<nettime> SubDelegado Zero re:altmedia and coverage for the *Other*

[Ricardo Dominguez <rdom@thing.net>]

Subject: En;SubDelegado Zero re:altmedia and coverage

Originally published in Spanish by the Sixth Committee of the EZLN
**********************************************
Translated by irlandesa

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico

December 26, 2005

To the Alternative Media of the "Other"

To those persons, collectives and organizations of the "Other" who are
proposing to make films, videos, photographs, reports, research, etcetera
concerning or during the first trip by SubDelegado Zero of the EZLN's
Sixth Committee:

Compa~eras and compa~eros:

Zapatista greetings from compa~eros in struggle.  I am letting you know
that several letters have been received at our post office proposing, or
asking for authorization for, projects having to do with Alternative
Communication and independent artistic productions.  We have the following
to say about this:

1. -  Neither the EZLN nor its Sixth Committee (including SubDelegado
Zero), have any objection to your work.  The "Other," as we have said time
and again, belongs to everyone, and, to our way of thinking, it should
also be a place for promoting and consolidating the different alternative
communication projects which exist below and to the left in Mexico.  We
think the same way about artistic productions.  In this regard, the only
thing we should do is welcome your proposals and do everything we can to
not be an obstacle to their being carried out.

2 -  This first stage of the EZLN's Sixth Committee's trip throughout
Mexico will concentrate primarily on making direct contact with the
greatest possible number of supporters of the Sexta and the "Other."  In
some cases it will be possible for us to participate in public events.
Given how full the agendas in each state will be, it appears that it will
be difficult for us to participate directly in the projects you are
proposing.  Even so, we will make an effort to participate at some point
in something jointly with all the compas who are working in alternative
media and in artistic productions.

3 -  Given that you are compas, and we need to also make the "Other" a
place for communications, dissemination and art, the EZLN's Sixth
Committee is recommending to the committees or coordinators which are
being formed in each state that they give preferential treatment to the
compa~eros from the "Other" who will be "covering" this trip, given that
the alternative media are at a disadvantage to the mass media, and, if
this is the "Other," then we should also be "otherly" as regards
communication and artistic productions.  This preferential treatment does
not refer just to their being given access to the meetings and activities
in each location, but also that the space be organized so that the
alternative compas who record, take photos, films, videos, etcetera, can
do their work of news, documentation, research, artistic production,
etcetera, with the greatest possible ease.

4 -  In return, we are asking you, in turn, to respect the decisions and
regulations made on this matter by the committees or coordinators in each
state or region.

That's all for now then, compa~eros and compa~eras.  I hope that, when we
pass through the state where you live and work, we will be able to see
you and talk to you without a lens-microphone being involved.

Un abrazo.

>From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
SubDelegado Zero of the Sixth Committee of the EZLN
Mexico,  December of 2005

*********************************************
*********************************************
Subject: En;SubDelegado Zero on security issues

Originally published in Spanish by the Sixth Committee of the EZLN

Translated by irlandesa

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico

December 26, 2005

To all the compa~eros and compa~eras of the "Other":

To the Committees, Coordinators (or however they are called) which are being
formed in each state or region in order to help with the first stage of the
EZLN's Sixth Committee national work

To the Security Committees which have been formed, or are being formed, for
the accompaniment and security of SubDelegado Zero during this first stage:

Compa~eras and compa~eros:

Greetings from our compa~eros and compa~eras of the "Other."  We are writing
you in order to propose some criteria for security at the meetings and
activities in which SubDelegado Zero will be participating.

First -  It is always better (and more effective) to avoid arrogance and
grandstanding.  It is not about isolating, but about accompanying and
protecting. A security team is effective if it does its work without being
noticed.  In no way will the EZLN's Sixth Committee accept any persons on
their security team who are of any nationality other than Mexican.

Second -  The work of security and accompaniment is avoiding problems due
to crowds (in the unlikely event that there are any), preventing (as far
as possible) any bad acts by some "anti-otra," and, most importantly,
seeing that SubDelegado Zero does not get lost while going from one place
to another (for example, making a "mistake," with obvious trickery, with
the door when going to the bathroom and going into the "ladies" instead of
the "gents").

Third -  In the event that the bad governments attempt some repressive
measure, do not put up any resistance (especially if there are shots),
and step aside.  In no way should you put your life or liberty at risk.
Always have identification with you and the help of human rights, always
maintaining the truth, that is, that you are exercising a legal and
legitimate civil right.  You will not be violating any law by being next
to an individual with a ski-mask and an elegant profile (with the
contribution of the tummy).

Fourth -  In the event of detention, SubDelegado Zero knows what to do
and, above all, what not to do.  And so do not worry yourselves by
imagining what you will do in such and such a horrible event.  The
response is:  run, take shelter, inform, disseminate, mobilize...send me
tobacco.

I am, in advance, not authorizing anyone or any organization to assume,
WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT VERBAL AND WRITTEN REQUEST, the legal defense of my
person.

Fifth -  Neither the EZLN nor its Sixth Committee will be asking for any
guarantees from federal, state or municipal officials.  We do not expect
anything, nor will we ask for anything, from those who have always treated
us with contempt and disdain.  If any Committee or Coordinator from a
state or region decides to request from their respective officials respect
for the liberties of meeting, association and movement, which are the
prerogatives of any citizen, we are respectfully asking that they do so in
their name, not in ours.  Even if they threaten us from above or promise
us detentions, jails, clandestine cellars or cemeteries, we shall go out
to do the work which we committed ourselves to in the Sexta.

Sixth -  In the event of any major mishap, public statements or not, and
the decisions which our organization will take, are the SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE
purview of the top command level of the EZLN.

Seventh -  Whatever happens, know that it is an honor, and it shall be,
to have you as compa~eros and compa~eras in struggle.

>From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast

SubComandante Insurgente Marcos
SubDelegado Zero of the Sixth Committee of the EZLN

Mexico,  December of 2005

*********************************************
*********************************************

Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos Coverage Begins
Wednesday, 28 December 2005, 3:14 pm
Article: narconews.com

Let's Get The Other Journalism On The Road!

December 27, 2005

>From Somewhere in the Lacandon Jungle, Chiapas, Mexico

Preparations for Narco News Full "Swarm" Coverage of the first legs of the
historic six-month voyage of Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos to every corner
of Mexico are gearing up. You can read all about it at the special page
we've created for it:

http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/

The journey begins on Sunday, January 1, and I'm going to share a little bit
more with you here about what to expect when the rebel roller coaster ride
begins.

Thanks to each of you who already made a donation in the past two weeks we
are halfway toward the estimated budget that will be needed to move a mobile
team of Authentic Journalists - video, radio, photo, written word,
investigation, the works - from Chiapas to the Yucata'n peninsula during the
first 16 days of the journey.

The goal is not merely to cover Marcos - known as "Delegate Zero" - and his
travels, but also to undertake the more daunting task of interviewing "the
simple and humble people who struggle" that await his visit across the
Yucata'n Peninsula in the ten days prior to his January 9 arrival there.

I'll introduce you, in a moment, to your (every day growing larger team of)
journalists on the ground, and give you a preview of what we hope to
accomplish during these historic days, but first - because I know that not
all of you need "the pitch" to contribute some portion of your holiday booty
or hard-earned bread - here's the short version:

Please make a donation today to The Fund for Authentic Journalism to make
this news coverage possible (the journalists are all volunteering our labor,
but there are also gas, food, lodging, transport costs and other expenses
inherent in moving a large news team across hill and dale). You can make
that donation right now online at this link:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org/

Or you can send your contribution - checks made out to The Fund for
Authentic Journalism, please - through the mail to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
P.O. Box 241
Natick, MA 01760
United States of America

Now, here's a sneak preview of what will occur beginning on Sunday.

The Zapatista spokesman will begin his journey in the jungle outpost of La
Garrucha and head toward San Cristo'bal de Las Casas (the former colonial
capital of Chiapas) where a massive march will welcome and accompany him.

On the ground there in Chiapas will be a team of journalists headed by
Concepcio'n Villafuerte, editor of La Foja Coleta and former co-editor, with
her late husband Amado Avenda~o Figueroa, of the historic newspaper El
Tiempo (which has a special edition - the first since don Amado's April 2004
passing - coming out this week to begin the reporting and also announce our
own efforts). Working with do~a Conchita on the Chiapas coverage - you'll be
reading it via Narco News - will be the Italian journalist Giovanni
Proiettis (who has reported on the Zapatista struggle since the first days
of the rebellion in January 1994 for the Italian daily Il Manifiesto among
other publications), Gerardo Osuna, and our journalism brigade's general
coordinator Mercedes Osuna (who, for so many years when she was director of
Enlace Civil, guided the work of thousands of national and international
observers and journalists on Zapatista lands), plus others whom you will
meet through our pages in the coming days. (If you are going to be in San
Cristo'bal this week, please stop by and see Mercedes - telephone 967 678 36
98 or email oshalcon@gmail.com to learn more about our efforts and find a
way to participate.)

Meanwhile, the mobile road team will descend upon Yucata'n in advance of the
delegate's visit: Joining me there will be documentary director Greg Berger
(producer of the Gringoton and Atenco documentaries at
www.salonchingon.com ), cinematographer Sarahy Flores, documentary producer
Barrett Hawes (all three of them are co-producers of "Chew On This: For Us
Coca Is Life," the documentary produced in Bolivia during the 2004 School of
Authentic Journalism), plus ace radio reporters Quetzal Belmont and Karla
Aguilar (also 2004 graduates of the j-school), journalist Ana Laura
Herna'ndez (some of you may remember the international newspaper "Love and
Rage" that she co-edited). A few days later, Teo Ballve' (also a 2004
graduate) will arrive to lend his hand on deck with the coverage. And of
course our 2001 co-defendant Mario Mene'ndez and his team at the region's
largest daily newspaper, Por Esto!, has offered us a helping hand across the
peninsula to bring you the news in your language. (Other old friends and
colleagues are trying to clear their calendars to join in this effort, too:
stay tuned.)

There, over the following ten days, we will go out and interview the "simple
and humble people who struggle" from Me'rida to Chichen Itza to Cancu'n to
Chetumal and all places in between, and who await Delegate Zero's arrival
there on January 9.

And from January 9 to 15, we'll crisscross the peninsula a second time to
report on the news from that unprecedented visit.

During this time we'll be filing written reports, Internet radio reports,
"Newsreel" style short video reports, longer outtakes of interviews,
photographs, and whatever else is necessary to aid you in being there from
wherever you are on this earth.

Speaking of which: No matter where you are, you can participate in our Full
Coverage via The Narcosphere by monitoring the reports in other media,
bringing our (and all the readers') attention to other accurate news
coverage, correcting and criticizing the simulators and adding your own
observations and commentary (much as occurred last June during the events
that felled a president in Bolivia, or in August of 2004 when The
Narcosphere caught and exposed false reports in other media about the
Venezuela referendum). And if you are skilled in translation to or from
Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian or German, we also need more
hands on deck to assure that our reporting reaches readers in each of those
tongues.

For me, it is a pleasure to go back on the road again doing this worthwhile
work of Authentic Journalism with such talented and dedicated colleagues,
and the support of the international network we've all constructed together.
But this boat doesn't sail without the wind you put behind it, and so I
appeal to you once more to dig as deeply as you can to keep our journalists
healthy and mobile during the news that is about to happen. And, again, I
stress that this is an independent effort in the "Other Journalism" and
represents no other organization than those of us Other Journalists going
out to do this work.

Again, you can make your contribution via the Internet at this page:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org/
Or you can send your contribution to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
P.O. Box 241
Natick, MA 01760
United States of America

Thanks again. Immediate history is upon us. Let's join forces like we have
before to break the information blockade and make sure that the people know
the true story.

Salud y abrazo,

Al Giordano
Correspondent
Coordinator, Road Team, The Amado Avenda~o Figueroa Brigade
http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/




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