These words were written by Subcomandante Moisés, General Command of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation, in October 2020. The poetic style and generous embrace of difference-in-struggle should be familiar to anyone who has read Zapatista communiques over the past 30 years. The context of writing is very different, though, to the one we explored in Chapter 4. The COVID-19 pandemic; the increasing regularity and intensity of climatic events; the imminent possibility of biodiversity collapse are different symptoms of systemic breakdown on a planetary scale. As one response to this emerging scenario, the Zapatistas announced they would leave the Jungle and come to the world. This was the basis of their ‘Journey for Life’ – an expedition of Zapatista representatives across the Atlantic, and ultimately to five continents. Reversing the original expedition of European conquest, the ‘Journey for Life’ was not about obtaining compensation or seeking apologies from Spain. Rather, the Zapatistas made clear that they were journeying to meet others in resistance; others who were also fighting for life against the patriarchal, oppressive and exploitative system of global capitalism.

As part of the ‘Journey for Life’, a contingent of Zapatista men and women arrived in Ireland in October 2021. In advance of their arrival there was a flurry of organising by individuals, activists and community groups keen to meet with and host them.