Interview
Pablo Salazar Mendiguchia, Governor of Chiapas

Gustavo González

Since 1994, the southern Mexican state of Chiapas has symbolised indigenous rebellion against centuries of oppression, but now it is the site of efforts to build peace through a process of reconciliation, justice and social development, which includes reaching out beyond Mexico's borders to the globalised world. That was the message the Governor of Chiapas, Pablo Salazar Mendiguchia, brought to the Local Authorities Forum at the WSF, and discussed in this conversation with TerraViva.

Is it possible to reconcile globalisation with local development?

Yes, I believe it is possible. There are some things that become extremely difficult, and then what we have to do is determine how we can turn them around and make them into something good. We live in a globalised world, and we can find ways to globalise not from above, not from the superstructure of federal governments, but from below.

What role does the international cooperation play in that process?

A very important role, because globalisation is also expressed at the level of local development. The first agreement that the democratic government of Chiapas signed was with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos. We signed an accord with the Chilean regions of the Bío-Bío and Araucanía. The idea is to see how we can globalise, based on our regional experiences, by opening up to other continents, other worlds, by building upon what each one has to offer.

How is that manifest in the agreement with Chile?

In our case we have benefited greatly from all the knowledge the Chileans have about forestry issues. Last year at least six Chilean delegations visited Chiapas. The director of the Forestry Institute and experts from the University of Concepción came, and we worked with them in designing a forest development plan for Chiapas. We had never had one before. Chiapas covers 75,000 square km, which is mostly jungle. But these are resources that we are not taking advantage of. This plan is an alternative to poverty.

One of the criticisms of forest-based development in Chile involves the ecological costs of introducing foreign species that might jeopardise the native forest.

We do not plan to adopt the experience of any country exactly as it exists. We are following our own processes for defining public policies and, in the case of Chiapas, we have decided that for anything that has to do with agriculture, livestock and forest development, the environmental component is mandatory.

Changing the subject, with regard to the Zapatista movement, does the threat of armed conflict in Chiapas persist, or has it been defused?

I would say that after Sep 11, after the attacks in the United States, armed movements do not have much of a future in any country.

In Chiapas in particular we are working to create conditions for lasting peace. There are better conditions in Chiapas today for peace than for war.