In 1994, from the Lacandon jungle, Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos replied to a ten-year-old girl in Mexico City who had sent him a drawing. In his response, Marcos conjured up a first fable introducing the beetle and knight-errant "Don Durito de la Lacandon." The ensuing output of Durito-related communiques and tales comprise a broad discourse of the Zapatista struggle, revealing their organizational history, their critique of traditional politics, and the reasons for their opposition to neoliberalism. These elements have helped make the Zapatistas an exemplary reference in the international movement against capitalist globalization.
Conversations with Durito includes all the Durito stories issued to date, translated, annotated, and contextualized by the Accion Zapatista Editorial Collective, and illustrated by simpatico artists. Poetic, humorous, and imaginative, these fables provide an excellent introduction to the politics of globalization from the radical perspective of indigenous struggle.
Contents
i Preface
ii Translation and Editing Notes
iv Acknowledgements
1 Historical Overview
STORIES FOR A SUFFOCATING NIGHT
41 The Story of Durito and Neoliberalism
44 Durito II: Neoliberalism Seen From La Lacandona
57 The Cave of Desire
64 Durito Names Marcos His Squire
71 Durito III: The Story of Neoliberalism and the Labor Movement
79 Durito's May Day Postcard
81 On Bullfighting, Detente and Rock
87 Durito IV: Neoliberalism and the Party-State System
95 Durito V: Durito in Mexico City
99 Durito's Return
104 Durito VI: Neoliberalism: Chaotic Theory of Economic Chaos
111 Durito, Chibo the Killer Tarantula and the Plebiscite
117 The Story of the Little Mouse and the Little Cat
120 Of Trees, Transgressors and Odontology
138 The Story of the Hot Foot and the Cold Foot
144 On Love
147 The Story of Dreams
152 The Story of the Bay Horse
160 Durito to Conquer Europe
164 To Lady Civil Society
169 The Riddle
171 Durito on Cartoonists
176 Durito IX: Neoliberalism, History as a Tale . . . Badly Told
184 Durito on Liberty
186 Durito's Comment on Hunger
189 Big Sharks and Little Fishes
196 Presentation in Seven Voices Seven: Politics and Bolsas (Theirs and Ours)
STORIES FOR A SLEEPLESS SOLITUDE
215 Love and the Calendar
220 The Story of the Magical Chocolate Bunnies
226 The Seashell and The Two People
233 Forever Never
236 The Hour of the Little Ones, Part I: The Return of . . .
249 The Hour of the Little Ones, Part II: Those From Below
STORIES OF VIGILANCE BY CANDLELIGHT
255 The Hour of the Little Ones, Part III: The Undocumented Others
258 The Hour of the Little Ones, Part IV: The Other . . .
261 The Hour of the Little Ones, Part X: The Student Others
266 The Story of the Air and the Night
276 Off the Record: La Realidad
286 Durito.com
288 The Other Player
294 The Story of the Little Dented Car
298 The Hand That Dreams When It Writes
302 Chairs of Power and Butterflies of Rebellion
314 Apples and the Zapatistas
316 Bibliography
