EZLN CALLS MEETING OF RESISTANCE & REBELLION

This article by Elio Henríquez originally appeared in the June 2, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier leftist daily newspaper.

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chilpancingo. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), its autonomous governing bodies, and the Zapatista communities of Mayan origin have called for a “meeting of resistance and rebellion, some parts of the whole,” to be held from August 2 to 17.

The call, issued this Monday, is directed to individuals, groups, collectives, movements, and organizations “who, in different corners of the world, resist and rebel against one or all of the heads of the capitalist hydra and who have a practice to share, so that they can tell their story at a meeting with Zapatista communities.”

Subcomandante Moisés explained in a statement that “the invitation is for you, according to your times, geographies, and methods, to share your experience and proposals in the anti-system struggle. Several hundred Zapatistas (men, women, other people, children, and the elderly), from the various work groups, commissions, and responsibilities within the Zapatista autonomy and commons, will attend in person to listen to you and learn from you.”

He added: “That’s why we ask you to find the right word. Because if you come here and only use harsh words, it’s for nothing, because we won’t understand you. We’re sure we’ll be a collective, attentive, and respectful listener. That’s why we hope your words will be collective, clear, and understandable to those of us who invited you.”

Likewise, he added, “the Zapatista communities will explain to you—using whatever means the communities decide—the stage we are in, the problems we face, the progress or setbacks we see.”

Moisés stated that “anyone who wants and can from an organization, group, collective, or movement can attend, although only one person, or several, will share their experience in turn. Media presence will not be permitted unless authorized by those presenting their practice.”

She added that some of the topics to be addressed include “as women,” “destruction of nature,” “attacks on difference in all its forms,” ​​”destruction of identities, peoples, and communities,” “resistance and rebellion in art and culture,” “migration, racism, segregation,” “wars and the destruction of life,” “the topic that each person decides,” and “the whole or the parts of these topics.”

He clarified that “it’s not a meeting of analysis or theoretical approaches, but rather a meeting of practical experiences of resistance. Those of us who will be there already know what the damned system is and what it does against everyone , as well as against nature, knowledge, the arts, information, human dignity, and the entire planet.”

It’s not about, he said, “theoretically exposing the evils of the capitalist system, but rather about what is being done to resist and rebel, that is, to fight against it. We are not inviting you to teach. We are not your students or apprentices; nor are we teachers or tutors.  

We are, along with you, parts of a whole that opposes a system. Giving and giving. You tell us your experiences, and we, the Zapatista people, tell us ours.

He reported that the meeting will take place at the Comandanta Ramona Seedbed, in the Caracol of Morelia, from August 2 to 17, 2025.