volunteering for the EZLN, good idea?

[ezlncomandante_pablo]

I am planning on volunteering for the Zapatistas next December(2007), but the thing is, I dont know if it's a good idea knowing the situation in Oaxaca, and if it'll carry on 'til December 2007. any advise would help.

[Rawthentic]

How do you plan on doing this?

[ezlncomandante_pablo]

The blog i've posted on myspace:
This upcoming year(December 2007) I am planning on doing volunteer work with Los Zapatistas and other related organizations in Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico. I will be raising money through-out the year(working and accepting donations) funding: my trip(plane, bus, expenses), a donation to the Peace House I will be living in, and a donation to the EZLN.

The Peace House Project(volunteer housing) i'll be staying at is located in the Chiapas town of San Cristobal. There I will help participate in translating, human rights observation/peace camping, video production work, administrative and organizational work, research and writing, installation of drinking water systems, popular education workshops in communities on reading and writing, computer literacy, basic bookkeeping, etc. I will only be there for a month(visa alows me to stay for 6 months, but it depends if I have enough money to stay and enough money to return back into the USA. since doing political work on tourist visa in Mexico is considered illegal, i wont be making money). If you are intrested on tagging along let me know, but you must meet requirements to volenteer, Such as: being over 18 years old, Speaking and understanding spanish fluently, certain vaccinations, and so on.


Chiapas Peace House: FAQ-Volunteering in Chiapas. (http://www.chiapaspeacehouse.org/en/faq#III)

[Zero]

Take a lot of pictures Comrade.

[Forward Union]

I know some people from the British organisation; Kiptic, who have gone over to chiapas to help with building furnaces, ways of gettign clean water, and making the places look nicer, with Murals etc.

These projects are never a bad thing,

you will of course be a human shield. The Mexican goverment is very worried about killing white people, especially American and British whtie people. If they know there are some in a certain town they won't be attacking it... :rolleyes:

[Springmeester]

you will of course be a human shield. The Mexican goverment is very worried about killing white people, especially American and British whtie people. If they know there are some in a certain town they won't be attacking it... rolleyes.gif


Operation Human Shield :P

[bezdomni]

Just so you know, it's illegal in Mexico for foreigners to be involved in political action.

So just make sure you don't get caught. ;)

[ezlncomandante_pablo]

you will of course be a human shield. The Mexican goverment is very worried about killing white people, especially American and British whtie people. If they know there are some in a certain town they won't be attacking it... .

yea, alot of the residents and volunteers of the Peace House are white. back in feb. a singer from a political ska-punk band(leftover crack) was down there volunteering and learning spanish and he's white.

Quoted from the band's blog on myspace:

This is a nice fucking town, de verdad! It's got a strange kind of leftist tourism, which is way better than all the other pinche gringo fucks I've seen down here. more cops than 2 years ago, though. gotta hide the negro modelos en el zocalo. sooo, I gotta go. oh yeah, for people that didn't know, this is the city that the zapatistas occupied for half a week or so in january 1994, when they had their revolutionary uprising in conjunction with the N.A.F.T.A., which started jan. 1st of that year, but the sruggle was born primarily out of the mistreatment and unfair foreign and domestic sanctioned trade practices against the indigenous populations of chiapas. you can learn more about it from www.ezln.org, I believe.

anyway I am America but i'm not white, i'm chicano, tho i have light brown skin so i may be confused as a white person, i hope? haha. and I was also reading about how an Indy Media photographer(a white male from New York?) was shot dead in the line of gun fire in Oaxaca? so now i'm guessing the mexican government officals are just killing everyone in sight.


So just make sure you don't get caught
:ph34r:

[NZ_Commie]

Best of luck comrade, hands on is always the best way.

RED SALUTE!

[bretty]

Thats an incredible experience. One thing I think I'm going to have to do is learn spanish, it's a great tool to have.

[Forward Union]

Well, im going to Chiapas in June to attend the Zexta International gathering, possibly as a delegate for the Anarchist Federation, though I have not discussed this with them in any length yet.

The people Im going with will be doing some volunteer work, so I, will of course chip in. Working to your ability actually gets you food and drink over there. How novel. :rolleyes:

Though this is all self-organised, If you don't think you can organise it yourself, go with kiptic as I said earlier.

A few trivial things to I found out, are that
Alcohol is banned in Zapatista territory.
And any clothing you bring should not have American symbolism on it, or be camouflage, as it scares the kids and is considered socially unacceptable.

[Mugen]

I wish I spoke better spanish, I would definitely be interesting in coming with. I've been wanting to help out the EZLN for a while now. Good luck comrade, hope you stay out of trouble(or find trouble if you're looking for it ;)

[Guerrilla22]

I'd go down there if I could afford a plane ticket. :( If anyone knows of any organization that will help people willing to volunteer in Chiapas or Oaxaca please let me know.

[Forward Union]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20, 2007 06:11 am
I'd go down there if I could afford a plane ticket. :( If anyone knows of any organization that will help people willing to volunteer in Chiapas or Oaxaca please let me know.
http://www.kiptik.buz.org/ ;)

[Guerrilla22]

thanks for that lu.

[CNT-FAI]

I have read that the Zaps have lost much of their peasant base due to their authoritarian ways - even telling people what crops they have to plant. If true it's just another failed radical movement.