The Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico got worldwide attention on January 1, 1994, when they marched to Mexico City against the signing of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The free trade agreement was intended to facilitate trading between Canada, United States, and Mexico. The Zapatista claimed that this agreement would affect the indigenous people of Chiapas by further widening the gap between the poor and the rich. In this paper I will examine the NAFTA agreement and the
racial assimilation and exclusion policies left behind by the colonists, including gender roles (Moore 166) . México is historically and continues to be a patriarchal society. So when the Zapatista movement of 1994, more formally known as the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación National (Zapatista Army of National Liberation; EZLN) constructed a space for indigenous women to reclaim their rights, it was a significant step towards justice. The Mexican government, in haste for globalization and profits, ignored
The Zapatista Revolt Against NeoLiberalism In the 1630’s Mayans living in the northern part of Guatemala organized in a secretive village-by-village basis and mounted an attack against the Spanish colonial rule. They drove the Colonizers out of the area and it took almost fifty years for the Spanish to reclaim it [i] . Over 350 years later the Mexican government woke up on January 1st 1994 to news of an indigenous guerilla uprising in the southern part of Mexico. Mayans had been secretly organizing
Agreement (NAFTA), masked rebels seized control of parts of the southern state of Chiapas. The Mexican army quickly pushed these rebels, who were mostly indigenous Mexicans, back into the jungles whence they came, but not before the rebellion in Chiapas gained the attention of the world. As time progressed, these rebels did not go away. They identified themselves as the Zapatista Army for National Liberation and their spokesman, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, quickly became a minor world celebrity, renowned
The Successes and Failures of the Zapatista Movement On January 1, 2004, over one thousand people in the mountain hamlet of Oventic, Chiapas, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) rebellion with song and dance. Thus, it seems a fitting time to take stock of the successes and failures of the Zapatista movement in the context of its original goals. While the EZLN has been able to establish thirty eight autonomous indigenous communities in Chiapas
Indigenous and Global Feminist Perspectives on the Women of Chiapas Women's reproductive health is a debated and complex issue in today's society. Nowhere is its severity more prevalent than in areas of extreme poverty such as south and Central America. The resolution to these problems is far from simple. Yet, women are increasingly taking control of their lives and forming groups to combat many of the prejudices that hold them back. However highly debated some tactics for resolution may be it
was not by accident that the Zapatista movement began in Chiapas as the struggle between ranchers, landowners, and subsistence farmers was intensified by NAFTA. The thinning middle class associated with this tremendous dualism leaves us further disco... ... middle of paper ... ...litary group and the Zapatistas at bay, and the true power of the media becomes as glaringly clear as the conflict it can spur. On camera, the “Peace and Justice” party accuse the Zapatistas of violence. Off camera, they
Chiapas The passage Shadows of Tender Fury by Subcommander Marcos of the Zapatista Army explains that the people of Chiapas are currently facing a period of revolution. The Zapatista army (consisting of Chiapian campesinos) has risen to combat the intolerant system of oppression by the Mexican government and has attempted to create a better lifestyle for the campesinos of Chiapas. Frantz Fanon's three stages to national culture; assimilation, self discovery, and revolution, relate to the struggle
“Our Word Is Our Weapon,” by Subcomandante Marcos discusses how Mexican Capitalism and neoliberalism is destroying the values and traditions of the indigenous people of Chiapas. Throughout this text, Marcos cites many examples about how the government and business owners take many useful resources from Chiapas in order to export them to other countries to benefit the elitists. Marcos elaborates that this Capitalist approach severely damages the community of Chiapas by taking these resources away
The Mexican Peso Crisis This paper argues that the Mexican peso crisis of December 20 should have been expected and foreseeable. In the year preceding the crisis, there were several indicators suggesting that the Mexican economy and peso were already under extreme pressure. The economy bubble was ballooning to burst so much so that it was simply a crisis waiting to happen. Evidences Signaling the Crisis 1. Decreasing Current Account Deficit versus Increasing Capital Account Balance
The purpose of this paper is to be able to provide an example of a recent scandal about usual unethical behavioral occurrences in Mexico. This paper aims at addressing the principal factors; actors involved, consequences and outcomes of unethical behavior, it also analyzes the impairment done to workers, companies, oil Mexican industry and the Mexican government. This paper is an attempt to shed light among Mexican citizens and provides an international perspective of the white-collar crime perpetrated
Transnational Networks of Support for the Zapatista Rebellion Globalization, the term used to describe the dominant framework of international relations following the cold war, is affecting many aspects of politics and social experience. This is seen in the Zapatista rebellion and movement in Chiapas, Mexico that has benefited from globalization and transnational support. This paper examines the relationship of transnationalism and social movements with the Zapatistas as a case study. In particular, this
Understanding Zapatista Longevity When Mexican President Vincente Fox rode into office on a wave of popular support in 2000, he inherited the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas. In 1994, the largely indigenous Zapatista movement began a military campaign to protest economic and political disenfranchisement. Vincente Fox claimed that he could solve the Zapatista uprising in “15 minutes.” Like his predecessor, he has failed to solve the problem. How did the Zapatistas achieve such longevity in the
During the 20th century, many social movements spread throughout Latin America pressuring for social, economic, and political change. Amongst many social revolutionaries in the region, the most notable are Zapatista movement in Mexico and Perónism in Argentina. Zapatism is the movement associated with rebel leader Emiliano Zapata about the ideas of agrarian land reform. Perónism is the phenomenon that came out of Juan Perón’s presidency that is linked to the “working class” of Argentinean society
In their First Declaration from the Lacandon Jungle, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (El Ejército Zapatista de Liberación National) when declaring that they were “a product of 500 years of struggle” made a statement whose profundity escaped nearly all who read it and may have even escaped the writers themselves. The body-as-genocide that is declared here extended well-beyond the individual bodies of Zapatista members and spoke of a profound ontological reterritorialization which remade the
Maria; Ana Maria is a Tzotzil, born in Sabanilla, Chiapas in 1969, who dedicated her whole life to became infantry major of the EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Army). Tzotzil are an indigenous, Mayan people, who make up the largest amount of people in Chiapas. Ana Maria was raised to protest for indigenous autonomy and land reform with her family. Since the liberation of Mexico, land reform has been a reoccurring issue of revolution one result being Emilio Zapata ensuring the safeguarding of Indian
From its beginning, the EZLN has prioritized the rights of indigenous women. On the day that their insurgency began, the EZLN published “The Women’s Revolutionary Law.” This document clarified that from its initiation, the Zapatistas were committed to granting indigenous women the rights they had been denied by the patriarchy for centuries. The EZLN declares that not only will women be “incorporated into the revolutionary struggle,” but that they will also “be able to occupy
confide... ... middle of paper ... ...Morelos seemed at a permanent stalemate. Carranza knew that he could never fully take Mexico while Zapata was still alive and in charge of his army. To rid himself of his enemy, Carranza devised a trap. A letter had been intercepted in which Zapata invited a colonel of the Mexican army who had shown leanings toward his cause to meet and join forces. This colonel, Jesús Guajardo, under the threat of being executed as a traitor, pretended to agree to meet Zapata and
Mission of Subcomandante Marcos Who Was Subcomandante Marcos? Subcomandante Marcos was a contemporary Mexican revolutionary leader, active during the 1990s and early 2000s. Marcos was the leader of the Zapatista guerrilla movement in the state of Chiapas, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). The main uprising of the EZLN was in 1994, against the Mexican government and was aimed at forming an alternative government that would represent the exploited indigenous Zapatismo people. By beginning
and over 66 percent of the population is indigenous in Guatemala. The historical reality of the indigenous peoples in Central America has been one poverty, eviction from their land, political violence and mistreatment at the hands of the police and army, and exclusion of government policies. Table 1. Estimated Indigenous Population in Mexico and Central America ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Percentage Country Indigenous population Percentage