To the mothers, fathers, classmates, companions and companions of the Missing of Ayotzinapa:
To those who search:
We know that it has not been easy to reach this page of the calendar.
We know the pain and the rage of understanding now that, no matter the color, up there, contempt and lies continue.
We know that it has not only been the hope of finding those they are missing that has moved them. Because in these years their pain has extended to the thousands of relatives of the missing persons in this country.
And each mother, each father, family member, friendship, has deepened that pain until it reaches its bed of rage that seeks and does not find.
Neither truth nor justice.
Not even the slightest empathy from those who have the power only to boast and brag, but not to serve and solve. The executioner pretending to present himself as a victim.
In this long journey they have encountered betrayals, with those who only used their pain to have a position, a cause to change color in the government, or, the most miserable, a paycheck.
And in the bad governments the hunter’s gaze follows, looking for his next victim.
But…
We, the Zapatista peoples, believe that we have in common with you this feeling that is only found in the hearts of those who struggle….
Because the day will come when the names of those who tirelessly search for those who are missing, of the fathers and mothers of those absent from Ayotzinapa, of their classmates, of their teachers, of their families and friends, will be associated with two words whose real absence this geography now suffers from: truth and justice.
And because the day will come when being a student, man or woman, from a rural teacher training college or whatever, employee, worker, adult or elderly, will no longer be a reason for persecution, contempt, disappearance, or death.
But for that day to come, we must continue. If we cannot yet bequeath that Truth and Justice to those who follow us in calendars and geographies, we can bequeath them the rage, the memory and the dignity necessary to not surrender, not sell out and not give up.
If we do not succeed, there will always be a night of Iguala stalking those from below, their young blood, and they will always be guilty of rebellion.
If there is neither Truth nor Justice, let there be no lack of rage and memory.
From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
On behalf of the Zapatista women, men, elders, girls and boys.
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés.
Mexico, September 26, 2024.
Original text published by Enlace Zapatista on September 26th, 2024.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.