01 - Informational Bulletin -ZAPATISTA ENCUENTRO-
zap - 03.01.2007 00:02
Encounter between the Zapatistas and the Peoples of the World
INAUGURATION
(En español aquí)
30 December 2006
Compañeras and compañeros
Today at 13:49, time zone of the southeastern combat zone, Comandante Felipe, of the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee (Comité Clandestino Revolucionario Indígena – CCRI) of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, inaugurated the First Encounter Between the Zapatistas and the Peoples of the World, with the presence of over one thousand people from 40 countries of the world and approximately 2,000 zapatistas from communities in the tzotzil region.
“We sincerely hope that this first Encounter becomes, for us and for all the peoples of Mexico and the world, the beginning of a true path to exchange and share experiences in struggle and organization, in order to unite the struggles of all peoples before a common enemy, respecting each other independently of our ideas, ways, and methods,” said Comandante Felipe before hundreds of solidarity collectives, women’s groups, human rights organizations, student committees, neighborhood educational projects, groups of Mexicans and Chicanos from the US, young anarchists, “libertarios” and punks, experiments with autonomous resistance and peasant associations, among many more present at the Oventik Caracol.
In an unprecedented event in the EZLN’s 13 years of public struggle, 232 authorities from the various levels of the Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities in Rebelion (Municipios Autónomos Rebeldes Zapatistas – MAREZ) and the five Good Government Councils (civilian structures of the autonomous government in resistance) got together to launch the Encounter, during which they will share the construction of their autonomy in the areas of health, education, commerce, gender, land recovery, media, art, and culture. And they will listen to experiences in struggle and resistance against neoliberalism from other peoples of the world. Also present at the encounter was Teniente Coronel Insurgente Moisés, from the EZLN’s Intergalactic Commission.
By 11:00 AM there were 1,042 people at the Oventik Caracol, from 40 countries in four continents. From America, there were collectives and individuals from 18 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
From Europe there were compañeros and compañeras from 19 countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Catalonia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Basque Countries, Poland, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine. From Asia, there were people present from Israel, and from Oceania there were brothers and sisters from Australia and New Zealand.
“Today we begin to listen to each other to see how we resist the bad governments and build alternatives for a world where those who command, do it by obeying,” said Oventik’s Good Government Council, in its role as the Encounter’s host.
“This is our struggle, yours and ours, because everywhere there is poverty, misery, ignorance, marginalization, and exploitation. All the peoples of the world suffer these problems, that’s why we continue struggling to achieve the just demands of indigenous peoples,” said the autonomous authority.
The Encounter inaugurated this afternoon with the topic Autonomy and Self-government. On the 31st there will be three workgroups: health, education, and women. On January 1, the topics will be communication, art and culture, commerce, and land defense, and, finally, on January 2 the encounter will close with a discussion on the preparations for the Intergalactic Encounter.
At the time of this report, hundreds of men and women continue arriving from Mexico and many countries of the world.
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