2,591 people participated in the Congress, representing every state in Mexico with the exception of Nayarit. 1,048 of these were women, while 1,543 were men; and 31% were young people between the ages of 16 and 30.
Of these participants, only 1,343 cast ballots on September 15th, a fact which worried many within the organization, and which was explained by the Organizing Committee of the Founding Congress as being the result of two factors: first, that the discussions prior to voting were enriching, but may have been too general for some; and second, that the seemingly "rushed" nature of the Congress led to the drafting of a ballot which was extremely complicated. Another posisble explanation is that the day of balloting coincided with the day of the EZLN's "encounter with civil society" at the University; thus, many participants in the FZLN Congress may have decided to spend the afternoon speaking and playing soccer with the Zapatista representatives, instead of waiting hours and hours in a dark auditorium for all the last-minute additions to make it onto the ballot.
In any case, the final results of the voting demonstrated broad consensus on a number of key issues, such as the principles to be followed by the organization. On other issues--such as those regarding Structure and Statutes--the vote count showed "majority tendencies" rather than full approval of one position or another, and those issues must therefore continue to be discussed within the Civil Committees of Dialogue.
According to the rules and regulations of the Founding Congress, as layed out in the convocation of the EZLN published on August 8th, "The Founding Congress of the FZLN will be Sovereign, and its decisions will be made by a qualified majority of at least three-fourths of the participants...."
While it is still being debated whether "three-fourths of the participants" here should be interpreted as 75% of "all participants" (in this case, 2591), of "participants who exercise their right to vote" (1343), or of "participants who exercise their right to cast a valid vote on a particular issue" (ranging from 958 to 1348), it is clear that of the 55 major issues discussed and voted on in the Congress, only those relating to Principles and the Plan of Action were fully resolved.
With respect to the Principles, the Congress resolved, among other things, that the FZLN will be a civilian political organization which struggles peacefully in order to create a free, just, democratic, and participative society in Mexico, open to all currents of thought and inclusive of all minorities, within a just social and economic order; that the FZLN recognizes its role within a much larger national movement, rather than seeing itself as the "vanguard" of struggle; that the FZLN will not struggle for the seizure of State power, but rather will work to create "organizational structures among the populace so that the people themselves can collectively make political decisions responding to their interests, and thus exercise their sovereignty over political, social, and economic development"; that the FZLN recognizes it is part of a new international movement for humanity and against neoliberalism; and that the FZLN will "struggle against all forms of economic, social, ideological, and cultural exploitation, discrimination, and oppression".
The Plan of Action approved by the Congress layed out a number of short-term items to be dealt with in the near future, such as the campaign to honor the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture and the campaign for a just a dignified peace in Chiapas. Other long-term items on the FZLN's new agenda include working for the rights of workers and campesinos (including a campaign to reverse the reforms to Article 27 of the Constitution, which effectively ended land reform in Mexico); support for migrant laborers; defense of the environment; the campaign in support of a new Constitution; and the ongoing work toward the establishment of a true grassroots democracy in Mexico.
The only issue relating to Statutes which was resolved, meanwhile, was the question of whether or not one can simultaneously be a member of the FZLN and another social organization; this was approved with 89% of the vote. The other issue regarding double-militancy--that of belonging simultaneously to the FZLN and a political party--was rejected by the majority of voters, but not with the 75% needed in order to fully lay the issue to rest.
With respect to the Structure, very few positions even reached a simple majority (each question regarding structure had up to half-a- dozen different options to choose from), and none were approved with the required 75%. What was evident, however, is that the vast majority of participants were in agreement that all internal structures of the Zapatista Front should be constructed in the most democratic form possible, with broad levels of active participation and full control by the base committees over all instances of intermediary and/or national coordinating bodies.
For the immediate future, then, the issues of statutes and structure will continue to be discussed in the Civil Committees of Dialogue, while all individuals and Committees will take up the immediate tasks of putting the Plan of Action into practice, beginning with the national campaign to force the government to respect the San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture.
Primary sources for all news articles: La Jornada, Proceso, El
Universal, El Excelsior, independent human rights reports, personal
observations, and press statements of the Zapatista Front of National
Liberation.
The primary responsibility for the content of this news page lies with
its author, Joshua Paulson, and not necessarily with a commission,
civil committee, or other dependency of the Zapatista Front of
National Liberation.
*SPECIAL ZAPATISMO NEWS UPDATE*
THE ZAPATISTA MARCH AND THE FOUNDING CONGRESS OF THE FZLN
Part 2 of 2
October 14, 1997
A service of the Zapatista Front of National Liberation.
Please redistribute.
More information regarding the FZLN and the Zapatista struggle in Mexico
can be found at:
http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln (English)
http://spin.com.mx/~floresu/FZLN (Spanish)
This and previous news updates can also be found at:
http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln/news.html
Please send comments to: joshua@peak.org