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Subject: <nettime> Zapatistas, part 33
From: ricardo dominguez <rdom@thing.net>
Date: 30 Jul 1997 15:49:47 +0200

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SECOND INTERCONTINENTAL ENCOUNTER BEGINS IN SPAIN, WITH THE
PARTICIPATION
OF THE EZLN

The Second Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against
Neoliberalism was inaugurated in the outskirts of Madrid on July 26th,
with the participation of nearly 4,000 delegates from 50 countries,
including two indigenous representatives of the Zapatista Army of
National Liberation.

The Second Encounter--based on the obvious precedent of the First
Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism,
convoked by the EZLN and carried out in Zapatista communities in Chiapas
exactly one year ago--will be divided into a number of major thematic
working groups (and more than 50 sub-groups) in five different regions
of
the Spanish Republic for the next seven days, and will conclude with a
full plenary session on August 3rd.

Countries with representatives present on the first day of the Second
Encounter included Italy, Spain (Cataluna, Islas Canarias, Pais Vasco,
Galicia, Andalucia, Aragon), Mexico, Switzerland, France, Germany,
Denmark, Canada, the United States, Finland, Ireland, Great Britain,
Belgium, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Portugal, South
Africa, Chad, Cameroon, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Morocco, Turkey, Israel,
India, Bangladesh, Australia, and Indonesia, as well as nearly every
country from South America.

As part of the official inauguration ceremony on the evening of July
26th, the two Zapatista representatives--Dalia and Felipe, both
Tojolabales from the exiled community of Guadalupe Tepeyac--addressed
the
thousands of delegates with a message from the indigenous Zapatista
communities of Chiapas:

"It has been very important for us to know that all these people exist",
said Felipe, in reference to the participants of the Encuentro. "We
thought we were alone, and that we were the only ones being screwed
over. But now, you help us, and we help you. We came to discuss a plan
of struggle. We want everyone to have the same as everyone else--not
that everyone lives the same, but that we all struggle together to
respect the cultures and the customs of both the countryside and the
cities. We fight against neoliberalism, because we see the situation in
the world: the rich are richer, the poor are poorer. More death, more
oppression. We want everything to be done better", he said.

"We did not come here", continued Dalia, "to fight among ourselves, to
see whose word is best, or to find out who has the truth or who is the
strongest. Freedom is not achieved by defeating one's brother. We can
only become better with others, and not on top of others."

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos had previously announced the imminent
presence of an EZLN delegation in Spain in a communique published on
July
23rd:


"For the first time, a delegation made up of members of the EZLN will
attend an international event outside of the Mexican borders", said
Marcos. "Thus, the EZLN has decided to break the local, regional,
state,
and national sieges in order to carry the voice of the Zapatistas on
Zapatista lips.

"While the Mexican government hides its hands stained with indigenous
blood in order to achieve a commerce agreement from the European Union
which does not entail profound changes in the system, the indigenous
communities in Mexico continue to suffer a persecution and harassment
only comparable to that carried out centuries ago, and the Mexican
population continues suffering from an economic model that only
democratizes poverty and concentrates the riches in the hands of a
few....

"Our delegates are bases of support of the EZLN, indigenous people who
represent the rebellion and resistance of the peoples who rose up in
arms
more than three and a half years ago against the oblivion and death to
which they had been condemned....The EZLN does not send "personalities"
as delegates, but rather a representation of its true leaders, the
indigenous-zapatista peoples.

"The world is not made up of leaders or caudillos, but rather of bases
of support. We are all bases of support for the great struggle for
humanity and against neoliberalism."


Major working groups into which the delegates at the Encuentro will be
divided include: "The Neoliberal economy against Humanity: our lives
beyond the economy"; "Work and the means of production: creating the
conditions for a worthwhile life"; "North-South and East-West
relations";
"People and identities: old and new problems"; "Human mobility and
forced destinies"; "Struggles for culture, education and information";
"Women and their struggles: the struggle against patriarchy"; "Struggles
for land and the earth: Ecology"; and "Against all forms of
marginalisation".

Zapatismo News Updates
http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln

Visit the TMC Encuentro page for photos from Spain -
http://vivaldi.nexus.it/commerce/tmcrew/chiapas

Zapatista Web Foro Encounter 2
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/nave/webforo.pl

for more information:

ricardo dominguez
rdom@thing.net
http://www.thing.net/~rdom
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