San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. “The pyramid doesn’t exist for us, because we’ve already destroyed it and we’re building what we call the Commons,” stated Subcomandante Moisés.
He said that in the face of “the capitalist storm, we Zapatistas categorically state that whatever the pyramid may be, it is not the solution. Our practice of how we want to build a common government is not just about working the land, but about everything that can be done in the new life, a new world, a new society, but without the pyramid that we see as no longer useful.”
Moisés made these remarks while participating in one of the sessions of the so-called April 2026 Semillero: The Storm Inside and Outside According to the Zapatista Communities and Peoples, which took place in San Cristóbal from April 2nd to 4th, with the participation of 540 people from more than 30 countries.
The Commons project that the Zapatistas have put into practice, he said, “is in thought, in looking, in listening, it is in sensing how we are, how we live and it is in the physical aspect of how we feel, how we are living on this planet Earth.”
He added that “the problem we see is one of inheritance, because we can’t leave behind what we’ve been practicing as Zapatistas for over 30 years. No, we can’t leave it like this to the children of today. And we’re not just thinking about the children of Mexico, but of the world, because the capitalist legacy they’ve left us, which we now say with its pyramid structure, is useless.”
It was then, he explained, that “we began to build it and said it should be a common government, but there was nothing to hold onto to create it. We had to bring men and women together—that is, fathers, mothers, young men and women—and discuss it, but first the representatives of each zone, each region, and each town had to meet to explain it.”
He said that “from observing and combining thoughts” arose the idea of the Commons, so that each community can face the storm, be it war or the reaction of Mother Earth.
He commented that this is also how “the supreme assembly” was born, where representatives, men and women, from each community come together. “And there we clarify how we are going to work with the other communities that are not Zapatistas,” because “we are not going to achieve what is called uniting, but rather uniting a way of thinking about how we are going to solve problems in life, because we need the perspectives of others, not to compete, but to analyze what the best way is” to do things.
That is why, Moisés added, “we use the word sharing. Others say exchange, but it is not to convince us that we are going to have to be one.”
The sub-commander pointed out that in the Zapatista project of the Commons, “we don’t want to unite into a single organization. In some areas, we are already seeing changes. For example, in the thousands of hectares recovered (after the 1994 armed uprising), our brothers and sisters (non-Zapatistas) are already working, whereas before we were closed off. First, we had to open our minds.”
He stated that “we are changing our structure and figuring out the best way to build the Commons. We are analyzing what needs improvement.”
He commented that before, members of the EZLN “could only be support base members or militiamen. Not anymore. They can participate in the health sector, be lab technicians or ultrasound technicians. Before, they were appointed, but over time we discovered that we weren’t getting it right. When they were appointed, they were told they had to go to health, for example, without knowing if that was their natural talent, if they had a liking for it or if they were willing. That’s why they didn’t put in the effort. Sometimes they tried it and then left.”
He added that “during this time we discovered that it’s better to explain the importance of each task, such as laboratory work, ultrasound, studying or learning about medicinal plants.”
Now, he elaborated, “we ask if there are volunteers who want to learn these things, and they go with great enthusiasm because they volunteered to learn these areas.”
He affirmed that the Common project is about “working with our brothers and sisters. In two years of practicing this, we’ve seen that we do understand each other and we have ideas under development for how to improve.”
He emphasized: “We are working together, for example, on the land. We are all integrated, Zapatistas and non-Zapatistas. Understanding each other has helped us; there is a shared understanding. As Indigenous peoples in Mexico, we agree.”
Insisting on how the Zapatistas are managing to do many things together, he said, “I think we’re going to have to change our motto from ‘everything for everyone, nothing for ourselves’ to ‘everything for everyone, in common.’” He also reported that the EZLN will create new Caracoles, in addition to the 12 it already has.
Original article by Elio Henríquez, La Jornada, April 5th, 2026.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.