John Ross
Common Courage Press
Monroe, Maine, 2000, $15.95 (pb)
(www.commoncouragepress.com)
John Ross is the foremost chronicler, in English, of modern Mexican history. He is particularly knowledgeable about the Zapatista movement and its revolutionary forerunners. In addition to the very good The Annexation of Mexico – from the Aztecs to the IMF, about said country’s economic politics, Ross has written three books about the E.Z.L.N. (Zapatista National Liberation Army), its rebellion, and its political fallout throughout Mexico and the world. They are Rebellion from the Roots, the novel Tonatiuh’s People, and his latest, The War Against Oblivion.
I assume the gentle Lobster reader will perhaps read only one book about the Zapatistas this year (his/her calendar being full of anti-IMF, anti-McDonalds, pro-Bové activities in any case). Should they read one of John Ross’s books? Absolutely. Which one? Probably The War Against Oblivion. Rebellion From The Roots covers the first year or so of the Zapatistas’ declared rebellion. The War Against Oblivion takes it as far as the election of the PAN Presidential candidate, Vicente Fox, in 2000.
Ross writes in a style he calls the ‘Mexican journalese crónica’ – very clear, very outraged. And there is much to be outraged about. Ross bases his book around the seasons: this is a war of Mayan farming people against a western power. There is a regrettable cyclical quality to the events that take place: a conference between Government and Indian revolutionaries reaches a certain point; then one of the parties – usually the Government – reneges or backtracks; there is a stalemate; the army and the paramilitaries become more ‘proactive’ and one or two Indians are killed daily; a massacre ensues; following international indignation, Government and rebel talks begin again.
Ross apologises early in this book for being based primarily in Mexico City. But the Mexico City elements are crucial: I would like to have seen him address more space to the Cardenas mayoral regime, for example, and tell us why it failed. Overall The War Against Oblivion balances its Chiapas scenes with the big picture – N.A.F.T.A., the Colosio and Ruiz Massieu assassinations, the U.N.A.M. (National University) strike – extremely well.
I first encountered Ross’s journalism in the pages of a fine small town American radical newspaper, the Anderson Valley Advertiser. At some point Ross and the Advertiser parted company, but I rediscovered him shortly thereafter c/o the Weekly News Update on the Americas (WNU, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY, 10012, email ). In addition to more than a thousand published pages on Mexican politics in fact and fiction, Ross manages to come up with a newsletter 48 times a year, entitled Mexico Barbado. It consists of first-hand reportage from all corners of the Republic on matters political/ecological/cultural. Ross has no car and cannot afford to fly. He goes everywhere by bus. The intrepid reporter’s motto is, ‘Get there last, but get there fast’. Mexico does indeed have a superb domestic bus system: given the demise of its privatised trains and the high cost of flying, this is just as well.
If you are interested in matters contemporary and Mexican, or looking for a little anti-globalist encouragement, check out The War Against Oblivion……. and consider a subscription to Mexico Barbado. Ross is in his sixties but is the fightingest, most anti-globalist reporter in the hemisphere. He has vowed not to cover another Mexican Presidential election (the next is due in 2005) so catch him now before he gives this up for a well-deserved retirement to his finca.