This is not a happening
THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PARTICIPANTS, AND the quality of the interventions plainly contradicts those media which presented this meeting as some kind of far-left happening or festival, orchestrated by Marcos the megalomaniac. In fact, hundreds of written contributions were presented, and each participant was able to take the floor on several occasions. The Mexican workshop facilitators met together every evening, and worked until the small hours synthesising and writing down the day's deliberations. Each synthesis was presented, discussed, and amended and adopted by consensus or
Once again, they proved their impressive roots in the Indian communities.
As for the proceedings themselves, the Zapatistas mainly listened to the other delegates. Several EZLN delegates participated in each of the working groups. Most did not say much. Marcos spoke briefly in each of the four sub-groups which met at the La Realidad base. He explained how the EZLN had renounced its dogmatic "Marxist-Leninist" origins after contact with the Indian reality. He also stressed the importance of this meeting to the Zapatista strategic goal of breaking their politico-military encircling. He
MERGALACE
Mexico * new internationalism, capable of opposing capital's offensive. Having said this, how useful is the final declaration, which will now be submitted to "global" consultations? The content is very general. This may make it difficult to mobilise sufficient forces to carry out the consultation. On the other hand, the proposal to create an international network of resistance to neo-liberalism, in which all kinds of organisations could participate, is very positive. So is the decision to organise a second "World Meeting against Neoliberalism and for Humanity,' this time in Europe, in the second half of 1997. [E.T.] * The big issues A wide range of experiences of struggle were presented in detail. The radical character of the analyses and the proposals was largely due to the solid Marxist base of the Latin American and Mexican participants The main discussions included the following points
POR LA Humonidad y contra el
NEOLIBERQISMO
UASCAUEBTES BOE Oventic
MEXICO
• Refusing the Structural Adjustment Policies dictated by international financial institutions.
• Refusing the warmongering policies of the imperialist states.
• Refusing to pay international debts
• The need to satisty social needs
• Rejecting regional treaties like the Maastricht
Treaty, the North American Free Trade
Agreement, Mercosur (Latin American common market agreement), and the Asia Pacific
"For humanity and against neo-liberalism," Oventic, second (of five) "Hotsprings" or forums. majority vote. The organisers met with the co-ordinators of the national delegations every day. Media
Over 300 journalists, from 32 countries, had full access to all the deliberations. The only controversial case was the absence of Le Monde correspondent Bertrand de la Grange, a specialist in misinformation about the progressive movement in Mexico. Organisers claimed that he had failed to apply for accreditation by the deadline given. Some delegates suspected that he had been barred deliberately. In any case, it would have been better if he had been present. EZLN participation
Just by convoking this meeting, the Zapatistas made an important contribution to the struggle against neo-liberalism. But they did more. They ensured all material and logistic aspects of the meeting. This was an mpressive demonstration of their force.
also stressed that the Zapatistas had no intention of imposing its views on the participants. At one key press conference during the meeting, the EZLN passed the microphone to twelve invited personalities, including Danielle Mitterand, Eduardo Galéano, Douglas Bravo, Hugo Blanco, and Alain Touraine (unpopular with the French delegation, since he "supports" the Juppé government's reform of social security).
After 15-20 hours deliberations, over 3-4 days, each of the working groups (politics economy, culture, civil society and indigenous peoples) produced a report combining analysis and proposals. These were discussed on the seventh day of the meeting. On the eighth day, the EZLN presented the Second Declaration of La Realidad, which they intend to submit to global consultations at the end of this year. The results of the meeting
This meeting was a great success. It was an important contribution to the struggle for a
Economic Co-operation accord.
• The struggle against the closing of our frontiers.
• Denouncing those responsible for the dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s and struggling for the 'return' of those who
"disappeared' at that time and since.
• The struggle for disarmament.
• Detending social security systems, and generalising access to them.
• The fight for full employment via the reduction of the working week and agrarian retorm.
• Support for feminist demands
• Fighting narco-traffic, characterized here as a flourishing form of capitalist trade
• Indigenous peoples struggles for sovereignty.
• Supporting large mobilisations against neoliberal policies — be it France's movement against the Juppé plan in November-December
1995 [IV #272-4] or the Zapatista rebellion *
October 1996 #281 5