Women Have Key Role In Zapatista Command

by Diego Cevallos

Unlike the majority of Mexico's Native women, the female members of the rebel group have decision-making power, decide how many children they want and when to have them, and are free to choose their own partners, said the four women leaders.

"As Native women, we will not give up the struggle until we are no longer treated as animals," said Commander Yolanda, a Tzotzil Indian wearing the trademark Zapatista ski mask.

"We must not be looked down on just because we are Native and dark-skinned, or because we speak our own languages...being Indian is a great source of pride," said Esther, a member of the Tzeltal ethnic community.

Of Mexico's roughly 10 million Indians, women are the most vulnerable, with a life expectancy of 71.5 years compared to 76 years among Native men, and 48 percent illiteracy against 29 percent among men.

Meanwhile, 46 percent of Indian women have not been to primary school, while just 8.9 percent have been to secondary school.

Native women are the poorest of the poor in Mexico, according to the National Indigenist Institute, a government agency.

According to EZLN leader Subcomandante Marcos, the group's female members face a two-pronged fight -- to get their male companions to recognize their rights, and to get society at large to respect the rights of all Native people.

In the EZLN stronghold in the jungles of the impoverished state of Chiapas, the female members of the group declared, in 1993 -- a year before the insurgents rose up in arms and went public with their struggle -- an internal law demanding respect for their rights, according to the guerrilla leaders.

"Within the Zapatista communities, women have their own movement...and they are converting their 'Law on Women' into reality rather than mere paper demands," said Marcos in a recent interview.

The rebel chiefs, whose caravan is accompanied by hundreds of supporters, including 200 foreign nationals, will remain on the outskirts of the capitol until March 10, holding rallies and meetings.

On March 11, the rebel commanders will march to Mexico City's central square, where observers say they will be welcomed by a crowd of at least 50,000.

At one of the political rallies held along the journey, which has crisscrossed 12 of Mexico's 31 states, Commander Esther called on the guerrilla's followers to help build a different kind of country. "Never again a Mexico without its women!" she declared.

Fidelia, another member of the Tzeltal ethnic group, said that the women EZLN leaders, "along with all of Mexico's Native women, are demanding respect for our rights, because women suffer more pain, but are just as brave."

While "being an indigenous woman is a source of pride, it is also difficult, because there is suffering and discrimination and poverty," said Commander Susana, a Tzotzil Indian.

The EZLN leaders' march on the capitol is aimed at drumming up support for their cause and lobbying Congress to pass a law on Native rights that was drawn up in 1996 by a legislative commission, and which is today sponsored by President Vicente Fox.

The bill would grant autonomy and self-rule to Mexico's Native communities, which according to some conservative lawmakers would pose a risk to women, because their rights are much more limited according to the tradition of many Native groups.

But the question is not whether Native traditions are fair, say the EZLN and the government, which despite their many differences see eye to eye on the bill on Native rights, which stipulates that cultural diversity and the rights of each ethnic group must be respected.

The guerrillas say they will return to peace talks with the government, which stalled in 1996, only if the bill on Native rights is approved, three more military detachments are pulled out of Chiapas (Fox has already withdrawn four), and the remaining 50 Zapatistas in prison are released (around 40 have already been freed).

The EZLN, a poorly-armed group which represents no military threat, according to the government, has not engaged in combat since January 1994 thanks to a ceasefire decreed by former president Carlos Salinas (1988-94) and a law on "pacification" passed by Congress in 1995.