Zapatista Supremo, Sub-Commander Marcos is really into the whole Penguin thing - he actually dedicates a good chunk of a two-part communique to the subject, titling it UN PINGÜINO EN LA SELVA LACANDONA. or (A Penguin In The Lacandona Jungle), and posting it on the official Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional web-pagepart 1 and part 2.
He starts on a somewhat existential note: "Zapatistas are merely a house...in a street named Mexico, in a neighborhood called 'Latinamerica' in a city called 'world'", then he segues directly into the heartwarming saga of his fine feathered friend:
"You are not going to believe me, but [At EZLN] headquartes in Ezetaelene there is a Penguin, you will say 'Ah, the Sup (nickname), he just lost a fuse in the Red Alert', but it is the truth. Whats more while I write this, he (the penguin) is right next to me, eating the same hard and stale bread (it has so much mold that it is a step away from being penicillin), that with coffee was my ration for today.
After detouring through other random musings, he returns to explain the origin of this particular bird. At some base camp dep in the jungle, the fowl appeared pre-destined for Zapatista fried chicken, but his upright posture and strange walk reminded the insurgents of "a penguin." That caught the eye of Marcos who in a fit of revolutionary leniency, pardoned the bird from a sure death, and earned him a trip to insurgent headquarters. Now under the nom de guerre Pinguino, according to Marcos, he joins the rest of the cadres in their nightly cell discussions, "where he is the one who pays the most attention, and not only that, but he also pecks any [zapatista] who happens to be falling asleep in the middle of the political discussion."
Such revolutionary zeal has not gone unrewarded, as another paragraph translated in this August 2, 2005 CSM Story, quotes Marcos as giving the bird a rank in the EZLN:
"Penguin has become part of the General Command of the Zapatista army," wrote Marcos. "We are all like Penguin, forcing ourselves to rise up and make our way in Mexico, in Latin America and the world."
And for the first time, pictures of the new compañero appear on the web page for theFrente Zapatista De Liberacion Nacional (FZLN) - the civilian arm of the EZLN. Another picture of the creature is on the main site, while a cartoon graphic of a penguin permanently adorns the front of their web page.
PINGUINO!!!!!
For you English speakers, the FZLN site does also have a somewhat sketchy translation of a recent communique:
Concerning How the Recurring PS, A.C. of C.V. Unlimited & Co., Continuing To Be Into Informing, Testifies As to the Latest Events Regarding the Alleged Penguin Allegedly Located In Allegedly Zapatista Lands, in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas (or Some Distance From Antarctica). - Alright, then, I'm informing you that, following a scientific "penguinological" analysis, it has been determined, to an acceptable degree of certainty, that Penguin was a little rooster in his previous life. And so it might be expected that he would exhibit behaviors which might lead to confusing him with a rooster. This has, in fact, already occurred. :
This tale continues here, where our brave bird confronts some obviously mis-guided rooster.
No doubt this Zapatista sympathizer is impressed with Penguin!!! Web Sites all over Europe are abuzz with Marcos' recent pronouncements, no doubt more than one discussion is going on about trying to reconcile Gramisci with Antartic fauna. But European Subcomandante Marcos fans should not despair, Marcos informs us that he will most likely be the official mascot of the Zapatista team when they take on Serie A's giants Inter Milan.
Great Stuff, this story is fascinating, I am going to maintain regular updates on Pinguino, and on Marcos' pronouncements.
This is some serious Colonel Kurtz material!!!!
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