141 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
141 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
This article recently appeared in FREEDOM (anarchist
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fortnightly)
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FREEDOM carries at least a page in every issue of international
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news of interest to the anarchist movement around the world.
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For a free trial edition write to:
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FREEDOM PRESS
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IN ANGEL ALLEY
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84B WHITECHAPEL HIGH STREET
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LONDON E1 7QX
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MEXICO'S ARISTIDE
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In our FOCUS ON... MEXICO towards the end of last year we told
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of the attempted assassination of Amado Avendano just prior to
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the Mexican elections. Below we reproduce an extract from an
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interview with him which was broadcast by the French anarchist
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radio station Radio Libertaire on the 1st November 94. We do so
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in the interests of furthering the flow of information rather
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than as an endorsement of his politics...
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I am Amado Avendano, a lawyer by training, journalist by
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profession and chance politico. I live in a state to the south
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of Mexico - Chiapas - on the border with Guatemala. 900,000 in
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digenous people live in the state of Chiapas out of a total
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population of some 3,000,000. It is an area of high population
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density because, whilst one of the richest areas of Mexico,
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it is also the area where the poorest Mexicans live. More than
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50% of the countries electricity is produced here. In order to
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build the three dams in the area 300,000 hectares of top
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quality land were flooded. Thus the peasants of Chiapas have
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no lands to cultivate. Chiapas is also an oil producing area
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and a pipe connects the area directly to the USA. Of the
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production in Chiapas only the pollution is left behind. The
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population of Chiapas derive no benefit from all of this and
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a large section of the population don't speak the language of
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officialdom - Spanish. Such was the situation on 1st Jan 94
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when the Zapatistas emerged in the country. The very simple
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demands of these people for health, housing, means of
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communication... immediately drew the support of the wider
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population. This sympathy was indeed so great - demonstrations,
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marches - that the Mexican government was forced to suspend
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military operations. The government declared a unilateral
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amnesty for all those involved. They gathered together in
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the cathedral of San Cristobal. Here the archbishop served as
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an intermediary between the government and the Zapatistas. A
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number of propositions were put forward which the Zapatistas
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took back to their supporters in the mountains for consultation
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. Two months later the Zapatistas rejected the government's
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propositions. A new delegate was sent out to try and rebuild
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the dialogue but this proved a non-starter. A month ago the
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Zapatistas announced that the dialogue was definitively over.
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Meanwhile the electoral dialogue was taking place. The local
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people were trying to find a candidate to stand against the
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official candidate. They chose me. But I couldn't stand as
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I had not the mandate of any party. The Revolutionary
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Democratic Party (PRD) agreed to endorse me. The local people
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thought that in this instance the government would accept
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the ballot box decision. When the government saw the popular
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mobilisation which greeted my candidature I was the victim
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of an assassination attempt disguised as a road accident.
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RL: Tell us about the circumstances surrounding this 'accident'?
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The government organised a meal for all the electoral candidates
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and were most insistent that I should attend. In the end I accepted
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the invitation. The was only one road to the venue for the meal
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and on this road a lorry smashed into the tiny car we were travelling
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in. Three of my supporters were killed in the crash and I was
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hospitalised for two months which physically prevented me from
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participating in the election process.
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With a sense of solidarity and courage the people continued the
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campaign. In my absence with videos, posters, cassettes... the
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campaign continued to develop. Fellow journalists gave me their
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full support and played an important role in the campaign. On the
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21st many people went to vote for me but on the 22nd the government
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claimed their own candidate had won and that very few had voted for
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Amado Avendano.
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Following the electoral farce there was a real mobilisation of the
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population who did not fully understand the situation. This civil
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resistance takes the form of large scale occupations of large
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properties, the blocking off of roads, non payment of taxes and general
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bills (particularly electricity), and the prevention of bureaucrats
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gaining access to the region. Successive mobilisations were planned
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- one in October, two in November and another for December when the
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new government are due to take office when the people will attempt to
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stop them taking up their positions. Moreover, the Zapatistas announced
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that if the government were intent on putting their candidate in office
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there would be war in Chiapas and elsewhere. Things have been further
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complicated because the Mexican central government intervenes a lot
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in Chiapas but is itself split by internal strife. In effect there is a
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power vacuum in Mexico because since the outgoing presidents team has
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no mandate nobody obeys it and since the incoming bunch is still not
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installed a dangerous situation has arisen. Luckily, the Zapatista
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army has called on civil society to play a role, the role which had
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been usurped by the institutional parties. This group is organising
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to take over the decision making process which up until now had been
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denied to it. Today it is very hard for it to rebuild the country since
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the government and the party controlled everything. The people lack
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experience. Currently a democratic national convention is being set up.
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We hope to set up a veritable assembly to help organise the country.
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Faced with the people trying to organise themselves the powers that be
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are hardly queuing up to hand over power and a very real possibility of
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confrontation is now on the cards. The situation is so serious that I
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fear the incoming government will have no chance at all of governing
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the region if only because of the tensions within their own ranks.
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Currently, I go around the world calling on NGOs, the universities,
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political parties... to pay attention to what is happening in Mexico
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and calling on them to be prepared to pressurise the Mexican government
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in order to avoid the possibility of war. The Mexican state cares greatly
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about its international reputation whilst ignoring the situation at home.
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This is why we call for actions to be taken against diplomatic missions...
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RL: Can you tell us a little more about what civil society is doing with
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regard to the electoral fraud?
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In order to denounce the fraud the civil society which has no
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political party has set up a kind of electoral tribunal - quite
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unofficial - which has shed light on governmental manipulations.
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Although all these developments are taking place outside of the
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legal process there will come a point when the government will be
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forced to recognise that there was manipulation. At the moment all
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Mexicans are waiting to see what the outgoing president will say.
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The outcome is undecided. If the government goes ahead with its decision
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to install the new regime there will probably be renewed violence. The
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risk is heightened by the fact that recruitment into the Mexican army has
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gone on apace with much more military equipment being installed in the
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Zapatista zone. The army has also taken possession of the free zone of
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Altamirano and is increasing aerial surveillance of territories where
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the Zapatistas are. This gives rise to a fear of escalation.....
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