1. Mexico Needs A New Airport

Twenty years ago, there was already discussion of constructing another airport in México City with a greater capacity and better security.  In 2001, the most viable locations for the airport were in Tizayuca, Hidalgo, or Texcoco, in Mexico State. On October 22 of this year, the Federal Government announced that for the public good, the new airport would be constructed on 5,000 hectares of land in Texcoco, very close to Mexico City.  Land would be appropriated from thirteen communities, among them the Ejido (communal land) San Salvador Atenco.  Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution states the following in the second paragraph:  “Expropriations can only be made for the public good and through just reparations.”  The Nahuatl population were to be almost completely eliminated from the region, displaced and with uncertain futures.  The communal land owners began asking, “Is the airport for public use?”  Who travels in airplanes?  Whose economic interests are being served here?  How does it benefit a campesino (small farmer), from the Tarahumara mountains, for example, that a rich executive can travel more efficiently by air?  They concluded that the government was breaking the law. 

2. From Owners To Peons

Article 14 of the Mexican constitution states, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, possessions, or rights without a trial by a duly created court in which the essential formalities of procedure are observed and in accordance with laws issued prior to the act.”  However, the communal land owners affected found out about the expropriation through the following headline in the newspapers, that the airport would be located, “Instead Of In Tizayuca, Texcoco.”  The government made this decision without consulting the people involved.  This is just like the PRI’s style of governance.  Without following any legal procedures, violating the Constitution, the lands would have been expropriated from their owners, and the ex-owners would have been compensated at 7.2 pesos per square meter for seasonal lands, and 26 for irrigated lands.  The lands would become capital for large investors.  These investors would supposedly provide work for campesinos, that is, the campesino would no longer own their labor.  They would become employees perhaps with some labor rights if they were lucky.  Some would be street-cleaners, janitors, porters, parking lot attendants, street vendors in the informal economy, illegal merchants, emigrants, and the rest, unemployed.  The communal land owners began to seek protection through the legal system.

3. Because The People Are Not Important

Carlos Salinas de Gortari was responsible for the modification of Article 27, which allowed communal lands to be bought and sold.  Section VII of the Article states, “The centers of population which, by law or in fact, possess a communal status shall have legal capacity to enjoy common possession of the lands (…) Communal land owners can associate with other communal land owners and with third parties to grant the use of their lands (…) the communal land assembly may grant control over it’s lands.”  These modifications were made in order to facilitate the “opening of the market.”   Nevertheless, facing the refusal of the Atenco landowners to sell their lands, the government resorted to expropriation, using purely economic criteria and without taking into account any cultural and social aspects.  Therefore, since all private property can be the object of expropriation, the communal land owners began to ask, “Why us?”  The answer they found is that the State acts according to it’s own desires, not according to the law nor the will of the people.  The campesinos realized that according to the government the people are not important, and agricultural work has no value.  Neither does their long struggle for survival, because as we know, Atenco means, “on the banks of the waters” and the people have lived there for hundreds of years.  Now it is said that the Atenquenses are “on the brink of fire,” referring to the governmental repression that followed.  The Mexican countryside’s rich history does not interest corporations.  What value do they place on the ancestral knowledge of the campesinos, of indigenous people? “Why don’t they value Fox’s ranch at 7 pesos?”, the communal land owners asked.  “Why don’t they expropriate lands from the large estates that concentrate land in the hands of just a few. Why from the campesinos?  Why from the poor people?”

4. This Land Is Not For Sale

Despite the legal complaint lodged by the communal land owners, the government continued with studies of the countryside, without notifying the population, thereby violating citizen’s rights and the law.  When the people of Atenco went to work in their fields and saw strangers carrying out government surveys, they threw them out, just as anyone would do if they found a stranger in their house.   The people united more strongly than ever.  Together they unfurled a mighty resistance struggle that became a movement.  The government tried to divide them with “gifts” or bribes in the style of political parties:  they approached them individually in order to convince them to sell, and thereby weaken their collective force.  The government convinced ten communities to sell their land, assuring them that their needs would be taken into account in the new project.   However, the people of Atenco and two other communities did not give in to these divide and conquer tactics.  They organized more strongly through various political routes, and pressured the government with marches, sit-ins and press conferences.  They clearly told the government, “The land is not for sale.  We will not negotiate.  We want to dialogue.” 

5. The Battle

The campesino’s protests got louder, leading up to the confrontation on Thursday July 11, 2002, when in the attempt to approach the Governor at a public event, the police violently repressed the people and detained fourteen protestors. This was referred to by some as an ambush.  In retaliation, the communal land owners defended themselves and detained twelve people, mainly governmental officials.  They later freed five, and took another six or seven, and let them go in exchange for their people who were detained.  They blocked roads, took five trailers, set fire to patrols.  The Government would apply the law, sending the detained people to prison.   The communal land owners were not intimidated, but instead organized stronger opposition.  They could have killed the kidnapped officials, and they were willing to die with them at the hands of the more than 2,000 police and soldiers that surrounded the zone.  Finally, the government released the detained campesinos the next Sunday, and paid their bail.  The communal land owners released those detained:  and won this battle.  But they did not put down their machetes or sticks, nor the pipes or Molotov cocktails. 

6. The Struggle Continues “La Lucha Sigue”

There is no other way. Individualism, competition, and the greed of the capitalist system must be confronted with unity, cooperation and community spirit.  Facing the materialism that values money above all else, the campesinos prioritized a love for the land, community ties, and their children’s futures.  While the government demanded their lands, they asked for respect.  This was their crime.  In exchange for this respect, the communal land owners were willing to sacrifice their lives.  This was the crux of the situation and the government was well aware of this:  “They are willing to die and we are not, so we are going to lose.”  Therefore, that Sunday, they unfurled a flag of prudence and respect for human rights and peace, and agreed that they could change the site of the airport.  They understood that they could not win this battle.  However, the government was not ready to permanently comply with the demands. And the people knew it, because afterwards they said to the media, “You are going to return here.  Atenco’s struggle is not over yet.”   They were asked, “Don’t you fear for what will happen afterwards, in retaliation?  They replied, “That’s why you’ll be back.”

7. Yes We Can! “Si Se Puede”

In effect, President Vicente Fox, in an interview with Patricia Janiot of CNN, affirmed that the government would not trample on anyone’s rights, and that there were other alternatives for the airport.  Even if nobody believes what the President says, this statement completed the triumph of this battle.  The people of Atenco showed all of Mexico that it is possible to defeat the bad government. We can do it.  A government that does not belong to us, that does not represent, that does not consult, that does not lead by obeying, is not a government of the people.  However, in order for the Mexican people to achieve emancipation, to remove the boots of imperialism, of Bush and Fox from our necks, we should be willing to give our lives if necessary.  “A free nation, or death.” This is what the great Latin American revolutionaries said, and they lived accordingly, just like the Zapatistas and the Atenquenses.  If this is not the case, Mexicans will only play at a democracy, peace, justice, dignity, revolution and independence.  

8. The Rule of Law

In an interview on July 15, 2002, between the community authorities and reporters from Televisa, Carmen Aristegui and Javier Solórzano, this was the line of questioning: “Wouldn’t a legal route be the best way to keep fighting?”  The campesinos had already resisted through the available legal measures, and although reluctantly,  the law protected them.  Outstanding jurist, Ignacio Burgoa, upheld the ruling in favor of the Atenquenses.  Then, what happened?  Well, the government breaks the law when it does not serve it’s interests.  For example, the law says that the government will protect the lands of indigenous peoples, that the government will promote agricultural development, that there should not be large estates (latifundium), or monopolies, etc.  However, the government does what it wants, gives preference to foreign companies, discriminates against campesinos and indigenous people, grants impunity, lets criminals go free, detains innocent people; in short, the government does what it pleases.  The campesinos realize that the law does not serve for anything.  Then, if the government does not respect the law, What do citizens do?  The “rule of law” is pure demagogy.  The State applies the law only when it benefits rich officials and large corporations.  On the other hand, the State represses the people, intimidates and infiltrates movements with agent-provokers, who slander the social processes.  The government then ironically claims, “The movements are manipulated by people from outside of the communities.”

9. Nobody Respects The Law

Days later, CNI transmitted the results of various polls.  The statistic that stood out was that more than 90% of the Mexican population does not respect the law, and 96% believes that the government does not respect the law.  This is because laws are designed to favor the powerful, which is why there are international treaties that promote projects such as the “Puebla Panama Plan,”  through with Mexicans are financing the infrastructure for rich businesses.  That is, if the people want to free themselves from Capitalist domination, they will never do it solely through legal cases: they will need to break laws.  Following the laws in our country only strengthens this unjust system, and harms poor people. In fact, breaking the law in this case led to justice for the communal land owners, at least for the moment.  The government does not understand other terms.

10. We Are Going To Win

The campesinos said, “We trust in God, in the law, and in ourselves.  We are going to win.”  The people of Atenco knew that they were poor and ignored, but that they did have reason, human rights and a hunger for justice… the God of the poor people was on their side.  Even the law, at least on paper and interpreted carefully, was also on their side.  The struggles of indigenous people, campesinos, workers, students, teachers, zapatistas…the struggles of civil society was on their side, because they are part of the same struggle.  They were not alone.  And the dignity of the Atenquenses, their survival instincts, the clarity of their analysis, their experience confronting the government, the lessons of history… these were also naturally on their side.  All of this was the basis of their faith.  The people of Atenco believed in, intuited, smelled, touched, heard and tasted their eventual victory.  They did not have any doubts. 

11. More Arguments

Later in the Televisa interview, the reporter asked if the struggle of the people was a futile resistance to civilization and modernity.  In other words, the countryside is history.  The answer was clear and conclusive:  “Up to date, we don’t know of any machine that can produce food.”  There was nothing else to say, the interviewer realized.  People in the city survive thanks to the work of farmers, and we live comfortably in the city while people suffer in the countryside.  Even industrialized food originates from the countryside.  The greatest economic powers, especially the United States, maintain food self-sufficiency, and even continue subsidizing their agricultural producers.  Important foods such as maize and other cereals, fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, animal feed, etc, even when they are transgenic, all come from the countryside.  This and many other reasons back the Atenquenses and the Mexican people who support them.  Therefore, the government does not want to have a dialogue. 

12. Government Raises The Offer To 50 Pesos (around 5 U.S. dollars)

The communal land owners were so determined to not sell their lands, that the government son offered 50 pesos per square meter, trying to give a dollar amount to the situation.  That is to say, half a million pesos per hectare, a quantity over which any politician without dignity, without history, would have fallen over themselves to accept. Someone finally clued them in that in Latin America, prices for this type of land run between 50 and 100 pesos per meter.  The land owners replied, “Not for seven, twenty, nor seventy.  The land is not for sale.”  And others asked why Diego Fernández de Cevallos was paid 4,000 pesos per square meter in the case he won in the Supreme Court for his extraordinary business.  In any case, the government does not have money to pay for the new offer:  the foreign corporations would lend this money to the government, in exchange for more national debt that the Mexican people would have to pay.

13. Campesino Killed

Even when the campesinos had no doubt that they would not sell the land, it took a death to confirm this as fact for the government: one of the detained people died after being beaten by the police during the confrontation and again while in detention. He was hospitalized too late because the police claimed that he was pretending to be sick, until the point when he could not stand up, and then finally they took him to the IMSS hospital. It seems that it was more than just punches and kicks because he had a fractured skull and bruises all over his body. However, the doctors said that he died due to diabetes, and the government added that he was not a communal land owner and that he participated in the movement. This made the campesinos even more furious. The communal land owners buried their compañero with the other deceased in the cemetery, who are one of the principle reasons for the campesino's resistance to being relocated. With this death, the government prepared the funeral for the Texcoco project.

14. The Three Routes

The Atenquenses were intelligent in their struggle for peace with justice and dignity.  They wisely organized their struggle through three complementary routes that strengthen social movements:  legal, political and organizational.  Therefore, knowledge of the law has clearly been indispensable, along with citizen training, analysis, and cooperation between citizens and organizations.  This is how they sparked a well organized social movement with principles, objectives, and well defined procedures.  They worked together with may different organizations, supporting every manifestation and every march.  They worked in solidarity with other struggles and made these struggles their own.  The people began to recognize them and to support their movement in the same way.    However, the media that at first fairly portrayed the news, soon began to censure and defame what was happening.  Certainly the owners realized that the conflict was out of their control and represented a threat to their comfort.  Either that or they were generously compensated for their silence. 

15. National Struggle

In this way, Atenco has shaken up the country and has breathed new life into the national struggle.  The people of Mexico are awake again.  The poor people are rising up.  They begin to wield their machetes in the streets in different states of the republic.  The ski mask and the machete have become the symbols of a new revolution.  Ski masks appear at every manifestation, at every march.  The people successfully intervened against a capitalist project.  Finally, solidarity became widespread, because everyone understands misery and poverty.  Ungovernability is growing, there is a stalemate.  Representatives cannot come to an agreement.  There are conflicts with the Executive branch.  The Supreme Court is found to be unjust and corrupt.  The media is desperate, the people do not trust the news.  Nobody respects the law.  The people have become bolder.  Repression follows, but the people are willing to die.  

16. The Weapons Of The Revolution

Machetes and guns are not the main weapons of a revolutionary struggle, because the goal is not violence but change.  In Atenco, violence was one of the means to achieve a peace with justice and dignity.  This was not a vengeful violence, but one of independence.  Only in this way were the campesinos taken into account.  There is a time and a place for everything.  Now if we carefully analyze the events of Atenco, we can name at least five “violent” factors that led to the campesino’s victory:

1)                 Community organization

2)                 Their willingness to die for justice.

3)                 Their dignity, above the law.

4)                 Their unbreakable faith against capitalism.

5)                 Their solidarity with other struggles.

These have been the true revolutionary weapons, their true principles, means and ends.  This is also the true violence, the true change.  All change is violent because it breaks with the established order, just as a bird breaks the shell that imprisons it, in order to obtain life and liberty, to grow and develop, as Flores Magon once said.   Nevertheless, we know that violence changes but it also conserves:  violence has been used by governments in order to conserve injustice, inequality, theft, which is the government’s goal.  Because every injustice is a violence against peace, injustice violates dignity and all of our human rights.  These are the lessons that the Atenquenses have taught to many Mexicans.

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