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CHIAPAS, MEXICO - On March 2, 3, and 4, CPTers Scott Kerr and Lynn Stoltzfus attended the 3rd National Indigenous Congress as invited guests of Las Abejas. The main topic of discussion in this congress, which brought together representatives of 40 of the 56 indigenous groups in Mexico, was the importance of the San Andres Accords.

These accords were signed by the government and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) five years ago. Because these accords, on the Rights and Culture of Indigenous People, were never written into law, the peace process has been on hold for five years. However with the change in government that took place last year, there is hope that the peace process can be restarted. One of the signs of good faith that the Zapatistas are asking for is the approval by congress of the San Andres Accords.

A high level delegation of EZLN commanders participated in the Indigenous Congress as part of a two week tour of Mexico to bring attention to and push the Mexican Congress to approve of the San Andres Accords.

For Indigenous people in Mexico (and in many parts of the world), there is a great importance placed on community and the traditions of their ancestors. Many of the customs that indigenous people have followed for hundreds of years are in danger of being lost because of the imposition of different forms of governance and communal life. By recognizing the distinct aspects of indigenous culture and how that plays out in communal life, indigenous people will have the legal protections necessary to continue living as they choose.

In the economic sphere, indigenous people have traditionally had communal ways of owning and managing land and natural resources. In Mexico, the government has dismantled communal landholding structures as a part of neoliberal economic reforms. Indigenous peoples have a cultural tradition of respect for the natural world and are working to preserve, protect and manage natural resources for the benefit of their communities. Without ways of protecting their communities and resources from the economic pressures of the market, the traditional indigenous ways of relating to the land will not be able to continue.

For the Zapatistas, the Abejas and the other indigenous people represented at the National Indigenous Congress, peace is something that cannot come without maintaining their cultural and economic ways of life. In many ways, the dominant economic and cultural systems have been at war against the indigenous culture for 500 years, so any peace that does not deal with this violence will not be a true and lasting peace.