San Cristobal de Las Casas Rocks!

Saludos desde Chiapas! I am in San Cristobal de Las Casas, enjoying the cool mountain air and wonderful people. Yesterday I arrived en la madrugada (really early in the morning) after a long night in the bus, but a cup of locally grown coffee spurred me into the streets. It didn't take long before I ran into a revolutionary selling documentaries and movies for the cause. I bought their magazine and three documentaries; one about Plan Puebla-Panama that documents the negative effects that further free trade agreements will have on Mexico and Central America, one about the "The Other Campaign", or the campaign run by Zapatistas in 2006 that ran against corporate funded presidential candidates with a revolutionary message, and one about a guerrilla group that defends the people Mexico using violence only when violently attacked. All three are documentaries that are hard to come by. The information is highly controversial for public consumption, but there are truths and realities out there that only reveal themselves when one delves below the shallows of corporate media.
I had no idea that guerrillas were so active in Mexico. I thought for sure that was a phenomenon of the '60s and early '80s. But according to the new information I have, they currently arrange brigades to teach and bring medical care to impoverished regions and they even organize on campus at the National University in Mexico, DF. In fact, the struggles of revolutionary students have won them campus space (offices!) from which to organize, there are departments that help sponsor student groups, and the university funds supplies they need (like paper for printing magazines!). They are active on campus, in los campos, and in the barrios, and each member rotates through all of the jobs depending on what is needed. Their popularity in the community was evidenced by the fact that many people stopped by to search for the information they would not find in many other places, even the tour guides told tourists about the group that was handing out information about the Zapatistas, etc (even though the tourists were probably not given any other information regarding the importance of this guerrilla and social movement to the area), and many people gave a friendly wave to the "tabler" (although w/o table) as they walked along doing their daily business. Chiapas is sweet like that.

Then I had a fascinating encounter in a coffee shop called Natura yesterday morning. I met a Mexican business man who comes directly from Spain (his grandparents and parents are Spanish). His family is huge in the wine industry and has lived the American dream in Mexico. Now he is taking over most of the business and investing a ton of money into a blackberry growing business in Chiapas. He proudly boasts of high wage rates and health programs for his workers and their families and even talked about the new green and renewable energy sources used in all his endeavors. Later he took me to see the local businesses where he sells wines, jams, and various artesanía and he answered questions about local plants and the fair price for organic soap ($2.50). He encourages "foreign investment" but in partnership with the locals which is how he and 100 or more foreign associates he prodded toward Mexico. He says he gets joy from seeing happy peasants in Chiapas who are making two to three times more working for Marco than for themselves or other big businesses. He brings the investment, they get the jobs, everything is done organically and with the best interest of the local environment in mind. Being the critic of capitalist ventures that I am, questioned his good intentions and assumed that Marco was making millions for himself in a greedy fashion. But after drinking like 10 cups of coffee and taking a long walk around el centro, meeting friends from all over the world (including Seattle!) I came to realize that he is one of the amazing people that can distribute wealth without being forced by the state, or anyone for that matter. If more people with the energy to make and spend money would learn from Marco's model, we would live in a more green and healthy world where all people would benefit from a redistribution of wealth. When he provides for his workers and the local community, he benefits and they benefit. He talked about real people-to-people fair trade that eliminates the unfair gains of corporate greed. Someday I would like to take on a similar venture, but probably someplace besides Mexico since there are already plenty of people doing it here.

I'm currently trying to stay caught up on research to prepare me for my arrival in El Salvador. I'm watching a great documentary called "Compañero!" about a great CISPES organizer. You too can watch it at cispes.org/blog