The Mexican government continues it’s campaign to promote the appearance that society is satisfied with the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), that the EZLN does not exist anymore, and that society is in peace. President Fox met with President Francisco Flores in San Salvador in June of 2001 in order to promote the PPP.  During the visit Fox stated the following about the conflict in Chiapas:

 “ there has not been a violent conflict for six years (…) There have been no peace talks, but neither is there violence; we are in peace and we are working for the development of the indigenous communities in Chiapas and in all of Mexico.”

Fox also added that “additional space should not be given to the Zapatista situation, a movement that is in the process of deactivation” and proceeded to turn the discussion to the implementation of the PPP that according to him is “a thousand times more (important)” than any indigenous community.

As if this weren’t enough, Fox affirmed that Zapatismo “has nothing to do with the Plan Puebla Panama, other than the possibility that there might be a project planned and a community might oppose its imposition in their zone.  In this case we will put it somewhere else – we are not going to fight with anyone.” But this is totally false. The projects are already formulated and underway; they are imposed and not consulted with anyone. Privatization of lands is being supported through the Program of Certification of Ejidal Rights and Urban Plots (PROCEDE), while the inhabitants still do not realize the hydroelectric and mineral potential of their lands and don’t know the implications or the plans for planting genetically modified eucalyptus, African palm and other large monoculture plantations for export.

Later in the same meeting President Fox addressed the press as if they were ignorant, affirming that “The entire Plan Puebla Panama is positive… (and) I don’t want the press to confuse a development plan with a regional problem in this Mesoamerican region.” According to Vicente Fox “the Zapatista theme is not the Mexican theme, at all. It must be placed in its correct dimension.  Moreover, there is a stable process of deactivation of the conflict underway. In fact, there is no longer any conflict, we are in a time of sacred peace” (La Prensa Gráfica, 15/06/01).

The PPP is a threat to the life and territories of the indigenous peoples.  And the San Andres Accords are a threat to the PPP. Mega-projects such as hydroelectric plants, superhighways and dry canals, gas and oil deposits, biodiversity, water and other strategic resources that are in danger of being privatized, are connected to the militarization and para-militarization of the indigenous communities. Maquiladoras are already arriving in Tuxtla, San Cristobal and Comitan and labor conflicts and inconformity have already arisen.

So, despite what Vicente Fox says, the reality continues to be more displacements, deaths, confrontations, divisions, militarization and para-militarization, imprisoned Zapatista political prisoners and other violations of human rights. In recent weeks military incursions have increased, constricting the lives of the indigenous communities even more. Glaringly absent are any consultations of the people about the “development projects”, while there is an ever increasing presence of the World Bank (WB), government officials and populist programs which bring along increasing debt, tax hikes and further divisions and confrontations in civil society. The inhabitants of the region of the Montes Azules bio-reserve in the jungle of Ocosingo continue to be threatened with expulsion under the alleged pretext of the need to protect biodiversity- in order to free up the land to be plundered by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies camouflaged as researchers and universities.

Social discontent arises on all sides. At the end of the past year, the press reported that a group called Armed Civil Front of Ocosingo (FARCO) threatened to raise up in arms against the electoral fraud.  Their communiqué stated that: “we demand the recognition of the council named by the representatives of the people because it is the people who dictate and determine the government that they want… We make this petition, and if it is not complied with, we will have to give recognition to this council through armed force.” (Cuarto Poder, Dec. 21, 2001). Though they have not acted on this up until now, these kinds of declarations are a gauge of social unrest regarding the current situation. For example, in the same month, the undersecretary of the government in the region of Costa de Chiapas, warned that conditions exist for an uprising in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas. He said that the government has “reports and documents that show us that elements exist aimed at destabilizing this area of the state – from the Sierra to the border – through armed actions whose purpose is to create guerrilla centers of control.” These “hot spots” were identified as being in the municipalities of Siltepec, Ciudad Hidalgo, Tuzantan, Acapetahua and Motozintla. (La Jornada, Dec.5, 2001).

A document of Inter American Development Bank (IADB) called “PPP Mesoamerican Initiatives and Projects” from June 2001, includes a section “Human development and quality of life.” This section specifies a “Border development” project that proposes “the usefulness of establishing a continuous territorial space called the Central American Social Corridor, coinciding with the Logistical Corridors and the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (…).” Nonetheless, that same month the federal government announced that 100 million pesos would be designated to militarize the border between Chiapas and Guatemala, reinforcing the 13 border crossings in order to prevent the passage of undocumented migrants.  Sub Secretary of Population, Migration and Religious Affairs of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, Jaiver Moctezuma Barragan, said that “(…) recently in the trip made by Vicente Fox for the Plan Puebla Panama, it was very clear that one of the fundamental aspects is the theme of immigration, because increasing investment is precisely the way to combat a disorderly and intensive flow of undocumented people.” (Milenio, June 20, 2001).

Thus, the government has given autonomy to commercial banks, 80% of which are in the hands of foreigners, and have also received public funds for bank bailouts.  The government has also granted autonomy to the Bank of Mexico and the Universities; to the National Commission on Human Rights, to the Federal Electoral Institute, as well as to the Mennonites – and now wants to give autonomy to the Federal Electric Commission. When will the autonomy of indigenous peoples be recognized? 

But the “dead” still roam the earth. The spirit of Zapata continues to inspire hearts with resistance and change. Today the most radical thing is to think and believe that another world is possible, that another integration of the people is possible, that a better life is possible without the schemes of colonial “development” and exploitation proposed by the PPP and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). In other parts of the country, indigenous peoples continue to create new movements. Recently the National Indigenous Congress met in the Central Pacific Region. We reproduce here the text of their agreements and declaration:

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
CENTRAL AND PACIFIC REGION
SPECIAL MINUTES OF AGREEMENTS

Meeting in the town of San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán, Municipality of  Mezquitic, Jalisco, on July 21, 2002, having analyzed the theme of the consultations that will be carried out by various governmental institutions, based on the constitutional reforms on Indigenous Rights, and

CONSIDERING:

            1) That the Mexican State has still not complied with the Accords signed in San Andrés Sacamch´en de los Pobres.

            2) That the Mexican State and the Powers that it represents still do not recognize the rights of the Indigenous Peoples and the real practice of their autonomy.

            3) That the Mexican State has not complied with the three signs necessary to resume dialogue, demanded by the EZLN and ratified by this National Indigenous Congress.

            4) That the governmental institutions are using, for their “consultations”, arguments based on Agreement 169 of the International Labor Organization, ratified by the Mexican State, and other agreements and international decrees; when they have not even recognized them in the Magna Carta and annulled them in practice by means of the recent Constitutional Reform concerning Indigenous Rights.

            5) The deception and misinformation with which the government has been carrying out its supposed “consultations”, considering each individual in particular without giving him or her the basic information.  The government also takes advantage of the geographical remoteness of some communities, which does not permit constant contact with other indigenous communities nor with the events that occur in the country. For example, the Indigenous Communities of Durango, denounce that government institutions have invited them to non-existent training workshops, and later published these meetings in the official statistics and in the media that they participated in these “consultations.”

We therefore adopt the following AGREEMENTS:

1) We will not participate in any type of consultation convened at the request of the Mexican government, Federal, State or Municipal, and in particular in the National Consultation called “Indigenous Peoples, Public Policies and Institutional Reform,” while the following points are not recognized by the Mexican State and its three branches of government:

a) The rights of the Indigenous Peoples and their just right to exercise their autonomy.
b) The completion of all three signs necessary for dialogue, as demanded by the EZLN:

            1.- The incorporation of the COCOPA proposal into the Constitution.

            2.- The liberation of all Zapatista prisoners.

            3.- The withdrawal of the Mexican Army from the positions designated by the EZLN and the demilitarization of all of the indigenous regions of the country, such as the Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz.

2) We ratify the manifesto signed by the Union of Organization of the Sierra Juarez of Oaxaca and Services of the Mixe People, that in the same way refuses an institutional reform as long as a constitutional reform is not in place that truly addresses the desires of the Indigenous Peoples and communities about their rights and culture.  We also support the refusal of the Purepecha people to participate in the consultations for the same reasons.

Signed in the Indigenous community of Wixarika de Waut+a, municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco, on July 21, 2002.

DECLARATION OF WAUT+A

We, the Wixaritari of Jalisco, Nayarit and  Durango, Nahua of Jalisco, Guerrero, Distrito Federal, Morelos and Colima, purhépecha, tlapaneco, amuzgo, mixteco, hñahñu and matlatzinca, joined together in the Indigenous community Wixárika de Waut+a (San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán), municipality of Mezquitic, in the state of Jalisco, DECLARE THE FOLLOWING:

FIRST.- As Indigenous peoples, communities and organizations of the central-Pacific region of our country, we continue to respect and support the noble silence of the EZLN and we call upon the National Indigenous Congress (NIC) to continue to accompany said silence while moving forward and constructing the movement in each of the regions that make up the NIC.

SECOND.- We endorse the demand for compliance with the three signals called for by the EZLN for the re-initiation of dialogue with the federal government: compliance with the San Andres Accords and recognition of the rights and indigenous culture according to the COCOPA law; the liberation of all Zapatista prisoners; and the withdrawal of the Mexican Army from the seven indicated positions.

THIRD.- As Indigenous Peoples and communities, we will continue to practice and strengthen our autonomy because this autonomy belongs to us and lives in the historical memory of our people.

FOURTH.- For these reasons we declare that with or without constitutional recognition we will continue to live, while strengthening our autonomy and all that makes us a People.

FIFTH.- We demand that the National Supreme Court of Justice pass a resolution based on the law and not on the interests of the powerful in the case of the 336 legal objections that municipalities throughout the country filed against the Indigenous Law approved April 28 of last year. That is to say, we demand that said reform be declared unconstitutional and that the validity of the international treaties and agreements that recognize the rights of our Peoples be ratified.

SIXTH.- Based on the aforementioned, we categorically reject the National Consultation called “Indigenous Peoples, Public Policies and Institutional Reform” that is just one more joke, and not a true response to the historic demands of our people. In the same way, we denounce the fact that this consultation is being held in diverse states of the country under false and misinformed pretenses. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT A SINGLE LEGAL OR INSTITUTIONAL REFORM, EITHER IN THE FEDERAL OR STATE ARENA, UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT COMPLIES WITH THE THREE DEMANDS FOR DIALOGUE.

SEVENTH.- We denounce the policies unleashed by the federal government against our territories and sacred places, and we add our voices to the just struggles for land and indigenous territory of the communities of the Purhépecha Meseta, Michoacán, Wixaritari de Bancos de San Hipólito, Durango, San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán, Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán and San Andrés Cohamiata, Jalisco, matlatzinca of San Pedro Tlanixco and the hnahnu of San Pedro Atlapulco, state of Mexico, the nahuas of Ayotitlán, Jalisco, Suchitlán and La Yerbabuena, Colima, Milpa Alta, Distrito Federal, Tepoztlán, Cuentepec, Tlayacapan and Xoxocotla, Morelos. WE STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE JUST AND DIGNIFIED STRUGGLE OF OUR NAHUA BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE REGION OF TEXCOCO, AGAINST THEIR EVICTION FROM THEIR LANDS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AIRPORT.

EIGHTH.- We demand that the federal government cease the introduction of corn that is genetically modified or of doubtful origin into our country. We call on all Indigenous people and farmers as well as corn consumers in the entire country to defend our own seeds and to join with us in our demands.

NINTH.- We reject the prohibition decreed by the federal government regarding the use of 85 medicinal plants, and we alert all indigenous and campesino peoples of the country to the evictions and privatization that the great transnational companies, in complicity with the federal government, are carrying out with relation to our traditional knowledge and the biodiversity of our territories. WE INVITE ALL INDIGENOUS AND CAMPESINO PEOPLES TO UTILIZE AND EXCHANGE THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN US AND OUR AUTONOMY, CALLING FOR THE BROADEST PARTICIPATION POSSIBLE IN THE NATIONAL FORUM IN DEFENSE OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE ON SEPTEMBER 14, 15 AND 16 IN THE HÑAHÑU COMMUNITY OF SAN PEDRO ATLAPULCO, STATE OF MEXICO.

Presented in the Indigenous community of Wixarika of San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán Waut+a, Municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco, on July 21, 2002.

¡NEVER AGAIN A MEXICO WITHOUT US!
¡FOR THE INTEGRAL RECONSTITUTION OF OUR PEOPLES!
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC REGION

This declaration and meeting minutes were signed by representatives and authorities of the communities of San Sebastián Teponahuaxtlán, Santa Catarina Cuexcomatitlán, San And´res Cohamiata, Comunidad de Bancos de San Hipólito; the indigenous of the P’urhepecha peoples, nahuatl peoples of  Tuxpan Jalisco and of the community of Suchitlán, Colima; of the community of San Pedro Tlanixco and Milpa Alta. As well as by the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of Anáhuac with the general representation of communal rights of the towns of Villa Milpa Alta, San Francisco Tecoxpan, San Jerónimo Miacatlán, San Juan Tepenahuac, Santa Ana Tlacotenco, San Lorenzo Tlacoyucan, San Pablo Oxtotepec, San Agustín Ohtenco, San Pedro Atocpan (Delegación Milpa Alta), San Francisco Tlanepantla, San Mateo Xalpa,  Alianza Zapatista de San Gregorio Atlapulco (Delegación Xochitlmilco), Pueblos de San Miguel y Santo Tomas Ajusco (Delegación Tlalpan), Indigenous Community of San Nicolas Totolapan, Grupo de Comuneros de Magdalena Contreras Atlitic (Delegación Magadalena Contreras), Community of San Mateo Tlaltenango (Delegación Cuajimalpa), Indigenous Community of San Pedro Atlapulco (Municipio de Ocoyoacac, Edo. De México). Also the community of San Pedro Atlapulco, the Nahuatl community of Manantlán ando f Morelos de Huentepec, Santa Catarina Municipio de Tepoxtlán, Tlayacapan y Xoxocotla. the Union of Communal members of Emiliano Zapata, The Guerrero Council 500 Years of black and popular Indigenous Resistance; the mission community of Chichimecas y Arnero and the Guachichiol Collective of Guanajuato.

The indigenous peoples have once again put forth as the primary condition compliance with the San Andres Accords and have also once again brought the government’s  tricks to light. The conditions for dialogue have not been met, the Accords are not respected, fraud and corruption invade the State structures, violation of human rights continue, promises of employment do not come, unemployment and living conditions are even more critical in the countryside, promises are broken about consultations on projects that affect the lives of thousands and thousands of citizens.  People are being lied to, being told that the dams on the Usumacinta river will not be carried forth because they affect indigenous peoples and then a few days later, million dollar investments are announced for the project. We could continue to list the deceptions. The government neither wishes to regain it’s credibility nor to govern for all.

But the spirit of Zapata continues to prowl in those corners called to active resistance, those who believe that there is a way out. The regions of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas in México; Huehuetenango, Petén and Xela in Guatemala, have been transformed, shared analysis, and organized joint actions that have become like seedbeds for the region. Even broader efforts have strengthened by joining with indigenous organizations from Honduras, and with social organizations from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. In the last two years, forums and meetings have loosened an avalanche of initiatives, proposals and resistances. From the year 2000 with the Second Meeting of the Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas – COMPA - (www.sitiocompa.org), in San Cristobal, Chiapas, there have been already two Weeks for Biological and Cultural Diversity, two forums against dams, two against the PPP, as well as campaigns against bio-engineered corn and many other actions in unity with those generated in other Central American countries (see www.ciepac.org). These are some of the fruits of the Zapatista silence, of those who live dying in order to let others live, and who remain silent so that others may speak.

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