Shadows of Tender Fury: The Letters and Communiqués of Subcomandante Marcos and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

276 Pages·1995·30.08 MB·English

by  Subcomandante Marcos

^rs^xv Tke Letters av\c\ Communiques
of Subcomandavtfe fiAarcos and tke
Zapatista <A**my of Actional Liberation
Jnfroducticw by Jokn Ross • ;AfWword by Frank Bardacke
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The Letters and Communiques
of Subcomandante Marcos and the
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Translated by Frank Bardacke, Leslie Lopez,
and the Watsonville, California,
Human Rights Committee
Introduction by John Ross
Afterword by Frank Bardacke
(©
MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS
NEW YORK
Theillustrations inthiseditionarebytheMexicanartistJoseGuadalupePosada
(1852-1913)andarefrom: TheWorksofjos^GuadalupePosada,editedandwithan
introductionbyHannesJahn,published inGermanybyZweitausendeinsin1976;
andPosadasPopularMexicanPrints,selectedandeditedbyRobertoBerdecioand
StanleyAppelbaum,publishedintheUnitedStatesbyDoverPublicationsin
1972.
Copyright©1995byMonthlyReviewPress
Translationcopyright©1995byFrankBardacke,LeslieLopez,
andtheWatsonville,California,HumanRightsCommittee
Introductioncopyright©1995byJohnRoss
Afterwordcopyright©1995byFrankBardacke
Allrightsreserved
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Marcos,subcomandante.
[Correspondence. English. Selections]
Shadowsoftenderfury: thelettersandcommuniquesof
SubcomandanteMarcosandtheZapatistaArmyofNationalLiberation/
translatedbyFrankBardacke,LeslieLopezandtheWatsonville,California,
HumanRightsCommittee; introductionbyJohnRoss;afterwordbyFrank
Bardacke.
p. cm.
ISBN0-85345-918-5(pbk.) $15.00
:
1.Marcos,subcomandante—Correspondence. 2.Revolutionaries-
Mexico—Chiapas—Correspondence. 3.EjercitoZapatistadeLiberacion
Nacional(Mexico). 4.Chiapas(Mexico)—History—PeasantUprising,1994.
5.Mexico—Politicsandgovernment—1988-
I.Bardacke,Frank. II.Lopez,Leslie. III.Ross,John,1938Mar.11- IV.Watsonville,
California,HumanRightsCommittee. V.Title.
F1256.M3613 1994
972'.750835'0922-dc20 94-39246
CIP
MonthlyReviewPress
122West27thStreet
NewYork,NY10001
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
987654321
10
The EZLN, A History:
Miracles, Coyunturas, Communiques
An Introduction byJohn Ross 7
The Zapatistas in Their Own Write
A Note from the Translators f7
Prologue
by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos 2f
M
THE LETTERS AND COMMUNIQUES
Speech to the National Democratic Convention
by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos 24*
Dear Sup, Much Obliged
An Afterword by Frank Bardacke 253
Glossary 267

time «xln> a history:
MffiACL.ES> CoYt»NTl»RAS>
CoMWllNlQUtS
JOHNPOSS
"Myjobis tomake warsandwriteletters."
—SubcomandanteMarcosinaletter to CarlosMonsivdis,
20July 1994
THE MIRACLES
One day in January 1994, in the middle of the war for Chiapas,
Dominga Hernandez, a Tojolabal farm woman, went out to gather
firewood up in theforest nearherhomeontheLomantan communal
farm in the conflict-ridden municipality of Las Margaritas. Abruptly,
Domingafoundherselfbathedinspectrallight—rayoslucentes....Was
she under attack from the Mexican airforce, actively bombing the
zoneduring those dangerous days?
TheHolyChildwasproppedupagainsttheoaktreeandbeckoned
Dominga forward. "My child/ instructed the Child, "do not let your
heart be hard. The hourhas come inwhich I will enterthe poor. Take
me to your home so can be with my people • Now the Nino (a
I
replica of the Baby )esus) resides on an altar in Dominga's patio,
attendedbyvisitorsandvisionaries,flowersofHesh,and smoldering
fragmentsoffragrantcopal incense.TheBishopofthe SanCristobal
diocese,thenotoriousliberationtheologianSamuelRuiz,hassenthis
prieststoinvestigatethisnewmiracle,toconfirmtheapparition,and
to watch for fresh signs.
TheChildof Lomantan isnot thefirst sign. In1992, Virgins bathed
in these same rayos lucentes were seen at Ixthuacan and Teopisca,
closer to the Bishop's bailiwick. The year 1992 marked five hundred
yearsof indigenousresistancetotheEuropean invasionoftheAmer-
icas, and among the Mayans of eastern Chiapas the appearances of
Virgins and Nirlosand rayoslucentes seem to coincide with moments
of maximum Indian rage.
The beginning of the eighteenth century was another highwater
mark of indigenous rancor in the kingdom state of Chiapas. As
Antonio Garcia de Leon tells us in his monumental Hobsbawmian
saga, Resistance and Utopia (Mexico City: Ediciones ERA, 1985), the
years between 1697 and 1730 were fraught with miracles, divine
revelations, and bloody rebellion. In 1712, Salvador Gomez, "La Glo-
ria,"anitinerantpreacherfromCancuc,wastakenupintotheheavens
and commended by the saints to form a new church and ordain his
ownpriests.Backontheground,hehookedupwithMariaCandalaria,
a prophetess to whom the Virgin of Rosario had recently appeared.
The Army of the Virgin, 3,000 Mayans armed with machetes and
hoes, marched from town to town, slaughtering priests and tax
collectors and carrying the old saints back into the churches. The
"RepublicoftheTzeltales"wasestablishedatCancucandOcosingo
andtwentyothercommunitiesandthetownsrenamedforJerusalem
andotherHolyLandhotspots.TheGloria'sarmyofthepossessedand
downtroddenadvanced onthehighland royalcitynowknownas San
Cristobal and the colonials gathered in the Cathedral to pray for
salvation. Their gods responded. The troops of the Spanish Crown
came on like the cavalry just in the nick of time, routing the wild
Indiansand scatteringtheArmyoftheVirginbackintothelowlands.
Theroyalhorsemenrodethemdown,cuttingoffrebels'earsalltheway
toCancuc,wheretheringleadersoftheinsurrectionwerebeheaded.
TheAltosandthejungleofChiapashaveneverlackedforprophets
in the way they have lacked for land and bread and liberty. In 1868,
threegreenstonesfellfromtheskyatTjazaljemel,nearChamula.The
Tzotzil farm woman Augustina Gomez Checheb wrapped them in
linenandplacedthem inawoodenbox.Thenthestonesbegantotalk,
andthepiedrasparlanteswereyetanothersign.Undertheprotectionof
thecacique(ruralboss)ofChamula,PedroCuscat,Augustinaspokewhat
thestoneswouldhavehersay:takebacktheold saintsand recoverthe
land from the criollos of San Cristobal by any means necessary. In
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