It is a guerrilla that was born in the state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. Its name is a tribute to the revolutionary Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919), who led a struggle for land reform in the country at the beginning of the 20th century. The Zapatistas gained international fame on January 1, 1994, when a militia with hooded men – the Zapatista Army of National Liberation – occupied the city halls of several cities in the region of Chiapas. The Zapatistas wanted to draw the world’s attention to the movement’s three main demands:
1. The end of the marginalization of local indigenous people, descendants of the Maya;
2. The extinction of NAFTA, the free trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada, seen by them as an example of submission to American power;
3. Combat corruption in local politics. “For the first time in history, armed struggle was not used to overthrow the system, but to demand inclusion in it. The Zapatistas wanted dialogue to be opened and the Indians to be recognized in the discussion of the democratic system,” says political scientist Héctor Luis Saint-Pierre, from the São Paulo State University (Unesp). The action was short-lived: pressured by the Mexican army, the Zapatistas left the cities hours later. Some guerrillas were arrested or prosecuted, but no one died. “The guerrillas never fired a bullet again. But she remained in the spotlight for using the internet and television very well to publicize manifestos and charge the government”, says historian Guilherme Gitahy de Figueiredo, from the State University of Amazonas.
Today, the movement is an important political force in Mexico – its representatives have even been received by the president of the country. The main leader is the hooded subcomandante Marcos (read more below).
Three pillars of guerrilla warfare
THE FOCUS – CHIAPAS
The very poor region of Chiapas, in the south of Mexico, includes the mountainous region of the Sierra Madre, covered by dense forests. Its population, made up mostly of indigenous descendants of the Maya, lives off coffee plantations and rubber plantations. It is there that most of the militants of the Zapatista National Liberation Army are concentrated.
THE LEADER – SUBCOMANDANTE MARCOS
Main spokesperson for the Zapatista National Liberation Army. He is known for speeches that mix humor, poetry, folk tales and political criticism. Because he always appears with his face covered, his identity is a secret. The Mexican government says he is Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, a middle-class university professor who allegedly moved to Chiapas in 1984 to work with poor peasants.
THE SYMBOL – EMILIANO ZAPATA (1879-1919)
Defender of a radical agrarian reform, the inspirer of the zapatista movement supported with an armed group the revolution that overthrew the dictator Porfírio Diaz from the government of Mexico, in 1910. As the new president Francisco Madero played the country’s army against his guerrillas, Zapata broke with the new owner of power and started an agrarian reform on his own. He led a guerrilla campaign against large landowners, ordered executions and distributed the land of occupied farms. He was assassinated in 1919, in an ambush prepared by political enemies.