Reports from the Other Campaign in Sinaloa
October 12, 2006
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After a five-month suspension due to the Mexican government's brutal attack on the town of Atenco, Subcomandante Marcos'
tour of the entire Mexican republic is back in full swing. Now, in The Narco News Bulletin, read the first reports from
the Zapatista Other Campaign in the Pacific state of Sinaloa.
Al Giordano provides a "rewind" of the Other Campaign so far, discussing its victories and challenges, and reports on
the meetings that took place between Marcos and the embattled fishing communities of this allegedly "conservative"
state.
Giordano writes:
"...In recent decades came gigantic multi-national trawlers from the United States, from Spain, from Japan, from other
countries, scraping not just the shrimp from the ocean floor, but also the plants and eco- systems that feed them and
allow them to live and to reproduce. As a result, shrimp now is scarce for certain parts of the year. Instead of telling
the foreign seafood merchants to stop raping the Mexican coastlines in this way, the government of Mexico created a
policy called the 'veda,' the imposition of entire seasons in which shrimp fishing is forbidden (the same policy has
been imposed upon those who catch others kinds of fish and seafood along other Mexican coastlines up and down the
Pacific, the Gulf and the Caribbean). This, to ensure that during the seasons when the big shrimp boats come to scrape
again, there will be product for them to harvest."
This attack on the coastal way of life was explained to Delegate Zero by the people who live it. Other Journalism
correspondent Kristin Bricker, in her own report from the meetings, reports that in addition to the obstacles placed for
fishermen, the government invests enormous sums of money in developing ritzy marinas for U.S. tourists, while allowing
trash to pile up in obscene amounts in the poor town of Dautillo:
"Caravan participants noticed the stench before they even entered the town, but didn't mention it to Dautillo residents
out of politeness. But they didn't need to; in the public forum, several impassioned Dautillo women stressed the need to
organize for trash collection. They complained that when friends come to town for visits, they hold their noses because
of the offensive smell.
"Garbage trucks never come to Dautillo to collect the waste. It sits alongside a marsh where the trash is burned,
plastic and all. The result is devastating: the trash attracts flies and maggots that spread disease and make the
children sick. For such an impoverished town, the increased economic burden of trash-related medical expenses is
unbearable. This hardship is exacerbated by the fact that fishermen aren't entitled to social security benefits, which
would help them cover medical expenses. The trash also pollutes the surrounding land and water, affecting the chickens
and shrimp. This, of course, drives shrimp prices down even further."
Read both reports in The Narco News Bulletin:
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In addition, Al Giordano had reported late last night that "Delegate Zero" (Marcos) was banned from board the ferry that
provides the only public transportation between Sinaloa and the Baja California peninsula, on an absurd pretext that the
Other Journalism quickly revealed to be a lie. Now, this morning the Mexican newspaper La Jornada reports that the ferry
company has softened its tone and may allow the masked subcomandante to make the voyage after all.
"What happened?" writes Giordano: "President Vicente Fox is scheduled to be in the same port of Topolobampo this
afternoon at 5:30 to cut the ribbons on some development projects. Once the story hit that a problem was brewing right
there, the boys upstairs got nervous and apparently decided to back down. Another victory for the Zapatista Other
Campaign..."
Read a translation of that report:
From somewhere in a country called América,
Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin