There are now over 1000 "communities in resistance" in more than 30 Autonomous Municipalities throughout eastern Chiapas. In the face of great odds, they are developing self-managed schools, health care, agriculture and community decision-making, independent of state and government control. There are also some exciting new projects developing such as the "Mother Seeds of Resistance in the Land of Chiapas" which will save unique and diverse seeds as well as recipes, stories, legends, and songs from the elders of their communities.

We continue to receive "denuncias" from Zapatista communities that are facing military harassment and incursions, in particular from the autonomous municipality of Ricardo Flores Magon, and from those where paramilitary groups are active, especially in the highlands and the northern zone. These make the role of international peace observers of ongoing importance. Please see our website to find out more about what you can to get involved in solidarity work, in Chiapas or wherever you are.
www.chiapaslink.ukgateway.net

This update covers:

1. War on Terrorism: Consequences for Mexico
2. Plan Puebla-Panama & Free Trade Area of the Americas update
3. Transgenics Spread Across Mexico & Resistance is Growing
4. Improve your Spanish in Zapatista language school
5. Zapatista prisoners update
6. International Womenís Day Delegation to Chiapas

Saludos solidarios,

Chiapaslink, UK

1. War on "Terrorism": Consequences for Mexico

President Fox has stated that "the attack against the United States is an attack against Mexico", and that Mexico would take its support for the US's fight against terrorism "as far as necessary, up to the end. We are totally committed [to the response of] September 11". In October 2001, the Secretary of the Interior Santiago Creel sent the US a list of those considered "terrorists" in Mexico. Guerrilla groups
have again been identified as terrorist groups. Only the day after the attacks, a report from Mexico's Centre of Investigations and National Security (CISEN) confirmed the presence of at least 32 subversive groups in Mexico, among them the EZLN, EPR, FARP and FLN (see www.ciepac.org/mapas). However the director of CISEN stated later in an interview in La Jornada that the EZLN is not classified as a terrorist group, which has been taken positively by many groups working on the ground in Chiapas.

Before September 11, Mexico's economy was in a sharp crisis. Following the attacks on the World Trade Centre, indicators fell ever more sharply. At the end of October, the federal government conceded that Mexico had entered an economic recession and the country's growth would be zero this year. Mexico's dependence on the US increased has dramatically
increased following the enactment of the free-trade agreement (NAFTA) with North America in 1994. Trade between the two countries is the second largest worldwide and hovers at 4% of world trade. 87% of Mexico's exports go to the US, including 80% of its oil. Recession in the US is of course having a direct impact on millions of Mexicans whose livelihoods are more and more tied into the US economy. The tourist sector in Cancun, for example, has lost 75% of its
business. Of course, the US can (for the time being)
continue to subsidise and rescue its economy, but poorer countries like Mexico can't.

Military spending, however, will not been affected, and Mexican armed forces have doubled the number of soldiers defending the security of 135 strategic installations in the country. The Chiapas border with Guatemala is one of four vital zones to be watched. These increases follow the trend of the last 10 years. According to Mexico's Secretary of Defense, the number of military personnel increased from 169,746 to 230,000 between 1990 and 2000. Mexico has increased the purchase of war equipment by 300%. The Secretary also reports than in the past few years some 7,000
land vehicles and 86 airplanes have been purchased and that the budget for national security had increased 15% annually. Equipment comes from manufacturers such as Northrop, Lockheed, Pilatus, Douglas, Fairchild-Hiller, Cessna, Aerospatiale, Bell, Rockwell, Beech, Swearingen, Mercedes Benz, among others, from the US, Switzerland, France, Germany, England and Belgium. In 1994 the International
Institute of Strategic Studies in London released
information regarding the shipment of 80 French tanks for manoeuvres in Chiapas. Meanwhile in Switzerland the shipment of 48 military planes, worth US$231 million, has been blocked since 1995.

Mexico's Attorney General's office (PGR) has decided to create an elite anti-terrorist groups with the US's FBI, and announced the creation of the Federal Investigations Agency (AFI), a local version of the CIA in the struggle against terrorism. The AFI will take the place of the Federal Judicial Police (PFP), and the local office of Interpol-Mexico will maintain contact with 177 countries, sharing intelligence information. Thus the global circle tightens, dominated by the US in economic, political, military and law-enforcement terms. No surprise here, but the Mexican government, in the same way as governments
across the world, is using the climate of world war to
restrict civil liberties and eliminate internal enemies under the guise of the struggle against terrorism. This has the potential of worsening conditions for the EZLN and the whole peace process in Chiapas, and may also have its effects on foreigners and Mexican human rights activists in Chiapas, such as increased questioning and harassment at new
immigration patrols and general surveillance and intelligence gathering. This context also makes it an
important time for observers to be present in the Zapatista communities.

(summarised and adapted from Chiapas Al Dia Bulletin No 267 www.ciepac.org)


2. Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) and Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA) update

There have been a number of meetings of civil organisations in recent months to address the impacts of the PPP and FTAA and plan campaigns of resistance. One of these took place from the 9-11 November 2001 in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca - the first regional Canada-USA-Mexico meeting in preparation for the Third Continental Assembly of the Convergence of Movements of Peoples of the Americas (COMPA). The main themes discussed were the FTAA, Militarisation and Plan
Colombia, Foreign Debt, Gender Equality, Indigenous peoples, Biodiversity, Transgenics and Territories, and Rural Development. They produced the "Declaration of Tehuantepec" which included the following statements:

"We declare ourselves emphatically against the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas, designed and financed with objectives and ends foreign to our people but which are beneficial for the companies, and against a trade agreement with broad, global dimensions and consequences which the NAFTA has been, promoting the reduction of subsidies, and
privatisation of areas rich in natural and mineral resources. Consequently this type of Free Trade Area does not benefit us, and yet infringes upon the form of community action of farmers and indigenous peoples,"

"We also declare ourselves against the Plan Puebla-Panama since together with the FTAA, it generates an infrastructure for increasing trade for large capital."

Two weeks later, over 800 delegates representing 262 organisations participated in a 3-day forum "Frente a la Globalizacion, El Pueblo es Primero" in Xelaju, Guatemala, covering similar themes and developing strategies of resistance to the PPP and the neoliberal model in Latin America. Although many delegates expressed their complete rejection of the PPP, some groups felt that as a whole this rejection was not as firm as at the first of these forums. There were also criticisms about the meeting for its lack of
participation from women, non-academics, indigenous, and non-NGO community organisers. On the final day, hundreds of people marched through the streets of Quetzaltenango and the Forum concluded in the central plaza with delegates reading declarations against the PPP.

For more information, photos and interviews on this meeting, see  http://chiapas.indymedia.org

From the 14th - 20th of March 2002, there will be a "Permanent International Camp for Social Justice and the Dignity of the Peoples" in Quito Ecuador, bringing together a wide variety of diverse national and international organizations. The aim is to create a space for the articulation of the distinct forms, experiences and processes of global resistance in the face of the policies of military intervention and economic dominance within the framework of neoliberalism and war.

This is particularly relevant given the situation in Argentina which is a vivid and star testimony to the failure of the neoliberal model.

"We are constructing a collective that intends to motivate, within the society, action and reflection in order to construct shared alternatives to Plan Colombia, the Andean Regional Initiative (ARI), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

We believe that it is only through autonomy, organization and unity, that we can continue the struggle for social justice and the dignity of the peoples. We are convinced of the necessity to develop a strong resistance for our emancipations.

With forums, workshops regarding resistance and the construction of alternatives, and symbolic as well as direct actions, we are seeking to articulate a regional resistance, linked together with a wider global resistance, in order to advance in the construction of our emancipations and a free and pluricultural society."

For more information, see www.camp-ecuador.de.vu

3. Transgenics spread across Mexico & resistance is growing

At the end of last year, both the Mexican Ministry of the Environment and an article in the journal Nature confirmed that farmers' maize varieties in the states of Puebla and Oaxaca, on the border with Chiapas, have been polluted with DNA from genetically modified maize. Mexico is the primary centre of maize genetic diversity and the birthplace of corn. Last year, severe droughts in parts of Mexico and Central America led to large shipments of maize to peasant farmers as food aid. In desperation, many farmers saved some
seeds for planting. Since much of the food aid came from Canada and USA - where GM maize is legal - there is fear that all of Mesoamerica is now contaminated. Mexican farmers and civil society organisations met in Mexico City from January 23-24 to discuss this situation and decide what to do about genetic contamination in one of the world's mega-centres of agricultural biodiversity.
For more information see www.etcgroup.org

Meanwhile, Larry Proctor, the president of Pod-Ners seed company in Colorado who has patented the Enola bean that he bought in Sonora, Mexico in 1994, is now filing a lawsuit against 16 small bean seed companies and farmers in Colorado, claiming they are violating the law by illegally growing and selling HIS yellow Enola bean. It is this scenario that has galvanised groups across Chiapas, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, to resist biopiracy projects and patents on life, such as the Maya ICBG which was terminated a few months ago due to widespread
opposition.

There are a growing number of grassroots educational and practical initiatives throughout the state of Chiapas to safeguard cultural and biological diversity. One of these was launched on January 1, 2002 at the first autonomous, indigenous secondary school in Oventik, Chiapas.

"We must make the effort to save the seeds which grow in our communities because a new type of seed known as transgenetic is arriving and this seed could destroy the plants which our ancestors created over thousands of years," explained an education promoter from the First of January school. "These seeds are specially adapted for our climates and soils and must never be lost! In our language which is Tzotzil we call our new project "Smeí Tsíunubil ta Tsíikel Vokol ta Jlumaltik, Chiapan" which means Mother Seeds in Resistance from the Lands of Chiapas."

Teachers, known as education promoters at these Zapatista schools, will work with school boards and students to identify unique seeds grown in hundreds of tiny Maya communities throughout Chiapas. The initial effort will focus on the collection of corn seeds, with plans to diversify the seed collection to beans, squash, chile, and medicinal plants in the near future.

Eventually the school hopes to preserve seeds inside of a dedicated building with equipped with refrigeration and genetic analysis. For now, the seeds are being stored in humble clay pots half filled with ash. After a few eucalyptus leaves are added to provide protection from insects, the tops of the pots are covered with cloth, tied tightly with vines, and left sitting upside down on wooden planks inside one of concrete block school building constructed with funds from Schools for Chiapas.

"This project will not only touch one or another area of this school," explained the coordinator of Zapatista education. "The collection and study of our original or mother seeds will span the entire curriculum of the First of January secondary school and will deeply affect all our work for years to come. Students will have the opportunity to discuss and write about many topics with our oldest and best
farmers in our own language."

In addition to collecting and recording information in
Tzotzil about the cultivation of each seed, students will save recipes, stories, legends, and songs from the elders of their communities. "Sometimes our young people think that everything modern is better," explained another community leader. "With the study of our culture and language involved in building the Mother Seeds in Resistance projects, we hope students will see the value and importance of their cultural
roots."

4. Chiapas Spanish School and Maya Language Center

If you are heading to Chiapas soon, why not think about improving your Spanish and Maya languages inside of Zapatista territory? The Schools for Chiapas Project have set up a Language Center in Oventik, Aguascalientes II. Some of the enthusiastic feedback includes: "The best Spanish classes I have ever taken." "Learned more Spanish during three weeks than two years of college study." "I finally understand what the Zapatista movement is all about and I learned lots of language on the side." "I can actually say
several sentences in Tzotzil!" In the last few months,
proceeds from these language classes have purchased all the food for students attending the First of January Secondary School in Oventik - the only autonomous seconday school in Chiapas.

The project also has a critical need for native Spanish speakers who are willing to be trained in their unique curriculum and teaching methods. Volunteer teachers for the Chiapas Spanish Center and Maya Language Center are given free room and board while in Chiapas. The course for learning Spanish is US$48 for one-time registration and $144 per week including tuition, materials, room and board.

NOTE: Please do not go to Oventik, Aguascalientes II without registering in advance. You will not be able to enter the Aguascalientes, stay overnight, or take classes. Visit www.schoolsforchiapas.org to register.

5. Zapatista prisoners update

"Any political movement that does not support its political internees is a sham movement" Ojore Lutalo, political prisoner

We are very disappointed to hear from the Voice of Cerro Hueco that the situation of the 9 Zapatista political prisoners is much the same as it was in our last update. They continue to be held as pawns in the peace process - four in prisons in Chiapas, and five in prisons in Tabasco and Queretaro where they are far away from their families and less able to receive visits. There is routine hostility and harassment of their visiting relatives, especially women.

At the beginning of January, almost 1,000 inmates rioted in the prison in Tuxtla Gutierrez to demand that the prison warden resign and that prison conditions be improved. Family members of inmates and human rights organisations blockaded a prison access road in solidarity with the demands of the prisoners who say they are routinely beaten, bullied and
humiliated by prison guards acting on the warden's orders. Members of civil rights groups are demanding the release of at least 100 inmates who are political prisoners. As well as Zapatista prisoners, others are imprisoned for their alleged involvement in the protests against the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) due to high and abusive charges and bad services in rural communities in Chiapas. Around 200 anti-riot police armed with shields, clubds and assault rifles stood at the prison entrance and struck and attacked
protestors.

Please send letters of support to Zapatista prisoners,
in Spanish if possible, to:
La Voz de Cerro Hueco
Av Diego Duguelay 36c
Barrio el Cerrillo
San Cristobal de las Casas
Chiapas, Mexico
Email:  bajlum_vozcerrohueco@hotmail.com

Their names and locations are:
SALVADOR LOPEZ GONZALES (Tuxtla)
ALEJANDRO MENDEZ DIAZ (Tuxtla)
GUSTAVO ESTRADA GOMEZ (Tuxtla)
RAFAEL LOPEZ SANTIZ (San Cristobal de las Casas)
FRANCISCO PEREZ VAZQUEZ (Tabasco)
ANGEL CONCEPCION PEREZ GUTIERREZ (Tabasco)
CARRILLO VAZQUEZ LOPEZ (Tabasco)
SERGIO GERONIMO SANCHEZ SAENZ (Queretaro)
ANSELMO ROBLES SANCHEZ (Queretaro)

If you are going to Chiapas soon, please contact Abelardo Medez Arcos at the above address about going to visit prisoners and see our website for more advice on this ("Going to Chiapas" page, Visiting Political Prisoners section).


6. International Women's Day Delegation, March 5 - 13, 2002

The Chiapas Support Committee invites you too.

Our third annual delegation to Chiapas explores the struggle of indigenous people for autonomy after the Mexican Congress failed to implement the San Andre's Accords into law, the campesino struggle for land in the context of free trade and the Plan Puebla-Panama' (PPP), the condition of those displaced from their homes by low-intensity warfare and the struggle of all poor women for rights and dignity.

We will visit indigenous men and women in an EZLN Aguascalientes (cultural center), indigenous women weavers from the Highlands, a large refugee camp and Mexican non-profits. We will receive a briefing on the current situation in Chiapas from non-profit staff. If we are really lucky, the Zapatista women will march on International Women's Day (March 8) and we will be there to participate. (They do not announce this beforehand and they do not march every year.)

Delegates will arrive in Tuxtla Gutierrez, capital of Chiapas, travel to the colonial city of San Cristobal and later travel into the canyons of the Lacandon Jungle to spend two or three nights with an indigenous community. Conditions there are like rough camping and require a
sleeping bag and an air mattress or hammock. While in San Cristobal, there will be time for shopping and entertainment.

Cost of the delegation is $450.00. This does NOT include air fare. It DOES include food, lodging and ground transportation within Chiapas. It ALSO includes a donation for each community we visit, delegation expenses and educational materials. Delegation dates are March 5 to March 13, 2002. We are currently deciding the day-to-day itinerary and will send it to all those who are interested in the delegation when it is ready.

The Chiapas Support Committee is a grass roots volunteer organization with 501(c)(3) non-profit status. In Chiapas we work with 2 Mexican non-profits, Kinal Antzetik and Enlace Civil. We support women's collective projects, human rights training and autonomous health care and education. We also contribute to the refugee camp in Polho', where approximately 8,000 displaced Zapatista supporters have taken refuge from paramilitary forces.

To apply for this delegation or for more information,
email:  cezmat@igc.org or write to P.O. Box 3421,
Oakland, CA 94609, USA. A deposit of $100 is required
to reserve a space for you on the delegation.

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