In a new communique, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) denounces Mexican President Felipe Calderon's escalated campiagn against narco-trafficking as a "farce" and a "mere pretext to augment the already disproportionate militarization of rural Chiapas." The communique, signed by Subcommander Marcos, draws an analogy between the new crackdown and last year's contested elections, saying "the supposed campaigns against narcotrafficking carried out by the government are a farce. Just like that which brought Mr. Calderon Hinojosa to power."

Marcos charges that when the federal army discovers a marijuana plantation, they only destroy the mature plants, leaving the seedlings, "with the aim of having a pretext to return and try to intimidate the Zapatista villages."

He charges that the drugs are grown with the connivance of the "official" municipal governments in the divided state, rather than the rebel Zapatista "autonomous municipalities." He also charges that the "official" municipalities provide cover for organized car theft rings and other criminal networks.

"What's more, the authorities don't even know the geography of the state," Marcos writes, "as they map the destruction of plants as if they were in Zapatista territory, when everyone knows that these are lands governed by PRI and PRD authorities and inhabited by their followers." The PRI and PRD are two of Mexico's leading "official" political parties. Marcos reiterates that the EZLN have banned the cultivation or use of all drugs and alcohol in their communities. (EZLN communique, Feb. 6; APRO, Feb. 9)

Sources archived at Chiapas95

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