EZLN announces resumption of national tour

north america / mexico | the left | other libertarian press Friday September 15, 2006 17:52 by Marcos - EZLN

The EZLN had suspended its tour following the violent repression of protests in Atenco. It is now sending additions delegates to D.F. (Mexico City) to allow continuation of solidarity with Atenco and continutation of the suspended tour.

The EZLN Announces Reinforcement of its Solidarity with Atenco and the Resumption of the National Tour

The Tour Will Restart This October 9

September 14, 2006

COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE CLANDESTINE REVOLUTIONARY INDIGENOUS COMMITTEE-GENERAL COMMAND OF THE ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION

September 13, 2006

To the adherents to the Sixth Declaration and the Other Campaign:
To the People of Mexico:

Compañeros and compañeras:

During the months of July and August, the Sixth Comission of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) held a series of contacts and consultations with many diverse organizations, groups, collectives, families and individuals who are adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle and the Other Campaign. Along with the results of this consultation, we sent an evaluation and a proposal to our comrades, the indigenous leaders of the EZLN.

Now that we have received authorization from the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command (CCRI-CG) of the EZLN, in the following days a series of analyses, considerations and proposals will be released. Through several texts, the Sixth Commission of the EZLN will review the history that led to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, a survey of the Other Campaign one year from its beginning, an analysis of the electoral fraud that culminated in the imposition of PAN candidate Felipe Calderón as president of Mexico, our critical position on the mobilization against these dirty tricks, as well as a proposal to the adherents to the Other Campaign as to the next steps to take in the struggle that we have all embarked upon together.

Now, we send you our first resolution based on the consultation and our evaluation.

First: With the demand of freedom and justice for our compañeros taken prisoner in Atenco, the Sixth Comission of the EZLN will reinforce its presence in the national capital in solidarity with them, and, simultaneously, will resume the tour that had been suspended, thus visiting the 11 states in the north of the Mexican Republic which we had not yet reached, in order to listen to our friends in those lands.

Second: To make this possible, a group of comandantes and comandantas from the CCRI-CG and the Sixth Commission of the EZLN will travel to Mexico City so that Delegate Zero can complete his unfinished tour. While Delegate Zero travels to the north of the country, promoting the struggle for our comrades’ freedom and listening to the word of the Other Campaign in those places, the comandantes will remain in Mexico City and the surrounding area, monitoring the situation of the prisoners and the people of Atenco, and participating as much as possible in the activities held to demand their release.

Third: In the tour that is being resumed, we will primarily attend meetings with adherents and with Indian peoples in the states and regions, although we do not rule out participating in public events that adherents and the EZLN Sixth Commission have agreed upon. In every place we travel, word of the attack on Atenco and the situation of the prisoners will be spread.

Fourth: The tour will resume on October 9 of this year with the following general itinerary:

Starting in Sinaloa (Escuinapa, Mazatlán, Culiacán and Los Mochis); then taking the sea ferry to Baja California Sur (La Paz and, perhaps, Los Cabos); then along the highway to Baja California Norte (Ensenada, Tijuana, Mexicali, meeting with the Other Campaign on the Other Side and visiting at some point the members of the northeast section of the CNI – National Indigenous Congress: the Kumiai, Cucapá, Triqui and Mixtec peoples); from there to Sonora (Santa Ana, Hermosillo, Guaymas-Empalme, Ciudad Obregón and, along the way, meeting with the Pápag, Seri, Mayo, Yaqui y Pima peoples, also of the CNI-Northeast); then we will go by train from Los Mochis the Sierra Tarahumara mountains, in Chihuahua, to meet with the Raramuri members of the CNI; then we will continue by train to Chihuaua, and by road to Ciudad Juárez and Parral; then to the Lagunera area in Coahuila and Durango; then to several points in the state of Zacatecas; from there to San Luis Potosí’s capital and highland region; then to Monterrey and Linares in Nuevo León; after that, Saltillo, Monclova and Pasta de Conchos in Coahuila; then Matamoros, Ciudad Victoria in southeast Tamaulipas; and from there we travel to the Huatesca area of San Luis Potosí to conclude the national tour and return to Mexico City (tentatively in the last days of November).

Fifth: This itinerary is based on the adherents in each region and the proposals for activities that they had made before the shameful events in San Salvador Atenco on May 3 and 4 of this year. The details on routes and dates will be released at the appropriate time – as we are still studying the routes and the state the roads are in – and will be communicated to the adherents in the northern Mexican states and of the Other Campaign on the Other Side.

Sixth: This decision of the CCRI-CG of the EZLN and its Sixth Commission has already been considered and approved by our compañeros of the Peoples’ Front in Defense of the Earth who were attacked together with others from the Other Campaign, on May 3 and 4 of 2006, by the forces of the federal government and of the local authorities of Mexico state. The compañeros of Atenco have demonstrated their support.

Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Sixth Commission of the EZLN

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.
México, September 13, 2006