February 10, 1999

Middlebury College Presents “Lacandona: The

Zapatistas and Rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico” and a Discussion

with Melissa Burch

Melissa Burch of the Action for Community and Ecology

in the Rainforests of Central America (ACERCA) working group recently

returned from Chiapas, Mexico, and will present the newly released

video “Lcandona: The Zapatistas and Rainforests of Chiapas,

Mexico” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18 in the Warner Science

Building Hemicycle on College Street (Route 125). The video explores

the connections between politics and ecology and competing interests

for natural resources in Mexico’s southeastern state of Chiapas.

“The Zapatista’s autonomy proposal, which includes

autonomous control of territory and natural resources, represents

a threat to the neoliberal model being promoted by Mexico’s elite,”

said Burch. “There is a fundamental conflict in Chiapas between

the indigenous world view in which economics and politics are

subordinated to ethics and culture; and the western model in which

everything bows to economics.”

There will also be a discussion on the political,

economic, and cultural factors that led to the emergence of the

Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Burch will trace

the recent development of the Zapatista movement and peace negotiations

process and discuss the implications of the autonomy agreement,

signed by the EZLN and the Mexican government. She will also elaborate

on corporate interest in natural resources in the region, as well

as current politics.

Burke’s video tour begins Feb. 2 at Dartmouth College

in Hanover, N.H., and continues through Feb. 22 in various other

venues in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont.

For more information for the Middlebury College event,

contact student coordinator Dave Gurtman at 802-443-3698.