Zapatistas call international conference

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) based in Chiapas, Mexico, has issued a call for an international conference from July 27 to August 3, the "First Intercontinental Gathering For Humanity and Against Neo-liberalism".

It has also called on the oppressed people of the world to hold regional conferences in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania in the months before the gathering. An inter-American gathering will be held April 3-8 in the indigenous community of La Realidad in Chiapas.

The agenda will cover "the economic, political, social and cultural aspects of life under neo-liberalism, resistance, struggle and proposals for struggle against neo-liberalism and for humanity".

The conference call stresses "the urgency to construct a truly different project, a true alternative to the system which has left millions of human beings without a home, without land, without work, without food, without health, without education, without liberty, without justice, without independence, without democracy, without peace, without a present and without a future".

The Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance have set aside a section of some of the Easter conferences already scheduled to take up the EZLN appeal.

The Sydney conference will endorse a delegation to attend the international conference in Chiapas, bringing the experiences of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region to the international gathering. A resolution of solidarity to be delivered by the Australian delegation will also be discussed and voted on.

From GLW issue 225