February 10, 1995
To Mr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
Mexico, D.F.
Mr. Ernesto Zedillo, we do not know where you come up with so
much money to move hundreds of tanks, helicopters, and
thousands of federal troops to kill Mexicans and Indians.
We the Zapatista Indigenous know that our country is in an
economic crisis, that you have been reducing the salary to
workers, you raised the price of goods, but nevertheless, you
spent so much money in the mobilization of your troops.
You, Mr. Zedillo, believe that by killing indigenous people and
other social fighters for our country, that you are going to
finish with Zapatismo. You, Mr. Zedillo, want to end with the
indigenous struggle because you consider it a nuisance to remain
in power and to continue profiting at the expense of the blood of
many Mexicans. But that is not all, Mr. Zedillo will be
inscripted in our history books as the powerful rulers of the
past who like you has wanted to finish with, to erase from
our Mexico, the revolutionary figures like Hidalgo, Allende,
Aldama, Morelos, Zapata, Villa, as you are doing now with the
present Zapatistas.
But you better know, Mr., that you can kill our bodies, but not ever
the ideals of the people who struggle, you can cut our leaves and
our trunks but never our roots. We want to tell you also, Mr. Zedillo,
that you can spent the 40 billion dollars to spill with indigenous
and mestiza blood our Mexican soil. And you can ask for more
dollars from the United States to modernize you army and to
kill the indigenous people who struggle, to kill Mexicans,
to kill children from Mexico and Chiapas, to kill your compatriots,
as you fancy yourself.
Mr. Zedillo, we accuse you as traitor to the homeland. Because
all the money you have received from the United States you spent
it to kill Mexicans. You, Mr. Zedillo, are selling piece by piece our
homeland. You fancy yourself in saying that your troops are acting
without mistreating the population, without producing fights
against our Zapatista troops. You lied once again, Mr. Zedillo, and
the indigenous people are living through the pressures of the
soldiers, they are bombing us and using machine guns against us.
They are killing of hunger our children when we are not able
to be in our homes to prepare the little food we have left.
If you, Mr. Zedillo, do not size up the consequences that could
bring this war you have declared on us. If what you want is to
kill the people and not allow to find, along with the indigenous
people, along with civic society, a political solution to this
problem, we ask from the whole world for their support. Become
aware of the type of government we have in Mexico.
We want to clarify also that we do not belong to any other force
or organization, besides our Zapatista National Liberation Army
(EZLN). You, along with your accomplices, are accussing us of being
terrorists, drug traffickers, delinquents, etc. But we want to tell
you the truth, if you don't know it, the delinquents, terrorists, drug
traffickers are yourselfs. The same ones who make up your
cabinet, they are your own soldiers who traffic with drugs,
who force the indigenous peasants to grow mariguana and other
narcotic drugs. Have you not become aware of this, perhaps, Mr.
Zedillo? We the Zapatistas are aware of it. Because we live with
our people. We are the same ones who have fought against the
harvest of drugs, against the trafic of drugs that your own soldiers
carry out and have done inside the territories that we have controlled.
You, Mr. Zedillo, are accusing us of many things we do not recognise.
The weapons that we have today, we got through your state police,
public security forces, and federal soldiers, because they can
do traffic with weapons. That is the proffession that your armed
forces have, Mr. Zedillo,: arms traffickers, drug traffickers.
Therefore, they are the drug addicts, the delinquents, and the
terrorists.
The EZLN has the honor of being the clean fighters of our people
and our homeland. It is true, we have experienced and tried
other types of struggles for the benefit of our people. But they
were not sufficient to make them understand, the great
powerful ones who rule our Mexican nation.
Subcomandante Marcos has been with us, besides our people.
Since more than eleven years ago, he has lived, has eaten the
same as us, has suffered the sames as us. And each step that
our Zapatista struggle has given, has been done with the
decision of our people. Our struggle is just and we do not
fear you, Mr. Zedillo.
Therefore, Mr. Zedillo, If you truely have honor and the pride of
being Mexican, do not order to kill our people. Lower the tension
that you have against Subcomandante Marcos. Because in Mexico
there are many Marcos who will continue this struggle. You are
greatly mistaken with the decision you have taken against us.
You believe that by killing the Zapatistas of Chiapas or by
killing Subcomandante Marcos you can finish with this struggle.
That is not the case, Mr. Zedillo. The Zapatista struggle is
throughout Mexico. Zapata has not died. He lives and will live
forever.
We the indigenous people know well Subcomandante Marcos. And
we will not allowed that anything happens to him. And, if
something happens to him, we are not going to remain with
arms crossed. Because the Zapatistas do not betray the blood
of our dead ones.
We, of the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee (CCRI),
want to know if it is your last word the one of war and the
killing of Mexicans and Indigenous people, or the capture of all
Zapatistas. We don't have any option left already but to defend
ourselves. We are ready for your wishes, but not to betray our
cause. You can capture and torture us if you wish. And you can use
part of the 40 billion dollars to make the jails bigger. Because
with what you have right now there is no space for a quarter
of the Mexicans and the Zapatistas in Chiapas. Because to finish
Zapatismo you will have to kill thousands of children and civilians,
indigenous and mestizos.
We want to know if this is your last word for now, Mr. Zedillo.
We have the order to retreat, to avoid a confrontation with your
army. But if that is the case, we are ready. Because, we, the
Indigenous people, don't have anything to loose, and we are
councious and ready to die if necessary. We are not afraid of
dead. Because we have been always the dead ones alive.
We don't have anything but missery. exploitation, and lack of
liberty and justice and democracy in our country. We tell the
truth, which is what you powerful ones want to hide from the
people of Mexico. We have the hope that some day, our people
our people will live with dignity and justice, with peace but
with dignity and justice.
We remind you, Mr. Zedillo, that the Zapatistas are willing
to dialogue and to find a political solutions to our problems.
And we placed more conditions for the ceasefire so to allow
later the dialogue. But you have responded by ordering more
soldiers, more planes, more helicopters, tanks,
and militarizing more the state of Chiapas. Then, how do you
want us to respond? You want us to bow our head again?
You want us to kneel before you as you are accustomed?
No Mr. Zedillo. I believe that you know well that the indigenous
people have more than 500 years of marginalization and
exploitation from the powerful ones like you. But don't waste
yourself on threaths, because this way you will not achieve
anything with us.
We repeat our disposicion to dialogue and to give a political
solution to this problem. But under the condition to lower the
tension that you have against Subcomandante Marcos, and under
the conditions that you already know. Because otherwise, you
will not achieve anything but to dirty your hands with
Mexican blood.
Fraternally, Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee,
General Command of the EZLN, Chiapas, Mexico, 1995
/* Written 7:37 AM Feb 13, 1995 by evera in igc:reg.mexico */ /* ----------
"LETTER TO ZEDILLO 2/10 EZLN (eng.)" ---------- */ This a translation by the
National Commission for Democracy
in Mexico, of the latest EZLN communiques, received in handwritten form
contact: moonlight@igc.apc.org
evera@igc.apc.org
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