Support the struggle!
Support the Struggle in Chiapas!
Since 1998, Kersplebedeb has been selling “EZLN” t-shirts on behalf of Solidarity, a local revolutionary collective in Montreal. Its a nice shirt, available in sizes small to xl in black and grey, and small to xxl on white. This is what it looks like:
To order this shirt, just send me an email . Let me know what size and colour you would prefer.
To see all of my other t-shirts, check out my gallery .
Most of the profits (over $1,300 Canadian) from the sale of this shirt have been sent to Chiapas, to support the struggle of the EZLN.
Half of the money went to the Zapatista support base of displaced populations of Polho, in the municipality of Chenalho, Chiapas. These are over 6,000 people who fled their homes to escape attacks by death squads supported by the Mexican government. Many of them came from the town of Acteal following the massacre of 45 people by one such death squad in December 1997. Polho has declared itself an autonomous community. The community consists of nine settlements scattered over several square miles of mountainous terrain.
Half of the money raised through the sale of EZLN shirts went to support Zapatista political prisoners, through the Voz de Cerro Hueco organization. This Zapatista prisoner organization was created in 1996 in response to the unjust imprisonment of Zapatista supporters under a regime that continues to attack indigenous populations that struggle for their rights.
“We are community organizers and support base, sympathizers, autonomists, human rights promoters, catechizers and simple observers as well as those of us who live in Chiapas, yet maintain no direct tie to the social movement. We come from different parts of the province and we speak a variety of native languages. Some of us don’t speak any Spanish. Some of us are not even from Chiapas. We fight for a life with justice and dignity, peace and progress which ultimately respects and strengthens our pluri-ethnic values… from the savagery of capitalism and neoliberal globalization.”
While most political prisoners have been released during the last three months (2001), on July 25th 2001, 9 remained incarcerated despite being falsely charged and unfairly tried.
International support has been and is key to a government so highly concerned about its image. These prisoners and their families have faced extensive physical and psychological abuse at the hands of government authorities and deserve to be reunited with their families and communities.
I also sell these two nifty EZLN-supporter buttons:
Apart from the EZLN t-shirt and buttons, i also distribute some literature dealing with revolutionary life in Mexico:
A Commune in Chiapas? Mexico and the Zapatista Revolution, reprinted from the ultra-left magazine Aufheben .This essay from the English journal Aufheben, is an excellent and in-depth analysis of the Zapatista rebellion and movement. It provides a good overview of class warfare in Mexico, and specifically delves into the class struggles of the Indigenous people of Chiapas. It provides historical background to present Mexican politics, discusses formation and organization of the EZLN, and events since the 1994 uprising. Particularly interesting is the critical appraisal of the EZLN, their supporters, and their critics from the “ultra-left”. 55 pages. $2.75 
Broadening the Struggle and Winning the Media War – “Marcos Mystique”, “Guerilla Chic” and Zapatista P.R. , by Nicholas Henck. A sympathetic look at the relationship of the EZLN guerilla army, and more specifically its charismatic spokesman Marcos, and the world media and liberal opinion. $3.50 
Communiqués of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), Jan.-Aug. 1996, Early communiqués from the EZLN. 36 pages. $2.00 
Zapatistas in Their Own Words, An interview with EZLN spokesperson Marcos and a couple of manifestos. $2.00
Jumbled up Links
Chiapas, Zapatistas, etc.
- Canadian Solidarity Alliance for the Zapatistas
- Chiapas95 is a series of “lists” which distribute news and debate about Chiapas culled from other lists on the internet, from conferences on PeaceNet and from other sites in cyberspace.
- Indigenous People’s Literature Zapatista page
- Irish Mexico Group , an anarchist group that works in solidarity with the Zapatistas
- Zapatista Resources assembled by Stephen Miller
- World History Archive’s Zapatista resources
- Zapatista Net of Autonomy and Liberation
- ZNet’s Chiapas/Zapatista section
- ZAPATISTA NETWORK – A CLEARINGHOUSE OF ZAPATISTA INFORMATION AND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE
Mexico
Sites in Mexico
- Centro de Información Zapatista
- Enlace civil
- EZLN homepage (in Spanish)
- La Neta San Cristóbal (Chiapas)
- Melel Xojobal (Chiapas)
- Mexico Indymedia
- Chiapas Indymedia
- Centro de investigaiones economicas y politicas de accion comunitaria
- Revolutionary Zapatista Women in Cultural Perspective ; article by Lea Clayton, Prism Mexico correspondent from The Prism – the website of a progressive newspaper in North Carolina
Criticism of the Zapatistas
Other South & Central America
- Latin America Network Information Center
- NACLA magazine – the North American Congress on Latin America
- A page full of pictures of Che
Other Kersplebedeb Pages political struggle [] more links button galleries [] catalog [] t-shirt gallery [] free art email me [] homepage [] more about Kersplebedeb
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