A POPULAR Mexican American figure has called for a seven day work stoppage by Mexican Americans in the United States to draw attention to their role in providing services and labour to US businesses and homes.
At an international conference in Reality, a Zapatista rebel village deep in the Lacandon jungle in south Mexico, Edward Olmos, a US actor, declared: "There will not be a single car parked, not a garden tended, not a child minded and not an apple picked for seven days.
"People will reflect on their identity and their dignity," Olmos, very popular among the migrant Mexican community, told hundreds of people gathered for the "Intercontinental Encounter Against Neo Liberalism and For Humanity".
While attention focused on the beating of three undocumented Mexicans by Californian police and the deaths of seven more Mexicans after a high speed chase by US police activists, actors, academics and indigenous peoples came from Canada, the US and Latin America to discuss ways to combat the dominant free market economic system. Speakers said this system placed profit over people and relied on state violence to stifle social discontent.
The American activist and linguistics expert, Dr Noam Chomsky, the Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ms Rigoberta Menchu, and the film director, Oliver Stone, sent messages of support. Documents and discussion groups reflected the experience of participants as US activists plotted new web pages on the Internet and Brazilians spoke of land occupations and direct action.
The Mexican army sent a large convoy of tanks and troops which stopped just short of the village, forcing Zapatista rebels to return to their mountain positions and reminding visitors that Realidad is, in reality, at war. "We are not here to change the world," said the rebel spokesman, sub commander Marcos, opening the event. "We have a more modest task at hand, that of remaking the world."
Chilean Mapuche and US Chippewa Indians spoke of attempts to dump toxic waste on sacred lands and proposed the construction of a new museum, "Museum of Unnatural History", to house "all the PhDs" written about the indigenous people.
The rebels, who declared war on the Mexican Government in January 1994, have called for similar meetings in every continent with Berlin selected to host a European event in May.
"We must defend this dream" concluded sub commander Marcos, as visitors packed their bags for the long trek home. "Carry it with you, guard it safely in your trouser pocket and take it out once in a while to caress it and give you hope."