The Zapatistas to Invade Spain!

About Zapatistas

"The year before the Zapatista uprising, roughly 30,000 people

died of hunger and diseases related to malnutrition. "

"We are a product of 500 years of struggle", the Zapatista Declaration of War states, ". we have nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a roof over our heads, no land, no work, no health care, no food nor education. Neither are we able to freely and democratically elect our political representatives, nor is there independence from foreigners, nor is there peace nor justice for ourselves and for our children. But today we say, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"

"Their aim is not to take state power and replace it in the hands of a revolutionary elite - instead they challenge people everywhere to organise autonomously from the state. "(From: Chapter 1. Zapatistas)

Many observers see the current EZLN movement and recent uprising in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico, as the standard bearer for social movements all over the world.
The lessons "we" can learn from those closest to the front line of oppression is, to protecting what we have achieved and take heart from the Zapatistas struggle for autonomy and freedom and transfer and apply their spirit of hope and vision to the local and global issues that are violating our communities. Unlike the Zapatistas, we do not have a gun at our heads, ours is the slow dry oppression that is shielded by bureaucracy, propaganda, racism and Eurocentric, elitism, coupled with the the visionless despondency that has gripped our politics, our care for each other and of who we are. Zapatistas have a hope of a better world, a world where people mater, not power. Dare we take up the challenge.

Resist

About 130 Zapatista sympathizers peacefully occupied Rancho Esmeralda on Friday, two weeks after the US owners abandoned the land. Rancho Esmeralda is located adjacent to the autonomous Zapatista community Nueva Jerusalem and a few meters from the 39th Military Zone, one of the largest military bases in Chiapas.

T he Zapatista rebels in Chiapas defiantly broke nearly two years of self-imposed silence by taking over the streets of San Cristóbal de las Casas as the New Year began. More than 20,000 of Mexico's indigenous people, some traveling on foot for fifteen hours, poured into the plaza of the ancient colonial city. It was the equivalent of 100,000 of New York City's poorest people marching to Gracie Mansion from the farthest boroughs. The town's comfortable classes shuddered behind their shutters while thousands of machetes rang "like bells" and torches and bonfires lit the New Year's sky. Comandantes with colorful names ranging from "Esther" and "Mister" to "Bruce Lee" declared their determination to "globalize rebelliousness and dignity" against those who "are globalizing death."

And: Argentina; Occupy, Resist

So, people responded in this amazing way, which was not ideological. It wasn't like we must seize the means of production. In many ways it was similar to I think what's driving much of the resistance in Iraq, which is just a very practical sense that if you lose your job in this economy, where 60% of the country is already living in poverty, it's essentially a death sentence. So, workers who were told, you're fired, you're factory is closing, we're moving it somewhere cheaper, they just refused to leave. We wanted actually call the film Rage for the Machines . Because what they were saying was, you can leave, but we're going to keep the machines and keep them running. They turned the factories into democratically run worker's cooperatives. So we follow one factory from the beginning of this process where they occupied the first day to when they started up the machines again and have a viable source of jobs ..
...It's the largest ceramic tile factory in all of Latin America. It's in Patagonia in the south of Argentina... Zanon Ceramics. After two years under worker control, it's the granddaddy of this new movement. Today, the factory is in production with 300 workers. Decisions are made in assemblies: one worker, one vote. Everyone gets exactly the same salary. Naomi klein
"The Take" Takes on Globalization

 

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