Chiapas: Zapatistas protest narco-militarization

Submitted by Bill Weinberg

In a new communique, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
denounces Mexican President Felipe Calderon's escalated campiagn
against narco-trafficking as a "farce" and a "mere pretext to augment
the already disproportionate militarization of rural Chiapas."

The communique, signed by Subcommander Marcos, draws an analogy
between the new crackdown and last year's contested elections, saying
"the supposed campaigns against narcotrafficking carried out by the
government are a farce. Just like that which brought Mr. Calderon
Hinojosa to power."

Marcos charges that when the federal army discovers a marijuana
plantation, they only destroy the mature plants, leaving the
seedlings, "with the aim of having a pretext to return and try to
intimidate the Zapatista villages."

He charges that the drugs are grown with the connivance of the
"official" municipal governments in the divided state, rather than
the rebel Zapatista "autonomous municipalities." He also charges that
the "official" municipalities provide cover for organized car theft
rings and other criminal networks.

"What's more, the authorities don't even know the geography of the
state," Marcos writes, "as they map the destruction of plants as if
they were in Zapatista territory, when everyone knows that these are
lands governed by PRI and PRD authorities and inhabited by their
followers." The PRI and PRD are two of Mexico's leading "official"
political parties. Marcos reiterates that the EZLN have banned the
cultivation or use of all drugs and alcohol in their communities.
(EZLN communique, Feb. 6; APRO, Feb. 9)