Free Media Report from La Realidad (May 24th)

May 24^th, 2014 Caracol I La Realidad, Chiapas.- A belt of insurgent militants dressed in green, with red bandanas around their necks and covered by balaclavas and formed in a line surrounded more than 2,200 Zapatista support bases who arrived from the five Caracoles to pay homage to compañero Galeano brutally murdered last May 2^nd in this very Caracol, the first capital of civil and peaceful Zapatismo.

Everyone, keeping absolute silence in front of more than one thousand people, adherents to the Sixth Declaration, students of the Escuelita for Freedom, national and international civil society, and free media who came in Caravan from various parts of the country.

From a stage situated on one side of the basketball court the six placards are seen with words asking for justice for the murdered compañero. In one of them, a fragment from the communiqué, “The Pain and the Rage,” in which Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos insists that the pain and the rage are precisely “what now makes us lace up our boots again, put on our uniforms, holster up our pistols, and cover our faces.”

The Insurgents wear a black patch on the right eye, a pink bow on the side of the heart, and a black one, of mourning, on the right shoulder. All together complete the formation of a fence around their bases in the form of protection maybe insisting that the Army will never leave them.

Close to 12 o’clock to the sound of the song La Cigarra–by María Elena Walsh– Subcomandante Insurgent Marcos (SCI) appears on horseback also with a pirate eye patch on the right eye and smoking his characteristic pipe to meet minutes later with the General Command of the EZLN–Zapatista Army of National Liberation, also on horseback. They coordinate with a military salute to civil society and to the BAZ to later give withdrawal and break the files. Marcos says goodbye with a genuine salute, raising the middle finger of his left hand.

After the withdrawal the voice of SCI Marcos is heard from the speakers situated on the sides of the stage. He introduces himself from Radio Insurgente and sends a special greeting to the “independent, autonomous, or however it is said” free media, to whom it is informed that in a while they will have internet and will be able to upload their material.” Then, the voice is passed to Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés who informs about the advance of the investigations. He mentions the women involved in the murder of compañero Galeano, “the one who macheted and the one who dragged the body.” Immediately afterwards it is requested to all the adherents to the Sixth Declaration present that they “remember that our struggle is civil and peaceful” and that it will not be provoked nor fall into provocations “in spite of the anger, the pain, and the rage.” SCI Moisés insisted on using the rage against the system and not against “those people wrong in the head and who do not think who only want to fulfill the order of the evil government.” He insisted that for some time now provocations and threats exist in this Caracol “if they provoke, well let them do it, we do not, we are fighters,” he added.

He finalized his intervention on Radio Insurgente warning: “they are listening to us and we want them to listen because before they never wanted to dialogue,” and made reference to those present as witnesses to these situations of these provocations.

SCI Marcos retook the microphone notifying that when the sun goes down it will proceed to the ceremony of homage to compañero Galeano and reminding the independent media to take advantage of the Internet connection to upload their materials “and notify their families that they arrived well.”

We are all awaiting the beginning.

We are all listening to the silence.

We are all observing what they observe.

We are all, all here.

United by the rage and the pain,

United by the desire for justice, the right to peace.

We are all for Galeano.

Here we are, here we remain, this we are.

Only one.

One look.

One heart beating with force, love, dignity, and rage.

More enter.

More.

They are ever more.

We are ever more.

The same,

The new,

Those from before.

We are all here, with them, with us.

Authors: free, alternative, autonomous, or however it is called, media.

Translated from Spanish by Henry Gales

Click here for Spanish text.