Cafè Zapatista: how to support a libertarian society by drinking coffee Enrico Massetti ISBN: 978-1-312-02050-4
What Italian Anarchists do? "Officially" they trow bombs, even if this theory has been proved wrong in the past 40 years, at least since the massacre of Piazza Fontana, in the "collective imaginery" of the average italian the figure of bombtrowing anarchists is still deeply impressed. They make "casino" in the streets, protesting whatever there is or there isn't around to protest? This too is part of the "official truth" propagated by the mass media, and bought by the average normal person, and sometimes it is true, even if they usually make less "casino" than the police facing them in the streets. What then if Anarchist made selling and drinking coffe a cornerstone of their support for the freedom and equality movements to build a libertarian society in Mexico's Chiapas? That, for sure, would be something unexpected by most "normal" people: "Sir, would you like a coffee to support the struggle of the people who made it? They do not have bosses or authorities, but they make a very good coffe, it's the best quality organic coffee in the world! And it costs to you less than the coffee you buy in the supermarket! Would you like to try it?" Is this a new way of making revolution? Maybe not, but definitly it is a good way to support the efforts of the Mayan Zapatista communities in Mexico's Chiapas to survive and prosper in their effort to build from bottom-up a just and equalitarian, libertarian society. And, while you donate your support to "the cause", you also save some money doing so, and enjoy a good coffee.
This dossier has been prepared by Enrico Massetti
Cafè Zapatista by Enrico Massetti Would you like to support a libertarian society by drinking coffee? "Sir, madam, would you like to drink a good coffee to support the struggle of the Mexican Mayan people who made it and help them out of poverty? They do not want to be forced to emigrate illegally to the USA, and don't want to have bosses, but they make a very good coffe, it's the best quality organic coffee in the world! And it costs to you less than the coffee you buy in the supermarket! Would you like to try it?"
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed into legislation on Jan. 1, 1994 was to have ignited Mexico's ascent into a modern, First-World State. But in the southern state of Chiapas on this New Years Day, an "armed uprising of indigenous peoples stole the media spotlight, exposing Mexico's massive social inequalities and the exclusion of the country's indigenous population from it's economic development," (Latin American Press, Jan. 20,1994). These insurgents calling themselves the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), claimed that they were fighting for the rights of indigenous Mexicans as they captured four towns in Chiapas, (where Mayan descendants are concentrated). The Mexican government had been denying the existence of a guerilla movement as an attempt to present itself as stable and prosperous during the NAFTA negotiations. Since the media attention was on Mexico due to NAFTA, the EZLN strategically chose this time to rise up and tell the world that NAFTA was a death certificate for the ethnic people of Mexico. As Zapatista Comandante Ramona was quoted "We were not taken into consideration when NAFTA was negotiated, never again will there be a Mexico without us!" The problems with NAFTA and the Mexican Underclass In order for NAFTA to be initiated, Mexico must comply with Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). SAPs allow countries to be eligible for loans from the World Bank. The problem with SAPs in relation to the Zapatistans are that it calls for the privatization of all land (oil, mining, telephone service, etc..), deep cuts in social spending, (health, education, housing), and an emphasis on export production (eliminates
nearly all loans for those in the sectors producing goods for internal consumption). The privatization of all land will have a dramatic effect on the Zapatistas. Previously the Mexican constitution protected the communal lands (ejidos) held by the indigenous population. In the state of Chiapas (70% indigenous population) this will lead to the expulsion of 1.5 million people from their land. Not only will these people lose their land, but the environment will suffer an irresponsible rates of deforestation. The EZLN feels that the theft of their land is an attempt to destroy the culture of the Mayans (assimilation).
Deep cuts in social spending is yet another detriment to Mexico's indigenous people. It will close schools and minimize the availability of medical attention. As it stands now 46.6% of Chiapas' population suffers from malnutrition compared to 5.5% for the rest of the country. So, they organized themselves on the basis of traditional Maya culture and started cooperatives to free themselves from the high cost of the intermediation typical of the distribution of their main product: coffee. They were and are helped by a widespread international movement that now supports them through direct distribution of their coffee worldwide. This dossier is about these issues, and how you too can help this proud people to survive and prosper by asking your barista to use zapatista coffee, by buying it for your own use, by telling about it to your friends, by selling it in your area: all the information on what you can do are included here! Dossier prepared by Enrico Massetti enricomassetti@msn.com
1. Zapatista Coffee Coffee is, after petroleum, the second product on the world market for exports, the volume of its market of about $ 10 billion. In its cultivation, processing and sale are occupied about 25 million people in the southern hemisphere. They base their survival on this activity, and depend on the price determined on daily basis by the New York Stock Exchange. Mexico produces some of the best coffee in the world, grown mainly in the mountains. The first product that Mexico exports is coffee, it is in fact the world's fourth largest producer and the world's leading one of organic coffee.
Trasport of the crop In Mexico more than three million people live with its cultivation and export. 91.7% are small producers with less than 5 acres and more than 60% are indigenous. The others are on a small number of large estates of enormous extent, the result of the occupation of the lands of indigenous communities, that the government allowed and supported. Entire families which based their precarious existence on a small plot of land have become therefore laborers forced to work in inhuman conditions in the service of the new master "finquero".
In the estates of wealthy families of the national oligarchy and foreign entrepreneurs are counting on high returns arising from modern technology and the work of a large amount of cheap labor. Small producers instead produce without adequate technical knowledge and tools, and without the required credit enhancement, and of course they can not with only their own efforts work and market the finished product. Zapatista coffee The crops are often in remote areas and, after a very tiring and rudimentary transport, arrived at the nearest road, they have to sell the product to the "coyotes". These are just the first of the intricate network of intermediaries, and this means that because of false balances and lies on the real market price, to the producers are left only the crumbs of this great business. But the dependence of the southern countries of the world on a single product, and the fact that they cannot influence its price, have resulted in a complete submission to the policies and strategies of the rich importing countries and of the major financial institutions (IMF, WB, WTO etc.). In practical terms this meant despair at not being able to cover even the cost of production, and the eradication of cultural and community ties of indigenous peoples. To change this situation, the EZLN has developed its social and political project: to build a society from the bottom-up, where the Mayan people can enjoy a real autonomy, to preserve their language and culture and self-organized forms of direct democracy, through access to education, health, land and a dignified life. Co-operatives of small producers such as the ones that collected the cafe Zapatista are one form of this project, where the members join forces to improve their own forms of organization, to defend a more secure access to land, and to improve their living conditions. For these reasons we developed this new project together with the common fight of the rebel communities in resistance and for these reasons we distribute these rebel coffee beans .