The offensive by the ruling classes and their governments is becoming increasingly violent and dangerous for the survival of the peoples. In recent times, we have seen how the powerful no longer conceal or attempt to hide the growing militarization of the world. In the United States, Trump sends soldiers to the city of Portland to silence protests; in Ecuador, the military represses peaceful marches and murders indigenous people; in Chiapas, the military and landowners attack Zapatista bases and destroy their crops and communal facilities.
We are facing a series of wars against peoples, civil wars, wars of dispossession, to crush any resistance, to displace communities with the aim of clearing territories to accelerate the accumulation of wealth. As has already been said, Gaza is the mirror in which we must look at ourselves to understand what even the governments of our America are doing.
The recent denunciation by the Assembly of Zapatista Autonomous Governments (ACGAZ) Gobiernos en Común must be taken very seriously. The government handed over Zapatista lands recovered in 1994 to private individuals, which are being cultivated jointly by Zapatista support bases and non-Zapatista communities near the caracol Dolores Hidalgo. In the videos accompanying the denunciation, it can be clearly seen how the army and municipal police accompany the usurpers blessed by the “justice” of the state.
Not only did they enter Zapatista territory, displacing support bases and non-Zapatista peasants, but they also destroyed and stole property and crops, which shows the kind of people they are. From the September 24 communiqué (see enlacezapatista.ezln.org), I think it is necessary to highlight that we are facing “a plan by the three levels of bad governments.” No one should be distracted here: the federal government is responsible, along with the Chiapas government, for the aggression against Zapatista territory in order to convert it into private property. Why are they doing this? What are they looking for?
In my view, they want to destroy the Zapatista movement, either by provoking armed confrontations or by forcing them to retreat, as already happened in Nuevo San Gregorio. Since everything has its limits (from patience to attempts at dialogue), the communiqué warns that “they are forcing us to defend ourselves.” If they do so, they will immediately be labeled “terrorists,” as is currently happening in Ecuador with the indigenous peoples who are resisting Noboa’s bad government.
My impression, and I may be wrong, is that there is something new in this offensive, which is being illuminated by the genocide in Gaza. There are two new issues: the attack is taking place in broad daylight, protected by the impunity they believe they have due to the passive social support enjoyed by the 4T government; the second is that we are facing a military assault with the direct participation of the armed forces. This indicates that they are not only willing to displace people, as on previous occasions (often carried out by paramilitaries), but that they are now willing to kill unarmed people.
It is no coincidence that they created the FRIP or pakales, whose motto “Conquer or die” is not only a cult of death, but also reminds us of the Guatemalan kaibiles, trained by the US Green Berets and sponsored by the State of Israel, responsible for countless crimes during the genocide of the Mayan people in the 1980s. The kaibiles were defined as “killing machines” and after the war, many joined the Los Zetas cartel, probably paving the way for their pakales counterparts.
Let us hope that state violence does not escalate, but that depends entirely on them. Given the current state of affairs in the world, no one can say for sure that we are not witnessing the beginning of yet another genocidal plan against the Maya peoples and against the EZLN because their presence is a hindrance to capitalist business plans.
In Ecuador, in response to the indigenous and popular strike against a new package of measures targeting the economies of the people, Noboa’s government sent the military out onto the streets, invading homes at night, firing on the population, not just on protesters, and cowardly murdering the Kichwa artisan Efraín Fueres, who was shot three times. “Video of military mistreatment of dying protester sparks protests against Noboa,” headlines El País.
Social media cried out: “Terrorism is armed and trained soldiers getting out of a tank to kick the corpse of the peasant they murdered.” This is the reality of the system today, anywhere in the world. Let’s not fool ourselves: they are prepared for the mass murder of our peoples. That is why Gaza is so revealing. That is why Chiapas is so important. Let’s not delude ourselves. Progressive governments are an excellent stage for planning crimes and dispossession. Anyone can be responsible for perpetrating them.
Original text by Raúl Zibechi published in La Jornada on October 3rd, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.