Not long after the Zapatista National Liberation Army and the National Indigenous Congress resolved to present an Indigenous woman as an independent candidate for the 2018 presidential elections, the rebel group began to receive criticism.
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The decision made at the Fifth National Indigenous Congress caught many by surprise, as the Zapatistas had long rejected any formal participation in electoral politics.
One of the first to respond was leftist former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who suggested the EZLN, as the Zapatistas are also known, were trying to divide the left.
Lopez Obrador is widely expected to run for president a third time in the upcoming election and an “independent candidate” could draw away votes that might otherwise go to him.
In the 2006 election, Lopez Obrador lost in a disputed, though tightly contested, election. That year the Zapatistas organized “The Other Campaign,” which called on Mexicans to participate in political activity that went beyond voting.
During “The Other Campaign,” Zapatistas — including the group's most recognizable figure, Subcomandante Marcos — traveled throughout Mexico meeting with activists and social movement leaders in order to build a broad front against capitalism.
In a letter posted online, Marcos, now known as Subcomandante Galeano, responded to the criticism.
“How solid can the Mexican political system be, and how well-founded and reliable the tactics and strategies of the political parties, if, when someone says publicly that they are thinking about something, that they are going to ask their peers what they think of what they are thinking, the entire political party system becomes hysterical?” read the letter.
When the decision to consider running a candidate was first announced by the Zapatistas, they specified that it was not being done as a means of securing power.
“We confirm that our struggle is not for power, we do not seek it,” read the joint statement from the National Indigenous Congress and the Zapatistas.
Galeano's letter appeared to reaffirm that their goal in presenting a candidate would be to expose the contradictions of the Mexican political system.
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Referring to Margarita Zavala, the wife of ex-president Felipe Calderon and likely candidate for the presidency in 2018, Galeano presented a juxtaposition.
“You who are reading this: would you be bothered by watching and listening to a debate between the Calderona (Zavala) from above, with her 'traditional' luxury brand clothing, and a woman below, of Indigenous blood, culture, language, and history? Would you be more interested in hearing what the Calderona promises or what the Indigenous woman proposes? Wouldn’t you want to see this clash of two worlds?” asked Galeano.
The letter gave no indication the EZLN and the National Indigenous Congress intend to withdraw their proposal.
The idea of running a candidate must still, however, be approved by the grassroots of the organization.