The Zapatistas have announced the resumption of broadcasting by their own radio station, Radio Insurgente. What’s more, in future the Zapatista FM stations broadcasting to the indigenous communities of Chiapas, Mexico will be totally controlled by the grass-roots Zapatistas through their autonomous structures, rather than by the Zapatista army.

This is part of the process of separating the EZLN political-military structures from the democratic civilian structures of the Zapatista indigenous communities, and thus transferring more power to the grass-roots.


Communique from the EZLN Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee

Mexico 16 December 2005

To the people of Mexico

To the people of the world

Brothers and Sisters

We advise you that from 19 December 2005 broadcasting from Radio Insurgente – “ the voice of the EZLN, the voice of those without a voice” - will resume; on short wave, FM and on its website (this date is the 12th anniversary of the zapatista break out from the encirclement of the Mexican army blockade and the proclamation of the formation of the Zapatista autonomous municipalities in rebellion).

After the 19th the EZLN will gradually hand over to the Zapatista support bases and the autonomous authorities, total control of the FM radio stations which broadcast to the indigenous communities in the various Zapatista zones in Chiapas. To accomplish this, indigenous civilian Zapatista women and men will receive training in the technical and production aspects of radio over the next few months.

And so the civil Zapatista population will decide in accordance with their own ways and methods the content of the local radio programmes. They will produce and directly manage these radio stations, and likewise will change their names. The EZLN will only retain the operation of the shortwave station (transmitted at 6.00 megahertz) and the webpage ( http://www.radioinsurgente.org), with the name of Radio Insurgente.

With this step the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee of the EZLN continues the tendency of separating the EZLN political-military structure from the democratic civilian structures of the indigenous Zapatista communities.

Democracy!

Liberty!

Justice!

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos on behalf of the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee of the EZLN-General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation