Donald Trump is President-elect of the most powerful military and industrial empire the world has ever seen. Each of us must search our hearts and our minds to imagine how we can best respond to this startling fact; however, we at Schools for Chiapas hope that old fashioned, international solidarity will remain an important part of our collective and individual response to the current, and the soon to worsen, crises.

Zapatista children living in a remote Mayan community of Chiapas, Mexico are now attending classes in their new school after a ribbon-cutting and traditional ceremony attended by a Schools for Chiapas team and other visitors. The new autonomous school is called “Escuela Autonoma Companera Manuel” and is located in the community of La Revolucion.  The massive concrete and wood school structure was built by members of the Zapatista community known as La Revolucion and was funded by donors through Schools for Chiapas. There are many more communities who still need classrooms.  Click here for more information on donating to help build a school

The CompArt festival organized by the Zapatistas was a complicated, multifaceted, and wondrous accomplishment in popular art during July 2016. We have found the best summation in English of the festival (especially including videos of performances and photos) is available on Radio Zapatista. Chect it out at: http://radiozapatista.org/?page_id=16981&lang=en

We Zapatistas have suspended (not cancelled) our participation. We think, we believe, and we hope that there will be cleaner days in which to offer it. We don’t know when, maybe for the birthday party of the National Indigenous Congress, but we don’t want to commit ourselves because what if…

The National Education Association and President Lily Eskelsen García are submitting a letter to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, demanding an end to violence against educators and the oppression in Oaxaca, Mexico. Please add your name to call for the end to this violence, and for peaceful negotiation with educators.