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The Zapatistas
Term Paper ID:27523
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Discusses the ehtnocultural, political, & economic factors supporting the Zapatistas, or, the revolutionary group active in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses the ehtnocultural, political, & economic factors supporting the Zapatistas, or, the revolutionary group active in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
Paper Introduction:
A discussion of ethnocultural expression and its political and cultural consequences in modern Mexico will provide a focus for a look at the plight of Mexico's indigenous people, or Indians as they are represented by the Zapatistas. Some of the determinants of ethnocultural identity are the following: language; race; class; gender; epochal events (formation of collective consciousness); ideology; and religion. Some of the causal factors of inter-ethnic conflict which yield a conceptual framework for comparative analysis are the following: state repression; territorial control/irredentism; fear of persecution/extermination; migration/expulsion; and economic inequalities/class conflicts. The above factors are all relevant to an analysis of the manner in which Mexico's indigenous people have been subjugated by a corrupt federal gover
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(256) The above analysis of social control could have been writtenabout the numerous accounts of violence against EZLN members and theirsupporters, including Cecilia Rodriguez. Some ofthe causal factors of inter-ethnic conflict which yield a conceptualframework for comparative analysis are the following: state repression;territorial control/irredentism; fear of persecution/extermination;migration/expulsion; and economic inequalities/class conflicts. . Don Samuel has said thatall people are born rich, another way of saying the same thing. However,often what is reported as a shootout between rival peasant factions, asimple case of homicide, or a gun battle between police and a bandit gangturns out, upon careful investigation, to have been an instance of armedrepression of an opposition movement or leader by hired assassins. He isconsidered the real trouble-maker among the Zapatistas because he gives thestamp of divine approval to the Indians' mission--he tells them that allpeople are born rich until governments start to take away what equallybelongs to all. When federal soldiers reached an insurgent stronghold atGuadalupe Tepeyac, the guerrillas melted into the jungle, leavingbehind a few trucks, but "taking with them their most valuableequipment--fax machines and laptop computers . It is interesting to note that many books about Mexican historydo not deal with the current incarnation of Zapatista forces. The Zapatistas' real power, or one of the determinants of theirethnocultural identity, is to be found in the power of communication;in fact, as Subcomandante Marcos (Rafael Guillen) told a Newsweekreporter in the summer of 1994, "What governments should really fearis a communications expert" (Watson 36). The following passage from an environmentalist periodical showsthat the migration and expulsion of indigenous people from highlandChiapas communities have taken their toll on the once-mighty Lacandonrainforest (4 million acres had been reduced to just 7 , acres by1994). The people want only towork the land, in most cases on landholdings so small they aremeasured in rows. Perhapsthis history is too recent to chronicle, and researchers leave it upto magazines and newspapers to report what will only become historywith the passage of time. . Conservativecommentators such as E. Bishop Samuel Ruiz, or Don Samuel as he isaffectionately known, or "Tatic," which means "our father" in Tzeltal,a Chiapas Indian dialect/language. The Indian rebels and their supporters are being suppressed by the PRIthrough numerous tactics aimed at dividing and conquering those who seek tohang on to their land. "Centre and States." 336 (793 ): 38-39.Kandell, Jonathan. "When Words Are the Best Weapon." Newsweek(February 27, 1995), 9 (36): 36-39. Instead of fighting the environmentalists who wantto protect what is left of the rainforest, Ross argues that theZapatistas and their supporters should be fighting the real foe: "afeudal land-ownership system protected by a corrupt government" (46). "The Man Behind the Mask." Newsweek (February 2 ,1995), 125 (8): 38.Progressive (October, 1994). AsDaniels states, "Samuel Ruiz believes that poverty is caused byoppression (in other words, man is born rich)" (62). . Repression, like cooptation, differs in degree. "Unintended Enemies." Sierra (July/August 1944), 79(4): 45-47.Raat, W. "Guerrillas in the Mist." National Review(December 5, 1994), 46 (23): 62-65.Economist (September 2, 1995). Shut up!" (Banjac 18). The Zapatistas have chosento gain power through high-intensity lobbying rather than low-intensity fighting. in retreat, theZapatistas faxed out a communique claiming that the army was killingchildren, beating and raping women . In "Social Control and the Mexican PoliticalSystem," a chapter from Twentieth-Century Mexico, Raat gives an excellentanalysis of suppression tactics:When oppositionists [the indigenous people] refuse to modify their demands[that they be given land rights, among other concessions] or to accommodatethemselves or their organization [the EZLN] to the system [the PRI], theyare repressed. Despite Mexico's technically federal structure, the presidenthas, in the past, ruled as an absolute monarch. As Kandell writes,The great haciendas were partitioned and their lands returned to thevillages either as communal property or individual plots. She quotes oneof the four masked men who attacked her as saying, "You already know howthings are in Chiapas. Dirk. Marcos' real name, which was made public only recently due to hisneed for secrecy, is Rafael Sebastian Guillen Vicente. Most peoplekeeping watch over developments between the EZLN and Mexico's governmentsay that the real leader of the resistance movement is a bishop namedSamuel Ruiz, who also goes by an Indian name in the local dialect. They believe that the Mexican revolution should have settled suchland ownership principles once and for all, but again the Zapatistas arefighting a government which wants to seize control of the people's landrights. Daniels, a conservative writer writingfor a conservative publication, proclaims, "When shopping is broughtwithin the reach of all, no one pays much attention to intellectualsand their products" (65). As Watson points out,The latest gear, such as satellite television receivers or computerslinked to the Internet, is decentralized, diffused, and--so far--almost impossible to police or control. The Zapatistas are a ragtag group of democratic/socialist rebels wholargely occupy the Chiapas state of southern Mexico. They andtheir supporters subscribe to the notion that the land belongs to thepeople, and thus no more than 1/3 of the land should ever belong to thestate or any other corporate interest; in fact, because the land shouldbelong directly to those who work it--there should be no outside ownershipat all. A further discussion of ideology as a determinant ofethnocultural identity is necessary, because, as has been shown, theland, and the ideology surrounding it, forms the basis forrevolutionary struggles. Mexico's federalgovernment has discovered that "Marcos" is a 39 year-old former universityprofessor from a well-to-do provincial family. One of the causal factors of inter-ethnic conflict isterritorial control, or control of the land. Twentieth-Century Mexico. A discussion of ethnocultural expression and its political andcultural consequences in modern Mexico will provide a focus for a look atthe plight of Mexico's indigenous people, or Indians as they arerepresented by the Zapatistas. Cecilia Rodriguez of the Funding Exchange in New York City, anorganization to aid the EZLN, has outlined the Zapatista's platform toinclude the following: land rights; housing; education; and health carefor all (Progressive 15). Finally, the most serious form of repressionis the assassination of principal leaders and the slaying of supporters . How have the Zapatistasmanaged to last so long in the face of expulsion and marginalization?They are a ragtag army of believers in freedom from corruption and thebasic equality of all citizens in a country rife with graft andinequality. The main reason for this strongidentification is that they have been placed in a role at theforefront of the action: they are the ones who must venture out ofthe villages to shop for basic necessities because, as Banjac reports,"male relatives who even approach a checkpoint without identificationmay well be accused of being guerrillas--then [they are] arrested"(19). The crucial pointabout all these forms of harassment is to make it difficult, if notimpossible, for an organization or individual to act politically. The recent NAFTAagreement (to expand free trade with Mexico--more jobs equals moremoney, and so forth) and the Clinton administration's pouring of U.S.dollars into south-of-the border funding (much of it used to battlethe insurgents) will continue to challenge the Zapatistas. However, it is illuminating to observe thatcontrol of the land has always been at the heart of most revolutions.The Zapatista peasants of 1915 launched a utopian agrarian reform inthe state. Kastell have denounced the Don's Leninist-Christian ideology by accusing him of preaching class struggle ratherthan reconciliation. .. It is interesting to note Subcomandante Marcos' title. . Therefore, it can be seen thatcommunication as a source of ethnocultural power must be a factor ifthe Zapatistas are to have a prayer of achieving liberation. As Padgettobserves,The Clinton administration, which is helping back the peso with a $2 billion aid package, called for restraint in Chiapas [in February of1995], but 'Wall Street has hardly made a secret of wanting to see astronger hand there, said a Mexican investment analyst. The grave faces staring outfrom the front pages of newspapers around the world made clear theidentity of the combatants: they were Indians, and a startling numberof them were women. The Internet is the fastest-growing communication tool, with as many as 3 million subscribers in92 countries. Unfortunately, Mexicanpeasants are being plowed under by Mexican and American economic interests,Mexican political corruption, and the Vatican, which seeks from afar todestroy the Zapatistas' internal leadership. Rodriguez would later quit her job and move toMexico to work full-time with the National Commission on Democracy inMexico to help insure the honesty of an upcoming election. 6 (1): 18-21.Daniels, Anthony. A few sugarmills were put back into operation under the control of theguerrillas, and their profits were funneled into the Zapatista warchest. This quite a cynical assessment of the roleof the country's intellectuals, but its inclusion here is to make thefollowing point about power: The shifting basis of power does nothave to be dependent upon an infusion of money which will buy consumergoods. Rodriguez' colleaguesbelieve that her high-profile work on behalf of the EZLN did notescape the attention of Chiapas' most powerful. They are descendantsof the original Mexican Indians who survived by working the land. Some of the determinants of ethnoculturalidentity are the following: language; race; class; gender; epochal events(formation of collective consciousness); ideology; and religion. (Banjac 2 ) Women in Chiapas have a strong gender-based ethnoculturalidentification with the EZLN. "Rape in Mexico." Progressive (January, 1996). La Capital: The Biography of Mexico City.New York: Random House, 1988.Padgett, Tim. Both local and national newspaperscarry frequent accounts of violent conflict in the countryside. . The United States likes whatZedillo has said, and President Clinton has supported his government withNAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), arms, and miscellaneoushandouts aimed at making Mexico a better neighbor. National agrarian policies which resettled indigenous andmestizo peoples from other states to the Lacandon have beenresponsible for the deforestation (Ross 45). He has the political savvy and themeans to help the poor in their struggle for equality and governmentalrepresentation--in short, he has the leadership to help the people "returnto a past of communal landholding, state ownership of the means ofproduction, autonomous development, and anti-gringo nationalism" (Daniels64). Rural people are most often killed in their local areas and word seldomtravels beyond the region, while urban oppositionists "disappear" in avariety of mysterious ways, one being the practice of dropping people outof airplanes into the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico's federal government is headed by the InstitutionalRevolutionary Party, or PRI, and is currently lead by President ErnestoZedillo. He comes across in most ofthe press releases about EZLN as a Robin Hood figure, one who wants to takefrom the rich to give to the poor. They gave new purpose and meaning to my faith.After witnessing the oppression, the poverty, the marginalization ofthe indigenous people, I realized I had to devote myself to building asystem that eliminates inequalities and promotes sharing. The answer lies in technology--the power of modernmethods of communication, namely the fax machine, computer (Internet),and satellite TV. "Americans Support Mexican Democracy."58 (1 ): 15.Ross, John. The federal government is hoping that the EZLN will lose supportif the state of the country's economy improves--the hope thatprosperity will reduce the allure of the guerrillas. As Don Samuel recalls,I came to San Cristobal to convert the poor [in 196 ], but they endedup converting me. . Conservatives should realize the power of anideology to fuel revolutions, and at the center of every revolution,the land as the metaphoric body of Christ. Clearly, the determinants of ethnocultural identity and thecausal factors of inter-ethnic conflict are complex and diverse, anddo not always sort themselves out easily (the fact that the Zapatistashave been fighting the environmentalists, who tend to be leftist-thinking, for the most part), the land (territorial control), andone's right to it, remains as the single-most important determinant ofethnocultural identity. (38)Is prosperity necessarily the answer to Mexico's problems, however?At the same time that intellectuals would like to see the plight ofthe poor improve, they fear that the creation of a mass consumersociety, along North American lines, will not only destroy Mexico'scultural distinctiveness, but also reduce greatly their ownsignificance in national life. Likecooptation, it may be more or less complete. An evenmore serious stage of repression is reached when movement leaders aresummarily arrested and put in prison, frequently at the most crucial momentof their political struggle. and bombing us" (Watson 36).In this manner, the Zapatistas were using words as their most powerfulweapons, as this information is disseminated throughout the freeworld. Now shut up. Zedillo has promised tochange things: "the rule of law and appropriate institutions are toreplace executive fiat" (Economist 38). (Banjac 2 )The fact that so many women have an ethnocultural identification withthe movement was not lost on Rodriguez. . Lincoln: University ofNebraska Press, 1986.Watson, Russel. Those who believe in socialist Christian tenets are notnecessarily going to buy into a consumerist society. . She realized that women weresupporting their families, side-by-side; in fact, Mujeres de Mexico, anational women's rights organization, announced on November 6, 1995,Women's groups in Chiapas believe that the assaults [on Rodriguez andother Zapatista supporters] are a clear message to women, sinceenemies of the Zapatista movement realize that families form the mainpart of the organization's base. Heheads what is officially called the Zapatista Army of National Liberation(EZLN). One form of repression isconstant harassment. Meetings and demonstrations are broken up, printingpresses are destroyed by hired thugs, armed provocateurs are sent in tomenace students in their classrooms, and so forth . Works CitedBanjac, Diana. The Zapatistas are lead by a man known as Subcomandante Marcos. (Daniels 62)Christian socialists speak of the body of Christ as analogous tosociety as a whole; just as Christ's body was given up for allhumanity, members of society should share equally in all that has beenprovided by God (a tenet of liberation theology). (435)Again we see territorial control as a prime causal factor of inter-ethnic conflict, and as always we see economic inequalities and classconflicts, those who toil the land versus the hacienda owners. The abovefactors are all relevant to an analysis of the manner in which Mexico'sindigenous people have been subjugated by a corrupt federal government. (36) Daniels writes that the Bishop has trained 8, lay catechists([only] 1% of the Indian population of Chiapas) in the tenets ofliberation theology (63). While inMexico, she was raped and sodomized in Chiapas by what most believe weregovernment forces trying to scare her and others like her. In Washington a monthbefore her rape at the hands of four masked men in Montebello Lakes (atourist spot in a still tranquil pocket of Chiapas), she had announcedthe opening of a Chiapas office where international supporters wouldwork together with Zapatista peasant communities.Ten years prior to her attack, Rodriguez had sat transfixed in frontof her TV, gripped by the reports on New Years day about theZapatista uprising that rocked Mexico.
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