Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Marcos Resumes Command of Zapatista Army Forces

In what was the final speech of the march of indigenous dignity, which began on February 24, Subcomandante Marcos announced: "Right now I am once more assuming supreme command of the regular and irregular forces of the EZLN. I am giving them instructions to carry out the order that there be no military advance by our troops in any place which the Army has withdrawn from, and from which it will be withdrawing over the next few days."

In front of thousands of Tojolabal campesinos who last night received Comandantes Alejandro, Daniel, Filemo'n, Fidelia, Mi'ster, Abraham and Tacho, and "the compa~ero Subcomandante me," Marcos recalled: "For 40 days and 40 nights we were outside this, our house.

"I'm now bringing back the last part of the 23 delegates whom you sent for the work you entrusted us with. The last seven compa~eros are here. We left the others in the Aguascalientes of Oventic, Morelia and, last night, in La Garrucha."

In the early hours of the morning, the rebel chief once more answered to the support bases of the communities: "As you entrusted us, we went to carry out that work, and, thanks to many compa~eros and compa~eras, primarily from national and international civil society, we were able to carry out the mission exactly as you had asked us to."

Marcos proffered a long list of thanks "to people who pass unnoticed the majority of the time, and who have put in much work, a lot of effort and much sacrifice so that we could do this work which we are now finishing." He mentioned the drivers, teachers, students and workers of the IPN, UNAM and the ENAH, those who participated in the security measures, the CIZ volunteers, the national and international press, who "now appear to be paying for all their sins, and who are now applying for military rank in the EZLN."

He made a special mention of those, Mexicans and foreigners, who "have remained in the peace camps all this time in the different Aguascalientes and in the different communities, taking care of all of us who were outside, as well as those who stayed here."

"We are ending the trip, compa~eros and compa~eras," he continued. "During the journey, we found many things we had not expected. We had not expected the support of so many brothers and sisters, primarily from those we call the Mexico of below, the poorest people. They are the same as we are, and they are also fighting and wanting Mexico to become a just country.

"We thought that we would have a bit of help during our march, but not that much. That we would have to carry a plough in order to go about obtaining the support of the people. What we saw was that, with the simple imprint of our steps, many things that are in Mexico were seen, and that they are very far from the government's speeches or from what appears in the national and international press. Below there is a Mexico like ours, which is yearning for the change to be real, for the change not to remain any longer above, just among the political class. For there to be serious, deep, changes at the level of the life of the people.

"We met with workers in the road who had come out from the factories to greet the delegation, railroad engineers who stopped the trains and sounded the siren in order to greet the delegation's passage, construction workers who put their work on hold in order to greet us, campesinos without land, small business owners, teachers, students, neighbors, housewives, religious men and women, basically people who do not have enough to live with dignity. The majority of the people we met were young, many children, the majority of these young people and children are women."

Referring to the old ones, "or senior citizens, as they say in the cities, who also helped us, and who have also placed their hope in us," Marcos noted: "If we are now able to return and to say to you, and, through you and the brothers of the National Indigenous Congress, that it is no longer going to be a source of shame to be indigenous in Mexico, it is thanks to all of those people, who perhaps have indigenous blood in their veins, or perhaps not, but who understood that our struggle was just, and they had to help it. It was they who forced the government to commit itself to fulfilling the three signals, and they were also then able to turn the reaction in Mexico so that the voice of the indigenous would be heard in the Congress of the Union. The majority of our imprisoned brothers are out now, we hope that we will soon be able to have them all out, and we will be able to say that the second condition has been fulfilled."

Subcomandante Marcos went on to review the three "signals" which the EZLN demanded last December as a condition for the resumption of dialogue with the federal government: "We hope that they will soon be able to finish with the dismantling of the barracks of Ri'o Euseba and of Guadalupe Tepeyac, which are already in the process of being dismantled, so that the sisters and brothers of Guadalupe Tepeyac in exile can now return to their homes. Afterwards, with the help of civil society, we will be able to rebuild the town, which has been completely destroyed.

"There is another point still remaining, which is the approval of the constitutional reform law on indigenous rights and culture, which is still going to need mobilizations by us, as well as by the brothers of the CNI and by national and international civil society, so that the world, after being turned around, can be truly adapted.

"First, that day of January 1, 1994, and now with the march of indigenous dignity, where we were no longer alone like that January of 1994, but we are now accompanied by the immense majority of the Indian peoples of Mexico and by the immense majority of this country's most poor."

Concluding one more stage of the zapatista movement, Marcos noted: "There are still things which remain for us to do. But we think that the path has now set its course, the water has set its course. And now, sooner rather than later, we will be able to have the necessary conditions in place for resuming dialogue with the federal government, and we will be able to finish up that dialogue quickly, reach the fulfillment of those accords, reach peace and begin, together, to rebuild what should be the truth in all the Indian towns of Mexico: a reality with dignity, exactly as La Realidad has been throughout these seven years, a dignified and rebel dignity. And, when peace arrives, a reality will also be an example of how many things can be built from below, which can be a great lesson for the rest of humanity."

"It truly gives us much pleasure to have returned here, to our home. It gives us much pleasure to see all of you," he concluded, referring to the support bases who were attentively listening to him.

irlandesa can be contacted by e-mail: irlandesa@compuserve.com