Article written by Emily Dulcan
My time in San Cristobal at the Chiapas Peace House is coming to a close (sniff). But I am excited to pass my fun and rewarding job on to Rachel Wallis and Alex Rocklin, the new CPHP Field Staff. I feel that I will always have a home in San Cris because of the kind friends and beautiful places I have discovered here. I will be heading back into the Yucatan before going further south (where I can't wait to get some quality beach time) this winter, and I plan to be back at the House for an exciting new year--and the 10 year anniversary of the Zapatista uprising. Thanks to all who have supported me and taken interest in the Project during my time in Mexico.
Peace & Love
Emily
I. New Field Staff
II. Research With the Chiapas Peace House Project
III. Analysis: Government response to Juntas of Good Government
IV. Chiapas Peace House Wish List
V. Beautiful Breads: What's That Secret Ingredient?
I. New Field Staff The Peace House has two new field staff (yay!). They've come down to
relieve Emily of her excellent duties so that she can gallivant across
Latin America. They'll be working in the house until June, writing
grants, keeping up the newsletter, finalizing our orientation materials
for new volunteers, doing translation work, and continuing the
relationships with NGO's that Emily helped build. Why don't they tell
you a little about themselves:
My name is Rachel Wallis, and I've known about the Peace House Project
since it was just an apple in its founders' eyes. I got involved about
a year ago when I helped plan last winter's delegation, and then joined
the board of directors. I just graduated from Wesleyan University in
the spring, where I majored in Latin American Studies. I also spent a
semester in Nicaragua studying "Revolution, Transformation and Civil
Society." I've been involved in the Unitarian Universalist Church for
about ten years and have been an activist and an organizer around
globalization, the School of the Americas, abortion rights, queer
issues and anti-racism work.
Alexander Keith Rocklin graduated from Wesleyan University in 2003 with
a BA in the Study of Religion. He spent five months living in Nepal and
studying Nepali culture and traditional healing methods. Alex is a life
long Unitarian Universalist, and he grew up in the First Unitarian
Church of Newton. He is interested in the intersections between
religions, cultures and identities.
II. Research With the Chiapas Peace House Project What would it mean to do a research project with the CPHP? Whatever you
want it to mean! The CPHP has links with a number of local NGOs in San
Cristóbal de las Casas who are interested in exchanging information for
volunteer time. If you have a particular interest relating to the areas
of expertise of local NGOs, you can design your very own research
project. This includes thesis research.
Thanks in large part to the Zapatista uprising in 1994, many NGOs have
sprouted in San Cristóbal. CIEPAC, a local think tank, investigates the
links between Chiapas's economy and neoliberalism. Fortaleza de la
Mujer Maya (FOMA) empowers women through workshops and theater
production. SIPAZ helps resolve inter-community conflict by
facilitating peaceful dialogues. Identify your area of interest, and
the CPHP will help you organize an exchange with any number of
organizations so you can research and support the local community.
III. Analysis: Government response to Juntas of Good Government In our last newsletter, we told you about the newly designated
Zapatista Caracoles (literally conch and the Mayan glyph for the action
of speaking) and Juntas de Buen Gobierno (Juntas of Good Government),
centers that support the self-governing Zapatista communities. Since
the inauguration of the Caracoles, however, Chiapas has witnessed an
increase in the military occupation by government troops, paramilitary
harassment, and kidnapping.
The Mexican newspaper La Jornada reported September 30th that military
activity in Chiapas has increased substantially in the last two months.
According to investigations by CIEPAC, a new military encampment was
installed near the Caracol of La Realidad on Aug. 6th. CIEPAC also
reported that during the week of celebration in Oventic there was a
significant increase in military patrols and checkpoints in more than
eight municipalities across the state. On the 10th of August military
vehicles and personnel entered into at least 14 communities and asked
them to reveal the identities of Zapatistas. The soldiers stayed for a
number of days, taking photographs and setting up checkpoints, and when
they left, they promised to return.
The continuing occupation of the state has been a major source of
conflict. According to La Jornada, the military has been accused of
participating in the black market for endangered species of animals and
plants, as well as selling arms to paramilitary groups. Communities
near military bases tell tales of drunkenness and prostitution. In
July, 500 people protested the death of a 14-year-old boy, who was hit
by a car driven by Mexican soldiers while standing in front of his
house. Communities also complain about the noise and danger of live
munitions practice taking place so close to their homes and farms.
Paramilitary activity has also increased since the announcement of
Juntas of Good Government. The Christian Pacifist group Las Abejas (who
suffered a terrible massacre by paramilitaries in the town of Acteal in
1997) have reported that paramilitiraries have been firing shots close
to their communities and refugee camps. The Caracol of Roberto Barios
reported that paramilitaries repeatedly shot into the building they
were constructing to house their Good Government Junta.
Perhaps most disturbing was the kidnapping this month of seven people
by government sympathezers. According to an investigation by the Fray
Bartolome de las Casas Center for Human Rights, which was published in
October 5th issue of La Jornada, the conflict began over the theft of a
pickup truck. The owner of the truck took his case before an autonomous
Good Government Junta, because the municpal authorities demanded a
bribe from him to hear the case. After hearing the arguments, the Junta
ruled that Armin Moraleswho admitted to taking the truckwould be held
by the autonomous authorities until his father could raise the money to
pay for it. His father, however, a member of a campesino union
sympathetic to the government called CIOAC, reported the detention of
his son to the state municipal government and demanded that the union
intervene on his behalf. CIOAC responded by kidnapping five members of
an independent campesino union and two Zapatista supporters, demanding
that Armin Morales be freed in a prisoner exchange. When the
independent union tried to report the kidnapping of their members to
state municipal authorities, officials refused to hear them. After two
days, the independent union members were released, and after six days,
the Fray Bart Center was able to negotiate the release of the two
Zapatistas. In their report, however, the human rights center alleges
that the Zapatistas were subject to torture and inhumane conditions
during their capture. They believe that the incident represents a grave
violation of human rights, and cite as responsible the municipal
authorities of Comitan, Las Margaritas, and other local government
members and organizations. The authors of the report state that so long
as the Mexican government refuses to respect indigenous law and
customs, conflicts like this one will keep taking place.
IV. Peace House Wish List Although our little house in San Cristobal is everything we could wish
for and more, there are a few things we're pining for that might make
it better. We thought we'd send the list out to all of our wonderful
supporters, in case you happened to have anything that's on the list,
and wanted to send it down to us, either by mail or with someone coming
down on a delegation. Some of the items are more urgent than others,
and some of them are just whims. But, if you find yourself in the
giving spirit, you could make us very happy. If there is something on
this list you'd like to donate, please contact us at
info@uupeacehouse.org, and we can talk about the best way to get it
down here.
Things We Really Need:A laptop--Although we have a wonderful laptop on loan to us from an
amazing supporter, it would be good to have one that would be here
permanently. So if you were thinking about replacing yours and it's
still in pretty reasonable working condition...
A digital camera--A digital camera is vital in helping the work we do
with Jolom, the artisans collective, and Al Sol, a micro credit
organization. It's also nice just to document what life is like down
here. Although we are currently using a camera that belongs to our
field staff, we can't always count on that.
A printer--Printing at internet cafes is expensive, and it is difficult
to do translation work without a hard copy to write on.
Books We'd like for the Library:Modern Latin America (Thomas Skidmore and Peter Smith), The Open Veins
of Latin America (Eduardo Galliano), Labyrinth of Solitude (Octavio
Paz)
Sandino's Daughters (Margaret Randall and Lynda Yanz), Sandino's
Daughters Revisited (Margaret Randall), Pedagogy of the Oppressed
(Paulo Freire), Bridge of Courage (Jennifer Harbury), Massacre in
Mexico (Elena Poniatowsky), Savage Systems (David Chidester), Holy
Terrors (Bruce Lincoln), Fictions (Jorge Luis Borges) and Uprooting
Racism (Paul Kivel).
We'd also love anything that you'd like to send about Latin America,
resistance movements, organizing, systems of oppression, religion,
cooking, poetry, fiction, economics etc.
Magazine Subscriptions We'd Love in Order of Importance:
NACLA (the journal of the North American Conference on Latin America),
The Economist, The UU World, Adbusters, The Nation and Bitch.
V. Beautiful Breads: What's That Secret Ingredient?On September 11, Colin Bossen (CPHP co-founder) and I participated in a
bread-baking workshop in the community Nicolas Ruiz, about three hours
from San Cristóbal. On a day that still echoed of horror and tragedy,
it was a relief to immerse ourselves in the lives of women who are
working together to create a safe and productive world for their
families and communities. The workshop was sponsored by Kinal Anzetik,
an organization dedicated to supporting indigenous communities
struggling for their rights. The bread workshops and cooperatives teach
women valuable skills, allow them to produce for the benefit of the
community, and organize women for empowerment. Margarita
Perez-Hernandez, who sells her bread in San Cristóbal, taught the
women, Colin, and myself to make three breads typical to the state of
Chiapas.
I've been swooning over Chiapanecan bread ever since I found a
world-famous bakery in San Cristobal's neighborhood of San Ramón. The
Panadaría (Bakery) San Ramón D'Alicia has been producing sweet and
savory breads that melt in your mouth for more than 40 years, and sends
its breads to bakeries all over the state of Chiapas. For three pesos
apiece (about 30 cents), you can buy small French bread rolls (my
favorites include yema, egg yolk), sweet corn muffins, and sweet or
savory crumbly ring-shaped pastries, excellent for accompanying late
afternoon coffee. Cazuleja, one of the most distinct (and in my
opinions delicious) breads includes a small amount of strong, grated
cheese (such as parmesan) among its ingredients. Cazuleja breads and
pastries leave the oven with a subtle but intense cheesy flavor.
Why are these breads so gosh-darn irresistible? I often mused on my way
home with a bag full of goodies. The good vegetarian in me, who's been
in charge of my diet for the last few months, had her suspicions. And
those suspicions were confirmed when Colin and I hopped in the back of
the pick-up to Nicolás Ruiz and found ourselves sitting next to a big
old tub of--that's right--lard. As one compañera from Kinal put it,
it's disgusting watching the bread being made with a hefty dollop of
lard, but once it comes out of the oven it tastes so good you forget
about what went in and just enjoy the finished product. And did I.
Colin and I brought supplies to make pizzas with the women, so during a
lull in the workshop we put together our pizza dough (sans lard). The
women chopped tomatoes and ground aromatics with a traditional mortar
and pestle, and we yielded way too much sauce, even for our five large
pizzas. We topped them with Oaxacan cheese (not quite mozzarella, but
close enough) and baked them in a beautiful dome-shaped, wood-burning
oven along with the breads the women had made. Colin and I agreed they
were the best pizzas ever.
The workshop was a success in that not only did we produce a prodigious
amount of bread and pizza, but the women also gained skills to help
them begin a bread cooperative for the community in the future. Here
are some recipes, lard and all, to give you just a taste of what Colin
and I experienced.
Note: These recipes make a LOT of bread.
PAN DE YEMA (Yolk Bread)
First prepare a starter dough:
1 kilo flour
750 milliliters water
Then mix starter with the following ingredients:
2.5 kilos flour
6 eggs
300 grams lard (or vegetable shortening)
4 tablespoons yeast
600 grams sugar
1 tablespoon commercial preservative
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 packet yellow coloring (optional)
Let the dough rise for one hour. Separate dough into small balls to
make different shapes and figures. Dust figures with ground cinnamon,
sprinkles, or sugar in the raw. Bake at 400 degrees F until golden.
CAZULEJA
Combine all of the following ingredients:
1.5 kilos flour
10 eggs
700 grams sugar
50 grams finely grated, strong cheese such as parmesan (optional)
180 grams butter or margarine
750 milliliters water
150 grams lard (or vegetable shortening)
2 tablespoons yeast
Pour batter into greased and floured baking pans. Allow to sit at least
30 minutes before baking at 400 degrees F until golden and top crust
has cracked open.
