By Raúl Romero
Original in Spanish: La jornada, 26 de agosto, 2025
During the Meeting of Resistances and Rebellions: Some Parts of the Whole, convened by the EZLN, the Comandanta Ramona Seedbed (Semillero Comandanta Ramona) became a meeting point for a significant portion of the internationalist and anti-capitalist movements from around the world. Hundreds of people from at least 37 countries traveled there to share their experiences of struggle. In English, French, Greek, Turkish, Kurdish, German, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Hñähñu, Castilian, and many other languages, the shared dream of a world where many worlds fit was given voice. Greek collectives were present, recounting their different struggles with their bandanas and calendars. One by one, the Italian organizations shared their ways of resisting. From Galicia, the “rebel clown” demonstrated the potential of laughter to confront barbarism: laughter is a balm for pain and a challenge to the existing order.
German communities shared their struggles and solidarity. Very young “gringos” recounted how they are organizing and widening the cracks (in the walls of capital) in the north. From Nicaragua came voices denouncing and organizing themselves. Others also traveled from Brazil to share their form of struggle. From Valencia came reflections on the struggle and solidarity against DANA: disasters are not natural; they are caused and exacerbated by the actions and inactions of the system and its bad governments. The voice of Kurdistan could not be missing, nor could the rebel presence from Wallmapu.
The peoples of the National Indigenous Congress (Mexico) also brought their mirrors of dispossession and resistance. Dozens of experiences in struggle were conveyed from different parts of Mexico from below: the Iztapalapa from below and to the left, the organizing experiences with sex workers, the seeds beginning to be sown in Tlatelolco, the women fighting with the Sixth, the solidarity woven from the Port of Veracruz, the Magonistas of Baja California, the communists who do not give up, do not sell out, and do not betray; as well as the painful and powerful words of mothers and families who search for their missing relatives. All of their presentations always received the active listening of the Zapatista peoples.
The Zapatista word, sometimes spoken and sometimes represented in plays, covered the common longing. As is customary, thousands of young people from different Zapatista communities showed up to perform various tasks: sharing the word of their communities, acting in plays, singing or reciting poetry, working in the dining room… The deployment of self-managed organizational capacities is something that is rarely thought of, but that very few organizations achieve these days.
Generous as always, the Zapatistas not only provide shelter, food, and everything necessary to those who attend; they also share their words, their listening, their experience. Whether through plays or meaningful presentations, they recount what has gone wrong in their process, their mistakes, their contradictions. They make self-criticism a strength, and speak about it openly. “Don’t idealize us,” Subcomandante Moisés said long ago. But unlike other experiences, the Zapatistas not only do not deny or hide their problems. They expose them and also share the solution they are constructing: destroying “the pyramid,” tearing down the governing structures they themselves created, and building something new.
In this new stage of “the common” and non-property, the Zapatistas also strive to build and share what is necessary for the material and cultural reproduction of life. In the heart of the jungle, with national and international solidarity, with their own labor, and also with the participation of non-Zapatista communities, they are building a hospital. This is a concrete example of their commitment to life: in times of war and organized crime, they, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and their support bases, strive to build hospitals. “Our struggle is for life, and the bad government offers death as afuture,” they said in 1996 in the Second Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, but few paid attention to the depth of their message.
During the days of the Encuentro, the Zapatistas also taught people how to build champas (huts) with materials found in the territory: when their lifespan ends, everything returns to the earth, they say. They also taught how to recognize medicinal plants of the region and the dosages needed to treat certain illnesses. As if that weren’t enough, they also shared a real banquet to show the foods they can prepare with what they find and harvest in their territories: fruit-flavored beverages, tostadas, tamales, vegetables, desserts, and many other delicacies. They share what they know and what they have. Ultimately, they demonstrate not only the progress of their organization, but also that they are prepared to continue the strugglefor many more years. Because always what is missing is missing is yet to come.
*Sociologist X: @RaulRomero_mx
