MAKING THE COMMON: A journey to the Zapatista community

Part 1 of a reportage produced in December 2024 and January 2025 by the collective “caracteresnoexistentes” for the Lêgerîn Magazine.

Capitalism doesn’t believe it will disappear

At a school on the edge of the city, nestled in the middle of a pine forest, large wooden rooms are used to teach work skills to indigenous students. The walls are adorned with colorful murals that reflect themes of autonomy, nature, snails, and other Zapatista art. Various areas offer a range of items for sale, including T-shirts, stickers, books, calendars, popcorn, ham and chicken sandwiches, corn on the cob, and mangoes with chili. This is the welcoming atmosphere of CIDECI Uni-Tierra, the site of the Encounters of Resistance and Rebellion. It is here that around 900 Zapatista Compas gathered people from across the globe. An estimated 1,079 attendees from 46 countries and throughout Mexico who signed the Declaration for Life.

In two long rooms, different round tables were held where defenders of life explained the consequences of La Tormenta (the storm) — the crime, the perpetrator and the victims of capitalism, each one talking about the local and the global situation. They discussed topics ranging from the context in Palestine, revisiting the “Tour for Life” in Europe, to Chiapas, where a low-intensity war is being waged due to the conflict between paramilitary groups, drug cartels, the national guard, and the Mexican State’s failure to protect the people who live there. With all of this, we had time to catch a glimpse of the great storm that is upon us. Issues such as the destruction of the earth, missing people, searching mothers, wars, death, greed and the voracity of capitalism were presented. A central part of the encounter was to gain an understanding of the process of restructuring that their organization is undergoing. Zapatista comrades recalled through self-criticism what had happened in their 31 years of struggle, their martyrs, their achievements and what they now recognize as their mistakes.

They delved into the changes they have undergone in their autonomy, identifying the role of women in the struggle since the creation of the Revolutionary Law of Women in 1993 and their autonomous process within the movement. Subcomandante Moisés explained the new form of government that has been in place since last year on their 30th anniversary. Where they seek to turn the pyramid upside down —changing the forms of organization, facilitating the participation of all people and having more people in charge.

One of the biggest and most important changes is that of No Property, which means that the Zapatista lands and the autonomous services they provide (school, health, veterinary services and more) will be for all the people who live in those areas. The lands will belong to everyone and to no one, to the Zapatistas, to the supporters of different government parties and to the people. “The Common” is the new paradigm, two words so often repeated at this meeting and since last year.

Between cumbias and hope

After three days of meetings at CIDECI, the Zapatistas invited us to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the armed uprising. It was difficult to find transport because there is so little of it, it doesn’t go directly to the Caracoles and the road is full of the dangers that the Zapas continually denounce. All the participants in the encounter organized to travel together. We took a minibus with several internationalists and set off through the mountains of south-eastern Mexico. Green, leafy and with the ever-present fog, we arrived at the Caracol Oventic where the Zapatista Cultural Festival-Encounter and their anniversary would take place.

The entrance was a long descent surrounded by colorful structures with different functions —a little shop with articles made by the community, the Lo Común canteen, the Tercios Compas space (free and autonomous media), the health promoters’ clinic, sleeping areas, the Zapatista school and more. The path lead to a large esplanade in the middle of everything. During those days, songs were shared by artists who felt called upon to share words of struggle, raps, poetry, dances, rituals and food, while the nights were reserved for participating in the people’s dance.

The first play that the young Zapatistas did for us revolved around “The Storm” where they described how violent capitalism is, cruel, inhuman and criminal; the inevitable collapse of the world in the face of this voracious system.

They finished with the play “The Day After”, in which they imagine a world without capitalism —the people who are able to survive organized themselves for “The Common”. They described a world without big corporations, pharmaceutical companies or agrochemicals. There would be no property, nobody could gate-keep knowledge and profit off of it, the use of medicinal plants, making fire, making clothes, working the land, pottery, politics, etc. Everything must be in common and money would no longer exists. For this, representatives are appointed to help organize the process, as it is the people who will be responsible for making decisions in each space.

On January 1st, the 31 years since the beginning of the war against oblivion were commemorated. Two hours before midnight, between the silence and the fog, a rumble of footsteps broke out, the earth trembled. Hundreds of uniformed Zapatista militiamen marched down the mountain from the top of the Caracol to celebrate the moment with us. They lined up in an orderly fashion in front of Subcomandante Moisés, who spoke of the years of resistance and rebellion and of the martyrs who did not give up, did not sell out and did not yield. The speech was translated into Tzotzil and Tzeltal, the most widely spoken languages in the area.

What this encounter, along with other experiences with the Zapatistas, leaves us with is, on one hand, the need to share the hopes of the other worlds that already exist and recognize how much we already have in common. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to ask ourselves not only if we are ready for the storm—a storm that is certain to come and will change the world as we know it—but also what the storm looks like in the place where we live? How do we face the storm, and who are our companions? It invites us to imagine the day after. What does a world without capitalism look like?

How do we organize ourselves?

How can we create The Common?

And who is willing to take part in this effort?