Zapatista referendum
The Zapatistas' latest initiative is a national referendum on indigenous rights and culture. Jess Kincaid reports from Mexico. For the first time in nearly two years, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) sat down at the dialogue table.' But not with representatives of Mexico's executive branch. Instead, over the weekend of November 20, top-level delegates from the rebel army met with 3,000 representatives of "civil society" non-government organizations, civic groups, trade unions and prominent personalitities.?
The EZLN delegates also met separately with the Commission for Peace and Reconciliation (COCOPA), made up of representatives of all of Mexico's major political parties including the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Both discussions revolved around the COCOPA's proposal for constitutional reforms that implement the San Andres Accords, agreements reached by the Zapatista rebels and the Zedillo administration in February 1996.
The "civic society" groups will organise an unofficial "national referendum" on the COCOPA proposal in the early months of 1999. They accepted an EZLN offer to send one female and one male representative to each of the 2,500 municipalities in Mexico. The EZLN hopes to educate the public and rally support regarding the plan for constitutional changes through this plebiscite. Behind the blockage, NAFTA
The COCOPA initiative has been stalled since December 1996, when President Zedillo refused to sign it.
The EZLN expressed discontent that, in its view, some parts of the San Andres accords were not included in the proposal, but signed it after consulting with supporters.
Zedillo said he had 29 specific problems with the initiative. Most reflect the Mexican administration's economic interests in upholding NAFTA, trade agreements with the European Union, structural adjustment policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and the developing Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI).
In March of this year, Zedillo introduced his own counterproposal to the COCOPA initiative into the national congress. The unilateral proposal by the government was immediately rejected by the EZLN and has caused many to question the point of the dialogue process. Civil society
The Zapatistas' ability to mobilize public support was in question after two years of suspended dialogue with the Zedillo government, and a long silence by the rebels. The Mexican public had turned its attention to other issues, such as the FOBAPROA banking scandal.
These doubts have been quieted, as over 3,000 representatives from over 400 organizations met in San Cristobal, with national participants from 28 of Mexico's 32 states and observers from 15 party (PRI) officials dismissed the participants as not representative of Mexican civil society, many Mexicans were impressed at the number and diversity of those present. Participation included non-government organizations, unions, environmental activists, artists, peasants, prisoners, students, gay rights activists, children, religious activists, workers, and for the first time, large business owners.
Once again the Zapatistas served as the catalyst to bring together a broad spectrum of Mexicans from a wide
As at previous Zapatista events, specific discussion forums allowed participants to dialogue on national referendum, militarization and the peace process, and alternative economic, social, and cultural policies. A fourth discussion table for youth was arranged at the last moment, including participation by local homeless children, public school students and punk youth from Mexico City.
The EZLN stated that the success of civil society in organizing the dialogue indicated their capacity to successfully carry out the national referendum. The COCOPA
After a difficult first meeting, a second, "cordial" encounter between the EZLN and the 16 federal and state legislators resulted in concrete proposals, with members of both groups expressing positive feelings about the possibility for further dialogue.
The COCOPA emphasized the need
Mexico * for a direct link between the two parties in order to avoid having to communicate through the media, and the EZLN delegation requested the support of the congressional commission in the realization of the national referendum. The need for mediation
The COCOPA questioned the Zapatistas about the possibility of reinitiating peace negotiations with the Zedillo administration. The EZLN reiterated the five conditions which it has maintained since September 1996 as the minimum necessary for returning to the dialogue, including the legislation of the San Andres Accords through the COCOPA initiative, demilitarization and elimination of paramilitary groups in Chiapas, and the release of Zapatista political prisoners.
The Zapatista delegation also mentioned the need for a new mediation body. The absence of the National
Mediation Commission (CONAI), which facilitated the first meeting between the groups nearly two years ago, was apparent from the first day of the dialogue. The CONAI, headed by Catholic Bishop Samuel Ruiz, was disbanded in June 1998 after Ruiz resigned, complaining of government attacks on the commission and the church.
The Zapatista delegates issued a communique stating that the COCOPA had broken its word and that the treatment had racist implications. The COCOPA denied the accusations, but made effort to attend the specific needs identified by the EZLN
The absence of mediation was also evident on the final day of the dialogue when the COCOPA attempted to deliver proposals from the Zedillo government to the EZLN. The Zapatista representatives refused the sealed documents, because they did not recognize the commission as a mediating body.
The weekend of the talks, demonstrations in 24 U.S. cities were coordinated by the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico in order to support the dialogue with the Zapatistas as well as a 5000-strong civil disobedience event at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. * Notes 1. EZLN representatives included Comandantes Tacho, David, Zebedeo, and Leticia, as well as Major Moises. 2. Including author Carlos Monsivais, human rights activist Rosario Ibarra de Piedra, singer Fher of the rock group Mana, Amalia Solorzano, mother of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, former members of the CONAI, faculty of the National Autonomous University, and representatives from Authentic Labor Front (FAT). Source: Mexican Labor News and Analysis Vol. III, No. 21, 2 December 1998. Contact editor Dan La Botz at <103144.2651@compuserve.com>. View the full contents at www.igc.apc.org/unitedelect/.
International Viewpoint #307 January 1999 9