The Zapatistas and The Other Campaign : the Pedestrians of History
By ELZN. Translated by Agatha Haun and revised by Fausto Giudice, Tlaxcala*
Dec 30, 2006, 16:42
Introductory remarks: Most people who can read or have a television have now heard about the recent elections in Mexico and Calderon’s theft of the vote from Obrador – and the aftermath. Many on the Left know something about the election in general terms but do not understand how the fraud was carried out and by whom. Still others know very little about the Zapatistas, the ELZN and The Other Campaign and the revolution now underway in this country that holds strategic importance to the U.S. Many of our readers have also been following the courageous stand the people of Oaxaca have taken against the U.S. backed, neoliberal government in Mexico. In the document that follows, you can learn much more about the background and future of this revolution.
Until now these issues have been passed on through news reports and scattered commentary. To our knowledge, we now have (in the following document) the first comprehensive and exhaustive treatment of these issues by true revolutionaries who are on the front lines in Mexico. The following definitive, organizational and informative document places these events into the revolutionary context which gave them birth. This reading is for those who want to understand what is currently happening and a view toward the future of the revolution in Mexico. Because of it is long and not easily available for cursory “screen reading”, we encourage you to do as we have done – print it out and spend some time with it. We are indebted to Agatha Haun and Fausto Guidice, translators for Tlaxcala for translating this document into English, exclusively for Axis of Logic. Emphases and formatting have been added throughout by Axis editors. If you think it too much work to read and digest this important document, think of it as a book … and imagine the work that went into writing and translating it! Thank you.
– Les Blough, Editor
the Pedestrians of History
EZLN, September 2006
Translated by Agatha Haun and revised by Fausto Giudice
Introduction
This document is conceived for and addressed especially to the adherents of the Sixth Declaration and The Other Campaign. And of course, to those who can sympathise with our movement.
What we present here is part of the reflections and conclusions which have been shared with some people, groups, collectives, and organisations which adhere to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandona Jungle. Following our “method” in The Other Campaign, first we listened to the word of these comrades and afterward we explained our analysis and conclusion.
The Sixth Commission of the EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional / Zapatista National Liberation Army) has been mindful of the opinions and proposals of some of the comrades of The Other Campaign, in that which refers to the so-called “post-electoral crisis”, the mobilisations in various parts of the country (particularly in Oaxaca with the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca – APPO), and in the Federal District with Andrés Miguel López Obrador (AMLO), and the Other Campaign. In letters, in reports of meetings and assemblies, on the web page, in some cases in their public positions, and in personal and group meetings, some adherents have expressed themselves concerning these points.
Read the rest of this enlightening history here.
