lotu5, for sd indymedia, w/input from adriana | 01.10.2005 18:07

Today I start heading home. I'm writing these words for a few reasons. One is to share a bit of the reality of the revolution going on here in Chiapas with you. Another is so that I can remember it all well. Another is to encourage you to come to Chiapas if you think it is for you.

These are some of the words of a San Diego Indymedia journalist who has recently been in Chiapas, Mexico. Traveling, working, and learning about Zapatismo and indigenous autonomy in southern Mexico, you can read his reports and see his photos below.

Photos | 1st report | 2nd report | 3rd report | 4th report | Final Report

For more information: The Other Campaign |Radio Insurgente |Chiapas Indymedia | Schools for Chiapas |EZLN

I had a great time here, as well as a really difficult time. Mostly I feel that as an Anarchist and as someone struggling for Automony, this has been a great learning experience.

Here in Chiapas, the Zapatistas are developing autonomous, anti-capitalist communities, and have been doing so for 10 years, with another 10 years of preparation before that. We have so much to learn from them, and they are right here in front of us, just a plane or bus ride away. I hope that some of the many, many people out there struggling to create a new world come to Chiapas if they haven't already to see this incredible, vast, complex project with their own eyes.

This really is a magical place, with dark mountains in the distance and clouds swirling around them and down into the valleys at all times, with people speaking indigenous languages all around you and speaking a different indigenous language everywhere you go. The indigenous people of southeastern Mexico, who have been so oppressed and who the government has tried hard to forget and wipe out are creating the other world that so many people in so many other places only talk about.

Still, life here is hard. The indigenous still walk in the same mud they have for hundreds or thousands of years. People looking for work here have to ride these trucks through the jungle for hours and hours to get the the nearest city. The financial poverty is intense.

Amidst all this, there is a clear, deep sense of purpose and principle. The Zapatista communities have created these councils, juntas, laws, schools, clinics, stores in order to create a new, better world without neo-liberalism and capitalism and with dignity and freedom.

If you want to come support this struggle, you can come with an organization, like Schools for Chiapas, to learn your way a bit. You can also go by yourself, speak to the Junta in one of the Caracoles and present your skills and your offer to volunteer. There is so much to be done and so much to learn.

For more information: The Other Campaign |Radio Insurgente |Chiapas Indymedia | Schools for Chiapas |EZLN