Machine translation: "November 2023.
To the people who subscribe to the Declaration for Life:
We hereby inform you of the following:
FIRST. - Some months ago, after a long and deep critical and self-critical analysis and consulting with all the Zapatista peoples, it was decided to dissolve the Zapatista Rebel Autonomous Municipalities (MAREZ) and the Boards of Good Government.
SECOND. - All seals, letterheads, positions, representations, and agreements bearing the name of any MAREZ or any of the Boards of Good Government are invalid from this moment on. No one can present themselves as a member, authority, or representative of any MAREZ or Board of Good Government. Agreements made before this date with Non-Governmental Organizations, social organizations, collectives, groups, and instances of solidarity in Mexico and the world will remain in effect until their expiration, but no new agreements can be made with these instances of Zapatista autonomy because they no longer exist.
THIRD. - The Caracoles will remain, but they will be closed to the outside until further notice.
FOURTH. - The reasons and the process by which this decision was made will be explained little by little in subsequent writings. I can only advance that this evaluation, in its final phase, began about 3 years ago. We will also explain how the new structure of Zapatista autonomy has been developing.
All of that, and more, will be revealed at the appropriate time.
FIFTH. - We inform you that we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the war against oblivion in December 2023 and January 2024. All the people who signed the "Declaration for Life" are invited.
However, it is our duty, at the same time that we invite you, to discourage you. Contrary to what the officialist press, self-proclaimed as cool-progressive, would have you believe, the main cities in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas are in complete chaos. Municipal presidencies are occupied by what we call "legal hitmen" or "Disorganized Crime." There are blockades, assaults, kidnappings, extortion, forced recruitment, and shootouts. This is the result of the patronage of the state government and the ongoing struggle for positions. It is not political proposals that are being contested, but criminal societies.
So, of course, we tell you that, unlike in previous years, it is not safe.
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, Las Margaritas, and Palenque, to name a few municipal capitals, are in the hands of one of the cartels of disorganized crime and in conflict with another. This is confirmed by the so-called hotel, tourism, restaurant, and service industry. Those who work in these places know it but have not reported it because they are threatened and know that any request is futile because the state and municipal authorities are the ones engaging in theft without restraint.
The problem is even more serious in rural communities. This is being shouted by those who live in them in all regions of Chiapas, particularly in the border region with Guatemala.
What is read, heard, and seen in most local and national media is just a bad and shameless echo of the state government's social networks. The truth is that the official authorities are the problem, just as in the rest of the country.
The federal, state, and local military and police forces are not in Chiapas to protect the civilian population. They are there with the sole purpose of stopping migration. That is the order that came from the US government. In their usual fashion, they have turned migration into a business. Human trafficking and the sale of people are a business for the authorities, who shamelessly enrich themselves through extortion, kidnapping, and the buying and selling of migrants.
So, we do not advise you to come. Unless, of course, you organize very well to do so.
So, even if we don't expect you, we invite you. The tentative dates for the commemorations are between December 23, 2023, and January 7, 2024, with the central celebration on December 30-31 and January 1-2. We will tell you the location later. So, yes, we want you to come, even though we don't recommend it.
Even if you don't make it, don't worry. We will send you photos and videos.
Well, if there's still a world by those dates.
There you have it.
From the mountains of Southeastern Mexico.
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés. Mexico, November 2023."