The Wake, The Walk, and the Horizon

Assessments, Next Steps & Visions from the Intergalactic and the Other Campaign

Banner from the first Encounter between the Zapatista Villages and the Peoples of the World (Dec 30, '06 to Jan 2, '07)

There's alot so far and I will continue to update this post as more reports come in throughout January...

* For a zapatista-inspired vision of the next quarter-of-a-century, check out Rebecca Solnit's "End of the Year Review, 2026" at Tomdispatch.

* For a solid, up-to-date, and lengthy(!) discussion of where things are at in Mexico, with special emphasis on the Other Campaign and Oaxaca, check out Gustavo Esteva's three-part series published at ZNet...Part 1. Mexico's Political Transition, Part 2: How to go Beyond Capital, and Part 3 - At the Crossroads.

* On the Intergalactic front:

The first Encounter between the Zapatista Villages and the Peoples of the World is underway!

From the Encounter's first informational bulletin:

In an unprecedented event in the EZLN’s 13 years of public struggle, 232 authorities from the various levels of the Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities in Rebellion (Municipios Autónomos Rebeldes Zapatistas – MAREZ) and the five Good Government Councils (civilian structures of the autonomous government in resistance) got together to launch the Encounter, during which they will share the construction of their autonomy in the areas of health, education, commerce, gender, land recovery, media, art, and culture. And they will listen to experiences in struggle and resistance against neoliberalism from other peoples of the world. Also present at the encounter was Teniente Coronel Insurgente Moisés, from the EZLN’s Intergalactic Commission.

For up-to-the-minute coverage, you can listen to the Encounter live or read transcripts of the presentations at Zezta Internazional. This is the website of the Intergalactic Commission of the Zapatistas and is almost entirely in Spanish. Some things, however, such as the first and second informational bulletins of the Encounter, are also available in English. Narco News has translated the third informational bulletin...they have also published articles from the "Other Education", "Other Health", and "Land and Territory" sessions, as well as the session on "Women".

Chiapas Indymedia is covering the Encounter in both Spanish and English...including a Day 1 summary co-written by one of the organizers of our childcare crew, Regeneración.

* And Mexico's Other Campaign:

The Other Campaign has been undergoing a National Consultation of all Mexican adherents to the Sixth Declaration to provide basic definitions of its "other way of doing politics".

This consultation mainly pertains to "the six points" that adherents to the Other Campaign have been discussing since they were created for its first plenary in mid-September 2005. The six points are:

1. The fundamental characteristics of the Other Campaign
2. Who is invited and who isn’t?
3. Organizational structure
4. What are the special spaces for including differences (i.e. indigenous, women, gays, lesbians, children)
5. The positioning of the Other Campaign before other national forces
6. Immediate tasks at hand

This national consultation has been underway since December 4th and the first partial summary of results (in Spanish) was released on December 20th. More results are expected to be released in the first days of January...so stay tuned!
...and here is the second partial summary of results, just released this Tuesday (again, only in Spanish).