Reporting from La Realidad

Image: A girl, flirtatious, in a short skirt, purple blouse, long hair, observes the meticulous formation of hundreds of Zapatistas who are arriving to the plaza of La Realidad Caracol. Men, women, children in arms, and in front of them, a file of militants. The girl rests the weight of her body on one leg, hands on her hips, and smiles. Behind her, three insurgents look after the entrance to the construction of wood where, we suppose, the command is. Comandante Tacho, tireless, runs from one side to another, gives instructions, coordinates, resolves problems, omnipresent.

Under the sun of the Lacandon Jungle, the Zapatistas shine strong, dignified, organized. Subcomandante Marcos appears then on horseback, the beloved Sup Marcos who has inspired so many, with a black glove with bones painted in white on his left hand, armed with a machete on his back in place of the traditional AR-15 and wearing a blue shirt instead of brown. Then other horsemen appear, among them Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés and Comandante Tacho. All, militants, insurgents, and commanders, with the right eye covered, looking how it is seen from the left.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of support bases arrive here from various zones of Zapatista territory. Some 600 of us, solidary persons from Mexico and from the world, arrived here this morning after a long, troubled, and combative travesty in a caravan of pain and of rage. And in this moment, before the deployment of force and dignity, the tiredness is forgotten and hope reborn.

The subcomandantes come out and some minutes later the voice of Sup Marcos is heard: This is Radio Insurgente, broadcasting from the mountains of the Mexican southeast. He greets us, and passes the word to Subcomandante Moisés, who communicates to us the first results of the investigation on the attack which the Zapatistas suffered here and the murder of maestro Galeano: Those immediately responsible are already known. Justice will be done. There will be more reports later. He asks us not to fall into the provocations by the paramilitaries from La Realidad… let us use the rage against the system, not against those brethren sold-out and manipulated by the government. And then Sup Marcos informs us that there is internet. So here we are.

For now that is all. We will continue reporting.

Translated from Spanish by Henry Gales.

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