in this regard, Fox should not repeat the errors of Zedillo and previous governors. 

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