Ya Basta! The masks of Chiapas( by Naomi Klein)
MichaelP
Thanks Janet:
Subcomandante Marcos, voice of the Zapatista National Liberation
Army will travel to Mexico City and address Congress on the
need for an Indian bill of rights. ..........It's clear that Mr. Fox
sees settling the Zapatista standoff as key to Mexico's stability.
How did this band of indigenous insurgents become symbols (some would
say masked mascots) of the international anti-free-trade movement?
The answer dates back to Jan. 1, 1994, the day the North American
free-trade agreement came into force in Mexico.
And for the rest - read on - Naomi Klein is right on !!
fyi-janet
================================
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Ya Basta! The masks of Chiapas
NAOMI KLEIN
Globe and mail (Toronto)Wednesday, December 6, 2000
On the weekend, the man in the mask came down from the jungle and held a
press conference. In the new year, he will travel to Mexico City and
address Congress on the need for an Indian bill of rights.
Subcomandante Marcos, voice of the Zapatista National Liberation Army, has
been keeping a low profile lately. But he's back, in trademark ski mask,
rifle over his shoulder, and pipe hanging from his mouth. Rumour has it he
is a university professor who fled to the hills to lead an indigenous
uprising in Chiapas, but Marcos has no comment. Showing his face, he
jokes, would disappoint his female fans.
It's a mark of the Zapatistas' influence that the very first act by
Mexico's new president was to order a partial withdrawal of troops from
Chiapas. Vicente Fox also invited the Zapatistas to resume negotiations
that broke down under his predecessor. Marcos told reporters he's ready to
talk, but not until Mr. Fox completes the troop withdrawal and releases
all political prisoners.
It's clear that Mr. Fox sees settling the Zapatista standoff as key to
Mexico's stability. Less understood is how powerful the Zapatistas are
outside of Mexico -- and why. How did this band of indigenous insurgents
become symbols (some would say masked mascots) of the international
anti-free-trade movement? Why, in the words of a report commissioned by
the U.S. military, did the uprising go from being "a war of the flea" --
remote and easy to control -- to "a war of the swarm" -- ubiquitous and
impossible to contain?
The answer dates back to Jan. 1, 1994, the day the North American
free-trade agreement came into force in Mexico. The Zapatistas chose that
day to "declare war" on the Mexican army. A communiqué placed NAFTA, which
banned subsidies to indigenous farm co-operatives, within a long history
of colonialism that has impoverished Mexico's native peoples. "Ya Basta!"
they said. Enough is enough.
The message was posted on the Internet. Dozens of mirror sites went up,
translating and posting regular communiqués from the Zapatistas. Caravans
of activists hit the road for Chiapas. Groups from Cincinnati to Milan
cropped up, calling themselves Ya Basta! And at every demonstration, there
were more black masks: Marcos clones, multiplying. Though they were the
first rebels to use the Internet, the Zapatistas are less a testament to
the power of technology than to the power of language. Marcos's
communiqués skip lightly from gruesome lists of atrocities to cracks about
football games, to Shakespearean verse. He is a master of political
metaphor, challenging his supporters to break out of staid old left
thinking and build a movement fluid enough to adapt to the global economy.
The Zapatistas' goal is not to seize state control for their ideological
camp, but to build an international movement that can rein in corporate
power globally and restore community power locally. They call this a
movement of "one no and many yeses." Like all indigenous struggles, the
Zapatistas are fighting to preserve their heritage. But rather than
throwing up blockades and locking out the world, they are inventing a new
way to protect their land: opening the doors and inviting the world
inside. In 1996, 3,000 activists travelled to Chiapas to attend a
gathering "for humanity and against neo-liberalism."
The Zapatistas have taken what could have been a narrow ethnic
dispute and made it universal. A Zapatista, Marcos says, is anyone
who is fighting for communal space against market forces. And from
behind their masks, the Zapatistas have forged a new kind of
leadership and heroism, one especially tailored to an age suspicious
of both heroes and leaders. Paradoxically, it is leadership without a
face, heroes you have to imagine.
======================
*** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. Feel free to distribute widely but PLEASE acknowledge the
source. ***