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Originally published in Spanish by the EZLN<br>
************************************<br>
Translated by irlandesa<br><br>
Zapatista Army of National Liberation<br>
Mexico.<br><br>
(Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona)<br><br>
V - What We Want To Do<br><br>
We are now going to tell you what we want to do in the world and in
Mexico,<br>
because we cannot watch everything that is happening on our planet and
just<br>
remain quiet, as if it were only we were where we are.<br><br>
What we want in the world is to tell all of those who are resisting
and<br>
fighting in their own ways and in their own countries, that you are not
alone, that<br>
we, the zapatistas, even though we are very small, are supporting you,
and we<br>
are going to look at how to help you in your struggles and to speak to
you in<br>
order to learn, because what we have, in fact, learned is to
learn.<br><br>
And we want to tell the Latin American peoples that we are proud to be a
part<br>
of you, even if it is a small part. We remember quite well how the
continent<br>
was also illuminated some years ago, and a light was called Che Guevara,
as<br>
it had previously been called Bolivar, because sometimes the people take
up a<br>
name in order to say they are taking up a flag.<br><br>
And we want to tell the people of Cuba, who have now been on their path
of<br>
resistance for many years, that you are not alone, and we do not agree
with the<br>
blockade they are imposing, and we are going to see how to send you
something,<br>
even if it is maize, for your resistance. And we want to tell the
North<br>
American people that we know that the bad governments which you have and
which<br>
spread harm throughout the world is one thing - and those North
Americans who<br>
struggle in their country, and who are in solidarity with the struggles
of other<br>
countries, are a very different thing. And we want to tell the
Mapuche<br>
brothers and sisters in Chile that we are watching and learning from
your<br>
struggles. And to the Venezuelans, we see how well you are
defending your sovereignty,<br>
your nation's right to decide where it is going. And to the
indigenous<br>
brothers and sisters of Ecuador and Bolivia, we say you are giving a good
lesson in<br>
history to all of Latin America, because now you are indeed putting a
halt to<br>
neoliberal globalization. And to the piqueteros and to the young
people of<br>
Argentina, we want to tell you that, that we love you. And to those
in Uruguay<br>
who want a better country, we admire you. And to those who are sin
tierra in<br>
Brazil, that we respect you. And to all the young people of Latin
America,<br>
that what you are doing is good, and you give us great hope.<br><br>
And we want to tell the brothers and sisters of Social Europe, that which
is<br>
dignified and rebel, that you are not alone. That your great
movements<br>
against the neoliberal wars bring us joy. That we are attentively
watching your<br>
forms of organization and your methods of struggle so that we can perhaps
learn<br>
something. That we are considering how we can help you in your
struggles, and<br>
we are not going to send euro because then they will be devalued because
of<br>
the European Union mess. But perhaps we will send you crafts and
coffee so you<br>
can market them and help you some in the tasks of your struggle.
And perhaps<br>
we might also send you some pozol, which gives much strength in the<br>
resistance, but who knows if we will send it to you, because pozol is
more our way, and<br>
what if it were to hurt your bellies and weaken your struggles and
the<br>
neoliberals defeat you.<br><br>
And we want to tell the brothers and sisters of Africa, Asia and Oceania
that<br>
we know that you are fighting also, and we want to learn more of your
ideas<br>
and practices.<br><br>
And we want to tell the world that we want to make you large, so large
that<br>
all those worlds will fit, those worlds which are resisting because they
want<br>
to destroy the neoliberals and because they simply cannot stop fighting
for<br>
humanity.<br><br>
Now then, what we want to do in Mexico is to make an agreement with
persons<br>
and organizations just of the left, because we believe that it is in
the<br>
political left where the idea of resisting neoliberal globalization is,
and of<br>
making a country where there will be justice, democracy and liberty for
everyone.<br>
Not as it is right now, where there is justice only for the rich, there
is<br>
liberty only for their big businesses, and there is democracy only for
painting<br>
walls with election propaganda. And because we believe that it is
only from<br>
the left that a plan of struggle can emerge, so that our Patria, which
is<br>
Mexico, does not die.<br><br>
And, then, what we think is that, with these persons and organizations of
the<br>
left, we will make a plan for going to all those parts of Mexico where
there<br>
are humble and simple people like ourselves.<br><br>
And we are not going to tell them what they should do or give them
orders.<br><br>
Nor are we going to ask them to vote for a candidate, since we already
know<br>
that the ones who exist are neoliberals.<br><br>
Nor are we going to tell them to be like us, nor to rise up in
arms.<br><br>
What we are going to do is to ask them what their lives are like,
their<br>
struggle, their thoughts about our country and what we should do so they
do not<br>
defeat us.<br><br>
What we are going to do is to take heed of the thoughts of the simple
and<br>
humble people, and perhaps we will find there the same love which we feel
for our<br>
Patria.<br><br>
And perhaps we will find agreement between those of us who are simple
and<br>
humble and, together, we will organize all over the country and reach
agreement<br>
in our struggles, which are alone right now, separated from each other,
and we<br>
will find something like a program that has what we all want, and a plan
for<br>
how we are going to achieve the realization of that program, which is
called<br>
the "national program of struggle."<br><br>
And, with the agreement of the majority of those people whom we are going
to<br>
listen to, we will then engage in a struggle with everyone, with
indigenous,<br>
workers, campesinos, students, teachers, employees, women, children, old
ones,<br>
men, and with all of those of good heart and who want to struggle so that
our<br>
Patria called Mexico does not end up being destroyed and sold, and which
still<br>
exists between the Rio Grande and the Rio Suchiate and which has the
Pacific<br>
Ocean on one side and the Atlantic on the other.<br><br>
<br>
VI - How We Are Going To Do It<br><br>
And so this is our simple word that goes out to the humble and simple
people<br>
of Mexico and of the world, and we are calling our word of
today:<br><br>
Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona<br><br>
And we are here to say, with our simple word, that...<br><br>
The EZLN maintains its commitment to an offensive ceasefire, and it will
not<br>
make any attack against government forces or any offensive military
movements.<br><br>
The EZLN still maintains its commitment to insisting on the path of
political<br>
struggle through this peaceful initiative which we are now
undertaking. The<br>
EZLN continues, therefore, in its resolve to not establish any kind of
secret<br>
relations with either national political-military organizations or those
from<br>
other countries.<br><br>
The EZLN reaffirms its commitment to defend, support and obey the
zapatista<br>
indigenous communities of which it is composed, and which are its
supreme<br>
command, and - without interfering in their internal democratic processes
- will,<br>
to the best of its abilities, contribute to the strengthening of
their<br>
autonomy, good government and improvement in their living
conditions. In other words,<br>
what we are going to do in Mexico and in the world, we are going to
do<br>
without arms, with a civil and peaceful movement, and without neglecting
nor ceasing<br>
to support our communities.<br><br>
Therefore...<br><br>
In the World...<br><br>
1 - We will forge new relationships of mutual respect and support
with<br>
persons and organizations who are resisting and struggling against
neoliberalism<br>
and for humanity.<br><br>
2 - As far as we are able, we will send material aid such as food
and<br>
handicrafts for those brothers and sisters who are struggling all over
the world.<br><br>
In order to begin, we are going to ask the Good Government Junta of
La<br>
Realidad to loan their truck, which is called "Chompiras," and
which appears to hold<br>
8 tons, and we are going to fill it with maize and perhaps two 200 liter
cans<br>
with oil or petrol, as they prefer, and we are going to deliver it to
the<br>
Cuban Embassy in Mexico for them to send to the Cuban people as aid from
the<br>
zapatistas for their resistance against the North American
blockade. Or perhaps<br>
there might be a place closer to here where it could be delivered,
because it's<br>
always such a long distance to Mexico City, and what if
"Chompiras" were to<br>
break down and we'd end up in bad shape. And that will happen when
the harvest<br>
comes in, which is turning green right now in the fields, and if they
don't<br>
attack us, because if we were to send it during these next few months, it
would<br>
be nothing but corncobs, and they don't turn out well even in tamales,
better<br>
in November or December, it depends.<br><br>
And we are also going to make an agreement with the women's crafts<br>
cooperatives in order to send a good number of bordados, embroidered
pieces, to the<br>
Europes which are perhaps not yet Union, and perhaps we'll also send some
organic<br>
coffee from the zapatista cooperatives, so that they can sell it and get
a<br>
little money for their struggle. And, if it isn't sold, then they
can always<br>
have a little cup of coffee and talk about the anti-neoliberal struggle,
and if<br>
it's a bit cold then they can cover themselves up with the zapatista
bordados,<br>
which do indeed resist quite well being laundered by hand and by rocks,
and,<br>
besides, they don't run in the wash.<br><br>
And we are also going to send the indigenous brothers and sisters of
Bolivia<br>
and Ecuador some non-transgenic maize, and we just don't know where to
send<br>
them so they arrive complete, but we are indeed willing to give this
little bit<br>
of aid.<br><br>
3 - And to all of those who are resisting throughout the world, we
say there<br>
must be other intercontinental encuentros held, even if just one
other.<br>
Perhaps December of this year or next January, we'll have to think about
it. We<br>
don't want to say just when, because this is about our agreeing equally
on<br>
everything, on where, on when, on how, on who. But not with a stage
where just a<br>
few speak and all the rest listen, but without a stage, just level
and<br>
everyone speaking, but orderly, otherwise it will just be a hubbub and
the words<br>
won't be understood, and with good organization everyone will hear and
jot down in<br>
their notebooks the words of resistance from others, so then everyone can
go<br>
and talk with their compa~eros and compa~eras in their worlds. And
we think<br>
it might be in a place that has a very large jail, because what if they
were to<br>
repress us and incarcerate us, and so that way we wouldn't be all piled
up,<br>
prisoners, yes, but well organized, and there in the jail we could
continue the<br>
intercontinental encuentros for humanity and against neoliberalism.
Later on<br>
we'll tell you what we shall do in order to reach agreement as to how
we're<br>
going to come to agreement. Now that is how we're thinking of doing
what we<br>
want to do in the world. Now follows...<br><br>
In Mexico...<br><br>
1 - We are going to continue fighting for the Indian peoples of
Mexico, but<br>
now not just for them and not with only them, but for all the exploited
and<br>
dispossessed of Mexico, with all of them and all over the country.
And when we<br>
say all the exploited of Mexico, we are also talking about the brothers
and<br>
sisters who have had to go to the United States in search of work in
order to<br>
survive.<br><br>
2 - We are going to go to listen to, and talk directly with,
without<br>
intermediaries or mediation, the simple and humble of the Mexican people,
and,<br>
according to what we hear and learn, we are going to go about building,
along with<br>
those people who, like us, are humble and simple, a national program
of<br>
struggle, but a program which will be clearly of the left, or
anti-capitalist, or<br>
anti-neoliberal, or for justice, democracy and liberty for the Mexican
people.<br><br>
3 - We are going to try to build, or rebuild, another way of doing
politics,<br>
one which once again has the spirit of serving others, without
material<br>
interests, with sacrifice, with dedication, with honesty, which keeps its
word,<br>
whose only payment is the satisfaction of duty performed, or like the
militants<br>
of the left did before, when they were not stopped by blows, jail or
death, let<br>
alone by dollar bills.<br><br>
4 - We are also going to go about raising a struggle in order to
demand that<br>
we make a new Constitution, new laws which take into account the demands
of<br>
the Mexican people, which are: housing, land, work, food, health,
education,<br>
information, culture, independence, democracy, justice, liberty and
peace. A<br>
new Constitution which recognizes the rights and liberties of the people,
and<br>
which defends the weak in the face of the powerful.<br><br>
TO THESE ENDS...<br><br>
The EZLN will send a delegation of its leadership in order to do this
work<br>
throughout the national territory and for an indefinite period of
time. This<br>
zapatista delegation, along with those organizations and persons of the
left who<br>
join in this Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona, will go to
those<br>
places where they are expressly invited.<br><br>
We are also letting you know that the EZLN will establish a policy
of<br>
alliances with non-electoral organizations and movements which define
themselves, in<br>
theory and practice, as being of the left, in accordance with the
following<br>
conditions:<br><br>
Not to make agreements from above to be imposed below, but to make
accords to<br>
go together to listen and to organize outrage. Not to raise
movements which<br>
are later negotiated behind the backs of those who made them, but to
always<br>
take into account the opinions of those participating. Not to seek
gifts,<br>
positions, advantages, public positions, from the Power or those who
aspire to it,<br>
but to go beyond the election calendar. Not to try to resolve from
above the<br>
problems of our Nation, but to build FROM BELOW AND FOR BELOW an
alternative<br>
to neoliberal destruction, an alternative of the left for
Mexico.<br><br>
Yes to reciprocal respect for the autonomy and independence of
organizations,<br>
for their methods of struggle, for their ways of organizing, for
their<br>
internal decision making processes, for their legitimate
representations. And yes<br>
to a clear commitment for joint and coordinated defense of national<br>
sovereignty, with intransigent opposition to privatization attempts of
electricity, oil,<br>
water and natural resources.<br><br>
In other words, we are inviting the unregistered political and
social<br>
organizations of the left, and those persons who lay claim to the left
and who do not<br>
belong to registered political parties, to meet with us, at the time,
place<br>
and manner in which we shall propose at the proper time, to organize a
national<br>
campaign, visiting all possible corners of our Patria, in order to listen
to<br>
and organize the word of our people. It is like a campaign, then,
but very<br>
otherly, because it is not electoral.<br><br>
Brothers and sisters:<br><br>
This is our word which we declare:<br><br>
In the world, we are going to join together more with the resistance<br>
struggles against neoliberalism and for humanity.<br><br>
And we are going to support, even if it's but little, those
struggles.<br><br>
And we are going to exchange, with mutual respect, experiences,
histories,<br>
ideas, dreams.<br><br>
In Mexico, we are going to travel all over the country, through the
ruins<br>
left by the neoliberal wars and through those resistances which,
entrenched, are<br>
flourishing in those ruins.<br><br>
We are going to seek, and to find, those who love these lands and these
skies<br>
even as much as we do.<br><br>
We are going to seek, from La Realidad to Tijuana, those who want to<br>
organize, struggle and build what may perhaps be the last hope this
Nation - which has<br>
been going on at least since the time when an eagle alighted on a nopal
in<br>
order to devour a snake - has of not dying.<br><br>
We are going for democracy, liberty and justice for those of us who have
been<br>
denied it.<br><br>
We are going with another politics, for a program of the left and for a
new<br>
Constitution.<br><br>
We are inviting all indigenous, workers, campesinos, teachers,
students,<br>
housewives, neighbors, small businesspersons, small shop owners,<br>
micro-businesspersons, pensioners, handicapped persons, religious men and
women, scientists,<br>
artists, intellectuals, young persons, women, old persons, homosexuals
and<br>
lesbians, boys and girls - to participate, whether individually or
collectively,<br>
directly with the zapatistas in this NATIONAL CAMPAIGN for building
another way<br>
of doing politics, for a program of national struggle of the left, and
for a<br>
new Constitution.<br><br>
And so this is our word as to what we are going to do and how we are
going to<br>
do it. You will see whether you want to join.<br><br>
And we are telling those men and women who are of good heart and intent,
who<br>
are in agreement with this word we are bringing out, and who are not
afraid,<br>
or who are afraid but who control it, to then state publicly whether they
are<br>
in agreement with this idea we are presenting, and in that way we will
see once<br>
and for all who and how and where and when this new step in the struggle
is<br>
to be made.<br><br>
While you are thinking about it, we say to you that today, in the sixth
month<br>
of the year 2005, the men, women, children and old ones of the Zapatista
Army<br>
of National Liberation have now decided, and we have now subscribed to,
this<br>
Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona, and those who know how to
sign,<br>
signed, and those who did not left their mark, but there are fewer now
who do not<br>
know how, because education has advanced here in this territory in
rebellion<br>
for humanity and against neoliberalism, that is in zapatista skies and
land.<br><br>
And this was our simple word sent out to the noble hearts of those simple
and<br>
humble people who resist and rebel against injustices all over the
world.<br><br>
Democracy!<br>
Liberty!<br>
Justice!<br><br>
>From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.<br><br>
Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command of
the<br>
Zapatista Army of National Liberation.<br><br>
Mexico, in the sixth month, or June, of the year 2005.<br>
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