Of quaint metaphysical constructs conjured up in an exotically distant jungle where pipe smoking poet gods and indomitable corn-people hold an illusive holy grail of rebel hope that renders you spellbound until you leave the mystical space, and then disappears - like a sieve fisted find.
by Ramor Ryan
From Perspectives, January 2006
It was thrilling to wake up in Dublin on Jan 1st 1994 to the news of the Zapatista uprising in Mexico. It quickly became clear that this was a new kind of Latin insurgency that superseded the ideological straightjacket of the Cold War era, and embraced a whole new formulation of how to start a revolution. Sub Comandante Marcos was standing in the centre square of San Cristobal talking a more enlightened form of liberation than had been articulated before. Gone was the old Leninist language and as we learned soon enough - ways of organizing. For anarchists across the globe, it was as if all their Christmases had come at once. An apparently anti-authoritarian leaning peasant guerrilla army who rising up against an International neo-liberal trade agreement! Their red and black flag! And with those old rifles and antiquated uniforms, they even had a passing resemblance to the Spanish Anarchist militias of 1936!!!
I would have been out on the first plane to Chiapas ready to join the insurgency, except the financial limitations of the Irish dole were such that it would be a full year before I finally got there. My mate Mick did manage to get out to Chiapas within two weeks of the uprising. His first letter back was exhaultant (no email in those days): anarchists from all over Mexico, the States and indeed, everywhere, were already converging on the rebel zone to seek out a role to play in this new devastatingly exciting and urgent uprising.
I had caught the last few months of the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua, before they were deposed of power in Feb. of 1990. Picking coffee with a Sandinistas collective and teaching English to a Sandinistas class I cut my teeth as an international solidarity volunteer. It was very rewarding for me, but I had to leave my Anarchy back at home – the Sandinista revolution was leftist and authoritarian and harbored no Anarchist faction, indeed promoted a line that was distinctly unfriendly to such a current of thought. Nevertheless, there were elements of the Sandinista program – their anti-imperialism, their grass roots support of peoples’ education and health, as well as their lack of ideological rigidity allowed space for anarchists of my ilk (of which there were quite a few working in the country) to take part a little on the side.
The early nineties saw me traveling further into this tumultuous political space of Latin America, involving myself in anti-capitalist campaigns in Colombia (multinational exploitation) and Belize (Union recognition for Banana workers). But it was the Zapatista Uprising that sealed my fate, and ensured my presence intermittently but unrelentingly for the ensuing 10 years. Much of the time I involved myself in the Zapatista struggle working in the category designated international solidarity.
In response to the Mexican military advances on the rebel zone, the Zapatistas put out a call in 1995 for volunteers to come and place themselves at the front line of conflict – human shields as such. Our group, the Irish Mexico Group went one sep further- we set up a solidarity encampment in one such front line community, called 10 de Abril, (a cattle farm occupied by 70 Zapatista families) and attempted to do consolidate a more interactive role in the community. Volunteers busied themselves in the fields, in the classrooms and brought in resources for development projects. The goal was to stand shoulder to shoulder as companeros, not solely as human shields. The harvest of this day to day solidarity work became apparent later in 1998, when the Mexican military violently invaded the community, and after the first wave of volunteers got grabbed and deported by the authorities (thereby rising the profile of the incident to an international story), the remaining volunteers were offered the choice by the EZLN of confronting the military together in the tactical self-defense of the community. A level of trust and confidence between Zapatistas and foreigners had been forged that allowed for such an unusual intimacy of shared struggle.
The problem with international solidarity is that at its most effective it’s a tactical deployment and as it develops into a long term strategy, it looses its urgency. When the red alert is sounded, and the urgent action communiqués are sent out, people can react with the appropriate militant agency. But protracted struggles have a tendency to last for interminable years, and international solidarity activists come and go. “ Campamentistas are the people who leave,” lamented one Zapatista, “and we can never leave.“ The privilege of those who can step into a dangerous conflict zone for a finite time and then leave as the mood dictates. It is a poignant reminder of the inherent and inescapable inequalities involved, of the almost insurmountable contradictions there within and a cause for understandable resentment for some at the coalface of the struggle.
Nevertheless, the Zapatistas have recognized and lauded the involvement of international solidarity within the rebel zone ( “those born on other soil who add their heart to the struggle for a peace with justice and dignity”, according to Marcos) – from restraining the excesses of military and paramilitary aggression as human shields to introducing useful development projects in the form of potable water systems, solar energy supply, technologically appropriate means of communication, pirate radio, organic horticulture etc. From the other side, the Chiapas pilgrimage has become almost a rite of passage for activists from the Global North. The influence and inspiration is apparent at every global mobilization and in every activist space. As renowned Mexican writer and political analyst Gustavo Esteva has pointed out -“ Zapatismo is nowadays the most radical, and perhaps the most important, political initiative in the world.”
But the space of international solidarity has been abused in many ways, even in the hallowed environs of Chiapas. Too many people were climbing on the backs of the Zapatistas to promote their own NGO outfit, to garner salaries from international funders for posts that should be occupied by locals, or at least rendered unnecessary after a short length of time. Too many people were using the space opened up by authentic international solidarity to write their beautiful journalist pieces, their splendid thesis, to make that startling documentary and then forgetting their impassioned zapatismo before moving onto the next career move. The Zapatistas moved to stem the abuses of the solidarity space by introducing the Juntas de Buen Gobierno (Good Government Committees) in 2003 to oversee all projects and outside involvement in the rebel zone. It has been a success, despite the increased bureaucracy and the 10% revolutionary tax levied on all solidarity projects in the autonomous municipalities.
As the Zapatistas struggle enters its 26th year of this phase of struggle, tactical and strategic mistakes have been made and more will be made in the future. As learned from the ideological demise of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, it is folly to fetishize and offer unconditional support for the host organization or movement. This is why the Zapatistas demand not solidarity from its international consorts, but allegiance to the idea and inspiration of zapatismo. Be a Zapatista wherever you are, they say. When asked what was the best contribution to the Zapatista struggle internationals could make, an old Zapatista said “More Seattle’s...”
So the Zapatistas turn the equation upside down - international solidarity becomes a means to export a rebel philosophy. Let zapatismo be an inspiration and encouragement to develop your own form of rebel autonomy. International solidarity is brought down from the grandstands of cheering 3rd World anti-imperialist and national liberation struggles, to the playing field of actually building global autonomy.
This kind of stuff is music to the ears for anarchists and anti-authoritarians – constructing global autonomy, horizontalidad and mandar obedeciendo (to govern obeying), surely blueprints for a global wide insurgency?! And then they return “home” to New York, Barcelona, Montreal or Dublin, and it seems hopeless – like there is nothing to build on, no local autonomy, and no radical movements and zapatismo seems like some quaint metaphysical construct conjured up in an exotically distant jungle where pipe smoking poet gods and indomitable corn-people hold an illusive holy grail of rebel hope that renders you spellbound until you leave the mystical space, and then disappears - like a sieve fisted find.
Or as Old Antonio used to say - perhaps not.
