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93 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
93 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Feb. 14, 1994
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ZAPATISMO
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Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade
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1. The Zapatista uprising in Chiapas has suddenly taken on a certain
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importance. Despite its small scale it has not yet been crushed,
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apparently because the PRI fears public outrage. Moreover, municipalities
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in various places in Mexico have been taken over by various groups in
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sympathy with the Zapatistas. This news has been blacked out in the US
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media, doubtless for reasons connected with NAFTA. If the PRI begins to
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totter, US involvement becomes probable.
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2. A reading of Zapatista communiques and manifestos (as translated by
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the RESIST! group in California) reveals a program completely in keeping
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with the principles of Ernesto Zapata himself -- modified for
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contemporary relevance but basically anarcho-agrarian -- "Tierra y
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Libertad". As anarchists we should remember that Zapata's goals were
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supported by the Flores Magon brothers, who worked behind the front
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organization of the "Mexican Liberal Party", but were in fact out out
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revolutionary anarchists. In 1911, European and N. American anarchists
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ranging from Individualists to Wobblies participated in the short-lived
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Republic of Tiajuana. The revolt in Chiapas which began last New Year's
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Eve would appear to be the first non-authoritarian movement with real
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revolutionary potential since Paris 68 or Italy in the early 70s. We
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should not let marxist-leninist groups in the US "monopolize" the
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Zapatistas. We should demonstrate our support, and we should make it
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clear that we offer this support as anarchists.
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3. Moreover, it seems possible for ALL tendencies within the anarchist
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movement to join in offering this support. Anarcho-communists, anarcho-
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syndicalists, Wobblies, and others with historical reasons to welcome a
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rebirth of Zapatismo, will need no convincing. As for the individualists,
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post-Situ's, "Type-3's", etc., we should consider that the Chiapas uprising
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is a courageous adventure in the spirit of human freedom. The Zapatistas
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themselves have evoked the romanticism of revolt by choosing their name.
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"Romanticism" is a value despised only by those too cynical or too tired
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to remember that -- from an "existential" p.o.v. -- revolt is an end in
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itself.
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4. It's important to note that Chiapas seems to be the first real "post-
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1989" radical uprising. The involvement of the USSR helped change the
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Sandinista movement (also named after and anarchist) into an
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authoritarian government. But this time there is no USSR to get involved.
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Zapatista documents make no reference to marxist-leninist forms of
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organization. (The New York Times even went so far as to call the
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Zapatistas "post-modern"!) For the first time since 1916 we don't have
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to watch our backs or protect our flank against leninism -- or stalinism.
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Anarchism is free to act.
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5. Some anarchists may dislike the involvement of "Liberation Theology"
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in the Zapatista movement. But since 1989 the meaning of Liberation
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Theology has also changed or shifted. The Vatican, which tacitly
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encouraged Lib. Theol. as a wedge into marxism in Latin America, now no
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longer needs it and has virtually reduced it to the status of a near-heresy.
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In theory, Lib. Theol. must by now be purged of its "jesuit" wing and its
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"marxist" wing, leaving only the sincere radicals. The religious situation
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in Chiapas is very complex, involving Mayan/Christian syncretistic cults,
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and other churches beside the Roman Catholics. As yet the presence of
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organized religions in Chiapas seems to offer no real obstacle top
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anarchist enthusiasm for Zapatismo.
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6. The Stirnerite anarchist Ret Marut adopted the "existential" position
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(see para. 3 above) when he joined the Bavarian Soviet of 1919 with
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Gustav Landauer and other anarchists. Escaping a death-sentence in
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Munich, Marut fled to Mexico and changed his name to B. Traven. In the
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early 20s he lived for a while in Chiapas and wrote a book about it
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(unfortunately never translated). Traven went on to write the best of all
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anarchist adventure novels - The Deathship, The Wobbly, Treasure of the
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Sierra Madre, and above all his Mahogany series, set in Chiapas during the
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Mexican Revolution. When Traven died he was buried in San Cristobal --
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where the Zapatista revolt broke out last New Year's Eve. Traven is
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someone we might remember, not only because he was a "gringo" who
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loved Chiapas and supported the Revolution, but also because he
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transcended all limited "ideological" anarchist tendencies to embrace a
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grand vision of human tragedy, endurance, and freedom.
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7 As of this writing the Zapatistas have called on radicals outside Mexico
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for support but have not yet specified what form they'd like it to take.
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Obviously, in light of the media black-out, spreading the word has top
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priority. Sending medicine and supplies, et cetera, may soon become both
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necessary and possible. Given the very great chance of US involvement to
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protect the PRI and NAFTA, we should begin the organization of domestic
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resistance networks now, so as not to be caught napping again. The
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anarchist press should remain closely informed, and should provide
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background as well as news (one of our members is in Mexico now, looking
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for real info). The authors of this letter are prepared to join with any
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responsible non-authoritarian support group which might emerge. If you
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are organizing or would like to help organize on behalf of Zapatismo, or if
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you have information for broadcast, please contact us.
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Tierra y Libertad!
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Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade
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Box 113 WBAI-Pacifica, 505 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10018
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