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Let The People Decide

On Sunday, August 27, 1995, the Zapatistas staged a National Referendum. Engaged in negotiations with what they refer to as "the bad government", and wondering what future they may have, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation asked the Mexican people to help them make some decisions.

On voting day, there appeared to be no military future for the Zap's. Trapped in the furthest reaches of the Lacondon rain forest by the largest concentration of troops and equipment in recent Mexican history -- some 60,000 troops sporting armored columns, phalanxes of helicopters, and lots of rockets -- the rebel forces were outnumbered and outgunned. In some villages, there was one soldier for every five citizens. Hoped-for second fronts in Guerrero and Tabasco had not developed. The troops could not go after the rebels without facing unacceptable losses, and the rebels did not have the firepower to attack.

Negotiations had been going on for about a year, with neither side willing to compromise on its basic demands. The government insisted that the rebels lay down their arms as a condition of troop withdrawal; the rebels insisted on troop withdrawal as a condition of disarmament.

From its beginnings in San Cristobal de las Casas under the auspices of Archbishop Samuel Ruiz, to full-fledged pomp-and-circumstance exchanges under Manuel Camacho Solis; through a site change to San Andres Larrainzar, the replacement of Camacho, and the direct participation of an Army representative; from the prominence of Subcomandante Marcos to his virtual disappearance from the media to his re-emergence in a feature interview in La Jornada on August 26, the negotiation process has slogged on without any noticeable result except preventing renewed armed conflict.

From very early on in the negotiation process, the government has pushed the notion that the Zapatistas should become a legal, recognized political party. Of course their condition for legalization is disarmament. As negotiations dragged on, the Central Command of the indigenous uprising began to think more favorably about a "political" solution. Finally, after months of preparation and discussion, they put the question to the people.

In his interview on August 26, el Sub referred to a Party of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a remark that some took as a signal that the Central Command was asking for approval of its desire to form such a party.

On August 27, all over Mexico, in parks, on sidewalks, and in plain sight of government buildings (and government police), groups of four or five citizens set up tables and chairs, tacked signs to walls and trees, and offered ballots to those who cared to make their feelings known. It is estimated that over 10,000 sites were opened. In a ten-block walk through part of the center of Oaxaca city, I saw 8, and I was told that there were several booths in each of the many Colonias (neighborhoods) surrounding the center. The voting slips were displayed in a glass box; I would estimate that at mid-day, the average box contained about 50 slips (there was probably an average of 100 each at day's end). At one booth I visited, the organizers characterized the voting as "light", but did not seem surprised. The general feeling was that voting would be much heavier in the countryside, where the most "indigenous" live, and it proved to be correct, as the original 400 tables deployed throughout the state soared by en d of day to more than 1,000. In many districts, tables were set up in prison yards, changing "get out the vote" to "bring the polls to the people".

By the next morning, 41% of the votes had been counted, and the results published in La Jornada, a national daily newspaper. Over 95% said "yes" to the 16 demands of the Zapatistas (land, liberty, food, etc.); to the need for all the diverse democratic movements to adopt those demands as part of a united front for democracy; to the need for "profound political reform"; and for equal rights and privileges for women. By contrast, only 56% thought that the EZLN ought to form a separate political party; and by a small majority, voters rejected sharing control of the party with others.

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