- Bricker: Zapatistas Will Defend the Cucapa and Kiliwa Peoples of Baja California
- Berger: Atenco, Oaxaca and Zapatista Rebels Unite in Public for the First Time
October 22, 2006
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Recently there have been several meetings and announcements that have shed light on the future endeavors of the Other
Campaign. Narco News Correspondent Kristin Bricker writes that, in a surprising move after speaking to the Cucapa and
Kiliwa indigenous communities, Subcomandante Marco declared that the Zapatistas will defend the Cucapa and Kiliwa
peoples of Baja California, giving the first specific glimpse at the types of action to expect in the next year of the
Other Campaign.
Kristin Bricker reports:
"The Cucapa and Kiliwa indigenous communities are facing extinction. Of the Cucapas, less then 300 remain; of the
Kiliwas, 54. While the government does not concern itself with preserving their culture, traditions, and very existence,
it is very concerned about the fish they rely on for their very survival. The federal government, with the support of
"conservation" organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International (who are notorious for
protecting endangered species by kicking endangered peoples out of their land), turned the waters they've fished for
generations into the Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California on June 10, 1993, because it was "in the public
interest," according to the official website of the government's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas. The
website also notes that 77 percent of the people who live in and around the reserve rely on fishing for their
livelihoods, so it is unclear which public interest the fishing ban in the protected area serves.
"...In protest against the forceful dispossession of their lands and the destruction of their culture, the Kiliwas took
a death pact. The women have agreed to stop having children, and the Kiliwas will die with this generation. Marcos,
however, intends to use the power of the Other Campaign to convince them that they are not alone, and that it is not
worth it to die from a death pact when they can die fighting."
After consulting with the Kiliwa authorities, Marcos announced that Zapatistas and supporters from both sides of the
border will set up a camp on their land by the time the next fishing season starts, to protect the people's way of life.
Read the full story:
Also new this weekend from the Other Journalism with the Other Campaign, Greg Berger describes the first-ever joint
public appearance by three of Mexico's powerful social movements:
"Only six short months ago, the town of Texcoco, in Mexico State, was made infamous throughout Mexico and the world as
the place where one of the worst police massacres in recent Mexican history began. Today the town of Texcoco is making
history yet again, but this time as the site of an historic encounter of representatives from three of the Mexican
left's most significant political movements: The Other Campaign of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), the
Peoples' Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT) from San Salvador Atenco, and the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca
(APPO), comprised of teachers and social movements from Oaxaca. On Friday, the three organizations pledged mutual
support to fight for the liberation of political prisoners and to create a united front against municipal, state and
federal authorities. With less than a month and a half to go before the controversial inauguration of rightwing
President-Elect Felipe Calderón, today's encounter in Texcoco underscores the strength and willingness of the Mexican
left to forge alliances and to defy the political establishment in the battle for Mexico's social and political destiny
in years to come."
Read Berger's full report:
From somewhere in a country called América,
Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin