One of the most prominent and historically rich social movements in Chiapas is the OCEZ (Organización Campesino Emiliano Zapata). I visited an OCEZ community to sit down and talk with one of its oldest social fighters, affectionately known as ‘Chema’ by his compañeros. The organization has undergone countless divisions and transformations, and there are at least 8 branches borne from the original founded in 1982. Chema belongs to the OCEZ Venustiano Carranza, and like every other division, claims that it is the only branch still in touch with the people
An internal split usually occurs when a current OCEZ branch, or some of its leaders, accepts some government payoff. Other members then deem the OCEZ compromised and found their own branch. According to Chema, all divisions of the OCEZ have been compromised at one point or another, springing yet more divisions. Each time a split occurs, the new OCEZ adopts a name to express its legitimacy over the others. There is a Historic OCEZ, an Official OCEZ, an Independent Democratic OCEZ, and a “La Casa del Pueblo” (House of the People). To ascertain exactly how each differs is quite a challenge now. Each one will tell you that they are the ones keeping up the good fight, and the others are collaborators or worse, paramilitaries
When a prominent organizer is offered his own track of land or cushy government job, his commitment to the people is put into question. This is an obvious state-hatched counter-insurgency tactic. However, when the organization splits or kicks out members, it does exactly what is expected of them. The government gives the organization reasons to create internal division, and the organization takes part in dividing itself. With the proliferation of organizations, the disaccord only accelerates. Very few communities in Chiapas have only one affiliation. In a single community, brothers and neighbors can be split between EZLN, OCEZ, ARIC, OPDDICC, and PRI. This destroys the possibility of a unified movement. For years now, social fighters have recognized this, but the in-fighting is only growing
Chema lives in a town called 28 de Junio, and like many communities, it is named after the date of its acquisition and foundation. Although the community claims to be autonomous, they have cooperated with the government on certain issues. For example, the houses were built in a government development project, as well as the electricity system. Several houses are painted with political advertisements for PRD candidates (Revolutionary Democratic Party). However, Chema attests that the community stopped voting when the most recent campaign failed to keep its promises.
All of this raises the question: what is the interpretation of autonomy for this community and for the OCEZ? The EZLN, in contrast, has explicitly opposed participating in political parties or accepting government projects such as roads and schools, claiming that any involvement with the ‘bad government’ whatsoever compromises demands and corrupts ideals. In fact, many members of the EZLN have left or been asked to leave because their unwillingness to adopt this strict definition of autonomy. Chema offers a separate view of autonomy. He believes that roads, schools, and potable water are basic rights. The community accepts the projects knowing that they deserve them, but refuse conditions that force them to drop or modify their demands. Or at least that is the guiding principle
Land is central to the demands of the OCEZ Venustiano Carranza. Although they hold opinions about larger themes such as neoliberalism and cultural preservation, the OCEZ makes very concrete demands of the government. According to the resolutions following the Mexican Revolution, every family in Mexico is due 5 hectares of land. No matter what legal documentation exists for large-scale land owners, the original document guarantees land rights and precedes and overrides individual titles. This is the principle goal of the organization
The organization believes it has legal grounds for requesting what they deserve. When a decision is made to distribute a particular piece of land, petitions are first made to the landowner and the local government. If the petitions aren’t answered, more drastic political action is called for, such as blocking highways or occupying municipal buildings. Actual occupation of the estate is only used as a last resort. After acquiring the land, the OCEZ seeks legal papers to legitimize their land. They believe the 5 hectares are a legal right, and deserve legal documentation. Instead of accepting an indefinite clandestine existence, they seek to legitimize their movement within the existing framework.
Each organization has its own definition of right practices and autonomy, detailing varying levels of resistance or cooperation relative to the larger system. The Zapatistas have taken on an enormous ideological campaign, and are seeking in a way complete societal transformation. In 28 de Junio, the goals are less ideological and more practical. They have certain goals to improve their quality of life (education, health, good land), and find ways of reaching some goals in the short-term, seeing them as markers of progress to the larger goals. Within this framework, the organization sees it acceptable to vote for political parties when it is beneficial to the movement, and accept projects when it doesn’t compromise the movement’s larger demands.
A bit of history. Despite its less oppositional stance, the OCEZ’s struggle has been long and bitter. Countless members have been attacked, imprisoned, and assassinated over the 26 years of its existence. Chema himself has spent years in prison, evaded several assassination attempts, and spent a good amount of his time hiding in the mountains. By 1995, the OCEZ had recovered 1,600 hectares of land per family. In December 1995, the government performed the largest, most violent eviction in OCEZ history. Thousands of police entered, uprooted 6 communities, and burned their possessions. The dislodged communities scattered, and for 7 months stayed in sympathetic neighboring communities and camped in the mountains. During this raid 38 members of the OCEZ were imprisoned, and 2 were killed.
Afterwards, the displaced families joined caravans to San Cristóbal and Tuxtla to set up camp in the city center and communicate their plight. The news of the displaced families reached international attention, and UN delegates arrived in Mexico to negotiate. In the case of the OCEZ Venustiano Carranza, the government agreed under pressure to give back 210 ha. of the original 1,600. This works out to about 3 ha. per household, far short of the 5 ha goal, but the organization accepted anyway. To this day, they still fight to recover a remaining 115 ha.
The varying branches of the OCEZ stretch all across the state; In the North, the highlands, the borderlands, and the central valleys. The now modest division of Venustiano Carranza constitutes only 12 communities in the central valleys. 28 de Junio occupies an overrun estate, where the government has built fifty-some houses in an act of truce. The community gained international attention in July 2007 when police forces entered and sacked houses without permission, searching for weapons and EPR guerrillas. Their search yielded no results. Ever since, the community has maintained a detail of at least 2 international observers. In addition, the community has gained minor celebrity, and receives many other visitors. People have come and stayed to just live in the community for a while, hatch ecotourism and community health projects, and write their dissertations.
The international presence waxes and wanes, but at times can be quite large. When I was there with my 3 friends to do the interview, there were already 2 Italians, 2 Americans, 2 Germans, and 1 Dutch staying in community. That made us 11 foreigners at one time, all on different missions. This contrasts sharply against the actual population of the community. Of the fifty-some houses, only 12 are occupied. Many of these houses are only day-stations to work the field a few days a week, however the actual people live in the nearby city of Venustiano Carranza. Many of the children go to the city school because the teachers are more reliable, and many of the adults have decided to get outside jobs for a steady income. 28 de Junio can feel like a ghost town at times. The street scene is always the same 3 men chatting on a doorstep, and families have converted the extra houses into lodging for bees and hens.
Much of the time of the observer is spent in busy speculation about what is actually happening in this place. You hear about the importance of the struggle from the 4 same old social fighters who arrive periodically to share a coffee and a few war stories. However, aside from a woman occasionally poking her head out her door, these are the only people you see or talk to. One does learn a few things in passing, though. Many of the youth don’t want to be part of the OCEZ, and have plans to leave for work in Puerto Vallarta or the states. Wives ask their husbands to sell their piece of land so they can get a nicer house in the city. Men bicker in the local meetings about stray cattle grazing in each others yards. It feels like the most tangible threat to the struggle is ebbing enthusiasm.
Chema expresses hope for his community. Perhaps due to government assistence, or perhaps to successful struggle, the community appears less poor than one would expect. They now have potable water, electricity, television, and a community vehicle. At this point, they are looking to get internet. Slowly but surely they are building a kindergarten, a community health center, and establishing a nature reserve. All of these projects, however, leave a few questions unanswered. The nature reserve is frequently used to harvest firewood and even grow certain crops. The community has put a nice paint job on the health center, but haven’t specified who of the twelve families are going to serve as the medical staff, or how to train them. These idiosyncrasies are normal though, and are to be found all over Chiapas.
When you come into community, discourses on ideals and realities dissolve into something more inexplicable. The effort to secure dignity and livelihood is problematized by the myriad competing interests that accompany changing times. Many people would like to see a world without oppression or inequality. However, at some point, everyone is offered the possibility of small improvements in their personal and communal lives. For this reason, they may opt for living and working in the city, or make compromises on their land requests instead of receiving nothing. While we can become disillusioned when social fighters make concessions, we cannot help but view their situation as essentially human. Rigid social expectations will fail to retain all but the most resolute idealists. The vast majority of people fail to meet the unreachable expectations of their organization’s mission statements. Many fight amongst themselves, go separate ways, or lose interest. This paints a bleak picture, and calls for a greater flexibility and cooperation amongst social movements to fend of the derisive forces constantly shipping in.
