The other Americas Zapatista Front
The civil wing of the Zapatista movement, the Zapatista National Liberation Front (FZLN), held its first National Delegate Assembly on March 15th. This was the first systematic discussion of the movements orientation objectives, alliance policy and international work.
Delegates condemned the Mexican government's refusal to respect the San
Andres accords signed with the Lapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), and called on all progressive forces to oppose the regime's low-intensity war against the Indians of Chiapas state "Today, more than ever, our tuture as Mexicans is linked to the future of our indigenous brothers and sisters. A
Mexico without a place for them, is a
Mexico where none of us has a place. Source: FZLN International Commission
Food redistribution
Police have charged seven leading activists involved in the anti-hunger protest at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth
Hotel last December. The charges range from assault to conspiracy and making death threats. Quebec's police are
Chiapas: Foreigners o
Mexican media and government have demanded the expulsion of foreign observers from Chiapas state.
One television program claimed that foreigners were present in areas held by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and participated directly in the rebel leadership. The popular weekly political magazine Proceso says the programme was produced in collaboration with the Interior Ministry.
In January the International Red Cross was told to leave Chiapas, though Representative Philippe Gaillard protested that "providing humanitarian aid to displaced refugees is not interference in
Mexican domestic political affairs.
Danielle Mitterand, widow of the deceased French president, has also been warned by Immigration officials.
In the past year more than 200 foreigners have been deported for alleged political activities in Chiapas. And, in cannot develop in this article, it is neces sary to build a new world. A world in which there is room for many worlds. A world able to contain all the worlds. * Notes 1. Interview with Martha García, La Jornada, 28 May 1997. 2. Ochoa Chi and Juanita del Pilar, Mercado mundial de fuerza de trabajo en el capitalismo contemporáneo, UNAM. Economia, Mexico City, 1997. 3. The Globalisation of Crime, United Nations, New York, 1995. Translation: Le Monde diplomatique taking the redistribution of food from the luxury hotel buffet to anti-hunger activists in the street outside very seriously. "It is obvious that they are trying to break the movement," says protest organiser Julie Le Blanc. [ER] Contact: Comité des sans-emplois Tel. +1-514-596-7904 Martinique meeting
Fourth International supporters in this French Caribbean colony recently marked the 25th anniversary of the Groupe Socialiste Révolutionaire (GRS) with public meetings on the unemployed movement in France, and the national struggle on the neighbouring island of Puerto Rico.
Some of the 500 participants at the GRS meeting on Che Guevara also participated at the mass demonstration which forced French fascist leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to leave the island in haste. He flew to Guadeloupe, France's other "Overseas Département," where a similar reception led him to follow police advice... and take the first flight back to Paris. [R/JD] * recent weeks, Mexican immigration agents have begun stopping tourists in the street and interrogating them at length. Some restaurants in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas are reportedly refusing service to foreign tourists who look like observers of the contlict.
President of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the government's approach "hypocritical." "They go to Washington and hand over the nation's wealth, they accept recommendations from the International Monetary Fund on economic policy, but when it comes to Chiapas, then they want to look very nationalistic."
Others charge the campaign is both xenophobic and racist for presuming that Chiapas Indians would not be fighting for their rights, were it not for the prodding of foreigners. * Source: MLNA/PG
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