POSITION PAPER

Delegation : Mexico Commitee : Disarmament and International Security Committee Topic : The Role of Information and Telecomunication in Reactionary Movement

Telecommunication in Mexico has gained the most policy attention since the late 1980s as the step for modernization of Mexico's economy. For Mexico to be able to develop, the country's information infrastructure must have good services of telecommunications and computers in the context of global networks. Internet develop really significant in mexico and bring the country to the global networks especially in trading and economic side. But not only for the ecomonic side, information and telecommunication also affect the reactionary movement in Mexico. In all over the world including in Mexico, internet become one of the most popular place where people in the form of groups that involve in social and also political protest. The internet can make the reactionary movement like demonstration or protest become easier, more effective, and even can spread faster to all over the world without relieve the meaning of the protest itself. In Mexico, there was an example which show how the internet and cyberdemocracy used in political movement. Farmers and guerrilla armies formed Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico, that began in 1 January 1994 in the day when NAFTA went in effect. They called themselves Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). They take over half the state of Chiapas, declaring a war against global corporate power and for humanity. That group has been declared war against Mexican state, as a reject form against liberalization policy which include free trading that Mexican government did. Beside that, the rebellion also caused by the policy of mexican government which is sentralistic, the economy life of poor people in Mexico become worse, and the vocation in the farm's areas also become worse. Zapatista is the first moderenize revolutinary, antiviolance, and used shophisticated satelite phoned and internet as a way to gain domestic and international support. In January 1995, when Mexican government attacked Zapatistas, they then used computer networks to inform the world about their battle against repressive government action to gain support from other countries and to gain international solidarity. As the result, there were many demonstrations in support of the rebels troughout the world. The Mexican government were bombarded with messages calling for negotiations rather than suppression and The Mexican government was forced back down and stop their suppression againts the rebels and until now there are still a lot of negotiations as efforts to reach peace between them. The war in Chiapas is a postmodern war, with soldiers who acted through the internet and offering solidarity with the EZLN who come from all over the world. They prove that the appropriate use of technology and information have more power than the bullet, and able to invite the involvement of the activists from around the world, create national and international

rejection of the policy of the Mexican government. So, in Mexico it really represent a strong example how new technologies like this can be used as an arm of political struggle and help generate global support networks. The Mexican government so far do not have any policy to overcome that netwar such as like what Zapatista did. Not like in country like China that the government really tighten the regulation for such a movement or issue like that, in Mexico the government do not have any clear rules about reactionary movement in virual world.