Text and Photos by Radio Zapatista/Regeneración Radio
A commission of around 160 Zapatistas arrived on Friday night, September 10, in Mexico City for their journey to Europe in three days. They called themselves “La Extemporánea” after the Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE) denied them passports in July. This group is made up of women, men, girls and boys. They traveled from San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, at 5:00 a.m. in the morning.
After 16 hours of travel, the Zapatistas reache the site of UNÍOS organization, located in the Cuauhtémoc delegation, where they will stay until the day of their departure –Monday, September 13. People accompanying and observing the caravan report that they were harassed by the National Guard during the journey.
Various collectives, organizations and individuals gathered to welcome the Zapatista women and men with cries of excitement, banners, blankets, expressions of support and a new mural on the facade of the host building.
Among the group of rebels from the Mexican southeast is the Comando Palomitas. Their motto is “We don’t need permission to eat popcorn.” They are two girls and two boys who will travel to Europe: Veronica, Cintia, Chuy and Amado. “Why settle for making mischief and wreaking havoc in the Caracol, if you can destroy a whole continent?” refers Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano (formerly Subcomandante Marcos) in a communiqué.
A contingent of 39 militia women from the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) will also be traveling. “All of them are of Mayan origin and speak Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Cho’ol, Tojolabal and Castilla,” they say and announce that they will be in charge of the security of the trip and of organizing soccer matches with women’s teams from Europe: “their soccer skills are a state secret, but their willingness to fight is visible,” they say with humor.
This article was published by Radio Zapatista on September 11th, 2021. https://radiozapatista.org/?p=39357&lang=en
This English interpretatio has been re-published by Schools for Chiapas.