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Subcommander Marcos Returns as Delegate Zero

Subcomandante Marcos and the Zapatistas have a new goal for 2006. They are giving up their military role and becoming involved in the electoral process. Marcos will know be known as Delegate Zero, as he and the Zapatistas embark on a tour of Mexico.

The Zapatista rebels of Mexico are emerging from their jungle hideout for a six-month campaign tour of the country, designed to be an alternative to this year's already contentious presidential race.

Marcos and the Zapatistas have been fighting for years for the rights of indigenous Mexicans. They will not be running for office themselves, since they still view the political process as overly corrupt, but instead will build a "nationalist leftist movement that will "shake this country up from below" during a visit to Mexico's 31 states."

The Zapatista's command council said in a recent statement: "A step forward in the struggle is only possible if we unite with other sections of society. We have to unite with labourers, teachers, students and all the workers in the city and countryside."

I have long been a fan of Subcomandante Marcos (always known as Subcommander Marcos) often including this communique (pdf) when I lecture on why criminal defense lawyers do what they do. It always brings a cheer, as well as a tear to the eye. I am down to my last dog-eared copy, so I just scanned it so you can all read it.

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    Re: Subcommander Marcos Returns as Delegate Zero (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Sun Jan 01, 2006 at 11:59:47 PM EST
    but instead will build a "nationalist leftist movement that will "shake this country up from below" during a visit to Mexico's 31 states."
    sorry to be so cynical, but i'm not going to bet the rent money on this. part of the problem with these guys is that they are as corrupt as those currently in power. the only change that would occur, should they be successful in their electoral quest, is a change in corrupt parties. much as i would like to think otherwise, and the average citizen deserves, the only difference will be the pockets being lined. the only true way to change things down there is for the powerful commercial interests to recognize that it would be in their best interest to do so. they control the system, they are the only ones capable of effecting true change. i would love to be proven wrong. of course, i'd love to see the redskins win the superbowl, and me spend an evening in a hot tub with pam anderson. neither of those events is going to occur either.

    Re: Subcommander Marcos Returns as Delegate Zero (none / 0) (#2)
    by profmarcus on Mon Jan 02, 2006 at 03:18:35 AM EST
    just as an fyi, i've been following this story since june... it's very interesting from a number of aspects not the least of which is this...
    Marcos has repeatedly criticised the leftist Democratic Revolution party and its presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, who leads most polls for the presidential elections.
    i remember walking around the zocalo in mexico city not long after the zapatistas emerged seemingly out of nowhere on the last day of 1993 by seizing a number of villages and highways in the southeastern mexican state of chiapas... the zocalo is always ground zero for national protests in mexico and there were a number of them in progress that day... i happened to notice several well-groomed men and women in business attire walking around with clipboards and became curious... i tagged along with one for a while until i managed to figure out that they were employees of a p.r. firm hired by the zapatistas to gauge public opinion of their actions... amazing, i remember thinking, how times change... now the revolution hires its own p.r. firm... that was followed by the realization that one of the reasons the mexican government wasn't rolling a mass of heavily armed troops into chiapas to dispatch the cheeky bastards as they would have done in previous years without batting an eyelash, was that subcomandante marcos, the anonymous, balaclava-wearing ezln leader was sitting in the lacandon rain forest in chiapas, drinking coffee with cnn reporters who were beaming it all back to the rest of world, live via satellite... not your father's oldsmobile... And, yes, I DO take it personally

    Re: Subcommander Marcos Returns as Delegate Zero (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Mon Jan 02, 2006 at 08:17:57 AM EST
    Haha... it takes some serious right-wingers to not get the gay waiter joke. Marcos is too cool.