© 2008 Claudia Villegas Delgado ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRODUCING A ‘SPACE OF DIGNITY’. KNITTING TOGETHER SPACE AND DIGNITY IN THE EZLN REBELLION IN MEXICO by CLAUDIA VILLEGAS DELGADO A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Geography written under the direction of Neil Smith and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey January, 2008 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Producing a ‘Space of Dignity’. Knitting together Space and Dignity in the EZLN Rebellion in Mexico by CLAUDIA VILLEGAS DELGADO Dissertation Director: Neil Smith I explore the production of new political, cultural and economic spaces (including the Zapatista Rebel Territory, Rebel Autonomous Municipalities, Caracoles and Juntas) constructed by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), an indigenous rebellion in the Mexican state of Chiapas that rose up against the government on January 1, 1994. These spaces are articulated as a symbol of and material basis for sustaining the long- term resistance begun by the EZLN to demand a ‘space of dignity’ for the indigenous peoples. Based on the major stages in the EZLN’s political practice from 1994 to 2003 —the Declarations of the Lacandona Jungle, the declaration of the Zapatista Rebel Territory, and current phase of Good Government— I discuss further how a ‘space of dignity’ can be conceptually defined, how it can be socially produced, and how it can be a means for social transformation. My approach to the Zapatista struggle sheds a light not only on the resulting relationships between space, dignity and resistance, but it looks forward to the meaning ii these concepts and relationships have for understanding the nature of the Zapatista rebellion and the contribution of this experience within the larger context of the production of space in capitalism. I conclude that the notion of a ‘space of dignity’ can provide an abstract framework to reflect on the possibilities for thinking of space as a means for revolutionary transformation, namely for organized resistance against neoliberal globalization. And that for the Zapatista rebellion, the practical meaning of this ultimate goal has resulted in the re-signification of the notion of dignity —both as a cultural and geographical framework— from which to think and construct spaces for defending autonomy and territory for the indigenous peoples of Mexico. This research is focused around a case study using qualitative research methodologies, combining ethnographic and archival sources with extensive fieldwork, conducted in 2002 and 2004 in the EZLN rebel territories. iii Acknowledgements My doctoral studies were supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, and I received support from the Graduate School Fellowship for Dissertation Work in Geography for the writing of my work. I would like to thank Betty Ann Abbetamarco and Elaine Gordon of the Geography Department at Rutgers University; and to Gerardo Bocco, and Patricia Olivera at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. My gratitude to the people of the Seminario Permanente de Estudios Chicanos y de Fronteras for their commentaries to my work in the early stages of research. Thanks also to the Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas for having allowed me to participate in the Civil Camps for Peace. I want to thank to my interviewees, to the people who aided me during my fieldwork, to all the comp@s of the EZLN, and especially to Jorge Santiago, for his kindness and insightful thoughts. I would also like to express thanks to Elwin Wyly and Joszeph M. Borocz for their academic advice, and to David Hughes for his critical reading of my work. I gratefully acknowledge the intellectual mentorship and friendship of Neil Smith, Juan Manuel Sandoval, and very especially of Briavel Holcomb, without whose patience, encouragement and support would have been impossible to reach the final line. The friendship of Karla and Greg, Mariela and José Juan, Rosita and Jorge, Ismael, Carlita, Janette, Banu, Aziz, Marco Vinicio, and Irenne, provided my work and staying in the U.S. meaningful. Thanks also to my friends Valeria, Oscar, and Olivia for helping me with the editing process. To Annie Bellows for all the emotional adventures together, and to Dulce, my lifetime courageous friend. iv Finally, the completion of this work is one of the greatest expectations I shared with my family. Thanks to my uncle Raúl, for his encouragement. To Carlos, my soul mate, and Nora, for her courage and hope. To Eva and Rodolfo, for their faith and love. To Oliva y Carlos, my parents, for the education they gave me, and for always believe in me. Thank you all for having walked with me the path of the caracol. To Graciela Uribe, my mentor and greatest inspiration at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, to my mother, who is not with me anymore, and to Rodolfo, my companion, this work is dedicated. v Table of Contents Abstract, ii Acknowledgements, iv List of illustrations, x Introduction, 1 ONE. WHO, WHAT AND WHY Subject and perspective, 8 Significance of research, 10 Methodology and data sources, 14 General structure of the work, 18 TWO. THE REASONS, THE SUBJECTS AND THE PRACTICES Constructing the object, 21 The knitting of class and culture, 35 Indigenous identity and the indigenous question in Latin America, 37 Zapatismo and new research threads, 45 The revolutionary nature of the EZLN, 49 The revolutionary nature of space, 53 vi THREE. THE STAR, THE HAND, AND THE BADGER A jigsaw puzzle, 59 The piece on the childhood, 66 The piece on the Millennium Development Goals, 68 The piece on the Decade of the Indigenous Peoples, 71 The piece on contemporary warfare, 72 The tale of the star, the hand and the badger, 74 The fire and the word, 76 The ‘breaking’ of the blockade, 78 The path of the caracol, 79 FOUR. POST-INTERGALATIC CHRONICLES? The Declarations of the Lacandona Jungle, 82 Everything for all, nothing to us, 88 Opening spaces for political struggle, 91 Building political alliances, 94 Memories of an Intergalactic space, 99 vii FIVE. WELCOME TO THE ZAPATISTA TERRITORY Getting into the Rebel Territory, 107 The absolute geography of domination, 110 The Zapatista Rebel Municipalities, 116 A ‘mirroring’ experience, 125 The Aguascalientes of Francisco Gómez, 127 SIX. THE WORKINGS OF RESISTANCE ¡Aquí ya no hay bola!, 148 ‘The accompaniment’ of civil society, 153 Jorge Santiago, 154 Onésimo Hidalgo, 158 Andrés Aubry, 162 Ernesto Ledesma, 166 Bienvenidos a territorio zapatista, 169 Caracoles in motion, 173 viii SEVEN. THE STRATEGY OF THE CARACOL Entrada y Salida, 180 EIGHT. CONCEPTUALIZING A SPACE OF DIGNITY Introduction, 188 Pointing at the star: Knitting together space and dignity, 192 Pointing at the hand: unfolding space and dignity in the Rebel Territory, 197 Catching the badger? The revolutionary nature of a ‘space of dignity’, 200 Appendix I, 209 Acronyms, 215 Bibliography, 218 Curriculum Vita, 231 ix List of Illustrations Fig.1 The Millennium Development Goals, 70 Fig.2 Topics of Development, 70 Fig.3 The Intergaláctico (Tables of Discussion), 101 Fig.4 Zapatista Rebel Municipalities, 119 Fig.5 Structures of government and territorial layers in the Rebel Territory, 187 x “I am going to narrate the events that my husband and me lived during our travel vacation to Chiapas in 1994. After we have spent several days in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez and its surroundings, we decided to drive south and visit the town of Comitán. We arrived there at evening. It was the first day of January, so we went to the Church. The Priest was pledging for the New Year and suddenly he spoke to all of us: !“Now we are going to pray for all those who died this morning, and for all the other who will die later on today.” The people got surprised and anxious after listened to the priest’s words. I waited until the mass was over. I followed the priest to the Sacristy and asked him about what was happening. Before answering me, he asked if we were from Chiapas. I told him we were from Mexico City and were visiting for Christmas and the New Year’s holidays. Then, he asked me if there in “Mexico” [Mexico City] the people haven’t heard yet about ‘the Zapatista guerilla’. I answered him ! ‘No’. Finally, the priest advised us to return to the hotel immediately, or else to remain inside the Church with the rest of the people: !“I am going to close the doors of the Church right now to protect all the people. The ‘Zapatistas’ are already in Ocosingo and they are on their way to Las Margaritas.” We choose to return to the hotel and then to leave to San Cristóbal immediately. At the hotel, other tourists were trying to run away from the town but there was no transportation available. Fortunately, we could get out rapidly because we had a rented car. Before leaving, the people at the hotel gave us all sort of commentaries in favor and against our decision of leaving the place, but still we decided to drive back to San Cristóbal right away. It was very late in the night. Asking for the best route to San Cristóbal, a “lugareño” (local person) gave us his best advice: to avoid the secondary roads: !“These are the spots where the soldiers can catch you.” We were confused about whose ‘soldiers’ he was talking about: the zapatistas or the Mexican Army, but anyway we didn’t ask. And he gave us a last warning: !“Once you are on the highway, do not make any suspicious gesture or movement that would be misunderstood by the soldiers, they can kill you without hesitate.