In solidarity with the EZLN hundreds of activists went today to more than 30 Mexican consulates in the same number of US cities to protest what is stated as the imminent eruption of war and to demand a peaceful solution to the conflict in Chiapas.
From Portland and Maine to El Paso, Texas, going through Chicago and Los Angeles; as well as in Detroit, Austin, this capital city, New York,
Tucson and Denver, Mexican immigrants, indigenous people, students, pastors, peace activists and solidarity groups carried out a national day of action as called for by the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico.
In Chicago, according to the organizers, about 200 protesters went to the Mexican diplomatic office and demanded to speak with Consul General Leonardo French, who did meet with them. Jacobita Alonso, community organizing coordinator for Centro sin Fronteras, stated that French agreed to send a message by fax to the Mexican president. In addition he agreed to directly report to his government the concerns that they presented to him..
"We will continue protesting until there is justice in Chiapas", said Alonso. She stated that it is always necessary to see the Consul in these matters, even when they put police out front. "We are rebels; if they set the police on us, we push them...We are Mexicans and it is our right to enter this small piece of our country which is here".
In Austin, Texas, Eduardo Vera, from the Comite de Solidaridad con
Chiapas y Mexico stated that about 80 people went to the consulate, and that on Thursday he and other people participated in a national radio program with the populist political leader, Jim Hightower, regarding the question of Chiapas. This program was broadcasted on about 90 radio stations. In this city, as well as in others, the demonstrators were not able to meet with the consul general, but they left their message of protest against what they consider the dangerous increase in the violence in Chiapas. In New York, about 35 protesters left about 70 letters written to President Zedillo, expressing the concerns of the activists in this city.
In Los Angeles, Adriana Manjarrez, from the Comite de Solidaridad con los Zapatistas, said to La Jornada that about 100 people, with a strong representation of Chicanos, gathered in front of the Mexican consulate in this Californian city.
The day of protest was organized after the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico and its director, Cecilia Rodroguez, who is identified as the representative of the Zapatistas in the United States, began to circulate a "red alert" about the situation in Chiapas and warned about the increased possibility of a war offensive against the EZLN.
In its communiques the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico added that the "orders were already signed" to initiate military operations in Chiapas, and that "President Zedillo" seems to be preparing for war at the behest of U.S. financial and military interests.
"We do not want another Vietnam. We do not want to spend years doing body counts," stated Rodriguez in a letter to activists in which she asked them to protest against the preparations for war and to fight against the U.S. "interests", which her organization identifies as promoters of this possibility.