PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

A yinzer in Atenco
by Will Rat Sunday, Sep. 01, 2002 at 5:47 PM

A firsthand account of happenings in San Salvador Atenco by a Pittsburgher.

You take the Mexico City subway to the end of the line. You get out and there is a bus terminal. You search for the bus going to Texcoco, in an hour or hour and a half, it still looks like Mexico City then you begin to see "NO AIRPORT IN ATENCO!" and "LAND YES! PLANES NO!" painted on the walls that face the highway. A tiny bit furthers and you see the barricades blocking the roads to enter San Salvador Atenco, community in rebellion.

We got off the bus and walked past a barricade that was partially taken apart to allow the residents and supply trucks to enter and leave. Atenco was functioning normally. The government and the police were/are gone but the town functions as any other. The restaurants, stores, bakeries Internet cafes continue to operate and the campesinos continue to work the fields.

We walked down the street stopping to take photos of the revolutionary mural and anti-airport art that adorn the city walls since the residents of Atenco chased out the police and the government. We went to the town square where the newly collectivized police and municipal trucks are parked. We met with one of the residents who took us up on the stage that they have built. It serves as a place to have both public announcements and entertainment. He announces our presence to the town and 60 or so people were there to listen. We introduce ourselves and tell the folks we are there to support their struggle and learn what is happening in Atenco. We are asked if we have similar problems in our country, and answer, yes our government is also engaged in the process of development projects that benefit the few at the cost of the many. We thank the people of Atenco for their struggle; we are applauded. A collective meal is prepared for anyone who is hungry, and we are then given a place to stay in the municipal auditorium where all guests are welcomed. Other groups arrived during our stay, Basque college students, teachers, high school students from Vera Cruz, anarcho punks from Mexico City, all to show support and solidarity with the rebels in Atenco.

Atenco is friendly but it is on a state of alert. At night the campesinos hop in the back of the police vehicles with their machetes and patrol the town and the fields igniting watch fires where they are needed. One of the campesinos asked while we were out in the field "Do you get much sleep in the united states?" I looked back confused by the question he continued
"We don't get much sleep and there . . ." he pointed into the distance at Mexico city " . . . the government and the police never sleep. So we light these fires to let them know we are watching." One night a patrol did find police sneaking into the town. The police fled. Other times surveying crews and what not have been found in the land expropriated for the airport. They were likewise chased out. All night there is watch that sometimes turns into a party outside the municipal building, stray dogs, orphans, campesinos, teachers, and artists drink coffee, sing, and keep watch.

We were taken on a tour of the land that has been stolen for the airport; land the government says is unproductive. The land is filled with corn, beans, tomatoes, and alfalfa; all except the tomatoes are organic. Likewise the government says there isn�€™t enough water there for the land. We all laughed when we saw the cisterns pumping water that irrigate the fields. The land is on top of a lake, which provides water for the fields. The same lake would also cause the proposed airport to sink into it after only 25 years. The government also plans to destroy the mountains ringing the area to get materials like gravel and sand to build the airport. After the fields we go to what appears to be a large hill covered in cacti. Looking closer, it turns out to be a pyramid buried by hundreds of years of sediment. Stones covered with hieroglyphs, stone chairs, painted pottery shards and obsidian blades are found all over the hillside along with cacti over 100 years old. The airport will take out this sacred site too.

We met with people from elementary school children to 85 year old Miguel whose brother was killed in the war for the land while riding in Zapata�€™s army. No one of them want this airport. The campesinos pose the question, "we aren't going anywhere by plane, so who is the airport for?" Miguel told us he was there when Atenco became ejidal land (collectivized land holdings owned by a community in perpetuity) during the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas, the last time he said Mexico had good government. We asked another resident what had changed when you chased out the government. He said that nothing changed except "the bastards were gone; we make all the decisions now together." We asked what he thought would happen in the future and he responded with "Well if there is no land, there is no future." The residents of Atenco have shown they will do whatever it takes to keep their land and way of life. Meanwhile, their struggle continues.

On July 8th residents of the municipalities in rebellion marched with machetes in hand from the mexico city airport to the center of Mexico city. Thousands of people, young and old, from worker, campesino, ideigenous, environmentalist, squatter, and teachers unions converged on the Zocolo in front of the federal government buildings, and burned gigantic paper airplanes and U.S. flags which they say is the flag of Mexican President Vicente Fox and announce again THE LAND IS NOT FOR SALE!

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