ZIRAHUÉN, MICHOACÁN, MÉXICO: To shouts of “Zapata lives, the struggle continues!” and “Cárdenas, understand, our land is not for sale!” about 500 indigenous peasant farmers from the “Caracol in Rebellion of Lake Zirahuén” received Zapatista Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos with a march. They later expressed to him their determination to continue the struggle to defend their communal lands in the face of an ambitious tourism mega-project.

The project is being pushed by local PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) boss Guillermo Arreola Estrada, who hopes, according to the farmers, to build a resort complex with casinos, five-star hotels, restaurants and various recreational centers, including a golf course, on top of some 3,020 acres of communal lands located on the shores of Lake Zirahuén. Docks for yachts and pleasure cruises are also planned for the lake.

Around 9:00 at night the men, women, children and elderly people who had been waiting for hours for the arrival of Delegate Zero — Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN in its Spanish initials) — headed toward one of the main streets to welcome him.

The people of Zirahuén looked happy, and although the people here do not have the same tradition of nighttime “paseo” street marches as in Oaxaca, the march to receive the Zapatista spokesman suddenly became a festival led by the music of 12 local bands.

“From the coast to the mountains, people are fighting for their land!” was another one of the slogans that could be heard among the rushing demonstrators who frequently collided with representatives from the communications media that followed the delegate of the Zapatista Other Campaign.

The indigenous Purépechas’ battle-tested defense of natural resources stands out in this community’s history, explained veteran defender of the peasant farmers Marcos Paz as he welcomed Delegate Zero.

Zirahuen, Michoacan, Mexico, receives Subcomandante Marcos


I haven't followed the trail of Marcos, or Delagate Zero, for a long time. I will have to learn more before I can make my mind about him.

Regardless of what he says or does, Marcos is the only media icon that gives a face, by not giving it, ironically, to the dire situation of Native Americans living in Mexico.