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Chiapas Update

By John Poole

From April 15 to 22 I was part of a seventeen-member delegation to Chiapas. The purpose of the trip was threefold. We intended to deepen our understanding of the impact of global economic measures implemented through U.S. government policy and the International Monetary Fund. We strived to deepen the relationships within the group that had come together for the trip. We hoped to begin cultivating relationships with a group in Chiapas toward the development of an ongoing relationship.

In most of the input sessions we had with representatives of a variety of organizations, we heard of the devastation that international policies had on the rural populations in the state of Chiapas. Many of the people most severely impacted are those who live in indigenous communities. Thanks to a presentation from Cloud Forest Initiative, we learned that we could take some positive action by promoting and selling their organic coffee. Some sixty communities are growing and producing the coffee, and they are able to avoid the charges from various "coyotes" who charge the various mark-ups that go with purchasing coffee from conventional coffee companies. Also, the profits go directly to the people who live in areas supported by the Zapatistas.

We put ourselves through some nonviolence training, and we shared informally at meals and side trips in San Cristobal de Las Casas. We had a brief chat with Bishop Ruiz one morning. Both the more structured training sessions and the informal sharings contributed to the significant closeness that we developed as a group. This factor became important when we passed through two military checkpoints on our way to visiting two indigenous communities in remote rural settings in the mountains. We had confidence in our brothers from Mexico City - both natural leaders - to be our spokespeople when speaking with the soldiers at the checkpoints. When we arrived in the community of Tzajalchen, we met with founding members of Las Abejas (The Bees). They are the quintessence of nonviolent living. They do not allow arms in their community, and they have stood up to the military with people power. After they had shared their history with us, we shared some of what we are about in the States.Their faces lit up when we told them about the 12,000 people who had demonstrated at Ft. Benning last November. They had heard of the struggle to close the School of the Americas, and they thanked us for our efforts.

Our last visit in the campo was with a group of North Americans from the Christian Peacemakers Team and another group from a Bees community called Xoyep. There was an encampment at the entrance to a military camp. The people fasted on juice and water during Lent and talked with soldiers as often as possible about leaving the area. A few of us spoke with two majors and a lieutenant from the Mexican Army. While there was no instant conversion of anyone, there was a spirit of openness in our dialogue. We left them thinking more than they would likely have imagined, as our group was able to approach them from a variety of perspectives. In our group was a Presbyterian minister and a university professor from Mexico City and myself, a Vietnam veteran. The combination of our credentials and sincerity in what we shared with them seemed to have some impact on them.

The net result of the trip was decisively positive. Learning directly from people who live in the reality of what we hear about from a distance gave us stronger convictions about following through with action on our return to the States. The growth we experienced in working, playing, and travelling together improves the probability that we will follow through on our promises that we made to people there. We are planning to support a project from members of The Bees community and staying in contact with them to continue to cultivate a relationship between them and our group.

I would strongly recommend such a trip to all who read or hear about this article.