translation EZLN communique 9/18 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Zapatista Army of National Liberation Mexico September 17, 1997. To the people of Mexico Brothers and Sisters: We want to say good-bye to everyone. To make memory of all which has happened. To remember all the Mexicos which have accompanied us in this march. Because this was not the march of the Zapatistas. Nor was it the march of the indigenous people. It was everyone's march. It was the march of all the Mexicos. We want to remember and salute the brothers and sisters of the National Indigenous Congress and especially all the indigenous people who made this march their own in the villages and paths we traversed by supporting us with their voices, their footsteps, their food, their homes, their aid. We want to remember and salute the brothers and sisters of the political and social organization who helped us organize this march, gave us housing, and their labor and efforts so that all results would be good. We want to remember and salute again the city of Mexico for making a space for a voice of the indigenous people. We want to remember and salute in a very special way civil society. We want our heart to speak to every man and woman who is a part of civil society. We remember and salute and the boys and girls of Mexico. Like the little girl who raised money at her school to help pay for the buses in which we traveled here, who supported us with her heart and her size. We want to remember and salute all the children in any part of our nation they await and deserve a better Mexico. We remember and salute the women of Mexico. We salute women like those who cooked for us or the woman who gave us food or clothing and the one who gave a portion of her salary and family budget and the one who in her school or workplace stood with us, added her voice to the shout of "never again a Mexico without us." We remember and salute the women of all ages, social classes, colors who made themselves a part of that Mexico that all of us dream about. We remember and salute the youth of Mexico. We salute that young worker who with a tin can gathered money outside his factory for the march, the students, artists, employees, drivers, masons, janitors, rock-and-rollers, gang members, street vendors. We remember and salute all the young people from everywhere who worked, walked and gave to this mobilization and gave it their banner. We remember and salute the elderly of this nation, those who, like us, know that memory is life and that to take care of life is to take care of memory. We remember and salute the organizations of homosexuals and lesbians. We remember and salute those who share the struggle against racism, intolerance and exclusion. We remember and salute the citizens of other nations. We remember and salute those who accompanied us with their heart and knew how to extend a bridge that surpassed nationalities and borders. Brothers and Sisters; This great march for a Mexico for all the Mexicos was converted into a message, into many messages. This march was carried out as though each step was a letter to someone, as though it contained a message for each one. This march was carried. In this way it had many steps and many messages for many. Each will know how to read their corresponding message and think about how to respond. We Zapatistas received more than a message. We received a lesson. The teachers of this lesson of history are the workers of the fields and the cities, the indigenous, the political and social organizations, the children, the women, the young people, the elderly, the homosexuals and lesbians, all Mexican men and women. Once again as in 1994, the students are the Zapatistas. We learned once again we are a part of Mexico that contains many Mexicos. We learned that it is more important is to speak and listen to the many Mexicos which our country has. We learned that we are not alone and that we cannot conduct ourselves as though we were alone. We learned that we have to join up with all the Mexicos in order to construct the nation which we all need and deserve. A better nation. A nation with democracy, liberty and justice for all Mexicans. Brothers and Sisters of civil society: Since January of 1994 we have heard your voice and felt your support and proximity. We will continue to struggle so that our weapons are useless. We will continue to seek peaceful and civic paths. We will not allow ourselves to be defeated by those who gave us no choice but to take up arms. The government and its party say they are legal and they carry out violent actions, assassinations, jailings, persecution. They say we are illegal yet we carry out civic and peaceful actions. And we will continue to do everything possible so that these civic and peaceful actions and not war, be what constructs peace for all Mexicans. Brothers and Sisters; During this time of popular mobilizations, we learned once again that legitimacy is not granted by the government. Legitimacy is given by the people, and therefore we must direct ourselves to you. The new peace, the peace with justice and dignity, the only peace possible is with you. With you we will search for it, in you we will find it. Brothers and Sisters; We will remember this lesson and we have noted everything in order to take it back to our communities and to our combatants. We understand your shout of "you are not alone" We will continue to struggle next to all of you for a new peace, for a peace with justice and dignity. We will continue to struggle next to all of you for the recognition of the rights of the Indian peoples. We will continue to struggle next to all of you so that all the Mexicos of Mexico have: Democracy! Liberty! Justice! From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. For the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee-General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. Mexico, September of 1997 ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-09.24.97-12:18:13-18879