For Years the United States Dreamed of Building Inter-Oceanic Canal

Agricultural Problems Worsen Despite Regional Development Plan

La Jornada
February 26, 2001
By Ramon Vera Herrera

Juchitan, Oaxaca "The isthmus is not for sale", says Subcomandante Marcos while addressing a crowd assembled along the side of a highway. The gathering occurred in La Ventosa, just a few kilometers from Juchitan on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. But what is the isthmus and what have been its struggles?

The isthmus is the most narrow point in the national territory. The 'waistline' of the country has long been seen by the United States as a geopolitical alternative to the Panama Canal. Our neighbor to the north has for years dreamed of building a canal ( whether maritime or land-based, a canal) across this narrow piece of land which stretches from Juchitan to the shores of Veracruz.

At the beginning of the twentieth century construction began on the Tehuantepec National Railway using British capital. Service was inaugurated in Minatitlan, site of the nation's first oil refinery. " The result of this was the loss of more than eighty thousand hectares of traditionally indigenous land. This had a huge impact on life in the communities of the isthmus. In response, the Nahua and Popoluca populations of Acayucan, Veracruz rose up in arms in 1906. " says Carlos Beas. Beas documented these events and is an advisor to the Northern Zone Isthmus Indigenous Communities Union or Unizoni.

The region came to be coveted once again during the administration of President Luis Echeverria who began an integrated development project. In practice, this program accelerated the extraction of natural resources along the isthmus corridor. This is one reason why today the oft-cited Isthmus Mega-project includes new plans for 'bio-prospecting' as well as high-speed roads and railways. These will urbanize the region, covering it with maquiladoras, services and amusements. These in turn will make it very profitable for large businesses to use the new commercial corridors.

Also in the works is a system of strategic checkpoints in the region, especially along the Gulf of Mexico. Many consider the gulf to be the United States' Mediterranean. Grupo Acerero del Norte is now constructing what will be the largest railway in Mexico. The new railroad will allow for exploration of the iron deposits at Zaniza in the district of Sola de Vega allowing the ore to be transported directly to Salina Cruz. The traditional dislocation of Zaniza Zapotecs and a 'reconversion' of the area will ensue.

A History of Struggle

From the late sixties through the seventies the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was the scene of innovative struggles proposing to weave together alliances and create a more integrated vision of the region's problems. The organization with the longest history in the region is the Coalition of Isthmus Students, Campesinos and Workers (COCEI). COCEI was the source of municipal struggles seeking to take back local power by registering voters with opposition parties. Of course these efforts did not originate with political institutions but with social organizations. This caused an immediate change in the indigenous consciousness at a regional level which brought a renewed sense of value for all things Zapotec. Suffice it to say that the Juchitec Cultural Center and the Zapotec-language regional literary magazine Guchachi Reza brought about a revival of Juchitec and Zapotec intellectualism. This was at a time when the indigenous world had not yet gained the visibility that it enjoys today.

Advisors (such as Adriana Lopez Monjardin, Carlos Monsivais, Sergio Zermeño, Elena Poniatowska and others) were also involved in the regional process. Together with local organizations they used their knowledge and national perspective to give the region strategic value in national struggles.

The process began as a struggle for land but these efforts soon resulted in the construction of multi-class fronts that struggled at the regional level. At the same time they were able to integrate the struggles of workers and students which ate away at official corporatism by bringing together several local social organizations. The isthmus was also the arena of work for the Diocese of Tehuantepec and Bishop Arturo Lona. Lona, now retired, represented a different, although parallel, path to that set out by Samuel Ruiz in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.

Bearing Social Fruit

One of the organizations that bore the most 'social fruit' was the Isthmus Region Indigenous Communities Union (UCIRI). UCIRI grew from a campesino theology which quickly became an indigenous theology and brought together Zapotecs, Mixes and Huaves. This coalition was responsible for the nation's first organic cultivation (especially of coffee) in our country. The organization created an agricultural training center that achieved national recognition after being invaded by the army in 1994 on the pretext that it was a guerilla training center. The accusation was later proven false. Perhaps one of the most interesting efforts was undertaken by Ucizoni. Promoters of bilingualism expanded their cause and began to make demands for greater human rights in the time when Hector Bravo Ahuja was governor of Oaxaca. This lead to the creation of Ucizoni, an independent organization, and demands for agrarian reform. In the end, land that had been invaded by ranchers in Veracruz and Oaxaca was recovered. The struggle was also against the caciques and the pistol-toting ways of the local strongmen. From this fight for land Unizoni went on to work in defense of the identity of the region's communities, to promote human rights and to bring about a revival of the ideals of Ricardo Flores Magon. Magonist principles include defense of the communitarian ideal and a more integrated vision of the region's significance. These ideas are still popular in the region as well as in Magon's home, Mazateca.

Ucizoni also struck up a relationship with the railroad workers of Mateas Romero who were linked to Demetrio Vallejo from the time he was released from prison. Campaigns resulting from this alliance are still remembered by people in the area

Perhaps because of these intertwined histories of resistance and hope, one of the first forums allowing the country's indigenous peoples to put their problems in perspective and share experiences occurred in Mateas Romero in 1989. Since that time, other meetings have created greater visibility for the problems faced in indigenous areas and have created a movement demanding recognition of Constitutional rights for indigenous people.

The Expulsion of Labor

Today, aside from being the focus of theÊIsthmus Megaproject, part of Plan Puebla-Panama, the region is one in which agricultural products are literally priceless. That is to say that it is more profitable to let oranges and coffee beans rot than it is to sell them. The situation has led to the expulsion of the area's workforce to Ciudad Juarez on the U.S. border. This border enclave receives weekly 'shipments' of laborers from the northern part of the isthmus, especially from the lower Mixe region. Now, petroleum, biodiversity, mining and the roads and railways that will lead to more loss of indigenous lands from coast to coast are of great concern. So much so that indigenous people are returning once again to inter-ethnic resistance. But this time there is a greater awareness of geopolitics and independent information is more readily available. This new resistance is uniting practically every organization in the region.

One must remember the San Andreas Accords when considering this new opportunity for the recognition of Indian Constitutional rights. The San Andreas Accords rightly obligate the government to refrain from ever again acting unilaterally. It is also obligated to obey the wishes of the local population to the point of considering the cancellation of a given project if the community feels that it will be detrimental.

It is stated in the accords: " It is the indigenous communities and people themselves that should decide on development projects and programs. For this reason, it is considered pertinent to incorporate in local and federal regulations ideal mechanisms that will serve to propitiate participation at all levels in such a manner that this is done taking into consideration the aspirations, needs and priorities of the community." (document 2, joint proposals)

As if it were nothing important, the Peace and Concord Commission (Cocopa) is very clear about reforming Article 4 as part of its Constitutional reforms package. After the reform Article 4 will read: " Agreeing collectively to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources of their lands and territories, these being understood to include the entirety of the habitat used and occupied by the indigenous people, excepting those lands that come directly under national ownership.". This means, in the case of oil, that no community or individual will be able to use or enjoy the land. This in no way makes it legal for the government to proceed in the way that it has with so many other resources and, above all, with so very many lives. These are lives that today, as in the time of Porfirio Diaz, declare: " The isthmus is not for sale.".

Translated from Spanish by Shannon Stice on January 22, 2002