78 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
78 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
Rebellion in Chiapas Memories from 1992
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by Teddi Borrego
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During the summer of 1992, I spent a month in Chiapas, the region that is
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now the site of guerrilla rebellion and army retaliation. Most of that month I
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was with a small group of Catholics from Belgium who have funded
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projects in Central America and Chiapas for many years. Together we went
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to the countryside, to small indigeneous communities and to Christian base
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communities, to speak with the campesinos (peasants) about their lives,
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their work and their hopes for the future.
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In community after commmunity, from high pine-covered mountain villages
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to the low steamy jungle ranches, we heard the same cries of desperation.
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Campesinos told us about how their life had always been difficult, but each
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year was becoming more so as prices for their crops continued to fall, and
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with the changes that the Mexican government was making regarding their
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land and credit. Access to credit, which poor farmers desperately need for
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seeds or to replace hoes and machetes, has been greatly reduced or the
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interest is too high to repay. (International lending agencies required Mexico
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to eliminate many subsidies and government agencies before it could receive
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new funding.)
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The campesino men discussed how Article 27 of the Constitution had been
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modified so that ejido land could now be sold. This land, guaranteed to
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campesino communities by the Constitution, is held communally by
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members of the village. With falling prices, little or no credit, and difficulty
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in
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selling their products, campesinos will be easily tempted to sell their land for
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the needed cash. The campesinos used simple language, but clearly
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understood the implications of the loss of land--their entire way of life would
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be eliminated, with no promise of alternatives. Those who had gone to the
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cities knew that there
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were not enough jobs for even the people who live there, let alone for
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peasants who have few of the skills needed for urban survival. Many of the
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campesinos spoke about the North America Free Trade Agreement--to
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them the TLC (Tratado de Libre Comercio). They felt it would only
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increase the threat to their way of life as cheap grains entered the country,
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and there was more pressure for land for agro-business. (Even Mexican
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government officials estimate that with NAFTA millions of campesinos will
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be displaced.)
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It was difficult for the women to speak to us, both because many do not
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speak Spanish, and because of their reserved nature. A good number did
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talk, however, describing their long days of work just surviving. They spoke
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of rising hours before the sun was up to begin grinding corn for the tortillas.
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"I need to grind it twice so the tortillas will be good", said one woman.
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Another told about a communal mill that their village had gotten, "but it
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doesn't always work". Because the diet is mainly beans and tortillas, the
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tortillas must be made two times a day. It takes a lot of wood to cook both
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the tortillas and the beans, but there is a new law against cutting wood. The
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campesinos understood that cutting down the forest was not good, but they
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didn't see any alternative. If they were caught cutting wood they were fined,
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if they could not pay the fine they were jailed. Meanwhile, logging
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companies were cutting down large tracts of land with impunity. The
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campesinos spoke of their needs for medical attention--many are far away
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from any help and by the time they walk out to the road, the patient's
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condition may be too critical for him to survive. Some men described their
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children's deaths with great sorrow, others in anger, knowing that with
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minimal medical care, a child may have survived. The indigenous
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campesinos described the racist attitudes of some doctors and nurses when
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they did go long distances to a government clinic.
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Catholic nuns and lay members told about the political difficulties of working
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with the poor in Chiapas. Government official and large land owners
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accused them of causing trouble, or creating problems. The seriousness of
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this situation was evident in the local newspapers which reported threats
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made on the life of San Cristobal Bishop Samuel Ruiz who has been a
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long-time supporter of indigenous rights.
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>From the Albuquerque Central America Peace Alliance Newsletter
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($10 /year, SASE for Sample Copy )
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144 Harvard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106. Email dbroudy@igc.org or
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dbroudy@quincy.unm.edu.
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