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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, New Revolt Shakes Mexico - Article﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿New Revolt Shakes Mexico

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by Augusta Dwyer﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿The emergence of a new guerrilla movement this summer introduced another opposition force into Mexican political life. As AUGUSTA DWYER shows, this indicates the profound instability of Mexican politics and the promising emergence of a new, independent union movement.﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


Last June a new guerrilla movement made its presence felt in the Mexico state of Guerrero. While its origins, as well as its politics, remain shrouded in mystery, one thing is certain. The very existence of the Peoples Revolutionary Army, or EPR, is yet another indication of the utter failure of Mexican capitalism to solve even the most basic problems of Mexico's rural and urban working class. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Masked and brandishing weapons, members of the EPR first appeared at an anniversary mass for 22 peasants shot dead in an army ambush near a small mountain town called Coyuca de Benitez in 1995. Afterwards, the Mexican government attempted as quickly as possible to suggest that this sudden showing of masked insurgents was completely meaningless. Even as they poured troops into the impoverished and backward area -- only a few hours from the heavily industrialized and populated State of Mexico - military authorities came out with their usual line. The soldiers were only going in to provide social assistance, they said, not to engage with or search for armed rebels. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Even observers of the Mexican left wondered about the EPR. Since two consecutive uprisings in Guerrero in past decades, those of Gennaro Vasquez and Lucio Cabanas, the government has kept such a close and repressive eye on the place, said Jose Olmos of the Mexico City daily, La Jornada, that it would be almost impossible to organize any kind of significant armed resistance there. Indeed as the police moved in to arrest local peasant leaders, it did seem as though the EPR might be a government invention designed to allow them to remove vocal opposition members from the scene and into jail. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In past weeks however the EPR has made itself felt as an independent force, attacking army convoys in a number of states. In the past two months they have killed at least 73, and wounded 14. Many believe that the EPR is linked to an older organization called the Party of the Poor, also known by the acronym Procup-Pdlp. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿Small Revolts﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Whatever the EPR's origins and politics, the intense sense of frustration felt by Mexicans has recently lead to a number of spontaneous small revolts, flaring up and settling down again, throughout the country. Perhaps the most graphic occurred in the state of Puebla, where villagers beat, then burned alive, a man accused of rape. Villagers claimed they had no faith in the corrupt police nominally in charge of their community. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Mexico has always been a nation of great disparities between a mass of working poor, peasants and indigenous peoples, and a tiny, wealthy elite. Since the mid-1980s however, as Mexican governments sought entry into the global marketplace more aggressively, the gap has been widening. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

A series of pacts signed by government, big business and the pro-government labour unions headed by the infamous Fidel Velasquez, have, since 1987, seen a constant chipping away at the Mexican worker's already extremely low standard of living. The peso devaluation in December 1994 was also devastating. A garment worker in Mexico City, for example, now earns about 200 pesos a week, a sum which equals only $40 Canadian. With labour costs like these and a devalued peso, it is not surprising that Mexican exports are finally beginning to rise, and industrial output as well. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿Zapatistas﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

For many on the Mexican left the only answer seems to be the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in the southern state of Chiapas. While the EZLN has garnered vast amounts of attention and support in Mexico, quite unlike any other guerrilla movement this century, they are caught within the very contradictions they have come forth to denounce. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

While they reject mainstream politics for being bourgeois, they remain unable to form any kind of organization that offers -- or advocates -- an alternative. Last summer the Zapatistas held a series of conferences. Most of these fit into an increasingly complicated negotiation process to which the EZLN agreed after the army routed them in February of 1995. These talks seemed to be going nowhere until local elections in Chiapas in November of 1995. At that time, the EZLN proclaimed that the vaguely social-democrat PRD was not taking their demands seriously and called on supporters not to vote for them. The level of abstentionism in Chiapas was so high that both political observers and government were shocked. Finally, government negotiators agreed to include the Zapatista's national issues also. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

It is worth mentioning that, in spite of this, the great majority of rank-and-file Zapatistas see no use for the talks, and are both willing and ready to take up arms again. This is according to the chief EZLN negotiator, a former community organizer from the Chiapas highlands known as Commandante David. He added that the EZLN feels obliged by the people of Mexico to find a peaceful solution to the uprising. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Thus 1996 saw various occasions where the EZLN invited the public at large to comment on the agreements reached so far and to discuss new issues. At least three such gatherings took place in succession in July alone in Chiapas. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Early in 1996, an organization called the Zapatista National Liberation Front was formed. The Front is not the political wing of the EZLN, says Sub-Commandante Marcos, but a broad-church organization which "walks the same path as" the EZLN. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The Front is, however, a somewhat curious organization. Anyone who wants change and democracy in Mexico is invited to join. It eschews any kind of political status and members of the Front may not run for public office. While this acknowledges a long tradition of corruption in public office, it begs the question of the exact use of the Front. So far the idea seems to be that of forming as large a group as possible, and then using it to pressure the PRD (again) onto a platform which resolves at least the most basic social demands. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Some of these demands were clarified at a conference in the city of San Cristobal in early July, attended by members of the EZLN as well as about 1,000 delegates from a number of social, student and labour organizations. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

For the first time ever, the EZLN set up a discussion group on labour issues. The participants in this discussion group came up with an array of concrete demands, such as a 30-hour week for 56 hours pay, an end to forced affiliation of unions to the governing party, free and open union affiliation, the right to recall union executives, the right to strike without Labour Ministry permission, and so on. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

While these are only demands on paper, they do serve to bring the Mexican working class and the hitherto nationalist, populist EZLN closer. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿New Union﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

At the same time, a new union called the ﻿First of May Inter-Union Federation was formed as a result of the massive Mexico City May Day demonstration of 1995. The Inter-Union seems to be far more active that the various attempts in the past at gluing together an independent union movement. Along with a few other, much smaller, labour groups, they plan to hold a referendum this month on workers' issues. Workers will be asked to vote on questions concerning decent living standards, education, child labour, undocumented migrant labour in the US, and the right to a job. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Referendum organizers want to hit as many factories, workshops and offices as possible. They are hoping that the questions will function as a kind of wake-up call for Mexican workers. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

From there, however, it is important that the Inter-Union organize and respond to what they have created. Mexico has never lacked for people who are fed up with the system, the corruption, and the extraordinarily narrow horizons offered the working class. What has been lacking, however, are cogent ideas about how to fight back, how to build a coherent, combative movement which is clear on the pitfalls of both guerrilla warfare and electoral promises, and on the very real need to fight for socialism from below. 


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