Distinguished author and Mexican native Dr. Andres Barreda came to Tufts last Friday to discuss his views on the human rights conflict and military presence in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Drawing on his vast knowledge of both the region and the conflict, Barreda brought historical, ecological, and international perspective to the forum. With the aid of a translator, he discussed the role that Chiapas has played in Mexico's history and the role he expects it to play in the future.
"Chiapas is like a jungle animal that is asleep during the day when the rest of the country is awake," Berrada said, referring to the region's militant characteristics. "When the whole country goes to sleep at night, this animal wakes up to go hunting."
The signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 spurred a revolution in Chiapas. Approximately one third of the Mexican army is now concentrated in the region, where the impoverished indigenous peoples are subjected to human rights violations every day, according to Barreda.
"It was a good opportunity to educate the campus about the particular injustices in Chiapas," said senior Coalition member Ariana Wohl, who organized Barreda's visit. Fellow member Douglass Hansen agreed.
"He drew the conversation away from being some kind of ethnic struggle or random civil war," he said. "It is about democracy, and even beyond democracy to true economic equality on a very fundamental level. These people are trying to fight for their own vitality and right to be equal."
Barreda explained the Chiapas conflict from the historical and ecological perspective. Chiapas was the center of Mayan civilization in America, and was also the site of the Neolithic revolution. When Spain colonized Central America, it placed Chiapas in Guatemala, but the people of Chiapas later chose to unite themselves with Mexico, in hopes of gaining greater independence.
Unfortunately, Chiapas is a mountainous region dense with jungle and "during the 19th century, the Mexican government did not spend a single peso on development in Chiapas." The state regulated the agricultural sales of the Chiapas peasants and, in doing so, created extreme poverty and suppression. In the 1870s and 1880s, masters exercised the "right" to take sexual advantage of the daughters of the men who worked their land, and the chaining of workers was a common practice in Chiapas until the 1920s. For these reasons, "Chiapas has a brutal class struggle and is the site of a lot of rebellion." Barreda said.
Although the people of Chiapas are impoverished, Barreda made the point that in terms of natural resources, Chiapas is the richest region in Mexico. The third greatest state in Mexico in terms of food production and petroleum resources, Chiapas produces 20 percent of Mexico's coffee. Mexico is the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world.
Even so, many people believe that Chiapas' greatest riches lie in its biological diversity. Its location in Central America makes it the crossroads of every species of bird that migrates from North and South America, as well as a part of the extremely diverse coral reef biome of the Caribbean. This "green gold," as Barreda called it, has captivated the attention of various world organizations such as the World Wrestling Federation, International Paper, and Conservation International, as a potential gold mine of material fodder for genetic engineering.
These corporations have pledged to help pay off Mexico's national debt if the country agrees to protect some of these wilderness areas. The privatization of these areas is controversial since it would require the exportation of the people of Chiapas, who have inhabited the area for over 5,000 years.
The people of Chiapas perceive this as a threat to their equality, and Barreda believes that this has been the cause of the recent rebellion. Indigenous groups have been converting themselves into paramilitary groups, despite encountering violent opposition from the Mexican army and police.
Barreda taught in Chiapas in the late 1960s and when he recently returned in 1994, he found that many of his students had been killed, imprisoned, or tortured. "They had a political experience no one else in Mexico had," he said.
Barreda also suggested that the people of Chiapas do not propose the rebellion as a local struggle, but rather as the only way to democratize the entire country.
The Coalition plans to address issues like Chiapas through a protest of the School of Americas, a US-funded military academy in Georgia for the education of Latin American military leaders that has produced various dictators, assassins, and powerful human rights violators.
Sophomore and Coalition member Louis Esparza said Barreda's visit "made me more aware of the issues in Mexico. He made it much more personal because he was there. He brought the issue to life and that made it that much more important for me to work on it."
For students still interested in the Chiapas conflict, the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) plans to host another Chiapas speaker later this year.
The Coalition for Social Justice and Non-Violence sponsored Barreda's visit in conjunction with Peace and Justice Studies, Global Development and Environment Institute, Latin American Studies, American Studies, International Relations and Africa and the New World, ALAS, EPIIC, and the Latino Center. The Coalition learned that Barreda was available to speak only two weeks ago from the Global Development and Environmental Institute at Fletcher.
