For our honeymoon me and the wife visited the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. They are the heartbeat of Mexico, rich in natural resources, culture and diverse landscapes. However, ironically or obviously they are home to the poorest people of Mexico. Looking out of the moving bus you can’t help but feel like you are in another country, such is the contrast with the spralling Mexico City or the deserts surrounding the central states. I recalled, when looking into the dense Lacandon Jungle while the bus driver stopped for a piss, my previous visit to this region.
We had stopped on the side of the road, for some reason i cant recall why, and as i looked into the wall of trees before me a man appeared, for a brief second. It gave me such a fright. The man was clearly a native of the jungle, there are many indigenous peoples living within (Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Ch’ol..) and was equally surprised to see me, i guess. He looked like Ian Brown in a wig, monkey-like, with no emotion or expression on his face. We held contact for a few seconds and the history of this man flashed before my minds-eye… small huts, hunting, Conquistadores, wooden tools… before the bus moved off and i had visions of him returning to his tribe to tell the story of the magical moving box with strange looking tribe members aboard.
The region is also home to the EZLN, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. They declared (predominantly non violent) war on the state and since the mid-eighties they have fought to protect what is theirs from the clutches of the corporate and military forces. The name is a direct reference to Emiliano Zapata, the revoltionary icon of the Mexican Independence.
What they have achieved in this area is the creation of independant autonomous zones, free from the influence of the local and national government in an attempt to protect and support the poorer people of the region. “For everyone, everything, for us, nothing.”
We had planned a visit to one of their zones, to try to understand their cause and to see how they go about their lives. Unfortunately i became sick the night before and we had to cancel the meeting. To make up for this we contributed to the cause by buying some “official” merchandise. How ironic!
These kind of people hold a great interest for many people, me included, Gandhi, Che, Bolivar, they stood up to what was wrong, to try and change for the benefit of all. I have often wondered why i am attracted to them, is it something lacking in me that i see so strongly in those or could be that we “lie” down to easy and accept that we have no influence or control over what is? Maybe it is because i have clean running water, street lights and a supermarket full of exotic fruits? Who knows?
What i do know is that i will continue to enjoy the comforts of this society whilst contributing little or nothing in the way of benfiting others.
