39 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
39 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
Anarchism and the Zapatistas
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....(1) The rise of the EZLN out of the neo-agrarista movement in the past
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few decades (in reality a whole non-ideological latice of autonomous campesino
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struggles) does not necessarily reflect a direct tie to either Zapatismo or
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anarchism. Yes the anarchists did have a big hand in the 19th cent. agararista
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movement but their participation in the 20th is shaky at best. While a few
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urban anarchists like Antonio Diaz Soto y Gama joined Zapata the majority of
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Mexican anarchists actively fought against the Zapatistas. The Casa de Obrero
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Mundial (an anarcho-syndicalist group) formed anti-Zapatista "red battalions"
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in support of the bourgeois liberal Carrancistas.Furthermore Magon's PLM had
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very little to do with the Zapatistas since they had been essentially
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crushed by the US and Mexican state. Zapatismo like most agrarista ideologies
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has a very narrow focus. It oriented itself to "tierra y libertad" but in
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a regional context (the sugar plantations and ejidos of Morelos). Similarly
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what the EZLN wants is based around specific regional conditions (but sharing
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a same basic agrarista strand with the Zapatistas). I think we should be
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careful about slapping our North American anarchist label over an insurrection
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which has a far more complex reality.
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(2) I would be really antsy about calling the uprising "non-authoriatarian".It is in the sense that it comes relatively organically from-below as a
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challenge to Mexican Capital and the State but organizationally the EZLN is
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an authoritarian group. From talking with people supposedly tied directly to
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them they sound to be organized as an army. In other words with a rigid
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chain of command with a clandestine central committee at its apex. Decision
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making is semi-democratic following a maoist mass line type approach(reflecting
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the Maoist roots of some of the urban types in the group). For example the
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decision to push forward the uprising from April (the beginning of the rainy season) to Jan.1 had been discussed by the entire membership and had been agreed
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upon despite the supposedly almighty Marcos' objections. Once again its a
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complex situation for us anarchists. I personally am inspired more by the
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town takeovers by autonomous campesino groups than by the EZLN (although I
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find them far more sympathetic than leftist rackets like the FMLN). As far as
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the EZLN is tied to its autonomous campesino roots I think we should support
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them but I think we need to have a clear analysis of who they are.
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Oh well enough late night ranting, I would just like to close by saying
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I think we should support the people of Chiapas and Mexico in what ever it
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takes for them to liberate themselves but I think that support should take
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into account a healthy dose of two-way criticism.
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