In San Cristóbal de las Casas, a city in the highlands of Chiapas, more than 6,000 members of Zapatista supporting communities marched against capitalist war and demanded Russian forces to leave Ukraine

Text and photos by Isabel Mateos, originally published on March 13, 2022.

Translated by Elysse DaVega for Pie de Página in English.

CHIAPAS.- Before the sun went down on March 13, members of the Zapatistas Support Bases prepared to take the streets of six municipal capitals in Chiapas: Yajalón, Palenque, Ocosingo, Altamirano, Las Margaritas and San Cristóbal de las Casas.

The marches came in response to a communiqué titled «Sunday the 13th» from the Sixth Commission of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) under terms of agreement with families from Slumil K‘ajxemk‘op, or Europe. The communiqué called for all to carry out artistic, political and cultural actions to mobilize against capitalist wars in different parts of the world and in Mexico.

Piled in the backs of stake-bed trucks, visible in the fog only by the headlights of passing cars, the protesters settled in for the 41-kilometer drive from Caracol II «Oventik» to San Cristóbal de las Casas.

During the ride, six Zapatistas held onto the metal bars of the caged truck bed, their walkie-talkies in plastic bags to protect them from the constant rain so typical at that time of day. They also wrapped up their pens and notebooks, only taking them out to tally the number of vehicles from the Chiapas Highlands that had joined in the journey.

The caravan, mostly made up of Tsotsil and Tzeltal Zapatistas, was headed for San Cristóbal de las Casas– the same city that served as a backdrop in 1994 when the EZLN rose up against the oppression of Indigenous peoples and reclaimed the lands stolen from them during the colonization of Mexico.

When they arrived at the agreed-upon spot at the Mayan Museum of Medicine, the Zapatista supporting communities got out of their trucks and organized to begin the march, which would traverse the city’s main roads.

Marching and handing out flyers, they chanted against capitalist wars in perfect unison:

«Out with the Russian army in Ukraine. No to war! Stop war! Stop! Because it’s unjust, because it leaves human lives in ruin: disabling, widowing and orphaning people, shortages, hunger, and sickness– all for capitalist interests.»

The information was delivered to civilians, tourists and merchants through loudspeakers in different trucks.

«These great capitalists are criminals and savages that don’t feel anything in their hearts as they bring an end to humanity and destroy our Mother Earth. This is why we have to organize! If they hurt one of us, they hurt all of us!» 

Wake up, Mexico. Wake up, world. We have to raise our voices and mobilize to support the people of Ukraine and Russia who are fighting for their lives. They need us now, and WE’LL NEED EACH OTHER.

the Sixth Commission of the EZLN.

The Municipal Secretary of Civil Protection announced that over 6,483 members of Zapatista supporting communities participated in the Anti-War March for Peace. In other municipal capitals, thousands of Zapatistas gathered and organized to spread awareness and condemn war– not just the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine, but also the war in Kurdistan, Iran, Palestine, Syria, Mapuche territories in Chile, and all Indigenous territories around the world.

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