A Common Roof — Zapatistas

The pouring has to be done in one go. It can’t be done in parts because the roof will look bad. That’s when you have to pour a lot, but in an organized way. Pouring a roof is like dancing: everyone knows their place, what they have to do, and with whom. If it rains, then it’s all over. So you have to ask the most knowledgeable people, be alert, be ready. Then you say, “On such and such a day,” and the people gather, and the jobs are distributed. It’s done early, because otherwise the heat is unbearable and you end up like a fumigated cockroach. When it’s finished, we laugh and drink pozol. At lunch, we all gobbled up some beef. There’s no party outside, but there is one in our hearts. “It’s ours,” we think. And we know that it belongs to everyone and no one. An operating room is a place where those who know how to wield a knife remove the evil from you as if they were removing a bad thought. It takes time and leaves you a little messed up, but that’s life: which also takes time and leaves you messed up, but there are moments when the damage is already done. And there is no party outside, but there is one in our hearts. Construction is like fighting, you do it because you’re going to need it one day. You or yours, which doesn’t mean they’re your property, but rather your family, those close to you, your compañerxs.

Yes, we still need someone who knows about electricity to come, because they are going to have equipment that not everyone has. Single-phase, two-phase, three-phase, grounding, and I don’t know how many other things. We have ground, but you have to know about electricity because otherwise the equipment will break down and it will be useless. It’s like when the music stops at a dance, and you’re left with the cumbia unfinished. Imagine you’re having stomach surgery and the power goes out, and you’re left with your guts hanging out like an old bandana. That’s why the next thing we need is an electrician. We need to find one who’s willing to work for the community. Do electricians get sick too? They get sick, and they have needs too. So that’s what’s missing. And the windows and doors, because not just any windows or doors. Doctors? There’s already a team, so to speak, but more are sure to come. Because if you have a knife, a machete, a chainsaw, a drill, but there’s no one to open your stomach, then it’s useless, as we say here. And some doctors have already come to see. I didn’t show my face because what if the doctor sees me and wants to start practicing right away. And then, once again, there’s no special electricity. I’d better wait. But the roof is already there.

Yes, there are still many things missing, but it already has a roof, and a roof is important for life. That’s why the gods made the sky, so that the world would have its roof.

Yes, what’s missing is yet to come.

Hopefully they’ll make tamales. Yes, and hopefully they won’t be raw.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.

The Captain
November 2025.

Original text published at Enlace Zapatista on November 26th, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.

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