Secondary school teachers in Mexico’s conflicted southern state of Chiapas carried out a 72-hr strike in solidarity with the struggle in neighboring Oaxaca, and to support Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s challenge to the supposed fraud in the presidential election and to oppose the “imposition” of right-wing candidate Felipe Calderon. (El Universal, Oct. 2)
Meanwhile, the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) announced they will re-open the “Caracoles,” or community centers that serve as the regional seats of their rebel government, closed earlier this year when the rebels declared a “red alert.” The Zapatistas said they will host another “international encunetro” in their territory in December. The communique was released Oct. 1 by the EZLN’s new multi-lingual press agency, the Zapatista Rebel Autonomous Center of Spanish and Maya Tongues (CELMRAZ).
The Zapatistas are also continuing with their program of agrarian reform-from-below. Two months after being evicted by the state police, pro-Zapatista campesinos have retaken the estate in Palenque municipality formerly known as “Chuyipa,” which the rebel peasants have re-named “Chol de Tumbala.” (Cuarto Poder, Chiapas, Oct. 2)
All sources archived at Chiapas95
See our last posts on Mexico, Chiapas and the Zapatistas.
Update…
Chiapas’ Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center announced Oct. 5 a that a detachemnt of hundreds of heavily armed state police have established positions near the Chol de Tumbala tract to intimidate the Zapatista campesinos who now hold the land there, and that a violent eviction is feared.
Marcos and Other Campaign in Sonora
Hello,
Indian tribes in Sonora are hosting Marcos and the Other Campaign. The gatherings begin in Magdalena in the state of Sonora on Oct. 21.
According to organizers, the Other Campaign will visit O’odham, Seri, Yaqui, Mayo and Pima communities in Sonora during October.
For more information:
Contact: Maria Garcia
e-mail:
brendanorrell@yahoo.com