Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 18:14:40 -0600 (CST)
From: Edgar Abarca Rojano <sestrada-AT-fiscom.fcfm.buap.mx>
Subject: M-NEWS: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?E=3BReport_from_2nd_Encuentro=2C_Almu=F1ecar_Pre?= (fwd)






---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 10:44:11 -0500 (CDT)
From: Chiapas95 <owner-chiapas95-AT-mundo.eco.utexas.edu>
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?E=3BReport_from_2nd_Encuentro=2C_Almu=F1ecar_Pre?=

This posting has been forwarded to you as a service of
Accion Zapatista de Austin.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 09:29:14 +1000
From: Steve Wright <sjwright-AT-vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au>
Cc: ezln-it-AT-ecn.org, encounter2-AT-tao.ca, zap-AT-xchange.apana.org.au,
    zapatismo-AT-mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu, Leftlink-AT-vicnet.net.au,
    tmcrew-AT-corelli.nexus.it
Subject: (en) Encuentro - Almu=F1ecar Press Conference

A press conference hasjust been held here at the Discussion Table in
Almu=F1ecar (Spain), to present a number of the themes under discussion to
both the official and alternative press.

>From Brazil there was José Das Grasas, who is occupied with the situation
facing minors in his country, and above all with the "meni=F1os de rua"
(street kids). Human rights are denied to more than 8 million children in
Brazil. Many are meni=F1os de rua who have been left completely to their own
devices -- a social drama which seems to have no solution, and has been
exploited in the most shameful manner by the speculation of the opulent
West. Alongside the use of child prostitution in promotional publicity for
travel to exotic lands, there are the death squads which wage their own
bloody and unilateral war against minors. Nonetheless mobilisation within
Brazil and elsewhere is increasingly strong, and the association "Meni=F1os
do Brasil" of which José is part has opened new offices of solidarity and
struggle in Europe, a continent which is certainly not foreign to the
exploitation of children under the guise of tourism.

Pierre Alain Baud of the Gay and Lesbian Federation of France spoke on the
theme of sexuality, around which a discussion table has also been
organised.  Pierre explained that their presence at this table was prompted
by the need to know more about a reality -- the movement of sexual
liberation -- which now includes more than 300 groups across five
continents, spreading as it has to the global south. His group was
proposing the establishment of a network that would allow a range of groups
to establish contact and create new forms of struggle.

The idea of creating a network of information was also raised by Said Souw
of Senegal -- in this case one concerning immigration. For as they course
across the continents, the flows of immigration can also be seen as a
mobilisation against capitalism.

Those in attendance from Mexico spoke instead of the various forms of
repression which have continued to develop over the past year. The
situation in Chiapas has not changed greatly after the recent elections.
Alongside the breakdown in dialogue between government forces and
indigenous communities, there is a massive military offensive aimed at
repressing a society struggling to acquire basic rights. In effect the
elections hadn't been held in Chiapas, as the indigenous movement did not
feel represented by any of the institutional political forces taking part.
The climate of repression only intensified as the elections drew near,
thanks also to the presence of genuine paramilitary groups. In March 1998,
in Santiago, Chile, will be held the first social conference in the
hemisphere (indigenous collectives, environmentalists, women) to discuss
the worker as commodity and all those rights which have been negated (land,
sexuality etc, etc) and to construct an alternative network opposed to
imperialist globalisation.



 Written by Tactical Media Crew and Radio Onda Rossa

Translated by Steve Wright, Zapatista Solidarity Collective, Melbourne Australia

Visit the TMC Encuentro page for updates on photos from Spain -
http://vivaldi.nexus.it/commerce/tmcrew/chiapas



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