Zapatistas in Cyberspace

One of the fastest ways to keep up with what is happening in Chiapas is through the use of computer communications. The following is a brief description of some sources of information and discussion available in cyberspace. Many of the "sources" have their own archives and earlier discussions can be retrieved, either from archive listings or via a database search.

ANTHAP Archives (Internet)

The Applied Anthropology Computer Network has an ftp/gopher site which includes an archive of "Chiapas-Zapatista News" in its home computer at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan. This archive contains all kinds of materials (news stories, discussion, EZLN communiques) downloaded from just about everywhere. The archive contains a great deal of material from January-March 1994. Very little has been added since. "Chiapas- Zapatista News" can be accessed via gopher to Michigan/Oakland University/Applied Anthropology Computer Network/Chiapas_news. The archive can also be accessed via ftp vela.acs.oakland.edu (anonymous login, then cd pub/anthap/ls). This material can also be accessed through UT-LANIC (see below) at gopher lanic.utexas.edu /Latin America/Mexico/Chiapas-Zapatista News.

CHIAPAS-L and MEXICO94 (Internet)

The Chiapas Discussion List was created in the wake of the uprising as a forum for discussion of it. The Mexican Elections List was created subsequently to focus on the August 1994 elections. They are maintained by PROFMEXIS at CETEI-UNAM (Centro de Tecnologia e Informatica at UNAM). Both have archives (Correspondencia) which can be accessed via gopher lanic.utexas.edu Subscribe by sending the command "subscribe chiapas-l (or Mexico94-l) your_name" to listproc@listas.unam.mx (leave "SUBJECT:" line empty).

NATIVE-L and NATCHAT (Internet)

These two "lists" --Aboriginal Peoples: News and Information List and Aboriginal Peoples: Discussion List-- are part of the NATIVENET series of lists and contain information and discussion (respectively) of struggle among a wide variety of indigenous peoples. The native-l archives are maintained at Texas A&M University (listserv@tamvm1.bitnet). Subscribe by sending the command "subscribe native-l (or natchat)your_name" to listserv@tamvm1.tamu.edu (leave "SUBJECT:" line empty)

CENTAM-L (Internet)

The Central American Discussion List covers the other countries of Central America as well as Chiapas, especially struggles in Guatamala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Subscribe by sending the command "subscribe list-name yourname" to listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu (leave "SUBJECT:" line empty)

MEXICO-L (Internet)

The Mexico Discussion List covers anything and everything about Mexico besides Chiapas, cultural as well as political. Originating in Mexico, much of the discussion (but not all) is in Spanish. Subscribe by sending the command "subscribe list-name yourname" to majordomo@udlapvms.pue.udlap.mx (leave "SUBJECT:" line empty)

ACTIV-L (Internet)

The Activist Mailing List regularly posts news stories/analyses on the Zapatistas. They also post stories on a vast array of other activist issues but you can subscribe to a once-a-day index of articles that only gives you a listing of stories available and then order the ones on Chiapas that you want. Subscribe by sending the command "subscribe activ-l" to listserv@mizzou1.missouri.edu (leave "SUBJECT:" line empty). To get only the daily list, send the command "set activ-l index" to the same address. Activ-l's discussion group is on USENET and has the name "misc.activism.progressive" which also includes the articles.

PEACENET

There are several "conferences" (discussion groups) that have contained a large amount of information about the situation in Chiapas, including eai.news, reg.mex.news, trade.news and especially gen.nativenet and reg.mexico. Peacenet is part series of nets run by the Institute for Global Communications (IGC). The IGC networks provide low cost entry points to the Internet. You can obtain information about subscribing by gophering to igc.apc.org.

AMDH

The Mexican Academy for Human Rights (Academia Mexicana de Derechos Humanos, A.C.) has issued irregular but very detailed "Special Bulletins, Chiapas Conflict" in both Spanish and English. They contain day by day chronologies as well as other kinds of information --including e-mail addresses to other human rights organizations active in Chiapas. You can get on their mailing list and obtain previous bulletins by posting to: amdh@laneta.apc.org The bulletins have also been placed in reg.mexico (PEACENET) and show up in the ANTHAP Archives.

NAFTA & INTER-AM MONITOR

Published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) in Minneapolis, the MONITOR is the result of the merger of the Inter- American Trade Monitor and the NAFTA Monitor. A weekly bulletin, the MONITOR contains news briefs and information on resources and events in the struggle against "free trade". The MONITOR has carried both news of the Chiapas Uprising and other information on NAFTA --which the Zapatistas have called the "death sentence" to indigenous peoples and campesinos. The MONITOR is posted on ACTIV-L and on PEACENET (eai.news). The IATP produces a number of other trade-related bulletins on PEACENET and ECONET, including trade.news and trade.library. Direct subscriptions to any of these can be obtained from the IATP at kmander@igc.apc.org.

LADB

The Latin American Data Base at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque issued a series of special reports called CHIAPAS NEWS and continues to produce a number of regular electronic publications that often contain information about Chiapas and the Zapatistas, i.e., NotiSur, SourceMex, Chronicle of Latin American Economic Affairs and Central America Update. Information about subscriptions to LADB can be obtained from ladbad@unmb.unm.edu Subscriptions can also be obtained from places with site licenses, such as ladb@lanic.utexas.edu.

WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS

This weekly bulletin from NicaNet (the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York) regularly carries news from the struggle in Chiapas. It is included in the postings of ACTIV-L. (See above for subscription information.) Back issues are available on New York Transfer News Collective Online Library. NYT News can be reached at nyt@blythe.org.

SOC.CULTURE.MEXICAN and SOC.CULTURE.LATIN-AMERICA (Usenet)

These are two discussion groups (among thousands) distributed to computer sites all over the world. Each computer site accumulates the articles and distributes them to its own users. Exactly how you access Usenet groups depends on your local setup. If you are modem connected to a mainframe with a personal computer access is facilitated with client software such as Nuntius (Mac) or Trumpet (DOS).

UT-LANIC

The University of Texas at Austin - Latin American Network Information Center provides access to a wide variety of academic databases and information services around the world. Besides the sources mentioned above, it includes access to over 200 databases and over 200 libraries (including the UT Benson Latin American Collection, the "largest repository of Latin American materials with an electronic catalog accessible via Internet". UT-LANIC can be reached via gopher (or telnet) lanic.utexas.edu Questions can be addressed to info@lanic.utexas.edu.