Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

CHIAPAS, MEXICO - The first farmer came with his coffee and a smile on his face at 8:00 pm. For the next four hours, CPT watched as family after family came bringing small bags of coffee to sell at a fair price. The pride and joy on the farmers' faces were obvious. Finally - someone was recognizing the labour intensive work that goes into coffee production! Finally - someone was noticing that current coffee prices are not enough to sustain farmers!

Many different people had shared stories of their lives with the CPT delegation. They spoke of the struggle against poverty caused by extremely low coffee prices. As a result of these stories, CPT decided to buy 250 kilograms of coffee beans at a fair price--20 pesos per kilogram for pergamino, sun dried coffee--and take it to the Nestle plant for a demonstration to hold the multinational corporation accountable for their buying policies.

The coffee beans were purchased from two different groups of Abejas in Los Chorros. The people participating in this action hoped that it would both call for justice and inspire unity. The Abejas have been divided by different experiences over the last several years. One group was displaced and returned to Los Chorros on September 30, while the other never left. They are now struggling to work together, and the hope was that recognizing their common struggle against injustice would help.

The night of the purchasing was a lively night and a holy night. A small group of men were playing instruments and singing in Spanish and Tzotzil. Women and children danced. Young girls sang. It was after midnight by the time the last of the coffee had been weighed and bagged. As everyone gathered around, CPT delegation members placed three candles around the coffee. The Abeja community present proceeded to pray for justice and for the CPT delegation as it continued on to Nestle. These were no longer just bags of coffee beans - they had become an offering to God and a sign of hope for the future.