Knoxville’s Friends of the Zapatistas are sponsoring a benefit

concert and film showing Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Mercury Theatre.

Proceeds from the event will go to the Chiapas Relief Fund. Admission is

$5.

Two films concerning the rebellion in Southern Mexico will be followed by

performances by Sexpod, an all-female punk group from New York, and

Knoxville favorites The Rude Street Peters.

Local organizer James Henry said news of the ongoing struggle has been

scarce lately.

“There has been a media blackout on the situation,” said Henry. “We are

trying to raise public awareness.”

The Zapatistas are an “indigenous insurgency movement” demanding political

and economic democracy in Mexico. Mayan Indians make up a large part of the

Zapatista movement, headquartered in Chiapas. Their guerrilla activity

began in January of 1994 as a “global protest” to the North American Free

Trade Agreement. Also among their demands are fair elections and basic

human liberties for all Mexicans.

To these indigenous peoples, the NAFTA agreement has been called a “death

sentence.” They believe “free trade” will mean increased corporate

exploitation of the region’s workers.

Reports from the New York Times to e-mail newsgroups tell stories of

brutal massacres carried out by the Mexican army. One e-mail report cited a

letter that the Chase Manhattan bank sent to investors recently, urging

action against the Zapatistas. The organizers of this Saturday’s benefit

hope to generate humanitarian aid for the Chiapas region.

“The Mexican army has begun to round up activists and slaughter the

Zapatista sympathizers who have not fled into the jungle,” Henry said.

A New York Times article from February reported that Amnesty

International has confirmed some reports of “aerial strafing.”

Saturday’s benefit offers to be educational and entertaining. Sexpod’s

sound falls into the heavy alternative realm, somewhere between Jane’s

Addiction and Nirvana. The Rude Street Peters are local favorites, known

for their true East Tennessee spirit and their sense of humor. They prefer

to call their brand of rock “hillbilly music.”