January, 1999

To the Mexicans living in foreign countries:

To the Committees of Solidarity with the Zapatista struggle:

To the Men and Women of the five continents:

Brothers and Sisters:

For this year of 1999, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation has launched a new initiative of dialogue and peace calling for a mobilization, both in Mexico and in the rest of the world, that aims to achieve the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and the end to the war of extermination. An important step in this mobilization is to carry out a Consultation among all Mexicans, wherever they may live, concerning the Commission of Concordance and Pacification's Indigenous Law Initiative. This Consultation will be held on Sunday, the 21st of March, 1999.

The Mexican government stubbornly continues not to fulfill the accords that it has signed recognizing indigenous rights, and has chosen openly to take the path of violence to try to settle the conflict, as the recent massacres in Acteal and El Bosque so clearly demonstrate.

With the goal of masking its war of extermination, the government of Ernesto Zedillo has mounted a propaganda campaign abroad to improve its image internationally and to decieve the peoples, governments, and human rights organizations of foreign countries. Zedillo's government is striving to convince the world that there is no war in Mexico's southeast, that his government wants to enter into dialogue with the EZLN, and that it is the EZLN itself that refuses to settle the conflict peacefully.

In recent days, Zedillo has personally instructed the entire Mexican diplomatic corps to carry out this publicity campaign, in the United Sates and Canada, in Central and South America, in the countries of Europe, in Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

Millions of dollars and the entire Mexican foreign service will be used for this purpose.

Massive material and human resources will be expended for one sole objective: to lie.

The Mexican government has forgotten that international civil society is well informed about what is actually going on in Mexico's southeast.

It has forgotten that men and women, the young and the old of the entire world already know the truth about the war in Chiapas and are mobilizing and demanding an end to the war.

It has forgotten that throughout the five continents it is known that the Mexican government does not want to fulfill the San Andrés Accords, and so their fulfillment is demanded.

We do not have money or professional diplomats to counteract the government's campaign. We do not need these things. The truth is there, and the world sees it and is listening to it.

Therefore, because we know that this campaign of lies will fail, today we convoke the…

International Consultation

For the Recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Rights and

the End to the War of Extermination.

We call upon all Mexicans over the age of 12 who live in foreign countries to organize themselves and participate in the Consultation for the Recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the End to the War of Extermination on the 21st of March, 1999.

We call upon all the political and social organizations struggling for the right to vote abroad, to support and promote the Consultation in the countries in which they work.

We call upon men and women of all nationalities, and to Mexicans who live in the countries of Latin America, in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, and in Oceania, to come to agreement concerning the process of organizing and bringing about the Consultation. All so that, by working together in every nation, the distribution and installation of voting booths can be organized and opinions can be tallied.

We are making a special call to the Mexican community living in the United States to participate in the Consultation for the Recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the End to the War of Extermination. We call upon this community to promote and help spread the Consultation, to set up voting booths, and to let its opinion be known on Sunday, the 21st of March, 1999.

The brothers and sisters who live in the United States, many of whom are indigenous as we are, did not gladly abandon their land, their history, their families and their country. They did so because of the lack of democracy, liberty and justice in Mexico, because they saw themselves as forced to search out other lands, lands where they could attain what is necessary in order to live with dignity.

This is why we call upon La Raza, upon the Chicanos and the Mexican-Americans, upon the Carnales, the Batos, and the Bandas, to organize for the Consultation and to register either with the National Comission for Democracy Mexico-USA, located in the United States*, or with the Contact Office for the Consultation (Oficina de Contacto Para La Consulta), located in Mexico (tel/fax: 52-967-8-10-13, 52-967-8-21-59; e-mail: contacto@laneta.apc.org). All Mexicans who wish to participate from anywhere in the world can register by contacting this office in Mexico.

So, we call upon all the men and women, the young and the old, in all corners of the earth to create brigades to promote and spread the Consultation, registering with the Contact Office for the Consultation in Mexico.

Brothers and Sisters of The Five Continents:

The international community has been open to the righteous demands put forth by the indigenous peoples of Mexico, it has watched in horror the war that the Mexican government has waged against the descendants of the first inhabitants of these lands, and it has mobilized to condemn the killings, to demand respect for human rights, and to demand peace with justice and dignity in Mexico.

In response to this international mobilization, the EZLN maintains its commitment to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict and will continue with its initiatives for peace.

However, not only in Mexico, but in all five continents do those who are excluded suffer persecution, jail, and death. The power of money has decreed that those who are always abandoned are in the way and must be eliminated. Millions of human beings are cast to the side and excluded from any chance at well-being, excluded from tomorrow.

Therefore…

In order to stop the war of extermination,

In order to achieve the recognition of indigenous rights in Mexico,

In order to stop the persecution of which the excluded are the object,

In order to demand respect for difference,

In order to demand a world into which all worlds can fit,

We call an…

International Campaign for the Excluded of the World.

In North, Central and South America, in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in Oceania, the excluded have their own names and histories, their own struggles and longings.

In all the five continents, resistance is the defensive weapon that the excluded raise high so as to keep from disappearing. Their struggle, our struggle, is for humanity.

We call on everyone, everywhere, to organize in their respective countries, provinces, cities and villages, to mobilize in support of the recognition of the rights of the excluded, and to organize and carry out their principal actions on the 21st of March, 1999.