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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2005 
Mexico's Zapatista Rebels Begin Long Road To Democracy
 Pravda.ru
| | Rebels plan a long peaceful road across Mexico to bring all country's communities their new bid to push for a new constitution. |
After announcing a shift on their political tactics, the EZLN is about to travel around the country in an attempt to build a nationwide leftist alliance.
Soon after pledging to shift their political tactics in an attempt to break a long term political isolation, Mexico's Zapatista rebels in Chiapas began preparing a nationwide tour to drum up support ahead of the 2006 presidential race. The idea of the mythical Subcomandante Marcos and his followers is to build a political alliance of the left, "without guns, with a peaceful, civil movement," according to last week communique.
Rebels plan a long peaceful road across Mexico to bring all country's communities their new bid to push for a new constitution that "recognizes the rights and liberties of the people and defends the weak against the powerful." Such a tour would mark the first time the rebels emerged en masse from their jungle strongholds since organizing a triumphant caravan from Chiapas to Mexico City four years ago.
According to the Zapatistas, they would not support any candidate running for 2006 elections, because "all of them are neo-liberals." However, they would approach social movements and political groups of "humble and simple people, like us."
The Zapatista tour is the way these armed rebels found to come out from the jungle and participate in politics since they burst from the depths of the Lacandona Jungle and seized several cities and towns in Chiapas, which borders Guatemala. After that action, the EZLN, by its initials in Spanish, begun peace talks with the central administration but left the table in 2001. However, no relevant military actions were reported since then.
Analysts believe the new line adopted by the EZLN is a most realistic approach to the current political scenario in Mexico and Latin America. "The EZLN is now appearing to move into the right direction by connecting its demands with others within Mexico's civil society," the Argentine specialist Ernesto Laclau commented during a seminar at Buenos Aires' San Martin Public University.
All over the decade, rebels have largely focused their movement on demanding Indian rights and autonomy, but now appear ready to take on broader demands, like poverty and the problems of other minorities.
Here is the itinerary of where Marcos is going, and when he will go there:
The week of January 2 to January 8: Chiapas
From January 9 to 15: Yucatán and Quintana Roo
From January 16 to 22: Campeche and Tabasco
From January 23 to 29: Veracruz
From January 30 to February 5: Oaxaca
From February 6 to 12: Puebla
From February 13 to 19: Tlaxcala
From February 20 to 26: Hidalgo
From February 27 to March 5: Querétaro
From March 6 to 12: Jalisco
From March 20 to 26: Nayarit and Colima
From March 27 to April 2: Michoacán
From April 3 to 9: Guerrero
From April 10 to 16: Morelos
From April 17 to 23: State of Mexico and Federal District (Mexico City)
From April 25 top 30: Federal District and State of Mexico
From May 1 to May 7: San Luis Potosí
From May 8 to 14: Zacatecas
From May 15 to 21: Nuevo León and Tamaulipas
From May 22 to May 28: Coahuila and Durango
From May 29 to June 4: Chihuahua and the first meeting with Chicano compañeros on the other side
From June 5 to 11: Sinaloa and Sonora
From June 12 to 18: Baja Californa Norte, Baja Califonia Sur, and the second meeting with the Mexicans from the other side
From June 19 to June 25: It is proposed that on Saturday, June 25, on the night of the festival of San Juan, a plenary-debriefing meeting be held in Mexico City and the state of Mexico.
On June 25, return to Chiapas and wait for whatever will happen to happen.
A week later, on July 2, 2006, Mexicans will vote for a new president, who will take the oath of office on December 1 of that year. |
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