“For the good of all, the poor first”…there is no doubt
Enrique González Pedrero
It is difficult to raise a more incontrovertible sentence in our days, especially one that, for those of us who believe that the dignity of the human being does not tolerate the existence of poverty and inequality in the world, is definitely true. So much so, that it has been overwhelming as a flag in political campaigns due to its efficient usefulness when communicating with voters since it reflects the priority with which every ruler must conduct himself and in our case, it represents the vision of a Mexican state led with equity and focused on those who have the least. But it is also difficult to imagine Mexican citizens poorer than our indigenous brothers, whose situation has not changed in the slightest due to the advent of the Fourth Transformation.
Next January 1st marks thirty years since the Zapatista Army of National Liberation took up arms declaring war on the Government of Mexico. It was made up of thousands of indigenous combatants who took five municipal seats in the State of Chiapas. The rebellion sought to vindicate the rights to “work, land, shelter, food, health, independence, freedom, democracy, justice and peace” that have historically been denied. Demands that three decades later are still valid and neglected by successive government administrations, including the current one. It is important to say that the situation is now aggravated by the action of organized crime that is very present in the Zapatista territories.
At the time, the insurrection attracted the attention of the entire world, who looked at the movement with great curiosity, recognized figures from the cultural and political environments at a national and international level who almost instantly made their empathy evident to the extent that Subcomandante Marcos, his spokesperson and visible leader, he became a true rockstar. Thanks to this, the government of President Salinas de Gortari contained the furious repression that it was already carrying out against the rebellious indigenous communities, his successor Ernesto Zedillo gave them and gave us “atole with the finger”, with the signing of the San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Law and Culture, which to date are a dead letter. For his part, Vicente Fox boasted that he would end the conflict in just fifteen minutes, which, of course, he did not do and did not even take care of. From then on, those who succeeded him forgot about the matter just as before the uprising. Of course, as a society we are also partly to blame for the unjustifiable insensitivity towards our fellow indigenous peoples.
In these days, the Zapatista communities announced that in their “war against oblivion”, they will remember the events of 1994 through various acts that will have verification in place and simultaneously, sympathizers of their cause programmed what they call “The national caravan of caravans and international” in which people from some states of the republic and twenty countries participate.
Until that happens, we will continue to witness and tolerate the boring campaigns prescribed to us by the government and the political parties that fight fiercely and in free style over what Subcomandante Marcos long ago called “the business” of governing Mexico.
“We don’t learn…not even speak.”
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