One of the things that bothers me about the treatment, from this distant distance in Sweden, and the conditions surrounding the Maya in Chiapas is how little heed the government gives them. All over the western world governments are caving in to the demands, rightful and long over due, of their native inhabitants. In Mexico this seems to be not happening. Surely there are many people in Mexico that have benefited from government however there are a few disenchanted members who argue, quite rightfully, that they are being pushed to abandon their customs and ways in order to receive said benefits. One sees a dark hand at work here and surely enough conservative voices opine that the indigenous forms of living are incompatible with the current vision of living ways. For the most part indigenous societies are collective, a tradition that goes way back than the more individualistic capitalist oriented vision of our days.
Whats more, indigenous societies are by far few and inbetween, so I quite frankly don’t understand why does the government insist in pushing these people to accept a newer form of living than the one they’d lived for centuries. What does Washington fear? Why this aberrant insistence on dominion, a shackle we don’t seem to rid ourselves from? Why does this vicious and ugly nature have to come to the surface of government when government is to reflect goodness, shouldn’t this dark emotion be held in check? Yet the insistence of some members of the Mexican congress to deny all rights to its indigenous population, the right to govern themselves is seen as a threat to the social fabric of our culture. Why? Because they want to live the way they’ve done so for thousands of years.
I for one agree with the indigenous people of Chiapas and their demand that they be ruled according to their customs. They should have more autonomy than they have now and their thinking about life should be allowed to develop. However, I believe there is a deeper fear here than one can imagine. The kurdish folk come to mind. I believe that Mexico fears a sort of development that the government in Turkey fears with its kurdish population and a persistent belief in a kurdish state of their own. Does Maya writing call for a return to a state of their own? I wonder since maya thought is not widely distributed and hence what little we know has mostly come out expressed by the EZLN, yet there most be outside thought besides that one. I wonder how these dreams and longings are expressed indeed.
Guatemala is a good case in point, there, the civil war engaged in a blatant carnage against the indigenous people financed and fought by Pentagon planners. Thinking and wanting is a dangerous practice indeed, and what would seem baffling to us, oh, let us say the fact that most of the indigenous people refuse to partake in such institutionalized practices that any citizen or active member of society takes for granted such as registering you child, or registering to vote are indeed a sort of message to government which refuses to understand its own subjects if you will. Is government by the people for the people at work here then? Whose interest are then government protecting here? Even if its citizens refuse to vote government has an obligation to its citizens of all persuasions. Government is government regardless if it has voter legitimacy or not because government will rule with or without said legitimacy. Why does then government refuse to listen to the indigenous population in Mexico? It doesn’t seem to mind the money that it collects from tourism which is connected to indigenous practices, never mind giving back a little that it collects back the community.
All in all there isn’t a case for not listening to Chiapas inhabitants and their demands, so why the deaf ear? Government has failed to address the needs of the people there and furthermore it is on the verge of acting unconstitutionally and violating its own law, never mind that art.39 has not been heeded for fear of setting a precedent but I believe that government should indicate a more willingness than it has shown so far. It should see eye to eye with the leaders of said communities and partake more and more in the lives of all mexicans in general.