Mexico Week In Review: 01.28-02.03

[cisdc]

Mexico Week In Review: 01.28-02.03
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Published since 1994, 'Mexico Week In Review' is a service of the
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity (CIS).  CIS is a Washington, D.C.
based activist group committed to the ongoing struggles of Indigenous
peoples in the Americas.  CIS is actively supporting the struggles
of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico while simultaneously combating
related structures of oppression within our own communities.

To view newsletter archives, visit:
http://lists.mutualaid.org/pipermail/mexico-week/

"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
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CHIAPAS: CRIME, WATER WARS ROCK HIGHLANDS

Mexico's federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP) announced the
detention of 13 "delinquents" at Rancho San Isidro, in San Andrés
Larráinzar, a highland municipality in conflicted Chiapas state Jan.
30. The SSP said 45 stolen vehicles were confiscated, as well as two
firearms and an "arsenal" of ten home-made bombs. Meanwhile, the Good
Government Junta "Corazón Céntrico de los Zapatistas delante del
Mundo," governing body of the Zapatista rebels for the Highland
region, issued a statement protesting deprivation of water to
Zapatista followers in Zinacantán municipality. Citing lack of action
by the state or federal governments, the statement said Zapatista
authorities would "directly resolve" the problem and restore water to
Sokón hamlet. It blamed the caciques (political bosses) of Nachig
hamlet for diverting the water, calling them "priístas-perredistas"
-meaning they have collaborated with both parties that have held
power in the state and municipality, the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Also Jan. 30, two members of the Zapatista base community were
convicted in the February 2002 slaying of two militants of the
Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights
(OPDDIC) at Banavil, Ocosingo municipality. Alfredo Hernández Pérez,
48, and Fidelino Ruiz Hernández, 73, both received sentences of eight
years. The Center for Political Analysis and Social & Economic
Investigation (CAPISE) said the men were serving as "scapegoats" for
internecine violence within the OPDDIC, which is said to be a
PRI-linked paramilitary group.

Source: http://www.ww4report.com: 02/02
====

CHIAPAS: GUNMEN EXECUTE, TORTURE FEDERAL AGENT

Gunmen tortured, shot and killed a federal police commander in
southern Mexico, Chiapas state officials said. A group of gunmen beat
33-year-old Abraham Herrera Saenz and shot him seven times early
Friday morning, apparently killing him with an execution-style shot
to the head, said a spokesman for the Chiapas state Justice Ministry
who declined to be named, citing departmental rules. Herrera's body
was abandoned outside the city of Comitan in Chiapas, near Mexico's
border with Guatemala.

An agent who had been working with Herrera on Friday was missing, the
official said. Police believe the gunmen fled to Guatemala. Herrera
had been transferred to Comitan last August from the nearby city of
Ocosingo after his girlfriend, also a federal agent, was shot and
killed there, state prosecutors said. His death comes after a bloody
month of clashes between federal agents and gunmen that has seen 243
people die in drug-related killings so far this year, according to a
tally by the Mexico City newspaper El Universal.

Source: Associated Press: 02/02
====

GOVERNMENT TO FOCUS ON CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN

Mexico has created a new federal position to prosecute violence
against women and human exploitation, as rights groups urge the
government to do more to investigate the killings of women,
especially along the U.S. border. The position will replace a similar
post created in 2006 and will add migrant smuggling, child labor and
other human exploitation to its caseload. The new prosecutor,
Guadalupe Morfin - who previously served in a similar post aimed at
combating violence against women in Ciudad Juarez - will report to
Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora. The attorney general told Radio
Formula that he welcomes the expanded role for his office. Human
exploitation "is a serious problem that we see daily, and we don't
have the adequate structure to deal with it," Medina Mora said.

Since 1993, an estimated 423 women have been killed in Ciudad Juarez,
across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas - at least 89 between 2004
and 2008, the National Human Rights Commission reported. In about 100
of the Juarez killings, women were abducted, often sexually abused
and strangled before their bodies were dumped in the desert. Many
were last seen in the city's downtown area or taking buses, and their
bodies often did not resurface for months. Commission President Jose
Luis Soberanes called the investigations into the deaths "terrible."

Source: Associated Press: 01/31
====

ATENCO UPDATE: SEVEN PRISONERS LIBERATED

Seven members of the People's Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT)
were released from the Molino de Flores prison on January 25 after
spending one year and eight months behind bars on trumped up charges
related to the May 3-4, 2006, police violence in San Salvador Atenco.
A federal judge found insufficient evidence to hold the seven on
charges of kidnapping and blocking highways.  FPDT supporters, who
maintain a 24-hour vigil in front of the prison, celebrated with an
impromptu party including live music and fireworks.  A judge ordered
the release several weeks ago, but federal authorities challenged the
ruling, thereby prolonging the release.  Guillermo Selvas Pineda and
his daughter Mariana Selvas Gómez, David Medina Neri, Vicente García
Munguía, Martín Garrido Romero, Cecilio Ramírez Espinosa and Jorge
Armando Ramírez Aguilar left the prison to chants of "free the other
prisoners," a reference to 16 members of the FPDT who remain jailed.

Federal, state and local police entered Atenco early on the morning
of May 4, 2006, breaking into dozens of houses without warrants,
beating arrestees and sexually assaulting at least two dozen women.
Police murdered two people, a college student and a high school
student, but to date no official has been charged with a crime.

Source: Mexico Solidarity Network Weekly News Summary: 01.07-27
====

SPECIAL REPORT
"WE LEARN AS WE GO" - ZAPATISTA WOMEN SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES

By Hilary Klein

On December 29 - 31 women from all five Zapatista Caracoles (centers
of resistance) gathered in the community of La Garrucha, Chiapas to
meet with women who had come from all around the world to hear their
stories of struggling, organizing, and participating in the Zapatista
movement, and to share their own experiences. It was the Tercer
Encuentro de los Pueblos Zapatistas con los Pueblos del Mundo - the
Third Encounter/Gathering between Zapatista Peoples and Peoples of
the World.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is best known for
its brief uprising in January 1994. In addition to being a guerrilla
army, the EZLN is a broad social movement; its principal demands
include land and indigenous rights and culture. For the past decade
or so, the EZLN has been constructing indigenous autonomy in its
territory including its own government, health and education
infrastructure, and economic institutions. Zapatista territory covers
much of the eastern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Hundreds,
if not thousands, of villages in the Lacandon jungle, the canyon
region, the highlands and the northern zone of Chiapas make up the
Zapatista support base. The Zapatistas have organized a number of
national and international gatherings and mobilizations to dialogue
with "civil society." One of the best known of these gatherings was
the Intercontinental Gathering for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism
in 1996, seen by many as a key event for the worldwide movement
against capitalist globalization. This is the first time, however,
that the EZLN has organized this kind of space dedicated to women's
rights and participation. At the First Encounter Between the
Zapatista Peoples and the Peoples of the World a year ago, a panel of
Zapatista women spoke. Though it was one of many panels on a number
of different topics, this was significant because it was one of the
only times that public space has been dedicated specifically to
Zapatista women telling their stories. And it was during that women's
panel that the announcement was made of a planned gathering for
Zapatista women and women from civil society to come together and
share their experiences.

Approximately three thousand participants attended this recent
women's encuentro (gathering). For three days, women from different
parts of Mexico and the world sat on rows of hand-made wooden
benches, listening to the Zapatista women. There were perhaps 200
Zapatista women there, representing each of the five Caracoles, or
Zapatista regions. The Zapatista women are Mayan, and speak different
Mayan languages: Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal, Chol. The groups could
be distinguished by their traditional outfits - the colorful
embroideries on their blouses and the style of their hand-woven
skirts differ depending on their language group and where they live.
At the beginning of each two-hour plenary, the Zapatista women walked
single-file into the auditorium. La Garrucha is a small indigenous
village two hours drive on a dirt road from the nearest city, and
during the gathering it was overflowing with people. Almost every
member of the community had people sleeping on the floor, tents set
up in the patio, and hammocks hung from any available posts. Many
families from the community had set up stands to sell food, music
played until late into the night, and the whole community took on a
festive air.

Changes that Zapatista Women Have Experienced
The Zapatista women touched on a series of topics and these guiding
themes created a framework for an overall narrative: what women's
lives were like before the uprising, the changes that they've seen,
and how women have organized and participated in the Zapatista
movement. When women talked about their mothers' and grandmothers;
lives, they described horrendous conditions including the
exploitation that they faced living on the plantations and working
for the large landowners, the violence and discrimination that they
suffered as women in their own homes and communities, and the lack of
access to health care and education. Monica, a regional
representative from the Morelia region, spoke of the triple
oppression that Zapatista women have historically encountered: "We
have suffered discrimination because we are women, because we are
poor, and because we are indigenous." Amina, an older Tzeltal woman,
described life growing up on a finca (plantation) called Las
Delicias: "Before, our grandparents, our mothers and fathers worked
for a patrón (boss/landowner). They treated us like animals. They
didn't care if we died from working too hard. We had to work in the
fields, but we also had to carry the patrón's cargo to the city
because there were no horses and no roads. "The women also had to go
to work in the patrón's kitchen to make tortillas. The patrón wanted
them to start making tortillas at 6 or 7 in the morning. When the
patrón would get up he would go to the kitchen and if the tortilla
basket wasn't full of tortillas, he would kick the women. Several
women talked about how the landowners systemically raped the young
indigenous women working on their plantations. Amina explained why
one of landowners only wanted young women to work in his kitchen.
"The patrón is bad, he's very bad. The young women told their mothers
and fathers that they didn't want to go back to make tortillas in the
kitchen anymore [because they were being sexually assaulted]. The
mothers went instead but the patrón said no, he wanted the young
women to work in the kitchen."

In contrast, women described the dramatic changes that they have
experienced in the last decade and a half, primarily due to the
Zapatista movement. "Before we didn't have any rights; before we were
not valued as women," they said again and again. "But now we have
rights as women. Now no one can tell us that we don't have rights."
Women talked about changes within their families including a decrease
in domestic violence, the right to choose who to marry and how many
children to have, and not being restricted to raising the children
and working in the home. Changes in the private sphere are directly
linked to women's ability to participate in public life. In the past,
their fathers or husbands literally did not allow women to leave the
house. Mireya, who described herself as a "young married woman,"
said, "I got married after 1994. No one forced me to get married. I
chose my own partner, because I recognized my rights. And my husband
gives me the freedom to participate, in whatever work I want to do."
Now women in the Zapatista movement serve as local and regional
representatives, political leaders and members of the autonomous
government, health and education promoters.

Women talked about different ways that they organized to achieve
these changes. Forming women's collectives was one example. These
economic collectives - vegetables gardens, bread-making collectives,
artisan cooperatives - have been an important source of financial
resources which were invested back into the communities. But having
an all-women's space was also key for women to come to voice; the
collectives acted as a springboard for their participation in other
areas of the Zapatista movement. Rosa Isabel, a member of the
Production Commission, explained: "Working together in the women's
collectives is where we get over the fear and embarrassment that we
feel. We work together and we're happy working together."

Many women also recognized the importance of having role models. They
gave thanks to the women who had come before them: las guerrilleras,
las caídas, las primeras luchadoras - the women warriors, the women
who have fallen in the struggle, the first women fighters. There were
some women in key positions of leadership in the EZLN since the
beginning. Major Ana Maria, one of the first military leaders of the
EZLN, was the military commander in charge of the takeover of San
Cristóbal de las Casas on January 1, 1994. Comandanta Ramona, one of
the early Zapatista political leaders, was part of the EZLN's team of
negotiators in the peace talks with the Mexican government, and was
the first Zapatista to break out of the Mexican military's
encirclement of Zapatista territory when she traveled to Mexico City
to help found the National Indigenous Congress in 1996. Ramona died
of cancer in January, 2006 and is remembered with a great deal of
admiration, respect, and love. This women's gathering of Zapatista
women and women of the world was dedicated to Comandanta Ramona.

In the early years however, these women were the exception, not the
rule. They faced a great deal of machismo as they were forging a path
for other women. When she was talking about how they organized
themselves as women Comandanta Sandra, one of the primeras luchadoras
herself, said simply, "No fue fácil. Nos costó." "It wasn't easy. It
took a lot." Women also recognized that increasing their political
participation is not something that can happen overnight. Rebecca, a
member of the autonomous council, said: "At first we didn't
participate much as women. Little by little we began to participate
more." Other women talked about accepting responsibilities for which
they didn't feel prepared. Laura, a member of the Agrarian
Commission, explained: "Before, they didn't take us into
consideration as women. Later they realized that we needed to have
women authorities too, to strengthen our autonomy. Now, as women, we
are conscious and we're moving forward. We don't know much, but as
authorities we learn as we go, by doing the work." And Daisy, a local
authority: "A lot of times we're still nervous and shy. There are
still a lot of men who think that we can't do the work." Sometimes
however, men in leadership have pushed women to the forefront. The
comandantas from Oventic explained how they came into positions of
leadership. "When Comandanta Ramona left to seek treatment for her
cancer, there was only one woman left in the Comité Clandestino
Revolucionario Indígena (Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous
Committee, or CCRI) in the region of Oventic." The CCRI is the
highest level of political leadership within the EZLN and is a fairly
large body so it was significant that there was only one woman. "Even
though we had passed the Revolutionary Women's Law," the comandantas
continued, "there were no women." The Revolutionary Women's Law was
created by thousands of indigenous women and passed by the EZLN in
1993. It states that women's rights include the right to hold
positions of political leadership. "So in May 1995 the
representatives of all the communities held an assembly and we were
asked to do this work. It was hard for us to accept this
responsibility. None of us had ever held any position of authority in
the organization [the EZLN]. But we knew the work was important so we
accepted. And here we are."

Rhetoric vs. Reality
One of the tensions in the history of women's participation in the
Zapatista movement has been the gap between rhetoric and reality.
This is not unique to the Zapatista movement - it is a common
contradiction in radical and revolutionary movements. Rhetoric about
women's rights is an important first step, and can open the door to
real changes, but inevitably there is a need for the reality to catch
up with the bold and impressive statements being made by the (usually
male) leadership about women's role in the movement. The Zapatista
movement has been well known for its women leaders and its promotion
of women's rights. Zapatista supporters were therefore often
surprised when they visited Zapatista communities and found women
largely still in subordinate positions. In a 2004 communiqué,
Subcomandante Marcos recognized this shortcoming. "Even though
Zapatista women have had a fundamental role in the resistance,"
Marcos writes, "respect for their rights is still, in some cases,
just a declaration on paper."

This tension between rhetoric and reality was also present within the
gathering itself. Listeners walked away from some of the
presentations with the distinct impression that the women were
describing conditions as they ideally should be, not as they
currently exist. The differences between the presentations made by
each region were particularly interesting. The women from Morelia,
where women have achieved a relatively high level of public
participation, made some of the strongest presentations. While most
of the women from the other regions read prepared statements, the
women from Morelia spoke directly to the audience. In the Garrucha
region, on the other hand, there is a much smaller percentage of
women who are active in their communities. Yet, listening to the
women from La Garrucha, one would think that the situation of women's
rights and women's participation is much more advanced than it is.
Perhaps the women felt pressure to live up to the Zapatistas' public
image of women's empowerment.

Women in the Highlands region of Oventic also have a limited level of
participation. But the group from Oventic painted a complex and
realistic picture, which seemed to reflect a decision to be more
honest in their assessment. For example, they drew a rather dismal
picture of the machismo that women still face in their own families.
"When a woman gets married is when the problem begins," said one,
"because most husbands still don't want their wives to participate."
There was sadness in their voices as they described women who never
participate in their communities because "they can't get rid of the
ideas that they were taught since they were little." At one point
they said: "We didn't bring any women agentas or comisariadas [types
of local authorities] to this encuentro because there aren't any."
This simple statement felt like a confession, a desire to acknowledge
how much work there still is to be done. Their honesty allowed the
audience members a real glimpse, a window into their day-to-day
struggle to exercise the rights that they know they have but are
often denied to them. Knowing the obstacles that they face, their
determination was that more compelling: "We are not going to let
women continue to live the same way our parents and grandparents
did," they concluded. While the adult women conveyed how difficult it
has been to get this far, the presence of young women and girls,
strong and self-confident, was one of the most powerful
manifestations of the changes that are taking place in the Zapatista
communities. While the older women talked about the historic reasons
that they don't know how to read and write, young women read their
declarations aloud before an audience of thousands. One of the
presentations which most moved and captivated the audience was made
by Marialinda, a nine-year old girl. "I'm going to tell you about my
own life and about my rights," she started out, in a strong and
steady voice. "As a girl I have the right to do all the things that I
want to do." At this point the audience broke into applause. "My
parents have given me the right to study in the autonomous schools,
so that I can learn. They've given me the right go out, to play, sing
and dance because I think it?' necessary to have fun." At that, there
was a ripple of supportive laughter. These young people who have
grown up in the context of the Zapatista movement are like the
harvest of the seeds planted by their grandmothers, mothers, aunts
and older sisters.

Women's Political Participation in the EZLN
As they talked about the obstacles they have faced and how they have
organized as women, they were also telling the story of the Zapatista
movement. Two older women from the Caracol of La Realidad spoke in
Tzeltal about the time when the EZLN was still a clandestine
organization. "We made tostadas for the insurgents. We took food for
them up into the mountains and there were no paths back then." Others
talked about recruiting people into the EZLN family by family, and
having to meet secretively in the middle of the night. Captain Elena,
one of three female insurgents who spoke, talked about why women felt
it necessary to leave their homes and go to the mountains to join the
EZLN. She also talked about some of the ways that being an insurgent
opened new spaces for them as women. "In the mountains, we learned
things that we had never learned in our communities." Women
participated in the uprising, and after 1994, in marches and other
types of mobilizations, and stood up against the military when
Mexican soldiers tried to occupy their villages. "During the San
Andres negotiations," the women from Oventic said, "we formed a human
security chain to protect our comandantes. Many of the women who made
presentations were part of the autonomous government. They talked
about representing their community at the regional assemblies and
their role in resolving problems. The Zapatistas are well-known for
their philosophy of governing: mandar obedeciendo - lead by obeying.
Rebecca, a member of the autonomous council, said: "As autonomous
authorities we can't impose our ideas, we can only present our
proposals."

Laura, a member of the Agrarian Commission, gave an example of her
work. "Before, we didn't have any land. Thanks to the EZLN, now we
have land. We [the Agrarian Commission] work together with the
autonomous council to resolve any land disputes on the occupied
land." Women authorities also talked about their role in encouraging
other women to participate more and protecting women's rights.
Several members of the Honor and Justice Commission described
resolving family disputes, and acknowledging that women might not be
treated as fairly if this commission was made up entirely of men.

Health and Education
The autonomous health care and education systems were developed, in
part, in response to the extreme lack of access to health care and
education in the indigenous communities. Women health promoters
described how common it was in the past for children to die from
curable diseases; how the indigenous villagers lived far from the
city and had no access to doctors or health clinics. Even if they
could get to the city, they would often be denied services because of
the extreme racism against indigenous people. Angelica, a health
promoter explained: "Even if a member of our family was dying, or
screaming with pain, they didn't want to let us into the hospital."
The women health promoters described how each community chose its own
health promoters and how, at the regional level, they organized
autonomous health clinics. The health promoters now give talks about
preventing illnesses, and the autonomous health care system honors
traditional medicine such as medicinal plants, parteras (midwives)
and hueseros (bone-setters).

The women painted a similar picture in terms of education. Schools
did not exist on the large plantations, where many of the indigenous
communities lived and worked. And in the communities where there were
schools, girls were not allowed to study. Eugenia, an education
promoter, says: "The only right we had [as girls] was the right to
take care of our younger brothers and sisters and work in the house.
That's why our mothers and grandmothers don't know how to read and
write." The autonomous schools were organized through community and
regional assemblies, each community named educational promoters to
teach the children, and the Education Commission found ways to train
these community teachers.

The Other Campaign & Dialogue with Civil Society
The final theme of the encuentro was women and the Other Campaign.
The Other Campaign is the EZLN's most recent mobilization and process
of dialogue with civil society and so far has consisted primarily of
Subcomandante Marcos and other comandantes traveling throughout
Mexico to meet with different groups and sectors of society -
especially the most marginalized - and listen to each others'
experiences.

Comandanta Dalia, who has participated in the Other Campaign, said:
"Women of the Other Campaign, we know that you suffer the same things
that we do, as Zapatista women, because we have gone personally to
visit you where you live. You told us the pain that you feel as women
and there's no difference between your suffering and our own. You
told us how you are mistreated by your boss at work. We met with
housewives, workers, students, teachers, doctors, nurses,
secretaries, sexual workers, day laborers, artists, all sectors of
workers." Her talk was also a call to action: "That's why,
compañeras, we need to organize - in your own neighborhoods, your own
regions; wherever you are, organize."

Of course most of the political work of the Zapatista movement is not
done with a specific focus on gender. The EZLN is a broad movement
working towards a more just society and its ideology encompasses
women's rights but also indigenous rights and culture; the right to
land, housing, education, health-care; and self-determination for all
oppressed communities. The Other Campaign is part of building this
broad, long-term vision. As Comandanta Dalia put it: "The main
problem is not the men, it is the mal gobierno (bad government). We
have to struggle together, men and women, to be able to overthrow the
bad government and the capitalist system." While perhaps not
recognizing patriarchy as one of the systemic roots of oppression,
this statement speaks to the fact that the Zapatista movement is made
up of whole families and communities who are trying to create the
world today that we would like to live in tomorrow.

In the same spirit as the Other Campaign, this encuentro created a
space to come together and listen to one another and, in doing so,
strengthened both the members of civil society who came to
participate, and the movement itself. During the Zapatista women's
presentations, there was time for questions and answers. Many of the
participants' questions were actually statements - of support,
respect, admiration, and gratitude to the Zapatista women for showing
the world their strength and courage in the face of such daunting
obstacles.

After the Zapatista women finished their presentations, there was
time for other women to share their experiences. Several letters from
female political prisoners were read aloud, and women from a wide
range of ages, cultures, and political backgrounds described the
conditions where they live and the work that they are doing. The
first presentation was made by the Via Campesina delegation, with
representatives of campesino movements from all over the world. Too
often, women's spaces are seen as something marginal, separate from
the rest of the movement's work. But this encuentro seemed to give
the Zapatista movement and its supporters an injection of energy and
enthusiasm. Women's contributions are important for their own
liberation but also for the movement as a whole, and this event was
an important moment for the Zapatista movement.

The Encuentro and Women's Space in the EZLN
The auditorium where the gathering took place was defined as a
women's space. Men from the press were allowed to come in to film or
take photos, and men who wanted to listen could sit at the very back,
or stand outside and listen. Men's role in the gathering was also
explicitly limited. Signs which had been hung around the Caracol
read: "In this gathering, men cannot participate as note-takers,
translators, presenters, spokesmen, or representatives [of an
organization]. Men can only work making food, sweeping and cleaning
the Caracol and the latrines, taking care of the children, and
carrying firewood." The men present at the gathering expressed a wide
variety of responses. Some men, who did not know ahead of time that
their participation would be limited, were obviously upset and said,
huffily, that if they had no role to play there, then they might as
well go home. Others took it quite good-naturedly. One said that he
was more than happy to be there and take care of the children.
Another reflected that perhaps it was a gentle push from the women, a
way of encouraging the men to talk amongst themselves about
masculinity and machismo. And men as well as women were inspired by
the gathering. At the end of the encuentro, one man told me, "This is
the first time in a long time that I have felt this excited about the
Zapatista movement."

The sign that specified what tasks men could perform during the event
concluded: "On January 1, things will return to normal." Many
visitors read this as ironic, or even sad. There was some irony in
it, and it speaks to the gender norms that are still prevalent in the
communities. At the same time, acting as an incubator is actually one
of the ways that the Zapatista movement has been able to shift gender
norms: in particular spaces that are specific to the movement, people
experience different gender relations, which then permeate other
areas of their lives. For example, in the Zapatista insurgent camps,
all domestic tasks are shared equally amongst men and women. For the
men, it is invariably the first time in their life that they have
made tortillas. When young men and women insurgents decide to leave
the Zapatista army, they go back to their "normal" lives in their
communities and yet, the social relations between men and women have
been changed irrevocably. Likewise, after this women's gathering,
when things go back to "normal," what is "normal" will not be the
same as what it was before the gathering.

This encuentro says much about the evolution of women's participation
in the Zapatista movement. In its early years, the EZLN, like many
other revolutionary movements, saw the importance of women's
participation, but for the sake of strengthening the movement, rather
than to promote women's liberation as a goal in itself: "Compañeras,
the revolutionary struggle needs you!" As time went on, the EZLN
began to recognize the importance of women having their own spaces,
their own voices, and real leadership within the movement. This is
not an uncommon process. During the encuentro, I was talking to a
member of the Via Campesina delegation, a Brazilian woman
representing the Landless People's Movement (MST) and she nodded
thoughtfully and said in Portuguese, "yes, it's the same process that
the MST went through." This women's gathering represents how far the
Zapatista movement has come in valuing women's voices and
participation. It is difficult to imagine an event like this taking
place even a few years ago. It was also a key step in moving this
process forward. It was clear that this encuentro will result in a
more solid recognition of women's rights in the Zapatista movement.
And for the women who participated in the gathering, the experience
of organizing and preparing for this event and then speaking before
thousands of people will no doubt increase their skills and
self-confidence. They are stronger leaders now, in their own eyes and
in the eyes of their communities.

As the gathering came to a close on the afternoon of December 31st,
the atmosphere of support and solidarity, admiration and inspiration
reached a climax. Every woman in the auditorium was on her feet, the
applause was long and thunderous, and the electricity in the air was
palpable. That evening, the party lasted well into the night.
Comandanta Rosalinda and Comandante Omar read a communiqué to
commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising, hugs were
shared to celebrate the new year, and the dancing continued until
dawn. On January 1st, the women from civil society began packing up
their tents and sleeping bags and turning their thoughts towards
home. The Zapatista women got into their trucks and, ski masks on,
hands waving good-bye, drove back to their communities. Each with
hearts full of memories, and I believe, each with a renewed
commitment to continuing the struggle in their own place.


Hilary Klein lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and has worked as an
activist and community organizer on a number of issues including
immigrants rights, affordable housing, and violence against women.
She lived in Chiapas from 1997 - 2003 working with women's
cooperatives in Zapatista communities and is currently working on a
book about women's participation in the Zapatista movement.

Source: towardfreedom.com: 01/30

====
The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes
which CIS maintains is  'fair use' of copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

end: Mexico Week In Review: 01.28-02.03
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