August 8 and 9 in Oventic, Chiapas marked a turning point in the ten year insurgency of the Zapatistas with the death of the “Auguascalientes,” the famous gathering points for visitors from national and international civil society and the birth of the “Caracoles” (snails), intended to be somewhat different (but equally legendary) gathering points in the future.

August 8 and 9 in Oventic, Chiapas marked a turning point in the ten year insurgency of the Zapatistas with the death of the “Auguascalientes,” the famous gathering points for visitors from national and international civil society and the birth of the “Caracoles” (snails), intended to be somewhat different (but equally legendary) gathering points in the future. Along with the Caracoles, the Zapatistas unveiled their “Committees of Good Government.” These five committees represent each of the five regions that the Zapatistas have demarcated within their “territories in rebellion,” representing 30 autonomous municipalities. At the entrance to the mountain village of Oventic, in the municipality of San Andres Larrainzar, visitors arriving for the event were greeted with a sign announcing, “You are in the autonomous territory in rebellion of the Zapatistas. Here the people command and the government obeys.” While the Zapatista communities have long governed themselves completely, according to Subcomandante Marcos, this has been mainly on the local level. The Committees of Good Government are designed to provide uniformity among the municipalities. Another of the benefits of the Committees is to remove the unhealthy influence of the EZLN´s military command structure from the civil government of the autonomous territories. While some legal authorities have said that the Committees are outside the constitution and therefore illegal, both the governor of Chiapas and the government of President Vicente Fox have, for now, publicly accepted their existence. The Secretary of Government, Santiago Creel, who oversees national security and federal law enforcement said that the Committees are “not necessarily incompatible with the constitution,” and that Mexico “is able to have distinct forms of organization” among its indigenous groups. The government of Fox, who campaigned in 2000 saying he would “solve the Chiapas problem in five minutes,” appears eager to reinstate dialogue with the EZLN, with whom the Mexican army remains in a tense and politically uncomfortable stalemate. This “self government” for indigenous regions was part of the San Andres Accords signed by the EZLN and the Federal Government in 1996. Immediately after taking office in December of 2000 Fox sent the long delayed accords to the legislature for ratification, but the intended law was changed by members of the PRI and Fox’s own PAN, stripping away many of the indigenous rights reforms included in the original agreement. With the formation of the “Committees of Good Government,” the Zapatistas have announced that they are going ahead with the letter and spirit of the “Indigenous Rights Law,” without waiting for permission from what they call the “Bad Government.” The Fox government meanwhile says that it has complied with all of its obligations under the 1996 agreement and suggests that it is the Zapatistas who are intransigent. But recriminations were not high on the agenda at the Oventic gathering. Amidst a festival atmosphere, the declarations and communications from the EZLN and the introductions of the Committees were bookended between a basketball tournament in the mornings and dancing late into the night. From time to time the call and response of “Zapata vive! La lucha Sigue!¨(Zapata lives! The struggle continues!) echoed across the valley. The stalls, shops and ambulant vendors along the main avenue kept up a brisk business in tamales, vegetables and handmade textiles. The small café set up by “Mut Vitz” a cooperative based in Oventic that markets organic coffee produced in Zapatista territories was a big hit among the international visitors, who cheerfully waited while the overburdened coffee machines finished brewing the latest potful (mutvitz@laneta.apc.org). Late in the night of August 8, Comandante Javier declared the death of the Auguascalientes, and moments later Comandante Moises announced the official birth of the Caracoles as “places to talk and to listen” The Auguascalientes were born nine years ago as the EZLN´s response to the flood of supporters from Mexico and throughout the world that began visiting rebel territory. The first Auguascalientes was inaugurated in the spring of 1994 with an open invitation to world civil society. Later that year the Army destroyed the Auguascalientes during a drive to crush the EZLN once and for all. The Auguascalientes were rebuilt in five Zapatista Communities, and others have been since been constructed in other countries. The difference between the Auguascalientes and the Caracoles was not immediately apparent. But with the creation of the Caracoles the EZLN has announced their intention to wield tighter control over what kind of outside support they will accept. In his series of letters in July announcing the death of the Auguascalientes, and the formation of the Committees of Good Government, Marcos wrote that in the past, some outside organizations have decided for themselves what the Zapatista communities need .To illustrate the problem he described a pink, high heeled shoe that arrived, without its pair, as part of an “aid package,” and said the Zapatistas didn’t wish to continue to be a dumping ground for broken computers and expired medicines. He wrote of communities that need clean water and get a library instead. Another problem with aid, he said was that the best known Zapatista centers got the most visitors and the most support. With the creation of the Caracoles as the doorways, and overseen by the Committees of Good Government, the Zapatistas hope to manage a more equitable distribution of outside support, and to decide which projects best serve in the various localities. Subcomandante Marco didn’t appear at the Caracol because of “stomach sickness,” but his words were transmitted in a taped statement and through the inaugural broadcast of Radio Insurgente, mixing political commentary and his characteristic observations with music ranging from Mexican love songs to BB King and Crosby Stills Nash & Young´s “Ohio.” Intended to be transmitted worldwide by short wave, the broadcast was reportedly jammed by the Mexican Government. Having contemplated this possibility, Marcos announced on his show that, if necessary the program would be distributed by “Pirated CDs.” (The hour long program of Radio Insurgente can be heard at www.chiapas.indymedia.org) While the international idol Marcos was absent, ten other comandantes of the EZLN unveiled the word of the Zapatistas. By the end of the day it was clear that there is plenty of authority and charisma in the EZLN even when “el sup,” calls in sick. Comandanta Esther spoke to the indigenous of Mexico, saying “we don’t have to give up being indigenous in order to be recognized as Mexicans.” And she called on other indigenous communities to follow the example of the EZLN and institute the indigenous rights laws of the San Andres accords in their own regions. Comandante David assured the non-Zapatista indigenous living in the rebel zones that they would be treated fairly and with respect by the Committees of Good Government. Comandanta Fidelia spoke to the “sisters” in Mexico and throughout the world, and to the men as well, reminding that women deserve respect, at home and in the factories, “not because we’ll make long faces,” but because it is right, and because she and other women are going to fight to make it so. Comandantes Tacho, Brus Li and Zebedeo spoke about themes of globalization. Tacho called on the campesinos of Mexico to work together against the neoliberal policies that are destroying their communities. Brus Li announced the “Plan la Realidad—Tijuana,” the Zapatista response to the “Plan Puebla Panama and other neoliberal projects. Plan la Realidad—Tijuana includes the creation of local and national networks of fair trade in basic necessities and plans to organize for the defense of cultures threatened by neoliberal globalization. Zebedeo announced that the “word of the Zapatistas” take part in the mobilizations in Cancun against the WTO in September, reminding guests and the world of the Alternative Media Tech Convergence, the Women's Forum and Day's of Global Action being planned in Cancun between September 1st and 14th. On Sunday, as the visitors were packing up and leaving and the Zapatistas were picking up the random litter left behind an announcement over the loudspeaker said that if anyone had shoes, or cooking utensils or other items they wanted to donate, to take them to the headquarters of the Committee of Good Government. In short order a line had formed outside the wooden building. And so the Caracol of Oventic was born.