111 White Overalls with the EZLN from Chiapas to Mexico City;
THE FUTURE BEGINS HERE
Fri, 2 Feb 2001


Zapatistas

On 25 February our sisters and brothers of the EZLN take up their march once again. We shall be beside the EZLN and Subcommandante Marcos as they cross Mexico in public to cross the world. We shall accompany them to Mexico City for 11 March, together with the mass of people who dream of dignity, freedom and justice.

As in that first January of 1994, Zapatism, a new idea for global transformation, sets us in motion once again: we shall march with questions on our lips for thousands of kilometers, to open up new roads in the hearts and minds of those who fight throughout the planet against the barbarity of neoliberalism.

As always our brothers and sisters of the Lacandona Forest encourage us to return to our march. They suggest that we cover ourselves to become visible and we take up the suggestion, wearing our white overalls, just as they wear their balaclavas. They have suggested that we address civil society, finding there the people who will listen and we have tried to learn this lesson. They have showed us that it is more revolutionary to speak of democracy and of dignity in the face of despotism and violence, than to speak of crusades and absolute truth.

From them - the least powerful - we have learnt that memory - even the memory of centuries - should be used for the future and not for the past. That different backgrounds are no problem if they are all on the same side. They have taught us to smile in the face of power and of those who want to reach it. They have encouraged us to dream of a different world, with more justice for everyone and not only for us and now there is no need to close our eyes to do this. They have taught us to march with questions on our lips, to abandon the useless certainties deriving from ideology to search for new ways and join with others as we march.

Since then we have always been on the move, body and soul. We may pause for rest but the important thing is that we always set off again in the direction of the horizon that we dream of reaching.
We can count on everything that we had with us when we learnt to dream again in 1994: a compass set firmly in the direction of humanity, a map to follow the stages of our journey and those that remain, something to cover us so that we are visible (and to see us through the night).

We shall set out as Zapatists from our communities in Europe and arrive as Zapatists to join our people from the rest of the world, united in Mexico, and we shall return as Zapatists to the forests of our cement cities after this long journey.

We shall bring news of Seattle, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Prague, Davos, Nice, Porto Alegre to our sisters and brothers - we shall hear from our sisters and brothers the news of their experiences in Chiapas, in Ecaudor, El Salvador, Korea, Guatemala, Australia, Oceania, Norway...

Together we shall draw a wider map. Together we shall set our compasses more accurately in the direction of humanity. Together we shall cover our faces and our bodies, to reveal everything that the empire hides. Together we shall build up civil disobedience against injustice and neoliberalism, in favour of humanity and democracy.

The white overalls will travel to Mexico from Italy on 3 jets, departing on 20, 21 and 22 February. With them there will be members of civil society, the Zapatist community of the 99 Posse, associations and collectives.

The entire caravan will be accompanied by 111 White Overalls representing the 111 Zapatist communities of the Lacandona Forest but there will be many more women and men (and perhaps children as well) who will set out on this journey. In March we shall wait in Mexico City for the arrival of other sisters and brothers of the civil society to join us from Italy.

THE FUTURE IS HERE, IT STARTS NOW

EUROPEAN ZAPATIST MOVEMENT OF THE WHITE OVERALLS

For info on travelling:

Milan tel. 02 6705185 - yabasta@tin.it


PGA
 

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