A statement signed by Subcommander Moisés and published by the newspaper said that the local autonomy government (GAL) is the most important basis or core of all autonomy and that it exists in every community where Zapatista support bases live.
These are coordinated by autonomous agents and commissioners and are subject to the assembly of the city, ranchería, municipality, region, neighborhood, ejido, colony or whatever each population calls itself, he added.
Each GAL controls its autonomous organizational resources (such as schools and clinics) and relationships with neighboring non-Zapatista sister cities. And control the proper use of wages.
Mismanagement, corruption and possible errors are also denounced.
While there used to be a few dozen MAREZ (Autonomous Municipalities of the Zapatista Rebels), today there are thousands of Zapatista GAL, the text says.
He explained that different GALs meet according to their needs, problems and progress in Zapatista Autonomous Government Collectives (CGAZ), where agreements are discussed and made on matters of interest to the convening GALs.
“Here the plans and needs of health, education, agroecology, justice, trade and those that are needed are proposed, discussed and approved or rejected. At the CGAZ level, there are the coordinators for each area,” he added.
However, the statement added that these were not authorities. Their job is to ensure that the work required by the GAL or necessary for community life is carried out. Each region or CGAZ has its directors who call meetings when there is an urgent problem or concerns several communities.
Likewise, he pointed out that the structure and disposition of the EZLN has been reorganized to increase the defense and security of cities and Mother Earth in the event of aggression, attacks, epidemics and invasions by companies that exploit nature.
mgt/lma