Defensores

I'm in Chiapas with a group of students who aren't politicized at all and a teacher who is terrific and into the political in a big way. I guess these are the students "who need it" but it's hard to show them the way.... The best way to do it, of course, is with real life examples and we've had two great experiences so far that really hit home. Yesterday we went for a meeting of the Red de Defensores, a group of indigenous representatives from various communities whose communities have been militirized. They face repression on a daily basis and the things they have learned (like penal codes, how to fight in court, how to stand up against drugged-up military officials with big guns) in order to be free from such crap is amazing. They gave us so many examples of the shit they go through, among them regular violations of the women in the community and Coca Cola working w/ the govt. to privatize their water sources and use for their plant, we were moved, impressed and wildly inspired.

One of the women said that up until recently she didn't know she had rights. She didn't know she had the right not to be raped. That threw me into a tailspin. We do a lot of talk about human rights and that they can be given or taken away... it's a mess really. But the right to dignity, to clean water, to sustainance- and the right to autonomy. These folks said that is their goal- to be autonomous and when I said that I wished it for them too, they turned around and said that they hoped someday the people in our country would have it too....

Today we visited Promedios/Chiapas Media Project who give classes and equiptment to autonomous Zapatista communities so that they can learn how to document their lives in their own words. We watched a great one about women's rights (which they originally had men talking about women's rights which sparked large debates in the communities and big changes toward more female support), land rights and globalization. All made by the communities that face the problems directly. There is so much strength, belief, conviction and necessity that the people in the films present. There is hope that things are changing. It gives me some perspective.

I also gave my first 'class' on historical materialsm, the birth and growth of capitalsim, definitions of globalization and neoliberalism and although I'm sure it was botched and waaaay simplified, I think the students got the gist. It was especially helpful that they could reflect on the real life examples they had just witnessed. They're talking about Coke boycotts at their schools already. There's hope for them yet!

Mexico has a new president and a lot of protest. Oaxacan government continues to jail and kill its people. We need the Red de Defensores and independant media more than ever..... What does the US see? What does the US know? Who knows how connected the US is to these things?
Questions.......