Schools for Chiapas Caravan 1-14 July 2001
Naomi Mudge co-coordinator, July 20, 2001

What would be the appropriate metaphor for this caravan? It was a caravan of families - parents with their children from Chicago, brothers from Ontario, a brother and sister from LA, cousins and an uncle from the O'odham Nation, and the unforgettable hermanas Mexicanas from Mexico City. It was the caravan of blisters - and later of calluses as we toughened up. It was the caravan of beans - estamos en frijoleria! For me, it was the caravan of rain - the sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce tropical rain came everyday and left rainbows over the jungle canyon that was our home for a week and a half.

OVENTIC

We arrived in Oventic, Aguascalientes II, after an adventurous bus ride that included a five hour break down! Caravanistas remained in high spirits during the trip and used the time to get to know each other. In Oventic we toured the functioning secondary school (during breaks in classes), the women's artisan cooperative, the café and two stores - in one of which you can buy work boots made right there in Oventic!

I had been in Oventic in 1996, before the Encuentro, and I was moved to tears at the changes in such a short time! The school, most of the buildings, the paved road (in construction), the beautiful latrines, the stores, the cooperative, the library - none of it was there during my last visit! All of it has been built with volunteer labor from the communities and internationals. As we were there a group of carpenters finished an addition to the kitchen, hewing boards with a machete!

The students at the secondary school were excited to meet us and had as many questions for us as we had for them. Robin, Lupe, Leticia, and Rosalinda all jumped into the road building project. Other caravanistas helped to screen print thousands of anti-globalization flyers which were to be turned into paper airplanes and launched in Genoa, Italy during the G-8 meetings. As the powers globalize repression we globalize resistance!

FRANCISCO GOMEZ/LA GARUCHA

After a long truck ride, with a slight detour to Morelia, Aguascalientes IV, we arrived in Francisco Gomez, Aguascalientes III. Props to the last caravan to Francisco Gomez - the secondary school building looks great! We delivered donations for the doors and windows but unfortunately we weren't able to install them. Logistically it wasn't possible on this trip - that will have to wait for the next caravan to visit there.

For the first few days in Francisco Gomez we "cleaned up" the school, which meant organizing some building materials and clearing the brush in front and back - with machetes! We compared blisters, and techniques to deal with them. Band aids and mole skin was shared by all. Israel fashioned two rakes out of wire and branches to make the work easier.

On Sunday we were privileged to participate as an international team in a Zapatista soccer match! There were six teams in all and we put up a strong showing - at least in the first half. The final score was a respectable 4-0 to the Zapatistas. The valiant Lupe suffered a muscle injury and Kyle successfully blocked a goal by landing in a cow pie!

For the rest of our time we hoed in the community milpa. Bill sang Woody Guthrie songs and Richard sang traditional O'odham songs - all of which kept our spirits high and made the work lighter. Other caravanistas picked jalepeños, elotes (young corn), helped carry firewood, and played with the kids.

So many things happened during our visit it would be impossible to describe them all. Some personal highlights were:

little girls following bringing flowers everyday to "Lisa, Lisa, Lisa," Kyle, Richard and JJ playing with the little boys and their homemade pop guns, Guillermo's evening lessons in Zapatista history, bathing in the river, butterflies, Bob Marley in the back of the truck, a night time field of green fireflies, and the rain bringing rainbows.

POLITICAL SITUATION

As we were in Chiapas the national debate around the Indigenous law raged on. In 1997 the EZLN and the Mexican government signed the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture. This was the first peace treaty of five to be negotiated. The Zedillo government tried to kill the Accords by ignoring them. Fox sent the Accords on to the federal legislature and the Zapatistas addressed them in March of this year. Unable to simply ignore the Accords any longer the legislators did the next best thing to undermine the - they rewrote them. The new version takes all teeth out of the Accords.

The new bogus "Indigenous law" was then sent to the state legislatures for ratification. A majority of states did ratify the new law. There is now a constitutional challenge because the state legislatures legally could only approve the law by a two thirds majority within each state house- and very few actually did that. So the legal fight goes on. A recent report by the CONAI (National Intermediation Commission) on the prospects of peace warned, "politics is still not capable of being offered as a form of participation … Thus, for various sectors, the rationale for the use of arms remains in effect …"

The debate around the Indigenous Rights Accords in Mexico is a microcosm of the debate on globalization. The biggest challenge to multinationals, and the governments who serve them, is autonomy, indigenous and non-indigenous. Autonomy allows people to govern their own lives, their own economies, to dream their own dreams. Autonomy stands in the way of a global economic system that divides people into commodities or markets.

Fox has received accolades in the press for removing (or more correctly just moving) seven military bases from Zapatista communities. Since June, however, the Mexican army has made further incursions into Zapatista bases of support to fortify the southern border with Guatemala and Belize. Loyal lap dogs to the US, the Mexican army is patrolling for illegal aliens and drug smugglers.

Our stay in the communities was tranquil, yet this peacefulness was fragile. A fews days after we left the Autonomous Municipality of Francisco Gomez one of their villages had an incident with a paramilitary group. In nearby San José a group of paramilitaries assaulted a man, attempted to rape a 15 year old girl, stole a civilian radio and N$1,500.00, and kidnapped an ill man (Enlace Civil www.enlacecivil.org.mx).

Meanwhile in Italy Indy Media reported today that police have shot dead at least one anti-globalization protester in Genoa at the G-8 summit (July 20, 2001 - www.italia.indymedia.org). I can't help but think of the Zapatista airforce, the thousands of screen printed paper airplanes made in the highlands of Chiapas bound for Genoa. We are armed with words and they shoot us. Is it a pathetic attempt at protest, flying our messages over the barricades as paper planes? Or is it a testament to the rulers fear of the truth? Our words are our weapons and it is time, as Marcos said, "to sharpen hope." The red of blood is also a color in the rainbow.

For info on Zapatista support in Arizona contact:
Pueblo por la Paz
pueblopaz@hotmail.com
pplp.tripod.com
Photos from our trip should be on this website soon!

For info on Schools for Chiapas contact:
schoolsforchiapas@mexicopeace.org
www.schoolsforchiapas.org