Solidarity helps Zapatistas rebuild

Solidarity helps Zapatistas rebuild

By Lynda Hansen

BRISBANE — Tucson-based author and solidarity activist Martin Taylor addressed a meeting here on July 16 after touring refugee camps and autonomous communities of Chiapas state in southern Mexico. He visited Acteal where 45 indigenous people were massacred by state-sponsored paramilitaries on December 22.

Taylor showed slides of his visit to the region and commented on the social and political situation. He explained that 80 indigenous autonomous municipalities had been set up and that "as far as the Zapatistas were concerned, they are functioning within state law". The Mexican constitution allows the existence of "autonomous regions".

For two years, the US government has trained Mexican troops to execute Zapatistas — who led a 1994 New Year's Day rebellion against Mexican government repression of Chiapas peasants and for indigenous rights — and their supporters. Taylor said that the Acteal community is slowly rebuilding, but it has lost vast tracts of land to the military. The community's priority is to plant the next season's crop on remaining land. Emergency relief — blankets and food — is reaching the area.

Taylor encouraged people to visit the region to assist in rebuilding the community. The Zapatista support group in Tucson has just finished raising money for radio equipment for the Zapatista National Liberation Army.

From GLW issue 326