On January 1st, 1994, poor Indian Peoples in Chiapas rose up not “in arms” but with their bodies and who during the dark night before the dawn of a new day occupied 7 towns in the Chiapas highlands including its capitol city of San Cristobal de las Casas without firing a shot!  That audacious, non-violent rebellion turned into what one Mexican reporter called: the “first revolution of the 21st century.”

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) astounded thousands of unbelieving Mexicans and inspired tens of thousands around the world, including many indigenous tribes throughout the Americas.  Those were the roots of CIS’ membership, which for the past five years has been in solidarity with the Zapatista struggle for liberation here in the Washington, DC Metro area.

The auspicious date of January 1, 1994 was intentionally selected by the EZLN because on that day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was imposed upon Mexico.  The significance of this coincidence is that NAFTA included the US demand that Mexico remove the Ejidos from Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution.  Ejidos are communal farmlands set apart for the Indians for their survival crops.  Transnational corporations now want those lands to exploit (mine) subsoil resources.  The Indians have said No!  Losing their ejidal lands would mean the end of communities, traditions and Mayan religion.  Thus NAFTA represents a death threat to their very existence.  The Zapatista uprising is thus a critical event at this historic moment.

History of Zapatista Solidarity in Washington, DC

The Zapatista uprising’s isolation in remote mountains in Chiapas did not prevent the Zapatista leadership from producing and distributing lots of current news on their struggle.  The EZLN’s leader, sub-commander Marcos, using a battery powered laptop computer and an Internet connection, was able to distribute regular news and press releases in what the Rand Corporation has called the first “Social Netwar” in modern history.  CIS has, from the beginning, had the latest news from the Zapatista movement in Mexico via the Internet.

Leading this process was Reverend Philip Wheaton who led several delegations to Mexico out of which the Zapatista solidarity movement in DC was born.  Others from the DC area participated in the first mass Mexican solidarity gathering in Aguascalientes, Mexico in August, 1994.  Six thousand supporters held a National Democratic Convention (CND) reflecting the Zapatistas commitment to grassroots democracy and their challenge to the anti-democratic stranglehold of Mexico by the PRI government through fraud, payoffs and coercion.

The peace talks between the Zapatistas and the PRI government were mediated by Catholic bishop Samuel Ruiz.  NAFTA, the Zapatista occupation of 39 villages, the 1994 Mexican stock market crash, the political murders of three Mexican government officials by Mexican political forces, the attempted assassination of Zapatista representative Amado Avendaño all served to turn the Zapatista cause into a worldwide phenomenon.  These events shook the foundations of Mexican society, and forced US President Bill Clinton to bail out Mexico with $50 billion in loans to save the NAFTA “disaster.”

What Are the Main Issues in Chiapas Today?  Are the Zapatistas Still Viable?

Since February 9, 1995, the Mexican Army and Government have been carrying out a low-intensity war against the Zapatistas.  This warfare is directed primarily against the 1,111 indigenous communities in Chiapas who are Zapatista sympathizers.  Currently, there have been almost no clashes between the Mexican Army and the EZLN.  However, a huge escalation in the use of state security forces and PRI-allied paramilitary groups has caused terrible suffering.  Pro-Zapatista towns have faced harassment, the rape of Women, beatings, expulsions, murders, and the stealing of grain and farm tools.

This repression escalated significantly in the Summer and Fall of 1997, culminating in the Acteal Massacre on December 22, 1997 in which 45 Indian women, children and men were killed in addition to 21 severely wounded, most of whom were children.  This criminal act was perpetrated by 60 local poor indians recruited by local PRI officials and armed with AK-47 automatic rifles.  At the time (and presently) over 70,000 Mexican Army troops and hundreds of state security agents occupied Chiapas.  On January 8, 1998, Phil Wheaton marched with over 100,000 Mexicans in Mexico City to protest this criminal behavior, which continues to this day with impunity.  In August, 1999, CIS members provided housing and recreation for three little children (and their guardians), all of whom were orphans of the Acteal massacre.  All three children had been shot during the massacre and left for dead.  The children came to Washington, DC for medical treatment at the Georgetown University Hospital.

The Ongoing NAFTA Connection

Why such continued repression of these poor indians and their villages?  There are two answers: resources and autonomy.  From the outset of this struggle in 1994 the transnational corporate goal has been, and still is, to get their greedy hands on the immense natural resources in the subsoil of those indian lands.  But the indigenous peoples refuse to move or sell because these are their sacred lands on which their future Mayan language and traditions depend.

Constantly threatened and intimidated by local PRI officials who rule by fiat with a handful of bought politicians, the PRI keeps denying these indians their rights, both human and democratic.  To counter this injustice the indians have created “autonomous communities,” where they make the decisions, even in military-controlled refugee centers, like Puhló, where 10,000 indians forced from their villages are living under sub-human conditions. 

 The Zapatistas regularly remind international solidarity workers who come down to provide aid and comfort to these refugees from their own communities that the driving forces behind these atrocities are greed and control.  CIS seeks to place humanitarian and relief concerns within a larger political and economic context.  CIS is prepared to present speakers and slides to hold seminars on the causes and consequences of this low-intensity warfare, backed by the American Pentagon.

A Few Zapatista Sayings...

• * And this wind below of rebellion and dignity, is not only in answer to the wind from above, but is above all hope, hope of conversion into dignity, of rebellion into freedom.

• * We return to learn that legitimacy is not given by the government but comes from the people; and it is to that legitimacy, to you that we ought to direct ourselves.

• * A smile, a cry, a gesture of revolt represent all rebellions, for without them and others this small hope which we are building would not be possible.

• * We are shadows of tender fury; our dark wings will cover the sky again, and their protective cloak will shelter the dispossesed, and the good men and women who understand that justice and peace go hand in hand. 

Some Readings

• John Ross, Rebellion from the Roots    - Common Courage Press - 1995

• John Ross, The Annexation of Mexico - Common Courage Press - 1998

• George Collier, BASTA! Land & Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas - Food First - 1994

• Elaine Katzenberger, First World, Ha, Ha Ha!  The Zapatista Challenge - City Lights - 1995

• Phil Wheaton, Unmasking the Powers in Mexico: Zapatista Prophetic Alternative - EPICA - 1998