The road to this kind of united action has been a long one. A fragile kind of unity was achieved at the third assembly of the EZLNsponsored National Democratic Convention (CND) on 5 February 1995. But while a clear majority supported the call for a National Liberation Movement (MILN), the conference revealed the existence of two tendencies: a majority of delegates, including those closest to the EZLN, supported a motion limiting the common platform to the democratic struggle against the Party-state, for liberty and justice. The purpose of such a platform is to allow the widest possible pluralist movement, including political and social forces of the centreground. A minority inside the CND argued for a working-class based alliance, uniting proletarian social sectors, the other oppressed groups, and those political forces which clearly identify themselves with the struggle of the oppressed
The military intervention on February 9th pushed this divergence into the background for the time-being, as all of us are now trying to establish the maximum unity around the demand to end the war. From one of a list of secondary demands, the call for the resignation of president Zedillo has become the number one slogan of the movement. This is the best strategy to assure a radical change in the way the country is run.
For those outside Mexico, the 11 February demonstrations outside Mexican Embassies and Consulates in Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Madrid and Paris should be the inspiration to further activities! *