Winter 1996 - Issue Number 38
The First Bioregional Gathering of "The Americas" in the Bioregion Cuauhnahuac, Meztitla, Tepoztlan -- a free, constitutional and popular municipality -- Morelos, Mexico, November 17-24, 1996
MTA KU OYASIM "For all our relations" we gathered&emdash;to create a new human presence in "The Americas", grounded in the natural world. This formal gathering of two networks, the bioregional movement of North America and the Earth Guardian Vision Councils of Meso-America, met to launch a shared world vision of these co-evolving movements, based on the values of cooperation, creativity, diversity, decentralization, local empowerment, economic justice, ecological health, nurture of children, respect for indigenous traditions, and a recognition of our connectedness to the non-human world.
The dust on the rocky mountain side of Meztitla, a scout camp on the outskirts of Tepoztlan, is undoubtedly still settling as the 700 plus participants have long since headed down the sweet, winding, pot-holed, cobblestone road, dispersing to homes all over the globe and other subsequent diverse journeys, returning this well-celebrated, sacred space to its most generous hosts (of all species). It may be a while til various other dusts settle on the evaluation processes of this gargantuan event, as a new and different eco-bio-soup has been brewed , stirred, and served up&emdash;the ingredients of which, may have been soothing to some, given turista to others, and as yet undigested by the rest of us.
Seeking common ground from which to work and make decisions has been the goal of the Turtle Island Bioregionalists over the years, and this coming together with the Earth Guardian Vision Councils of Spanish and English speaking peoples reconfirmed their separate and collective committ-ments to:
1) discover, understand and maintain local natural systems
2) develop and practice sustainable ways to satisfy basic human needs
3) support the development of a new cultural identity based on the nature of one's place
So, the ceremonial village at Meztitla created for the week's work provided the basic needs of human requirements -- food, shelter, health, trade, ceremony, social and information-sharing in many and varied forms. Some of these forms looked like lectures, workshops, informal circles, and large consensus decision-making sessions. One of the circles of greatest interest sounded like a meeting of the "Friends of the Crystal River" in Spanish. (All meetings were translated.) Now, how much time have you got? This circle held representatives of the people of the nearby Village of Tepoztlan who stopped a huge golf complex! They are totally amazing in their organization and unity, having so much to teach us. Among them were biologists, hydrologists, communaros (communal farmers), village elders, spiritual leaders, Tlahuicas, the Indigenous people of the region, all with their perspective of why this development was simply not acceptable. All over the village of Tepoztlan are seen professionally painted signs on businesses alongside equally respected sprayed graffiti everywhere saying: NO al Club de Golf!
Author Bill Weinberg is an editor at High Times magazine who traveled to Mexico under the auspices of the Cornell University's journalism department for an in depth study which he entitled: "The Golf War of Tepoztlan: Popular Defense and Ecological Struggle in the Heartland of Zapata". He says, "It came at the cost of Indian lives&emdash;especially that of a 65 year old campesino, killed by police 77 years to the day after the slaying of the well loved revolutionary, Emilio Zapata. But the Mexican village of Tepoztlan this spring ('96) won its struggle against the golf developers who, with the total support of the Mexican government, had appropriated lands and waters of the ancient municipio, held in common by the Tepoztecos according to a tradition that predates the Spanish Conquest."
But the story is not over. Tepoztlan remains "in rebellion" against an entrenched, corrupt and increasingly brutal political regime in the state of Morelos. Both sides remain unyeilding. The rebel Tepoztecos want their land rights clarified, their prisoners released and the governor to step down. The governor of their state of Morelos in turn, wants Tepoztlan's rebel Municipio Libre dissolved and its leaders arrested. Resistance is spreading throughout Morelos which is the legendary heartland of Quetzalcoatl (the plumed serpent god of the Toltecs and Aztecs) and Emiliano Zapata, where the ancient traditions of a people rooted in the Indian past are confronted by the mega-development schemes of a Mexican elite pursuing the NAFTA millennium.
Another purpose of the gathering at Meztitla, other than to give support to one another in the 'cause', was to give voice to the bioregional movement and to offer a different form to the connections of people other than NAFTA! We came together as a group of equals knowing that the only way to transform the planet requires listening to all voices speaking their truth, and a willingness to not being attached to one view. And the people of Tepopztlan spoke their truth loudly, clearly and with a deep abiding passion&emdash;in casual circles, lectures, sparsely attended slide and video presentations, and before the entire gathering. They told their story to any and all who would listen, persevering in their need to be heard around the Americas. So much of the story is familiar, both globally and locally, as the attack of greed on our natural environment first requires the co-opting of local politicians, then the repression of those who would defend it. Glen Arbor and Tepoztlan definitely have much in common. One major difference, however, is that the US government has not yet arrested or murdered any of the Friends of the Crystal River. People here, however, have had their employment threatened -- with some losing jobs. All have been rudely treated by the arrogant Glen Arbor Township supervisor, Ben Whitfield, lapdog of the Homestead developer who has zealously persisted in his fantasy to build a huge golf course and housing development on the wetlands of the pristine Crystal River. Both communities know that such development puts the water resource at great risk (not to mention the indigenous non-human species, including healing plants) but have been met with developer b.s. that tries to skew science, and exhibits a basic ignorance of the workings of the natural world. The Tepoztlan crowd believes that the would-be developer of their area, KS Corporation, knew the destruction that would be wrought at its hand . . . thus the 2-million dollar promo package, including a production of a promotional video that would make any environmentalist simply hoot! Of course came the usual justification of 30,000 new jobs for the Tepoztecos, (oh golly, they would get to scrub toilets and carry heavy Mexican leather luggage and golf clubs for wealthy corporate types),10 million new pesos in the form of taxes, a 'rustic Mexican style' of architecture for the 600 proposed luxury homes thereby "infusing man with nature". Sound familiar? What KS didn't count on was the nearly absolute unity of the community. The co-opted local government officials got thrown out of office and literally run out of town. They were replaced in a free election, to the dismay of the state, by a new regiem, including a president who, they love to tell, looks like Emilio Zapata. They also assert that the locals who betrayed them could have come to them for support and protection. Instead, they are now in exile in a neighboring village, not to show their faces in Tepoztlan.
So how do you support a village essentially in secession? Get this: "community work", a pre-hispanic ancestral tradition that says that volunteers will present themselves on the weekend and do the work in the village that is most needed. How is the money thing resolved? In part, by the Tepoztecos donating whatever resources they have to offer such as goods, food, livestock, clothing, crafts, and skills of all kinds. They also go door to door on Sundays, passing the hat in direct solicitation. This whole scene is held together by a newly formed organization entitled CUT -- Committee for the Unity of Tepopztlan, comprised of varying political parties, as a council to problem solve. No talk allowed about an individual's personal politics. Then, the entire population is summoned for more complex and important issues and their approval of the actions of CUT. Consensus of the people is required in order for CUT to move forward. A model of dignity, unity and acceptance of the value of all voices, could well be studied and emulated here.
What seemed to be the basic unifying factor of all the various peoples of Tepoztlan was their love of their traditions which include an inherent spiritual connection to their sacred lands. There is simply no separation. They say that the government, in their support of the project, has totally ignored the interrelatedness of all beings. They also point to the fate of the "Redskins in el Norte". The president of the 'Friends of Tepoztlan', a village elder, heads up the local museum and gives history lessons to the young people in order that they may also learn and subsequently teach their heritage of respect for the land, above all.
This connection with the people of Tepopztlan was undoubtedly the reason the Universe put me there for the Bioregional; they needed to get their story out to this group of supportive activists who they dearly hope will take their proposals to the highest levels of governments in order to right the offenses perpetrated on their sacred lands and village. Here is what they asked of us and the Ecology Council of the gathering proposed:
1. that the Golf Club project be definitively cancelled in writing by the federal and state governments and by the KS Company
2 . that the political prisoner, Genaro Demesa Padilla, be freed
3. that the outstanding arrest warrants be revoked and the arrest records of Tepoztlan activists be cleared, including the arrest warrant for Refugio Marquina, leader of ejido lands in Tepoztlan
4. that the parties responsible for the April repression be punished and the victims be compensated, as well as the family of Marcos Olmedo who was killed on April 10 during the repression
5. that the communal lands which are presently in the hands of the KS Company be returned to the community, as well as the Quinta Piedra ejido lands
6. that the ecological destruction of the Acolapa Lake be stopped and that the "Rinconadas de Acolapa" residential development project be resolved in an ecologically sensitive manner
Further suggestions and requests from the group included sending of letters, faxes, e-mails to the World Bank which funds Mexican capitalist, President of Mexico, Ernesto Sedillo, the Governor of Morelos, Jorge Carilllo Olea, and investors in the KS project, demanding solution to the above mentioned points. In addition, there were requests for pressure on the various Mexican consulates, economic support for legal expenses, and most importantly, publicity through the mass media regarding the Tepoztlan people's experience in their struggle for a dignified way of life, the defense of their natural resources and their traditions, and that "the people govern and those who govern obey the people".
In the closing ceremony of the bioregional, prior to the ceremonial pipe-smoking and Starhawk's mega spiral dance, another activist, local spiritual elder, Abuela Margarita Nunez Garcia, invoked the nurturance of Madre Tonantzin, the traditional Earth Mother, as we all go forward to do the work that we are meant to do.
Sally McFarlane Neal is a long-time peace, environmental and human rights activist drummer who lives in Glen Arbor, Michigan.
Return to the Index of Synapse 38, Winter 1996