The primary motivation for assembling the “First Week on Biological and Cultural Diversity” from June 14 – 17, 2000 in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico was to discuss varying impacts on biodiversity by free trade agreements such as: mega-projects (roads, dams, gas pipelines, etc.), the Puebla Panama Plan, the use of agricultural toxins, and  the production, trade, and consumption of transgenetic foods.  Other impacts discussed were: biopiracy utilized by transnational firms; community’s millennial inheritance and world patrimony; poverty and the irreversible environmental impact that is caused by single crop farming such as the African Palm, rubber trees, and the Eucalyptus.

Among the summoned organizations were: El Movimiento Por La Democracia y Por la Vida (Democracy and Life Movement), el Centro de Investigaciones Economicas y Politicas de Accion (Center for Economic and Political Action Research), el Consejo de Organizaciones de Medicos y Parteras Indigenas (Council of Indigenous Medical and Midwife Organizations), la Comision para la Unidad y la Reconciliacion Comunitaria (Commission for Unity and Community Reconciliation), Alianza Civica Chiapas (Chiapas Civic Alliance), la Red Mexicana de Accion Frente al Libre Comercio (Mexican Action Network Against Free Trade), el Centro de Estudios para el Cambio del Campo Mexicano (Research Center on Mexican Land Change), la Red de Accion Permanente sobre Plaguicidas en Mexico (Permanent Action Network on Pesticides in Mexico), Desarrollo Economico y Social de los Mexicanos Indigenas (Economic and Social Development of Indigenous Mexicans), Global Exchange, and el Centro de Investigacion y Accion de la Mujer (Research and Action Center on Women). 

The event was both a true celebration and a success.  During the week, peasant and indigenous organizations exchanged native corn seeds and medecinal plants.  There was also an exposition and sale of organic coffee, honey, arts and crafts, as well as education materials.  In the “Multimedia Hall” different videos were projected on the week’s themes.  521 people (321 women and 200 men) of different sectors participated in this celebration: the majority from peasant and indigenous organizations, civil organisms, the magesterial sector and women’s groups, cooperatives and coffee industry organizations, beekeepers, artisans, the health industry, specialists, academics and researchers; university students from all over the country and abroad; churches; base organizations and human rights; national networks and civil organizations, among others.

Members of over 171 organizations and 15 different countries arrived to this event.  The coutries are: Brazil, Canada, Spain, United States, El Salvador, Scotland, France, Basque Country, Guatemala, Greece, England, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Uruguay, and 14 entities within Mexico (Campeche, Coahuila, Chiapas, the Federal District, Mexico state, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tabasco, Veracruz, and Yucatan).  Necessary to coordinate the event was the creation of various committees and multiple tasks where many organizations from Chiapas participated.  Among them are La Neta, the Research and Action Center for Women, the Commission for Unity and Community Reconcilliation, Junax, Global Exchange, CIEPAC, Civil Alliance, Economic and Social Development of Indigenous Mexicans, Luna Creciente (Growing Moon), and the Coordinadora de la Sociedad Civil en Resistencia (the Coordinator of Civil Society in Resistance).

During this weeks dialogues were held about Biological Diversity (Andres Barreda); Free Trade and Environment (Alejandro Villamar); Mega-Projects and the Environment (Carlos Beas); Puebla Panama Plan (Gustavo Castro, CIEPAC); Food Security (Peter Rosset, Food First); Biopiracy (Silvia Ribeiro); Transgenetics (Greenpeace); Agricultural Toxins (Ryan Zinn, Global Exchange); Corn in Mexico (Ana De Ilta); Positive Laws facing the Biological and Cultural Diversity of Indigenous Peoples; Single Crop Farming (Ricardo Carrere, World Movement of Tropical Forests).

Resistance experiences were also shared from, among others, the popular organization conformed by 2 million townspeople of Brazil of Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra (Movement of Landless Rural Workers).  This presentation was given by Alvaro Santin. Also included were the indigenous brothers of the Rio Negro community of  Guatemala regarding the massacre and ecologic disaster caused by the Chixoy dam that was constructed by the World Bank.  The Council of Indigenous Medical and Midwife Organizations shared information about a biopiracy project in Chiapas conducted by the Maya ICBG and Ecosur.  The organization UNOJSO from Oaxaca and member of the National Indigenous Congress presented their struggle and resistance for the indigenous community’s recognition of rights and culture.

Besides the dialogues and workshops that took place to share experiences, analyze causes, consequences, and elaborate on proposals and alternatives, the participants proposed the following declaration:

CHIAPAS DECLARATION

FOR BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

We declare:

“Our commitment to the respect of life, culture, and environment.  Under this common objective, we manifest ourselves in favor of:

-          The protection of mother nature, as inalienable living beings or each millennary culture.

-          The defense of life, of biological and cultural diversity.

-          The declaration of the centers of origin as humanity’s patrimony, depositing the responsibility for its universal custody in the cultures sustained by them, prohibiting private ownership.

-          The recuperation and fortification of the ancestral knowledge of our people

-          A protective law for natural resources and genetics, with previous consultation of indigenous populations

-          Respect towards a community’s natural resources and minerals by the government.

-          Support to all national and international movements designed to conserve, protect, and value biodiversity.

-          The impulse and implementation of productive alternative projects and the fostering of the development of cooperation of our experiences.

-          The respect towards food sovereignty, ecologic agricultural production and the right of communities for food self-sufficiency, that is to say, the right to produce our own food.

-          The recovery of our native seeds, our right to produce corn at just prices and the exchange and storage of seeds and plants of our regions.  Just prices for our products.

-          As part of this food self-sufficiency, it is necessary to unite in the use of natural pesticides, the development and fortification of organic agriculture and strengthening our custom of diversifying crops.

-          The respect by the states of the traditional knowledge by indigenous communities and their access to biological resources.

-          The fulfillment by the States of commitments acquired in international treaties in regards to human rights and ,specifically, to food security.

-          The implementation by the States of organic agricultural programs and required technical training.

-          The review of international instruments referring to intellectual property, specifically the Accord on Intellectual Property Rights related to trade of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the trade treaties.

-          The promulgation within human rights of the rights of consumers and farmers.

-          The creation of a democratic and culturally and ecologically sustainable Popular Development Plan, based on the needs of the communities, where investment projects are consulted by the society in general.

-          The respect of the autonomy of each community in each country’s construction of their development models.

-          The creation of coordinations and networks to confront projects that affect community’s sovereignty and well-being.

-          The legal recognition of indigenous communities.

-          The presidential veto of the Bartlett-Cevallos-Ortega Constitutional Reform enacted by the Federal Congress on Indigenous and Rights and Culture.  The fulfillment of the San Andres Accords through the Iniciativa de Reformas Constitucionales COCOPA and the 169 Agreement of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

-          The fulfillment of Agrarian Reform and an Agricultural Reform.

-          A form of education that awakens the responsibility of promoting the teachings of our cultures and love of the land.

-          The right and access to information of the products we are consuming and the betterment of crops and ways of lifes.

-          The right and access to information on Accords, Mega-Projects, and Trade Treaties.

-          Disseminate information to reach all levels: international, regional, municipal, and community.

As a result, WE REJECT:

-          The patents on raw materials

-          The utilization of fertilizers and agricultural chemicals

-          The production, commercialization, and consumption of transgenetics that only enrich transnational firms and affect biodiversity.

-          The high prices for field products and the loss of our lands and territories.

-          Single crop farming and plantations that alter our ecosystems.

-          The harassment, invasion, and looting of our riches and our natural resources.

-          The exploitation project of the biological corridor and the exclusion and expulsion of the communities caused by the politics of the Protected Natural Areas.

-          The neoliberal business politics that poisons us with their agricultural toxins.

-          The Puebla Panama Plan with everything it represents against our communities, biodiversity, and our natural and cultural resources.

-          Everything that attempts tries to commit against our communities.

-          The maquiladora industry.

-          The Barttlet-Cevallos-Ortega Reform, approved by the Federal Congress on the subject of Indigenous Rights and Culture.

-          Government programs that generate divisions and community disorganization.

-          The introduction and consumption of low quality food and beverages.

-          The law initiative of Access to Genetic Resources that is being analized by the Mexican Senate.

SPECIAL DECLARATIONS:

-          We declare and demand from the Guatemalan government and the World Bank the reparation of all the damages caused by the Chixoy dam in Rio Negro.

-          We declare and demand the reparation of all damages caused by large firms that up until today, have affected 60 million people as well as an additional 3.5 million people that are being displaced by megaprojects.

-          We join in protest with the demands and projects that have been manifested by other networks such as Via Campesina and Latin American Coordination of Peasant Organizations in terms of biodiversity.

-          We reject the affirmation made by Mexican President Vicente Fox that the Puebla Panama Plan is worth 3,000 times more than an indigenous community, and is evidence to the mercantilist capitalist nature governing his heart.

The signers belong to or come from the following organizations and institutions: Adivima; Alianza Cívica Chiapas; ARIC Independiente; Arrieros; Artesana de Flor de Margarita; ASCRA; Asociación Católica; Caminos Sin Fronteras; Casa de la Ciencia; Casa Maya; Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas”; CECACI; CECCAM; CEDFOG; CEDIAC; CEIBA; CENAMI; Centro de Derechos Humanos Ñuú Jikandii; Centro de Educación para la Salud Santa María; CEPAFOS; Chilan Balam; Chiltak; Chimalapas Unidos por la Defensa Etnobiodiversidad; CIAM; CICE; CIDECA; CIEPAC; CIOAC; Citricultores Tancanthuitz; Coordinadora Diocesana de Mujeres (CODIMUJ); Colectivo de trabajo de Nashinich; Colectivo de Trabajo de Italohuitz; Comisión Ecuménica Diocesis SCLC; Comité de Campesinos Pobres; Comité de Desarrollo de San Andrés; Comité de Emergencia San Juan Del Bosque; Comité de Solidaridad con la Rebelión Zapatista; Comité Noruego de Solidaridad con América Latina; COMPITCH; Coopera tú; Coordinadoras Regionales de la Sociedad Civil en Resistencia; Copider Chiapas A.C.; CORECO; Cáritas de San Cristóbal de Las Casas; Cáritas Tapachula; DECOPAZ-CECI; Defensoría del Derecho a la Salud; Derechos en Acción; Derechos Humanos de Tenejapa; Derechos Humanos Diocesanos; DESMI; Diócesis de San Cristóbal; Diócesis de Tapachula; EAPSEC A.C.; Educe; EDUPAZ; Enlace y Comunicación; Escuela Guaquitepec; Etnobiología para la Conservación, A.C.; Fomento Cultural y Educativo; Frente de Campesinos en Lucha por la Tierra ; Fundación Heinrich Boll; Fundación León XIII; Fundadese; Global Exchange; Greenpeace; Grupo de reflexión de Amatenango del Valle; Grupo Solidaridad por Chiapas Suiza; ICS Consorcio; IJATZ; IMAP; INCMNSZ; Iniciativas Nubiselva; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP); Ishi Ktak Asushé Buká; Iteso; Ixim Casa de la Solidaridad Zabaldi; Jardín de Orquídeas San Cristóbal; Junax; Las Abejas; Las Golondrinas; LEMNA; Maderas del Pueblo; Madre Tierra ; Magisterio Democrático de la Región de los Altos, Secundarias Técnicas Sección 7 SNTE; Mamá Maquin; Maya Ik; Melel Xojobal; Misión de Guadalupe; Movimiento de Izquierda Libertario; Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales sin Tierra ; Movimiento Mundial por los Bosques Tropicales; Movimiento Nacional de Salud Popular, región Tabasco; Mugarik Gabe; Muuch Kambal; Médicos del Mundo; Organización Campesina Emiliano Zapata Coordinadora Nacional Plan de Ayala (Ocez-Cnpa Fra. Comalapa); OCOMICH; ODASPICH; ODETIT; Ojo del Sur; Oletik; OMIECH; OMITCH; Omitech; OPTRAMACH; Organización de Médicos Tradicionales de Cancuc; Organización de Médicos Tradicionales de la Sierra; Organización Lucha Campesina; OXFAM Australia; Parroquia Democracia; Parroquia Huitiupán; Parroquia Independencia; Parroquia La Libertad; Parroquia Poza Rica; Parroquia San Andrés; Parroquia San Fermín; Parroquia Tenejapa; Parroquia Zinacantán; Pastoral de El Bosque; Pastoral Social; Produssep Sureste; Programa La Neta; Proimmse - Unam; Promotoras de Salud de Tenejapa; Proyecto de Medios; RAFI; Red de Abogadas y Abogados por los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas (RADPI); Red de Maíz; Red Proderechos de la Educación y la Salud; Regiones Autónomas Pluriétnicas; Ricaa; RMALC; Río Sqisal; S.C. Tzeltal Tzotzil; S.S.S. Lagos de Colores; SADEC; Santo Tomás; Saqbé; Serapaz San Cristóbal; SERPAJ; Servicios Sociales Solidarios Imelda Tijerina S.S.S.I.T; Sindicato de Trabajadores Indígenas del Edo. De Chiapas; Sindicato Democrático de la Pesca y Acuacultura; Sipaz; Soc. Coop. Xulum Chun Artesanas; Sociedad Civil de zona campesina de Comitán; Sociedad Interamericana de Educ. y Cap. Ambiental CIECA; SSS Nuevo Milenio; Technología Mundi; Tojtzotze Li Maya; Transparencia; UAM Xochimilco-MDR; Ucizoni; Umbrella House; Unem; Universidad de Bemidji; Universidad de California; Universidad de Colorado; Universidad de Milano; Universidad de Nuevo México; Universidad de Paris; Universidad Iberoamericana; Universidad Iberoamericana Laguna; Universidad Laval; Universidad Metropolitana de Manchester; Unión de Milperos Tradicionales; Unión lucha y progreso; UNOSJO S.C.; Xinich; Yib Jteklum A.C.

(Note: There were organizations that participated in the conference during the week, however did not wish to sign the declaration, as was the case with El Colegio de la Fronter Sur – Ecosur)

This is the text of the Declaration.  However, the conference did not end here.  During the event, the participants declared a Second Week for Biological and Cultural Diversity that will take place during the month of June 2002 in Guatemala.  The Guatemalan organizations  committed themselves to prepare the event with the help of the organizations summoned to this first week.

The same day in which the participants declared themselves totally against the Puebla Panama Plan (PPP), the presidents of the region were signing an agreement in San Salvador that contained the strategic lines of the PPP, facing to consolidate the “process of hemispheric trade opening that should culminate in a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)”, (for an analysis of the genesis and culmination of the FTAA, see “Chiapas Al Dia” Bulletin #222).  On his part, President Vicente Fox expressed that his government “is by and for businessmen”.  Also, in those same days in Chiapas, armed forces commanded by Vicente Fox harassed habitants of indigenous and Zapatista communities who launched alert communiques and denunciations.  At the same time, the firm DuPont patented new seeds.  In spite of all this, the indigenous of Chiapas offered each participant of the First Week for Biological and Cultural Diversity a cup of pozol to toast to life as a rejection of the pozol patent in the hands of a Dutch firm, and as a symbol against privatization of the millennial knowledge of their communities.

The neoliberal model of globalization is facing many rejections throughout the world.  Not only are indigenous nations revolting and resisting, but also the globalization of the hope of many sectors of the world affected by the interests of financial capital.  However, it is from the rural populations and the indigenous, from the fields, from the earth, where the principal resistance and alternatives are found.  Because the food that nourishes us and the interests of the transnational firms that dispute these strategic resources, (water, forests, petroleum, biodiversity, minerals, among others), are in the field, in the earth.  An earth that belongs to the rural populations, to the indigenous, who have preserved the riches that belong to everyone.

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