[News] EZLN: 6th Declaration of the Lacandona, pt 3, Jun 30

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Originally published in Spanish by the EZLN
************************************
Translated by irlandesa

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico.

(Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona)

V -  What We Want To Do

We are now going to tell you what we want to do in the world and in Mexico,
because we cannot watch everything that is happening on our planet and just
remain quiet, as if it were only we were where we are.

What we want in the world is to tell all of those who are resisting and
fighting in their own ways and in their own countries, that you are not 
alone, that
we, the zapatistas, even though we are very small, are supporting you, and we
are going to look at how to help you in your struggles and to speak to you in
order to learn, because what we have, in fact,  learned is to learn.

And we want to tell the Latin American peoples that we are proud to be a part
of you, even if it is a small part.  We remember quite well how the continent
was also illuminated some years ago, and a light was called Che Guevara, as
it had previously been called Bolivar, because sometimes the people take up a
name in order to say they are taking up a flag.

And we want to tell the people of Cuba, who have now been on their path of
resistance for many years, that you are not alone, and we do not agree with the
blockade they are imposing, and we are going to see how to send you something,
even if it is maize, for your resistance.  And we want to tell the North
American people that we know that the bad governments which you have and which
spread harm throughout the world is one thing -  and those North Americans who
struggle in their country, and who are in solidarity with the struggles of 
other
countries, are a very different thing.  And we want to tell the Mapuche
brothers and sisters in Chile that we are watching and learning from your
struggles.  And to the Venezuelans, we see how well you are defending your 
sovereignty,
your nation's right to decide where it is going.  And to the indigenous
brothers and sisters of Ecuador and Bolivia, we say you are giving a good 
lesson in
history to all of Latin America, because now you are indeed putting a halt to
neoliberal globalization.  And to the piqueteros and to the young people of
Argentina, we want to tell you that, that we love you.  And to those in Uruguay
who want a better country, we admire you.  And to those who are sin tierra in
Brazil, that we respect you.  And to all the young people of Latin America,
that what you are doing is good, and you give us great hope.

And we want to tell the brothers and sisters of Social Europe, that which is
dignified and rebel, that you are not alone.  That your great movements
against the neoliberal wars bring us joy.  That we are attentively watching 
your
forms of organization and your methods of struggle so that we can perhaps learn
something.  That we are considering how we can help you in your struggles, and
we are not going to send euro because then they will be devalued because of
the European Union mess.  But perhaps we will send you crafts and coffee so you
can market them and help you some in the tasks of your struggle.  And perhaps
we might also send you some pozol, which gives much strength in the
resistance, but who knows if we will send it to you, because pozol is more 
our way, and
what if it were to hurt your bellies and weaken your struggles and the
neoliberals defeat you.

And we want to tell the brothers and sisters of Africa, Asia and Oceania that
we know that you are fighting also, and we want to learn more of your ideas
and practices.

And we want to tell the world that we want to make you large, so large that
all those worlds will fit, those worlds which are resisting because they want
to destroy the neoliberals and because they simply cannot stop fighting for
humanity.

Now then, what we want to do in Mexico is to make an agreement with persons
and organizations just of the left, because we believe that it is in the
political left where the idea of resisting neoliberal globalization is, and of
making a country where there will be justice, democracy and liberty for 
everyone.
Not as it is right now, where there is justice only for the rich, there is
liberty only for their big businesses, and there is democracy only for painting
walls with election propaganda.  And because we believe that it is only from
the left that a plan of struggle can emerge, so that our Patria, which is
Mexico, does not die.

And, then, what we think is that, with these persons and organizations of the
left, we will make a plan for going to all those parts of Mexico where there
are humble and simple people like ourselves.

And we are not going to tell them what they should do or give them orders.

Nor are we going to ask them to vote for a candidate, since we already know
that the ones who exist are neoliberals.

Nor are we going to tell them to be like us, nor to rise up in arms.

What we are going to do is to ask them what their lives are like, their
struggle, their thoughts about our country and what we should do so they do not
defeat us.

What we are going to do is to take heed of the thoughts of the simple and
humble people, and perhaps we will find there the same love which we feel 
for our
Patria.

And perhaps we will find agreement between those of us who are simple and
humble and, together, we will organize all over the country and reach agreement
in our struggles, which are alone right now, separated from each other, and we
will find something like a program that has what we all want, and a plan for
how we are going to achieve the realization of that program, which is called
the "national program of struggle."

And, with the agreement of the majority of those people whom we are going to
listen to, we will then engage in a struggle with everyone, with indigenous,
workers, campesinos, students, teachers, employees, women, children, old ones,
men, and with all of those of good heart and who want to struggle so that our
Patria called Mexico does not end up being destroyed and sold, and which still
exists between the Rio Grande and the Rio Suchiate and which has the Pacific
Ocean on one side and the Atlantic on the other.


VI -  How We Are Going To Do It

And so this is our simple word that goes out to the humble and simple people
of Mexico and of the world, and we are calling our word of today:

Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona

And we are here to say, with our simple word, that...

The EZLN maintains its commitment to an offensive ceasefire, and it will not
make any attack against government forces or any offensive military movements.

The EZLN still maintains its commitment to insisting on the path of political
struggle through this peaceful initiative which we are now undertaking.  The
EZLN continues, therefore, in its resolve to not establish any kind of secret
relations with either national political-military organizations or those from
other countries.

The EZLN reaffirms its commitment to defend, support and obey the zapatista
indigenous communities of which it is composed, and which are its supreme
command, and - without interfering in their internal democratic processes - 
will,
to the best of its abilities, contribute to the strengthening of their
autonomy, good government and improvement in their living conditions.  In 
other words,
what we are going to do in Mexico and in the world, we are going to do
without arms, with a civil and peaceful movement, and without neglecting 
nor ceasing
to support our communities.

Therefore...

In the World...

1 -  We will forge new relationships of mutual respect and support with
persons and organizations who are resisting and struggling against 
neoliberalism
and for humanity.

2 -  As far as we are able, we will send material aid such as food and
handicrafts for those brothers and sisters who are struggling all over the 
world.

In order to begin, we are going to ask the Good Government Junta of La
Realidad to loan their truck, which is called "Chompiras," and which 
appears to hold
8 tons, and we are going to fill it with maize and perhaps two 200 liter cans
with oil or petrol, as they prefer, and we are going to deliver it to the
Cuban Embassy in Mexico for them to send to the Cuban people as aid from the
zapatistas for their resistance against the North American blockade.  Or 
perhaps
there might be a place closer to here where it could be delivered, because it's
always such a long distance to Mexico City, and what if "Chompiras" were to
break down and we'd end up in bad shape.  And that will happen when the harvest
comes in, which is turning green right now in the fields, and if they don't
attack us, because if we were to send it during these next few months, it would
be nothing but corncobs, and they don't turn out well even in tamales, better
in November or December, it depends.

And we are also going to make an agreement with the women's crafts
cooperatives in order to send a good number of bordados, embroidered 
pieces, to the
Europes which are perhaps not yet Union, and perhaps we'll also send some 
organic
coffee from the zapatista cooperatives, so that they can sell it and get a
little money for their struggle.  And, if it isn't sold, then they can always
have a little cup of coffee and talk about the anti-neoliberal struggle, and if
it's a bit cold then they can cover themselves up with the zapatista bordados,
which do indeed resist quite well being laundered by hand and by rocks, and,
besides, they don't run in the wash.

And we are also going to send the indigenous brothers and sisters of Bolivia
and Ecuador some non-transgenic maize, and we just don't know where to send
them so they arrive complete, but we are indeed willing to give this little bit
of aid.

3 -  And to all of those who are resisting throughout the world, we say there
must be other intercontinental encuentros held, even if just one other.
Perhaps December of this year or next January, we'll have to think about 
it.  We
don't want to say just when, because this is about our agreeing equally on
everything, on where, on when, on how, on who.  But not with a stage where 
just a
few speak and all the rest listen, but without a stage, just level and
everyone speaking, but orderly, otherwise it will just be a hubbub and the 
words
won't be understood, and with good organization everyone will hear and jot 
down in
their notebooks the words of resistance from others, so then everyone can go
and talk with their compa~eros and compa~eras in their worlds.  And we think
it might be in a place that has a very large jail, because what if they were to
repress us and incarcerate us, and so that way we wouldn't be all piled up,
prisoners, yes, but well organized, and there in the jail we could continue the
intercontinental encuentros for humanity and against neoliberalism.  Later on
we'll tell you what we shall do in order to reach agreement as to how we're
going to come to agreement.  Now that is how we're thinking of doing what we
want to do in the world.  Now follows...

In Mexico...

1 -  We are going to continue fighting for the Indian peoples of Mexico, but
now not just for them and not with only them, but for all the exploited and
dispossessed of Mexico, with all of them and all over the country.  And when we
say all the exploited of Mexico, we are also talking about the brothers and
sisters who have had to go to the United States in search of work in order to
survive.

2 -  We are going to go to listen to, and talk directly with, without
intermediaries or mediation, the simple and humble of the Mexican people, and,
according to what we hear and learn, we are going to go about building, 
along with
those people who, like us, are humble and simple, a national program of
struggle, but a program which will be clearly of the left, or 
anti-capitalist, or
anti-neoliberal, or for justice, democracy and liberty for the Mexican people.

3 -  We are going to try to build, or rebuild, another way of doing politics,
one which once again has the spirit of serving others, without material
interests, with sacrifice, with dedication, with honesty, which keeps its word,
whose only payment is the satisfaction of duty performed, or like the militants
of the left did before, when they were not stopped by blows, jail or death, let
alone by dollar bills.

4 -  We are also going to go about raising a struggle in order to demand that
we make a new Constitution, new laws which take into account the demands of
the Mexican people, which are:  housing, land, work, food, health, education,
information, culture, independence, democracy, justice, liberty and peace.  A
new Constitution which recognizes the rights and liberties of the people, and
which defends the weak in the face of the powerful.

TO THESE ENDS...

The EZLN will send a delegation of its leadership in order to do this work
throughout the national territory and for an indefinite period of time.  This
zapatista delegation, along with those organizations and persons of the 
left who
join in this Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona, will go to those
places where they are expressly invited.

We are also letting you know that the EZLN will establish a policy of
alliances with non-electoral organizations and movements which define 
themselves, in
theory and practice, as being of the left, in accordance with the following
conditions:

Not to make agreements from above to be imposed below, but to make accords to
go together to listen and to organize outrage.  Not to raise movements which
are later negotiated behind the backs of those who made them, but to always
take into account the opinions of those participating.  Not to seek gifts,
positions, advantages, public positions, from the Power or those who aspire 
to it,
but to go beyond the election calendar.  Not to try to resolve from above the
problems of our Nation, but to build FROM BELOW AND FOR BELOW an alternative
to neoliberal destruction, an alternative of the left for Mexico.

Yes to reciprocal respect for the autonomy and independence of organizations,
for their methods of struggle, for their ways of organizing, for their
internal decision making processes, for their legitimate 
representations.  And yes
to a clear commitment for joint and coordinated defense of national
sovereignty, with intransigent opposition to privatization attempts of 
electricity, oil,
water and natural resources.

In other words, we are inviting the unregistered political and social
organizations of the left, and those persons who lay claim to the left and 
who do not
belong to registered political parties, to meet with us, at the time, place
and manner in which we shall propose at the proper time, to organize a national
campaign, visiting all possible corners of our Patria, in order to listen to
and organize the word of our people.  It is like a campaign, then, but very
otherly, because it is not electoral.

Brothers and sisters:

This is our word which we declare:

In the world, we are going to join together more with the resistance
struggles against neoliberalism and for humanity.

And we are going to support, even if it's but little, those struggles.

And we are going to exchange, with mutual respect, experiences, histories,
ideas, dreams.

In Mexico, we are going to travel all over the country, through the ruins
left by the neoliberal wars and through those resistances which, 
entrenched, are
flourishing in those ruins.

We are going to seek, and to find, those who love these lands and these skies
even as much as we do.

We are going to seek, from La Realidad to Tijuana, those who want to
organize, struggle and build what may perhaps be the last hope this Nation 
- which has
been going on at least since the time when an eagle alighted on a nopal in
order to devour a snake - has of not dying.

We are going for democracy, liberty and justice for those of us who have been
denied it.

We are going with another politics, for a program of the left and for a new
Constitution.

We are inviting all indigenous, workers, campesinos, teachers, students,
housewives, neighbors, small businesspersons, small shop owners,
micro-businesspersons, pensioners, handicapped persons, religious men and 
women, scientists,
artists, intellectuals, young persons, women, old persons, homosexuals and
lesbians, boys and girls - to participate, whether individually or 
collectively,
directly with the zapatistas in this NATIONAL CAMPAIGN for building another way
of doing politics, for a program of national struggle of the left, and for a
new Constitution.

And so this is our word as to what we are going to do and how we are going to
do it.  You will see whether you want to join.

And we are telling those men and women who are of good heart and intent, who
are in agreement with this word we are bringing out, and who are not afraid,
or who are afraid but who control it, to then state publicly whether they are
in agreement with this idea we are presenting, and in that way we will see once
and for all who and how and where and when this new step in the struggle is
to be made.

While you are thinking about it, we say to you that today, in the sixth month
of the year 2005, the men, women, children and old ones of the Zapatista Army
of National Liberation have now decided, and we have now subscribed to, this
Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona, and those who know how to sign,
signed, and those who did not left their mark, but there are fewer now who 
do not
know how, because education has advanced here in this territory in rebellion
for humanity and against neoliberalism, that is in zapatista skies and land.

And this was our simple word sent out to the noble hearts of those simple and
humble people who resist and rebel against injustices all over the world.

Democracy!
Liberty!
Justice!

 >From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.

Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command of the
Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

Mexico, in the sixth month, or June, of the year 2005.

The Freedom Archives
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