Democratic Convention of Chiapas

[the Zapatistas]

[center][img]http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1641/democraticconvention.png[/img]
[size="1"]Democratic Convention floor full with delegates[/size][/center]

JUÁREZ, CHIAPAS - The Democratic Convention of the Community of Chiapas, as called for by the [URL=http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=86979]First Declaration of the Sierra Madre[/URL] with the gathering of delegates from around the Community. All are welcome to the convention, which has been established to draft the constitution for Chiapas as well as many laws and declarations culminating in a "Second Delcaration of the Sierra Madre" scheduled to be issued at the closing of the convention.

Zapatista Army of National Liberation spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos opened the convention yesterday "may the people of Chiapas and of Mexico come together to establish a fair and just state," he declared. Among the first order of business, the over 600 delegates - many of whom are signatories to the First Declaration of the Sierra Madre - elected a committee to oversee convention operations and debates:
[b]MODERATION COMMITTEE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OF THE COMMUNITY OF CHIAPAS[/b] -
[i]for the week of 5 June to 12 June 2010[/i]:
Chairman: Adelino Zavala
Chairwoman: Melisa Pabón
Members of the Committee: Agnus Godínez (EZLN); Yvette Carrillo; Mendel Haro; Learco Apodaca; Alceo Barrios
EZLN Representative: Subcomandante Marcos; if unable to attend: Subcomandante Ramona

The delegates of the convention laid down a series of "founding laws" as to set forth a series of establishment clauses to create a functioning government:
• the Zapatista Army of National Liberation shall be the defense force of the Community of Chiapas
• the Democratic Convention shall constitute itself as the Chiapaneco legislature; the co-chairs, one woman and one man, shall act as the informal head of state
• the Moderation Committee shall moderate and oversee the delegates of the convention and shall be elected at the opening of every session - weekly
• the Community of Chiapas shall abide by the former United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and shall formulate such protected rights to women:
[i]Revolutionary Law for Women:[/i]
Women, regardless of their race, creed, color or political affiliation, have the right to participate in the revolutionary struggle in any way that their desire and capacity determine; women have the right to work and receive a fair salary; women have the right to decide the number of children they have and care for; women have the right to participate in the matters of the community and have charge if they are free and democratically elected; women and their children have the right to Primary Attention in their health and nutrition; women have the right to education; women have the right to choose their partner and are not obliged to enter into marriage; women have the right to be free of violence from both relatives and strangers.

[the Zapatistas]

The delegates of the Convention pass the [i]Act on Economic Reform and Policy[/i], among the series of laws are:
• the Chiapaneco government mandates the following as "public property":
natural resources; the environment; land; water territory; water resources; airspace
• the Chiapaneco government cannot seize or claim, unlawfully, any item considered "private property"
• the Chiapaneco government shall protect the right of people to privately sell or buy goods
• the Chiapaneco government shall reserve the right to regulate industries and prices as to make essential materials available to the population
• the Chiapaneco government shall make public all government expenditures
• the Chiapaneco government shall not tax more than 10% of personal income
• the Chiapaneco government shall mandate the modernization of the national economy
• the Chiapaneco government shall not replace the native agricultural economy with that of an industrial one

[the Zapatistas]

(REPORTS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS)

The presence of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Mexican Communists among the delegates of the Democratic Convention worried some of those in the newly formed [i]Zaptismo Party[/i], a political wing to the Zapatista Army - the largest constituent group in the Convention. Diego Rivera, leader of the Party of Mexican Communists took the podium during Sunday's session of the Convention:
"Shall we let traitorous anarchists take control of this nation? Comrade Lenin showed us that far-left communists are a threat to the proletarian revolution. It is as true then as it is now, as the Zapatistas want to tear down the great socialist systems we can implement here to bring forth communism. What we need is a vanguard party, a group of professional revolutionaries to take control, to be strong and guide the people to socialism and communist liberation - this multiparty democratic processes is the work of the Western bourgeoisie, and is the beginning of their systematic destruction of the Left!

We shall follow the great examples of Lenin, Stalin, and Mao! They are the legacy of socialistic communism, and so shall we!"

The delegates stirred at the convention, the members of the Communist Party cheered as their leader gave a rousing speech to the floor. The Zapatistas remained quiet, allowing for the Communists to "foam at the mouths at the prospect of instituted some kind of Stalinist state".[center][img]http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2734/diegorivera.png[/img]
[size="1"]Leader of the Party of Mexican Communists, Diego Rivera, speaks to the delegates of the Democratic Convention[/size][/center]"Our relations with our neighbors shall only continue if they adopt an authoritarian way to ensure their socialist legacies continue, and to undermine any opposition to their dominance in government. After all, why would any party in their right mind allow for an opposition group to form?" said party leader Rivera, "it's a travesty to the proletariat."

Comandante Ramona from the Zapatista Army took the podium after Rivera and gave a speech:
"In the words of Subcomandante Marcos, I add upon his writings here to the delegates of the convention:

We are the men, women, children and old ones of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Perhaps you remember us - we rose up in arms on January 1, 1994, and ever since then we have kept up our war against the forgetting, and we have resisted the war of extermination which the different governments have waged, unsuccessfully, against us. We live in the furthest corner of this country which is called Mexico. In that corner which is called "Indian Peoples." Yes, like that, plural. Because, for reasons we shall not give here, the plural is used in this corner for everything: we suffer, we die, we fight, we resist.

Now, as you know quite well, it so happens that, ever since that dawn of the beginning of '94, we have dedicated our struggle - first with fire and then with the word - our efforts, our life and our death, exclusively to the Indian peoples of Mexico for the recognition of their rights and their culture. It was natural - we zapatistas are overwhelmingly indigenous. Mayan indigenous, to be more precise. But, in addition, the indigenous in this country - despite having been the foundation of this Nation's great transformations - are still the social group which has been the most attacked and the most exploited. If they have shown no mercy against anyone with their military wars and the wars disguised as 'political', the wars of usurpation, of conquest, of annihilation, of marginalization, of ignorance - it has been against the indigenous. The war against us has been so intense and brutal that it has become routine to think that the indigenous will only be able to escape from their conditions of marginalization and poverty if they stop being indigenous...or if they are dead. We have been fighting to not die and to not cease being indigenous. We have fought to be - alive and indigenous - part of this nation which has been lifted up over our backs. The Nation for whom we have been the feet (almost always unshod) with which it has walked in its decisive moments. The Nation for whom we have been the arms and hands which have made the earth bear fruit and which have erected the large buildings, edifices, churches and palaces that those who have everything take such pride in. The Nation of which - through word, look and manner, that is, through culture - we are the root.

Are we raining insult upon injury? Perhaps it's because we are in June, the sixth month of the year. Well, we just wanted to point out that the beginning of our uprising was not just a "Here we are", shouted to a Nation that was deaf and dumb because of the authoritarianism above. It was also a "This is what we are and shall continue to be...but now with dignity, with democracy, with justice, with liberty." You know this quite well, because, among other things, you have been accompanying us since then.[center][img]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9383/107351comandanteramona.jpg[/img]
[size="1"]Comandante Ramona, representing the EZLN in place of Subcomandante Marcos, is candidly photographed voting on a measure on the floor of the convention[/size][/center]Unfortunately, after more than 16 years committed to that path, politicians from all the parties, mainly those of the Right and of the Leninist [Communist] Party, formed an alliance in order to deny the Indian peoples of Mexico the constitutional recognition of their rights and culture. And they did so without caring about the great national and international movement which had arisen and joined together for that purpose. The great majority, including the media, were in agreement that that debt should be settled. But the politicians don't care about anything that doesn't get them money, and they rejected the same proposal that they had approved years before when the Communist and Zapatistas formulated a plan for Marxist reform. They did so because they thought that, after a little time had passed, everyone would forget. And perhaps many people forgot, but we did not. We have memory, and it was they: the Communists, the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Capitalists, the former members of the PRI, the PSD, and others. Yes, the Indian peoples continue today in the underbelly of this Nation, and they continue to suffer the same racism they have for 500 years. It doesn't matter what they are saying now, when they are preparing for the elections (in other words, to secure positions that will make them profits): they are not going to do anything for the good of the majority, nor are they going to listen to anything that isn't money. Gathered here at this convention they stand in defiance to all the people and all the delegates that these are still their intentions.

If we Zapatistas pride ourselves on anything it's honoring the word, the honest and principled word. All this time we have been telling you that we will try the path of dialogue and negotiation in order to achieve our demands. We told you that we would make great efforts in the peaceful struggle. We told you that we would focus on the indigenous struggle. And so it has been. We have not deceived you.

All the help which you have so generously contributed to this noble cause and through those means has been for that and for nothing else. We have used nothing for anything else. All the humanitarian help and aid which we have received from Mexico and from throughout the world has been used only for improving the living conditions of the Zapatista indigenous communities and in peaceful initiatives for the recognition of indigenous rights and culture. Nothing of what was received has been used for the acquisition of arms or for any war preparations. Not only because we haven't needed it (the EZLN has maintained its military capacity intact since 1994), but above all because it wouldn't have been honest to tell you that your help was for one thing and to use it for another. Not one centavo of the help received for peace with justice and dignity has been used for war. We have not needed help for making war. For peace, yes.

We have, of course, used our word to refer to (and in some cases to express our solidarity with) other struggles in Mexico and the world, but just that far. And many times, knowing that we could do more, we had to contain ourselves, because our efforts - as we had told you - were exclusively by and for the indigenous. However now we extand hands out to other movements in the world, as they are for us, and since the opening of this Convention we are now on the road to a liberating point in our history.

Well, imagine then what we felt when we saw and heard the injustices and the hatred directed against campesinos, workers, students, teachers, working persons, homosexuals and lesbians, young people, women, old ones, children. Imagine what our heart felt.

We were touched by a pain, a fury, an indignation which we already knew because it has been, and is, ours. But now we were touched by it in the other. And we heard the 'we' which inspires us wanting to become larger, to make itself more collective, more national. But no, we had said just the indigenous, and we had to honor that. I believe it's because of our way - in other words, that we would prefer to die before we would betray our word.

What do those on the opposing side have to say? What do they think? It is clear to the delegates of this convention, to the people of Mexico, and to the people of the world that they are in the best interests of themselves and the wealth they could assume upon hijacking a state for their own benefit."

The delegates from the Zapatista Army and Zaptismo Party still remained quiet, in respect to Comandante Ramona's speech. Communists and other members of the convention in opposition to the EZLN booed and hissed. Communist Party officials were overheard planned armed resistance to a EZLN-dominated government. Those were heard of the plans were shaken at the thought of internal resistance to a group whom had the same goals - communistic liberation.

Ramona's speech ended the session of the Convention, as they got out early for Sunday.

Edited June 7, 2010 by the Zapatistas

[zzzptm]

The observers from Himynamistan joked with each other as they left the session. "Where were Marx and Lenin when Quetzalcoatl ruled in Teotihuacan? These Zapatistas are all right!... and where does that Rivera guy get off putting Mao and Stalin on the same platform? Doesn't he know they'd kill each other?... And don't even get me started on where Mao and Marx parted company... Give me Fray Hidalgo over those guys, any day!"

[the Zapatistas]

In an emergency move, the Moderation Committee of the Democratic Convention creates the Committee on Louisiana's Involvement in the Island of Cuba, known simply as the "Cuba Committee" it is designed to gather information on Louisiana's domestic, foreign, economic, and military policies in accordance to its treatment of people in conquered territory and on the island of Cuba.
"We encourage other Indigenous League member-states to assist in our responsibilities and assigned tasks," said Committee Co-Chair Ernesto Meyor.

Zapatista Army involvement in the recent escalation in the Gulf by Comandante Che of the Dominican Republic may rest on the findings of the Committee, due to be issued in the coming weeks.

[Otto Verteidiger]

Otto flipped the paper after he was done reading in his room before bed, "Communists and semi-Anarchists right next door? We'll see how this plays out.."

[the Zapatistas]

(REPORTS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS)

[center][img]http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9199/thezapatan.png[/img]
[size="6"]Democratic Convention Split![/size][/center][b]Members of the Party of Mexican Communists and a liberal coalition walk out from Democratic Convention and establish rival conference[/b]

JUÁREZ, CHIAPAS - Communist Party leaders today decided to walk out from the Democratic Convention of Chiapas, the open sessions of Chiapaneco citizens to input their thoughts on the nation's founding constitutional laws, after a conflict on the floor of the convention with opponent Zaptismo Party officials who also serve in the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. The split came as the Party of Mexican Communists leader Deigo Rivera rallied his members against a measure introduced to the delegates of the convention to strengthen the role of the Zapatista Army ([i]Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional[/i], EZLN) in the protection of the new country and security of its social programs.

The measure, aimed to give better funding from the state directly to the EZLN to aid in security and administration of sponsored social and paramilitary programs. Arguing that the Zapatistas, and their political wing the Zaptismo Army, is using the proposal to create a one-party dominance in the new government the Communist Party debates furiously with the Zapatista representatives. "Chiapas can no longer depend on the Zapatista-dominated military government to build this new country. They plan on not only imposing their rule unjustly upon the people, but also aim to tear this government, the [Communist] Party, and this country into pieces one program at a time," said Communist Party General Secretary Diego Rivera, "they plan to ripen [the nation] so that the imperialist powers of the hemisphere and take over our beloved nation - just like the Chiapas in southwestern Mexico in their apparent 'liberation war'".

[center][img]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7127/supeg.jpg[/img]
[size="1"]Subcomandante Marcos (left; Zapatista Army) and Comandante María Tovar (right; Comandante of the Zaptismo Party) answer questions outside the Democratic Convention after the end of the session[/size][/center]
Comandante Ramona, reeling from Sunday's speech in retaliation to Communist opposition in the Convention, was recalled as the chief representative of the Zapatistas when Subcomandante Marcos returned from his meeting with regional heads of state discussing the foundation of the Indigenous League and the Congress of Latin American Peoples. Upon the entrance of Marcos, General Secretary Rivera directed a personal attack to Marcos: "we were given the opportunity to bring the word of Marx, Engles, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao - the great socialist leaders of our time - bring them to the shores of Cuba, the streets of New Orleans, and the jungles of South America, and you did not take it? My friends, my dear Subcomandante, that is treason against the proletariat the communism itself!"

The Moderation Committee called for an early end to the session of the Convention to prevent the disorder of the delegates on the floor. Communist Party and the social democratic Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) protested saying that the EZLN-dominated Moderation Committee unfairly put an end to debate to "suppress the opposition". Yvette Carrillo, a PRD member of the Moderation Committee, explained how the system worked:
"the Moderation Committee is comprised of representatives from each political group in the Convention. One from the Zapatistas, one from our party, one from the Communists, one from the [conservative] National Action Party, and so on," said Carrillo, "the members of the Committee then decide which party should chair the Convention, one male and one female. The winning party and runner-up of the vote get to send an additional delegate."
As of 7 June, the Zapatistas held only position on the Committee, as EZLN representative (Marcos) is a non-voting member.

Members and leaders of the opposition parties established later after the end of the session the "Mexican National Congress", an organization rivaling the Democratic Convention aimed to "established a stable, solid government with the vanguard party best prepared to lead and represent the people of this country". The Congress has rejected the Chiapas name and has proposed the "Mayan People's Republic" as an alternative name. Additionally, the Congress has proposed a series of laws designed to undermine the Zapatista Army and Zaptismo Party in what some call a "near ban of their main opposition". Jesus Ortega, leader of the social democratic Party of the Democratic Revolution, called the founding of the new constitutional body a "great step forward for the people of Mexico".

Subcomandante Marcos and Comandante María Tovar of the Zaptismo Party held a conference outside of the building for the Democratic Convention in downtown Juárez and vowed to attend the Mexican National Congress stating that "we Zapatistas are in integral part of these people, and [i]will not be ignored[/i]."

[the Zapatistas]

[center][img]http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9199/thezapatan.png[/img]
[size="6"]Marcos Shot![/size][/center][b]Members of the Communist Party in the Mexican National Congress attempt to assassinate Subcomandante Marcos during a speech[/b]

[center][img]http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5816/marcos3.jpg[/img]
[size="1"]On the Move; Marcos and several soldiers from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation march to the meeting place of the Mexican National Congress where they plan to have their voices heard[/size][/center]
JUÁREZ, CHIAPAS - Paramilitary forces of the Party of Mexican Communists opened fired on Zapatista Army and Zaptismo Party representatives and officials today after they attended opening sessions of the Mexican National Congress. Among them, EZLN representative Subcomandante Marcos was wounded in the shoulder when the gunfighting began. Marcos took the podium at the MNC, after Diego Rivera's Communist Party had concluded its opening statements to the assembly, determined to speak on behalf of the EZLN and Zaptismo Party when the first gunshots erupted, one of them wounding Marcos in his right shoulder.

Heavy fighting broke out near the convention center where the Mexican National Congress was taking place. In all the Zapatistas reported 16 wounded and 9 dead; the MNC reported 17 delegates wounded and 8 dead. "The storming of Marcos to the stage at Congress is what caused this massacre," said Communist Party spokesperson Vicente Lopez, "the Zapatistas in this case, are to blame. The true colors of how they view the functions of government have been shown - in blood." The Zapatista Army of National Liberation however blames the Communists, citing that the first gunshots were made from a Communist Party member at Marcos, which sparked the battle.

Gunshots rang into the night, and currently Marcos's condition is being described as "stable". The location of where he is being held for treatment is unknown and representatives from the EZLN refuse to divulge on his whereabouts. General Secretary of the PMC, Diego Rivera, was not known to be wounded neither any of the Communist Party's top officers. "It has become clear that Marcos and his dogs are now resorting to murdering the opposition and impose a military rule," said Rivera, "I urge my countrymen to reject the Zapatistas and their despotic party".

Several hours after the incident, the National Congress reopened with added security and without the presence of Communist Party leaders nor anyone from the EZLN nor Zaptismo Party. The MNC passed unanimously a measure baning the speaking and debate rights of all EZLN and Zaptismo Party members, effectively destroying any influence they may have in the assembly. In a surprise move, the Moderation Committee for the Democratic Convention of Chiapas declared that the convention would be "closed for in indefinite amount of time while these political crises erupt in this nation. It has become clear that the mere presence of the National Congress is designed to undermine progress made here at the Convention. The Moderation Committee will assume legislative duties from the Democratic Convention until deemed otherwise in an extraordinary session of convention delegates".

Edited June 11, 2010 by the Zapatistas

[Bull Run]

Our hearts go out to El Commandante Marcos for a swift recovery.

[zzzptm]

The Stalinists are an unwanted and unwelcome influence in this part of the world. May Marcos recover well and continue to fight the just fight.

[the Zapatistas]

[center][img]http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9199/thezapatan.png[/img]
[size="6"][color=red][i]BREAKING:[/i][/color] Letter from Wounded Marcos[/size][/center][b]Letter from Subcomandante Marcos expresses EZLN's intent against the Communists[/b]

PUERTO PEÑASCO, CHIAPAS - A letter sent by the wounded Zapatista Army of National Liberation commander, Subcomandante Marcos, is addresses in Puerto Peñasco where it has been rumored Marcos has been transported to after the deadly confrontation between the Party of Mexican Communists and the EZLN at the Mexican National Congress. The letter summarized the work of the Zapatistas to date and the communist betrayal after many years of support.

[quote]Señora, señorita, señor, young person, boy, girl:

This is not a letter of farewell. At times it is going to seem as if it is, that it is a farewell, but it is not. It is a letter of explanation. Well, that is what we shall attempt. This was originally going to go out as a communiqué, but we have chosen this form because, for good or for bad, when we have spoken with you we have almost always done so in this most personal tone.

We are the men, women, children and old ones of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Perhaps you remember us - we rose up in arms on January 1, 1994, and ever since then we have kept up our war against the forgetting, and we have resisted the war of extermination which the different governments have waged, unsuccessfully, against us. We live in the furthest corner of that country which was called Mexico. In that corner which is called "Indian Peoples." Yes, like that, plural. Because, for reasons we shall not give here, the plural is used in this corner for everything: we suffer, we die, we fight, we resist.

Now, as you know quite well, it so happens that, ever since that dawn of the beginning of '94, we have dedicated our struggle - first with fire and then with the word - our efforts, our life and our death, exclusively to the Indian peoples of Mexico for the recognition of their rights and their culture. It was natural - we Zapatistas are overwhelmingly indigenous. Mayan indigenous, to be more precise. But, in addition, the indigenous in this country - despite having been the foundation of that Nation's great transformations - are still the social group which has been the most attacked and the most exploited. If they have shown no mercy against anyone with their military wars and the wars disguised as "political", the wars of usurpation, of conquest, of annihilation, of marginalization, of ignorance - it has been against the indigenous. The war against us has been so intense and brutal that it has become routine to think that the indigenous will only be able to escape from their conditions of marginalization and poverty if they stop being indigenous...or if they are dead. We have been fighting to not die and to not cease being indigenous. We have fought to be - alive and indigenous - part of this nation which has been lifted up over our backs. The Nation for whom we have been the feet (almost always unshod) with which it has walked in its decisive moments. The Nation for whom we have been the arms and hands which have made the earth bear fruit and which have erected the large buildings, edifices, churches and palaces that those who have everything take such pride in. The Nation of which - through word, look and manner, that is, through culture - we are the root.

Are we raining insult upon injury? Perhaps it's because we are in June, the sixth month of the year. Well, we just wanted to point out that the beginning of our uprising was not just a "Here we are", shouted to a Nation that was deaf and dumb because of the authoritarianism above. It was also a "This is what we are and shall continue to be...but now with dignity, with democracy, with justice, with liberty." You know this quite well, because, among other things, you have been accompanying us since then.

Unfortunately, after more than 16 years committed to that path, politicians from the PRD and PMC formed a coalition against the Zapatistas in the recently mandated Democratic Convention. And they did so without caring about the great national and international movement which had arisen and joined together for that purpose. The great majority, including the media, were in agreement that that debt should be settled. But the politicians don't care about anything that doesn't get them money, they denied the years of cooperation and support that they had formerly given us. They did so because they thought that, after a little time had passed, everyone would forget. And perhaps many people forgot, but we did not. We have memory, and it was they: the Party of the Democratic Republic, the Party of Mexican Communists, the Mexican People's Liberation Army (PMC military wing), and those neo-liberals of the National Action Party. Yes, the Indian peoples continue today in the underbelly of this Nation, and they continue to suffer the same racism they have for 500 years. It doesn't matter what they are saying now, when they are preparing for the elections (in other words, to secure positions that will make them profits): they are not going to do anything for the good of the majority, nor are they going to listen to anything that isn't money.

If we Zapatistas pride ourselves on anything it's honoring the word, the honest and principled word. All this time we have been telling you that we will try the path of dialogue and negotiation in order to achieve our demands. We told you that we would make great efforts in the peaceful struggle. We told you that we would focus on the indigenous struggle. And so it has been. We have not deceived you.

All the help which you have so generously contributed to this noble cause and through those means has been for that and for nothing else. We have used nothing for anything else. All the humanitarian help and aid which we have received from Mexico and from throughout the world has been used only for improving the living conditions of the zapatista indigenous communities and in peaceful initiatives for the recognition of indigenous rights and culture. Nothing of what was received has been used for the acquisition of arms or for any war preparations. Not only because we haven't needed it (the EZLN has maintained its military capacity intact since 1994), but above all because it wouldn't have been honest to tell you that your help was for one thing and to use it for another. Not one [i]centavo[/i] of the help received for peace with justice and dignity has been used for war. We have not needed help for making war. For peace, yes.

We have, of course, used our word to refer to (and in some cases to express our solidarity with) other struggles in Mexico and the world, but just that far. And many times, knowing that we could do more, we had to contain ourselves, because our efforts - as we had told you - were exclusively by and for the indigenous.

It has not been easy. We were touched by a pain, a fury, an indignation which we already knew because it has been, and is, ours. But now we were touched by it in the other. And we heard the "we" which inspires us wanting to become larger, to make itself more collective, more national. But no, we had said just the indigenous, and we had to honor that. I believe it's because of our way - in other words, that we would prefer to die before we would betray our word.

Now we are consulting with our heart in order to see if we are going to say and do something else. If the majority says yes, then we are going to do everything possible to honor it. Everything, even dying if it's necessary. We do not want to appear dramatic. We are only saying it in order to make it clear how far we are willing to go.. In other words, not "until they give us a position, an amount of money, a promise, a candidacy."

We Zapatistas are not people of party politics, nor are we experienced in building a nation-state. However, we are experienced in how to encounter foes to the most basic of rights and the spreaders of untruths.

The possibility of conflict will be a difficult and hard decision, just as our life and our struggle have been. For four years we have been preparing the conditions in order to present our peoples with doors and windows so that, when the moment comes, everyone had all the ingredients in place for choosing which window to peer through and which door to open. Since the collapse of Mexico, we have been driven north, but that has not stopped us. And that is our way. In other words, the EZLN leadership does not lead, rather it seeks paths, steps, company, direction, pace, destination. Several. And then they present the peoples with those paths, and they analyze with them what would happen if we follow one or the other course. Because, depending on the path we travel, there are things which will be good and things which will be bad. And then they - the Zapatista communities - speak their thoughts and decide, after discussing and by majority, where we are all going. And then they give the order, and then the EZLN leadership has to organize the work or prepare what is needed to walk that path. Of course the EZLN leadership doesn't just look at what happens only to them, but they have to be bound to the peoples and to touch their hearts and to make themselves, as they say, the same thing. Then it becomes all our gazes, all our ear, all our thoughts, all our heart. But what if, for whatever reason, the leadership does not look, or hear, or think, or feel like all of us. Or some parts aren't seen or something else isn't heard or other thoughts aren't thought or felt. Well, then, that is why everyone is consulted. That is why everyone is asked. That is why agreement is taken among everyone. If the majority says no, then the leadership has to seek another way, and to present another way to the peoples in order to propose until we collectively reach a decision. In other words, the people govern.

Now the collective which we are will make a decision. They are weighing the pros and cons. They are carefully making the calculations, what is lost and what is gained. And, seeing that there is not a little to be lost, it will be decided whether it is worth it.

Perhaps, in some people's scales, there will be much weight given to what we have achieved. Perhaps, in other people's scales, there will be more weight given to the indignation and shame caused by seeing our earth and skies destroyed by the stupid avarice of Power. In any event, we cannot remain passive, just contemplating, as a gang of ruffians strips our Patria of everything that gives it and everyone existence: dignity.

Ah, well, many turns now. We are writing you for what may be the last time in order to give you back your promised word of support. It is not little that we have achieved in the indigenous struggle, and that has been - as we have told you in public and in private - because of your help. We believe you can be proud, without any shame, of all the good that we zapatistas, along with you, have built up to this point. And know that it has been an honor, undeserved in any light, that people like you have walked at our side.

If it is the decision of the Zapatista majority, those who have helped us up to now in the exclusively indigenous struggle can, without any shame or regret, then we shall obey it.

We thank the women. All the girls, teenagers, young women, señoritas, señoras and old ones (and those who were changing from one to the other of those calendars throughout these 16 years) who helped us, who accompanied us and who, not a few times, made our pain and our steps their own. To all of them, Mexicans and from other countries, who helped us and who walked with us. In everything we did you were the huge majority. Perhaps because we share along with you, although each in their own way and place, discrimination, contempt...and death.

We thank the national indigenous movement, which did not sell itself for government posts, for travel allowances, for the flattery that the powerful classify as "fit for indigenous and animals." The one which listened to our word and gave us theirs. The one which opened its heart, its home, to us. The one which resisted and resists with dignity, raising very high the color we are of the earth.

We thank the young men and women of Mexico and of the world. Those who were boys, girls or teenagers that '94 and who nobly grew up without holding back their eyes or their ears. Those who reached youth or, despite the pages torn from the calendar, remained there, extending the hand of their rebellion to our dark hand. Those who chose to come and share days, weeks, months, years, our dignified poverty, our struggle, our hope and our foolish endeavor.

We thank the homosexuals, lesbians, transsexuals, transgender persons and "everyone in their own way." Those who shared with us their struggle for respect for difference, knowing that it is not a defect to be hidden. Those who demonstrated that courage has nothing to do with testosterone and who, time and again, gave us some of the most beautiful lessons of dignity and nobility we have received.

We thank the intellectuals, artists and scientists, from Mexico and the world, who helped us in the struggle for the indigenous. Few movements or organizations can pride themselves on having had the backing (always critical, and we thank them for that) of so much intelligence, ingenuity and creativity. You already know that we always listened to you with respect and attention, even when we didn't share your points of view and that something of the light you shone helped to illuminate our dark paths.

We thank the honest workers of the press and the decent media who showed, truthfully and to the entire world, what they saw and heard, and who respected, without distorting, our voice and path. We extend you our solidarity in these hard moments you are going through in the exercise of your profession, where you are risking your lives, you are attacked and, like us, you find no justice.

And, so that no one is missed, we thank everyone who, honestly and sincerely, helped us.

I said, at the beginning of this letter, that it was not a farewell. Well, it so happens that for some people it is. Although for others it will be what is, in reality, a promise...because what is missing can now be seen...

Vale. Salud and, from heart to heart, thank you for everything.

In the name of all the Zapatistas of the EZLN.
From the deserts of the Mexican Northwest.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
Mexico, in the sixth month of the year 2010.[/quote]

Edited June 11, 2010 by the Zapatistas

[zzzptm]

Only history can kill Marcos, and history will prove to be his greatest ally. Therefore, Marcos shall never die!

[the Zapatistas]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, family issues the last couple of days.

[center][img]http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9199/thezapatan.png[/img]
[size="6"]Comandante Ramona Dead; Convention Burned[/size][/center][b]Comandante Ramona of the EZLN and the building of the Democratic Convention burned by the Mexican People's Liberation Army[/b]

JUÁREZ, CHIAPAS - The paramilitary wing of the Party of Mexican Communists, the Mexican People's Liberation Army, attacked a series of Zapatista Army of National Liberation posts in Juárez, and in one attack killing the Commander of the Zapatista Army, Comandante Ramona. Another attacked burned and completely destroyed the building that housed the now closed Democratic Convention of Chiapas.

The attacks began around 0900 this morning in the northern part of the city with an estimated 500 MPLA troops mobilized through the city seizing EZLN barracks, command posts, and several important telecommunication and utility buildings. The paramilitary troops moved south into the heart of Juárez and reportedly set fire to the Democratic Convention building, the latest reports show only José Reyes Ferriz, the municipal president, to have been killed in the fire.[center][img]http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/4034/wickwirefire1.jpg[/img]
[size="1"]The building hosting the Democratic Convention of Chiapas burns into the night[/size][/center]Subcomandante Marcos, now confirmed to be residing in Puerto Peñasco, was subsequently elected by the Zapatista Army as its new [i]comandante[/i]. General Tomallo will be replacing Marcos's position among the group of Zapatista subcomandantes. After being selected as the sixth Comandante of the EZLN, Marcos prompted inevitable war with the Communist Party in Chiapas: "with the constant attack by the Stalinists, soon the nation of Chiapas will be gripped in a struggle far greater than that of the former Mexican federal government."

Diego Rivera, General Secretary of the Party of Mexican Communists celebrated the attacks in Juárez as a "great victory against the traitorous anarchists" and pledged that "the People's Army will stretch out and grab at any Zapatista stronghold in this country". The Mexican National Congress issued a declaration decreeing that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation was an "illegal organization" and have "terrorist intentions". The nearly all-MPC National Congress also declared the Zaptismo Party to be illegal and any member of the Party to be immediately arrested and charged with treason and terrorism.

María Tovar, Comandante of the Zaptismo Party, pledged that this would not spell the end of the party nor the Zapatista Army.

Comandante Marcos has, from his location, ordered the mobilization of the Zapatista units and militias to defend their towns and strongholds against any attempt by the MPLA to seize them.

[zzzptm]

[quote]
From Zzzptm to Marcos via personal courier

If you need any assistance from Himynamistan, say the word. We shall not let the revolution die in Chiapas. If you die, we will take the struggle to the MPLA.
[/quote]

FORMAL DECLARATION FROM THE CONGRESS OF HIMYNAMISTAN

The Congress of the People of Himynamistan passed a resolution condemning the MPLA's violence in Chiapas: they have subverted the democratic procedure and represent a counter-revolutionary challenge to the peoples of Mexico. We have positioned Himynamistan military units to close the border to MPLA elements and allow the continued free movement of legitimate Chiapas peoples. Should the situation in Chiapas deteriorate, the military of Himynamistan will be charged with assisting the proper, democratically-elected officials in restoring proper political order.

The resolution of the Congress of Himynamistan will not allow the MPLA to gain power through narrow, Stalinist violence. We only respect the revolution of the people.

[the Zapatistas]

[center][b]DECLARATION of the MODERATION COMMITTEE of the DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION of CHIAPAS[/b][/center]The Moderation Committee has formally disbanded and has turned over its administrative authorities to that of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Comandante Marcos shall be recognized by the members of this committee as the provisional head of the Chiapaneco government and state.

[Otto Verteidiger]

We are severely alarmed by the radical actions of Communists so close to home and how they are allowed to operate. Amerikanisches Reich offers any assistance it can afford to send to the provisional government to calm the Communists in Chiapas.