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Communiqu from the General Command of the
Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee of the EZLN.

Jan. 6, 1994

Here we are, the dead of always, dead again, but now to live.

To the Mexican people:
To the people and governments of the world:
Brothers and Sisters:

Since the first of January, of this year, our Zapatista troops
began a series of politico-military actions with the principle
objective being to let all the people of Mexico and the world know
the miserable conditions that millions of Mexicans, especially we
the indigenous people, live in. With these actions that we began we
also let people know our decision to fight for our elementary
rights by the only way that the government authorities will allow:
armed struggle.

The grave conditions of poverty of our compatriots has one common
cause; the lack of liberty and democracy. We consider that
authentic respect of liberty and democratic will of the people are
the indispensable prerequisites for the improvement of the economic
and social conditions of the dispossessed of our country.

For this reason, just as we fly the flag of improvement of life
conditions of the Mexican people, we present the demand of liberty
and political democracy, for which we call for the renunciation of
the illegitimate government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the
formation of a new government for a democratic transition, which
would guarantee clean elections in all levels of the government. We
repeat the life of our political and economical demands and around
which we are trying to unite all of the people of Mexico and all
independent organizations so that, by means of all of the different
forms of struggle, a national revolutionary movement can begin
where all of the forms of social organization can have a place, and
the betterment of Mexico can be set forth with honesty and
patriotism.

Since the beginning of our war for liberation we have received not
only attacks by the repressive governmental bodies and the federal
Army, but also we have been slandered by the federal and state
governments and by the mass news media, who try, devaluing our
struggle, to lie to the Mexican people saying that our struggle is
financed by foreigners, mercenaries, dark interests and anti-
patriots who only seek personal gain. Because of these slanders and
lies, our EZLN is obligated to say the following:

First:  our EZLN does not have, either in its ranks or among its
leaders, any foreigners, nor has it ever received any support or
training of revolutionary forces from other countries or foreign
governments.  The news that Guatemalans are fighting in our ranks
and that they were trained in Guatemala are stories invented by the
federal government to discredit our cause. We have not had, nor
will we ever have, any connection with the Salvadoran FMLN, nor
with the Guatemalan URGN, nor with any other latinamerican,
european, african, asiatic or oceanic armed movement.  The military
techniques that we employ were not learned from the centralamerican
insurgence, but rather from the mexican military history; from
Hidalgo, Morelos, Guerrero, Mina, from the resistance to the Yankee
invasion in 1846-47, from the popular response to the french
intervention, from the great heroic exploits of Villa y Zapata and
from the struggles of indigenous resistance throughout the history
of our country.

Second:  Our EZLN doesn't have any relations with the catholic
church authorities or any other religion. We haven't received
orientation, direction or support from  neither the ecclesiastic
structure of Chiapas or the papal nuncio nor the Vatican or
anybody.

In our ranks, the majority are catholic, but include other creeds
and religions.

Third: The orders and troop elements of the EZLN are mostly from
Chiapas, this is so because the indigenous represent the poorest
and most humiliated sector of Mexico, and also, as can be seen, the
most dignified. We are thousand of natives armed, behind us there
are tens of thousands of our families. Therefore, we are tens of
thousands of natives in struggle. The government says it is not an
indigenous uprising, but we think that if thousands of natives rise
up in arms, then yes it is an indigenous uprising. There are also
in our movement Mexicans from other social origins and distinct
states of our country. They agree with us and have united with us
because they do not agree with the exploitation that we suffer.

Just as these non-indigenous Mexicans have united with us, others
will because our struggle is national and is not limited only to
the state of Chiapas. Actually, the political direction of our
struggle is totally indigenous; 100 percent of the members of the
indigenous revolutionary clandestine committees in all territories
of combat are ethnic Tzotzil, Tzetal, Chol, Tojolabal and others.
It's true that not all the natives of Chiapas are with us yet,
because their are many (brothers) who are still submerged in the
ideas and tricks of the government but we are already thousands and
they must take us into account. The use of masks to hide our faces
is in keeping with elemental security measures and as a vaccine
against caudillismo.

Fourth: There are a variety of arms and equipment that our people
count on, (and it should be understood) that their total number and
quality were not shown publicly to the mass media or to the
civilian populations in the major municipalities that we took over
on the 1st and 2nd of this month. These arms and equipment were
(consigned) little by little and prepared by 10 years of
accumulation of forces in silence. The "sophisticated" means of
communication that we possess can be bought in any imported goods
store in the country. To get the arms and equipment we never
resorted to robbery, extortion, or kidnapping/hijacking, we always
relied on what we were given by the humble and honest people, in
all of Mexico. That we never resorted to banditry is the reason why
the forces of repression hadn't detected us throughout 10 years of
careful and serious preparation.

Fifth: Some have asked why we decided to begin now, since we have
been preparing for awhile. The answer is that before we tried other
pacifist and legal without result. During the last 10 years over
150,000 of our native brothers have died from curable illnesses.
The social and economic plans of the municipal, state and federal
governments don't offer any real solutions to our problems and are
limited to giving us (alms) crumbs when there are elections, but
the crumbs are temporary and then death comes again to our houses.
Because of this we say enough, that we had enough of dying a
useless death, and that it is better to fight for change. If we die
now it is no longer in shame but with dignity, like our ancestors.
Another 150,000 are prepared to die if necessary to wake up our
people from the deceptive dream in which they are held.

Sixth: the conditions of "reconciliation" that the federal
government is trying to impose on us is unacceptable to our
organization. We won't lay down our arms until the demands that we
made at the beginning of our struggle are met. On the other hand,
we propose the following conditions for the initiation of dialogue:

A) Recognition of the EZLN as a belligerent force.

B) Cease fire on all sides in disputed territories.

C) Withdrawal of federal troops from all communities with full
respect for the human rights of the rural population. Withdrawal of
federal troops to their respective barracks in distinct parts of
the country.

D) Stop the indiscriminate bombing of rural populations.

E) With the last three conditions as a base, the formation of an
intermediary national commission.

Our troops are committed to respecting these conditions if the
federal government does the same. If not, our troops will continue
to carry out their advance on the capital of the country.

Our EZLN reiterates that we will continue to adhere to the laws of
war approved by the Geneva Convention, respecting the civilian
population, the Red Cross, the press, the wounded and the enemy
troops who surrender without fighting to our troops.

We're making a special call to the North American people and
government. To the first to initiate solidarity actions and aid to
our compatriots, and the Northamerican government to suspend all
military and economic aid to the dictatorial government that
doesn't respect human rights and because said aid will be used to
massacre the Mexican people.

Mexicans: the military balance in the dispute up to the 5th of
Jan., has brought forth the following results:

1) Casualties of the Zapatista forces: 9 dead and 20 seriously
wounded being attended in our field hospitals. An undetermined
amount of slightly wounded that were reintegrated to their combat
posts and 123 missing in action. We haven't included in this total
our combatants who, wounded, were killed in cold blood (with a shot
of mercy) by officials of the federal army. We have not determined
yet the number of these comrades since our troops continue to fight
in Ocosingo.

2) Casualties of the enemy forces (including police and federal
soldiers) 27 dead, 40 wounded and 180 prisoners who surrendered to
our troops and were then released in good shape. There are another
30 federal troops dead, at least, unconfirmed. These casualties
along with an undetermined number of wounded were produced on the
4th of Jan., in the mountains south of San Cristobal de las Casas
when bombs dropped by the F.A.M. fell on the trucks of the federal
soldiers that were maneuvering in that zone.

3) Enemy war material destroyed or damaged: 3 artillery helicopters
of the F.A.M. (one in the capital Ocosingo and 2 in SCLC), 3 F.A.M.
(airships) rockets, 15 radio patrols, 4 torture centers of the
State Judicial Police.

4) Liberated prisoners: 230 from attacks on 4 prisons (2 in SCLC,
1 in Ocosingo, 1 in Margaritas)

5) War materials captured: approximately 207 arms of different
calibers (M-16, G-3, M-2, grenade launchers, rifles and pistols and
an undetermined amount of ammunition of diverse calibers.

1266 kilograms of dynamite and 10,000 TNT detonators.

20 transport vehicles.

An undetermined amount of radio communications equipment used by
the police, army and air force.


To the national and international press:

We call the attention of the honest national and international
press to the genocide being conducted by the federal military
forces in the principal municipalities of San Crist"bal de las
Casas, Ocosingo, Altamirano and Margaritas, as well as on the roads
bordering those points, where civilians were assasinated
indiscriminately and later presented as casualties of EZLN. Some of
the dead Zapatistas claimed by the Federal army, enjot perfect
health. The behavior of the federal troops in these cities
contrasts with that of our forces who are always preoccupied, as
civilians in these cities can testify, with protecting innocent
lives. The majority of the destruction to public and private
buildings that were next to our troops were caused by federal
troops when they entered the 4 principal municipalities.

To the Federal Army:

The conflict presents the unmasking, once more, of the nature of
the federal army and it shows them in their true essense: the
indiscriminate represion, the violation of all human rights and the
lack of ethics and military honor. The assasinations of women and
children perpetrated by the army in the area of conflict show an
army without control. We are calling on officials, (classes) and
troops of the army to fully refuse to carry out orders handed down
to them by their superiors to exterminate civilians or sumarily
execute prisoners of war and wounded and to maintain military
honors and ethics. We reiterate our invitation for you to abandone
the ranks of the bad government and to join with the just cause of
the people, (as you have proven yourselves), that only longs to
live with justice or die with dignity. We have respected the lives
of soldiers and police that have surrendered to our forces, you
take pleasure in sumarily executing Zapatistas that you find
wounded, unable to fight, and those who surrender. If you begin to
attack our families and not to respect the lives of prisoners and
wounded, then we will do the same.

To the Mexican people:

Finally, we call to workers, poor peasants, teachers, students,
progressive and honest intellectuals, house wives and
professionals, and to all independent political and economic
organizations to join our struggle which has already begun and that
in all possible ways they help us achieve the freedom that all
Mexicans desperately want.

WE WILL NOT TURN IN OUR ARMS!
WE WANT JUSTICE, NOT FORGIVENESS NOR ALMS!

--From the mountains of Southeastern Mexico. Indigenous
Revolutionary Clandestine Committee. General Command of the EZLN

Mexico, January, 1994

Signed by subcomandante Marcos

[translated by Gene Bowie]


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