Mister Mumia:

I am writing to you in the name of the men, women, children and elderly of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in order to congratulate you on April 24, which is your birthday.

Perhaps you have heard of us. We are Mexican, mostly indigenous, and we took up arms on January 1 of 1994 demanding a voice, face and name for the forgotten of the earth.

Since then, the Mexican government has made war on us and pursues us and harasses us seeking our death, our disappearance and our definitive silence. The reason? These lands are rich with oil, uranium and precious lumber. The government wants them for the great transnational companies. We want them for all the Mexicans. The government sees our lands as a business. We see our government wants them for the great transnational companies. We want them for all the Mexicans. The government sees our lands as a business. We see our history written in these lands. In order to defend our right (and that of all Mexicans) to live with liberty, democracy, justice and dignity we became an army and undertook a name, voice and face that way.

Perhaps you wonder how we know of you, about your birthday, and why it is that we extend this long bridge which goes from the mountains of the Mexican southeast to the prison of Pennsylvania which has imprisoned you unjustly. Many good people from many parts of the world have spoken of you, through them we have learned how you were ambushed by the North American police in December of 1981, of the lies which they constructed in the procedures against you, and of the death sentence in 1982. We learned about your birthday through the international mobilizations which, under the name of "Millions for Mumia", are being prepared this April 24th.

It is harder to explain this bridge which this letter extends, it is more complicated. I could tell you that, for the powerful of Mexico and the government, to be indigenous, or to look indigenous, is reason for disdain, abhorrence, distrust and hatred. The racism which now floods the palaces of Power in Mexico goes to the extreme of carrying out a war of extermination, genocide, against millions of indigenous. I am sure that you will find similarities to which human beings can resort: the death penalty, to punish someone they consider different, someone who struggles for a more just society.
We call on the civil society of the State of Pennsylvania, on civil society of the United States, on civil society of the entire world, to reject this barbarism; we call on the good men and women who inhabit this earth to stop the execution of Mumia. Because if Mumia Abu-Jamal dies, human dignity will once more be defeated. We will not allow it!, compa–eros and brothers.

We demand justice from the Governor of Pennsylvania and the United States legal system! The world is watching them. They have a new opportunity to demonstrate that justice can prevail. Would that they make use of this opportunity, and go down in history as good men, and not as assassins.

Abolish the death penalty! Liberty for Mumia Abu-Jamal, now!

Javier Elorriaga, of the National Coordinating Committee of the FZLN
Maria and Ulises Martinez of the International Committee of the FZLN

Accion Zapatista (AZ) is an organization that gathers and redistributes information about the Zapatistas and the struggle for democracy in Mexico. We protest US support of the Mexican government, and support local struggles that challenge neo-liberal policies and institutions. Because events in different regions are related by the brutal logic of global capital, we invite your input in developing new strategies of organizing and an ongoing understanding of the interconnections between local and international struggles. AZ maintains a communications network designed to link local struggles . The AZ network allows individuals and organizations to collaborate with AZ via the internet in order to participate in debate, post important information, request relevant data, present opinions and insights and be informed of upcoming events or actions in the Austin area.

For more information on the Zapatistas: http://www.utexas.edu/students/nave