From:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/2/9/163048/8132
La Otra Campaña in
By Nancy Davies,
Posted on Thu
Delegado Zero on route with The Other Campaign is targeting his efforts to focus privately on those who are already adherents to the Otra Campaña or will become so – supporters for organizing from the Left and below. He’s not talking to those who have no interest or use for the movement he calls for. Public summaries in open areas are for the gawkers, gringos, spies and mainstream press.
Catching up with Delegado Zero is like catching up with migratory birds – on purpose. Marcos and the Zapatistas, like the birds, have a route and eventual destination, but on an hourly basis his location remains undisclosed, to avoid the main stream media and the gawkers.
It’s the adherents to the Sexta that he wants to talk with.
Today, when Marcos was scheduled to be at various locations such as the
On the far side a table and some audio-visual equipment stood ready.
I arrived by bus with Tiks Didxadra
Juarez, a university-age student whose father is a teacher in
In
In some towns on the route, Tiks tells me, extra security is useful. It’s offered by youngsters who belong to collectives, like himself.
In fact, much to my surprise, everyone I spoke to – all young men – were
members of collectives who have joined the Sexta, and
are performing fill-in security duty when needed. Tiks’
group cannot do all six months of the Otra Campaña,
he’ll run out of money. One group, La Guillotina,
from
Tiks knew here he was going, and I followed. At the Casa, he signed in with the men manning the entry tables –pretty tight security there; we were peeking around closed doors. I signed in right behind him: Narconews reporter.
Inside the auditorium the different venue had worked to prevent a huge crowd
from gathering. Most of the bleachers were unoccupied, and the seats on the
floor were not all filled. My guess was that about 400 -500 people were
present, divided among workers, students and teachers. Nothing was happening, some noise background of speeches which rolled along like
the noise of a superhighway. Tiks went off, and I sat
down in the bleachers next to a likely-looking youngster who sported an orange
Mohawk, cradled a bright guitar on his lap, and wore boots to mid-calf. The
boots did it for me – one black bootlace and one red. “Ah,” says I, “you must
be an anarchist.” He told me his name is Emmanuel. In addition to himself,
three other members of his collective were present. A
well-disciplined group, Kolectivo Rinkon
Rupesto is from Cancún and
expect to accompany the Otra Campaña for five months more, providing ad hoc security as
needed in the local communities. Emmanuel said, “We understand the Other
Campaign, we see it alive and well. We see it as it is horizontally and broadly
sowing resistance and winning workers (with its message of) the respect for
indigenous rights, equity and well-being socially, economically and mentally.
While I was chatting with a member of the La Guillotina
collective the noise level altered. With no fanfare or introduction, Delegado Zero began to speak. He wore his black pasamontañas covered by a fatigue
cap, and the cap crowned with the usual headset and microphone. “The future of
Marcos in his half-hour speech called for respect for the struggles of others, saying that everyone should come together in one grand sindicato (union movement) – workers with students, teachers and others. “We are millions in the same situation,” he said. "Gains are not a gift," he reminded the audience; "they are the results of a struggle." National unionization is the solution, demanding the restitution of labor rights, with workers replacing owners in a grand national upheaval. Marcos quoted Comandante Ramona, who died last month, “Nada mas un México sin nosotros” – no more a Mexico without us.
His presentation concluded with a brief outburst of applause. The entire event was very low-keyed, and yet highly charged by his presence. A handful of people approached the speakers’ table briefly and dispersed. Marcos left, as invisible as when he arrived.