Zapatista Solidarity Essex talks at Occupy London

With a short talk on the Zapatista movement, Petar Stanchev from the University of Essex patricipated in the Global Noise Day in London. The event was on the first birthday of the Occupy London Stock Exchange and focused on the ongoing global austerity pillage and its effects on different parts of the world. Speakers from Greece, Portugal, Spain, Quebec and other places talked about the devastating effects of neo-liberal policies in their countries and the resistance against them.

The Zapatista struggle couldn't be but one of the examples for the attrocities of neo-liberalism and the struggle for another world. In his speech the activist from Essex emphasized on the ideological and practical similarities between Occupy and the Zapatistas. The "story of dignity and rebellion", as he defined the movement in Chiapas is a lesson for all the activists around the world of how people themselves can make a difference through self-organization, direct democracy and rejection of any concessions by a corrupt and criminal system:

"We are not here to fight for concessions from the government. Not even for free education, healthcare or social benefits, because even if we get a proper welfare state in the margins of the Capitalists system, that would just mean exploitation in another corner of the planet. We are here to fight for a complete overthrow of the Capitalist system!"

The Global Noise Day challenged the surrent system with various events around the world. Thousands of people, carrying pots and pans, gathered in London, Madrid, Lisbon, Mexico City and many other cities to protest on the austerity measures and the bailouts of the banks. Photos from the events here.

A place called Chiapas - screening

20 people attended the first screening for this year and introduction to the Zapatista Solidarity Group at the University of Essex. The group presented the documentary "A place called Chiapas" by the Canadian journalist Nettie Wild. The movie was accompanied by a short talk on several issues related to the struggle of the Zapatista communities and especially on the paramilitary attacks and threats carried out in the recent months.

For those who couldn't attend the screening on Friday, the full movie can be found online:

Zapatista - Essex - In solidarity with the protesting students in Quebec

The Zapatista Solidarity Group Essex took part in an action in solidarity with the protesting students in Qubec, Canada.  Around 50 letters of solidarity, with a piece of red cloth attached to each of them, were signed and sent by students to the Canadian High Commission in London. 

“It is of crucial importance to stand in solidarity with the students in Canada who are being arrested and intimidated at the moment,” said Petar, a first year student at Essex who helped organise the letter writing. “We hope that groups of students across the country can do the same, and flood the high commission with letters.”

The text of the letter:

To the Canadian High Commissioner to the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Mr. Campbell,

       I am writing to you with deep concern about the current situation with the rising tuition fees in the public universities in Quebec. As a student in the United Kingdom, I want to express my complete solidarity with the students in the region in their struggle for affordable higher education. I believe that education, at any level, is a human right and turning it into a commodity, measured by the scales of the market, can be in benefit of the big business and its profit, but it can hardly be in benefit of the society.

      As a student, actively involved in the local protests and campaigns for free higher education and against the cuts in the sector, I warn you that the students on the streets of Quebec are part of a global struggle against the profit as superior to the human being. Our voice echoes from the streets of Santiago de Chile, through Tahrir and Saint Paul squares, to the red flags covering Montreal, and in this struggle, just as students and protesters across the world will be our brothers, governments, oppressing their citizens in the name of the big capital, will be considered our enemies. With strong indignation, provoked by the repressions against the student movement, I will keep following the situation and take part in future actions in support of the protests in Quebec.


Regards:

Essex visits Sofia

Petar Stanchev from the Zapatista Solidarity Group Essex held a talk on the struggle in Chiapas in the social centre ¡Adelante! in Sofia, Bulgaria. The presentation "The Zapatistas - roots, struggle, lessons" kept the attention of the nearly 30 visitors of the centre for more than two hours and provoked numerous questions in the audience. 

The talk was followed by a discussion where the guests had the opportunity to share their knowledge on the Zapatista movement. The hosts from ¡Adelante! also talked about their experience in importing and selling coffee from the Zapatista coffee collectives from the southern Mexican state.

¡Adelante! official page (in Bulgarian) - http://adelante-sc.org/

Festival news Vol 3: 3-hour session on the Zapatista movement

Almost 3 hours lasted the session on the Zapatista movement at the Alter-Globalisation Festival this Thursday. The political sociologist at the UAM and GTA at the Uni of Essex, Rebeca Perez Leon, made a dissection of the social, political and cultural roots of the rebellion in Chiapas. Her presentation - "The EZLN and the struggle for the autonomy of the indigenous people in Las Cañadas of Las Margaritas, Chiapas Mexico" was based on her research in the pro-zapatista base las Cañadas between 2002 and 2004 and 2007 and 2008. Leon's critical approach managed to provoke unseen number of questions and comments among the 30 people who attended the talk.

Rebeca Perez Leon spoke about the indigenous communities of las Cañadas and the formation of the EZ, the zapatista army, as well as the development of the EZ, taking in consideration the positive and the negative aspects of the movement for indigenous communities. She emphasised on the role of the EZLN on facilitating the process of democratisation in Mexico and it's crucial significance for the preservation of indigenous cultural and political identity. At the same time she shared critical points based on her own research on the inability of the Zapatista commandment to establish fully horizontal approach trough the assemblies and ejidos.

Asked how does she see the EZLN in the next years and what is gonna be their role in the political life in Mexico and especially in the indigenous communities she said she believes the Zapatista movement has a really good chance to play even more significant role in the next years and solve some of the unsolved problems in the region. On the question "How do you see the ideology of Zapatismo implemented in other anti-capitalist and anti-neoliberal struggles around the world nowadays?" Leon answered:

"I think that one of the most important lessons and examples we can use is the idea of community and solidarity."


The festival committee continued gathering signatures for the solidarity letter that is going to be sent to the Zapatista communities in Chiapas through the London Mexico Solidarity Group and also handed to the Mexican embassy in London.

Festival News 2: The Food Crisis and Food Sovereignty - Esther Vivas !

In Tuesday's event on the food crisis and food sovereignty Esther Vivas, academic and activist from Barcelona, presented us with key problems brought about by irrational ecological capitalism. For Esther the food crisis was caused by the logic of capitalism, which allows for the speculation of the prices of food products, it creates a myth in the free trade agreements between developed and developing countries as core countries subsidise their own agricultural production disallowing peripheral countries their right to subsidize their own products. Furthermore, the core countries and its accomplices, the IMF, WB, WTO impose a minimisation of the role of the state, liberalisation of the economy and privatisation of public services, in effect kicking away the ladder and depriving countries of deciding what they produce and eat. As a consequence of the logic of capital the people who suffer the most are the people from the south, the small-scale subsistence farmer, the peasants, in short the nobodies of this world. This is due to a variety of reasons; colonial legacy, climate change, the ecological capitalist system and above all the neoliberal policies imposed by developed countries and their accomplices; the IMF, the World Bank and their platform of action, the World Trade Organisation. It is important to emphasise that the people who benefit the most from this unequal exchange of goods are the agribusiness, big corporations. Moreover, the pharmaceutical industry and chemical companies such as Monsanto also benefit the most from these policies because the latter provides fancy fertilizers that small scale farmers must buy for the imposed products they have to produce in order to subsist. 

Another feature that is worth highlighting in Esther’s talk is the extent to which women are encapsulated in the capitalist system, which also entails a patriarchal structure. Women own only a tiny portion of land and earn less than men in the food product chain. Furthermore, the irrational food chain model created by ecological capitalism ferments a reduction of biodiversity, not solely in developing countries, but also in developed countries. Esther presented us with example in Barcelona, her hometown, in which it was observed that the variety of apples in the region has decreased to solely 3 varieties in the region. Moreover, this type of system also had a grave effect on health as food is contaminated with hormones, vaccines. Concerning GMO food product Esther highlighted how these decrease the amount of biodiversity and the health risk it represented.

To combat this irrational ecological system Esther presented us with the radical alternative of food sovereignty, which allowed a local, direct linkage between the farmer and the consumer, so that we could control how and what we finally consume. Furthermore, she sustained that the issue on the ecological crisis should be politicised by demanding politicians, the politicians whom have no political will, to sponsor changes that people demand and which are necessary.

Festival news:

Monday, 5.03.2012

50 people at the opening of the Alter-Globalisation Festival!


Approximately 50 people attended the first event of the Alter-Globalisation Festival at the University of Essex. The talk on neoliberalism and education managed to draw paralels between the student mobilisation for free education in Chile and the resistance of the British students against the rising fees and the attemps for privatisation and comodification of the higher education.

The three speakers focused on the ideas for public education outside the neoliberal model where its social role is sacrificed in the name of the market and the needs of the big business. Carlos Gigoux, professor at the Sociology dept, made an overview of the student revolution in Chile and the educational model in the country and gave examples of resistance that can be used by the students in the UK in their struggle for a fair and accessible higher education. According to him stuents and lecturers should unite and confront the governments since this is originally a political and a systemic problem.  

Ted Benton, also from the Sociology dept, emphasized on the dangers in the marketisation of the universities and the social impact such policies can have. On behalf of the Education Activist Network, Dan Swain talked on the importance of student activism and radicalisation and shared his experience from organising anti-cuts protests, strikes and walkouts.