Zapatistas

[Clarksist]

Just some information needed on them.

Who were they? Who was Zapata? What did they try to accomplish on New Year's Day 1994? And what does it all have to do with Leftism?

I have heard of them before in some tid bits of news, and recently I bought the RATM DVD "The Battle of Mexico City" and heard more about and would greatly appreciate any information given.

Thanks...

[rkn]

Hi these articles might be of interest:

http://www.libcom.org/history/articles/zap...-uprising-1994/ (http://www.libcom.org/history/articles/zapatista-uprising-1994/)

http://www.libcom.org/history/articles/1879-emiliano-zapata/

Titles are self explanatory :)

[ZACKist]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2005, 05:33 PM
Just some information needed on them.

Who were they? Who was Zapata? What did they try to accomplish on New Year's Day 1994? And what does it all have to do with Leftism?

I have heard of them before in some tid bits of news, and recently I bought the RATM DVD "The Battle of Mexico City" and heard more about and would greatly appreciate any information given.

Thanks...
Well, on that Rage DVD it does a bit of explanation of who they are. Basically, if I remember correctly, Mexico offered land to its people. The government turned back on this promise some time later, and these dissents fought to keep their land. That's just from what I got from the DVD. Never read much about them, though.

[Entrails Konfetti]

Wasn't the Zapatista uprising lead by Sub-Comandante' Marcos ?

[patria grande]

A good place to start could be: http://www.EZLN.org
This is the Zapatistas' site. Most of the site is in Spanish but
there you can find an English chronology of them. :)

What is EZLN? Is Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional

[enigma2517]

Zapistas are basically a group of indigenous people in (Southern?) Mexico that are fighting for greater autonomy. Their preferred structure of society reflects a leftist/collectivist one.

[Clarksist]

Thank you all for your help. What I've gathered is that they actually successfully liberated a small part of Mexico, and are currently being slowly picked off by the Mexican Army.

They are somewhat collectivist, but some are more liberal capitalism.

[codyvo]

Yes, the Mexican army is always attacking them, I hear it is because Mexico is too stubborn to admit that Chiapas is independant. But, they are doing pretty well off considering they have virtually no trade with the rest of the world. And I heard that Marcos is only Sub-Commandante because they want to keep power de-centralized. You should check out the movie A Place Called Chiapas, it is good.

[Clarksist]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2005, 10:46 PM
Yes, the Mexican army is always attacking them, I hear it is because Mexico is too stubborn to admit that Chiapas is independant. But, they are doing pretty well off considering they have virtually no trade with the rest of the world. And I heard that Marcos is only Sub-Commandante because they want to keep power de-centralized. You should check out the movie A Place Called Chiapas, it is good.
How wide a release did A Place Called Chiapas get? I live in a small town with a local mom 'n pop video place, and a BlockBuster. If its too small maybe I'll sign up for Netflix or something.

[codyvo]

Unfortunately, it didn't get much release at all, to the best of my knowledge. I saw it on either the independant movie channel or Sundance. I wouldn't think it would be easy to find, but if you do, it is definately worth watching.

[Abstrakt]

Thanks for the information. I believe I heard "Zapatistas" in Immortal Technique's Vol. 1, and now I know some information:).

[Taiga]

A Brief History of Zapatistas (http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/nave/zaps.html)
Zapatistas Discussion Group (http://www.zapatistas.org/index.html)
Zapatistas (http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/zapatistas.htm)
Zapatista Net (http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/~zapatistas/)

[violencia.Proletariat]

the zapatistas are a great model for anarchism. zapata was the leader of the zapatistas during the mexican revolution in the early 1900's. The EZLN action on new years day 94 was in response to neo liberalism and the nafta agreements coming into effect, they took over government municipalities in chiapas. again, the are basically anarchist, and are made up of mostly indigenous although marcos is a mix, but are open to all people willing to help. they want the government to recognize the indigenous.

[rikaguilera]

The Zapatistas are a group that, in my opinion, we should help. They are in need of further recognition of their fight. More people need to know of the human rights violations that are coming from the Mexican army. They are also partly responsible for the recent protest march in Mexico City recently. They are fighting to stay alive. The movie mentioned ("A place called Chiapas") is a very telling documentary that will provide more than enough info on who and what the Zapatistas are all about. Their beliefs are not that different from many here, and I for one have a very large intrest in their future moves in Mexico. Learn more about them, see the movie, go and join some of the sites that were listed above. More people need to know about what is really going on in Mexico.
Of course, all of this is just my opinion..

[Clarksist]

So, if we went to Chiapas, how could we join and fight for the cause? Because, I would fight for them once/if I find a clear statement of what they want and if that's what I want.

So far I have read some things that point to them just wanting less neo-liberal capitalism, but still capitalism. While others state that they are commies, others say they are anarchists. A lot of the information is conflicting.

[Black Dagger]

Clarksist, the EZLN would not let you 'fight' with them least of all because you are much too young and inexperienced (not meant to be a slight on you, merely an observation). I think they would appreciate your desire, but theres is an Indigenous struggle. The idea that a western leftist (particularly a vanguardist such as yourself) could greatly affect or appreciate the fundamentals of their struggle is somewhat arrogant.

[Ultra-Violence]

I was thinking when i retire ill fund the ezln with my social security! :ph34r:

[Clarksist]

Originally posted by Black [email protected] 10 2005, 08:39 PM
Clarksist, the EZLN would not let you 'fight' with them least of all because you are much too young and inexperienced (not meant to be a slight on you, merely an observation). I think they would appreciate your desire, but theres is an Indigenous struggle. The idea that a western leftist (particularly a vanguardist such as yourself) could greatly affect or appreciate the fundamentals of their struggle is somewhat arrogant.
Meh, probably not, but Marcos is only half indigenous...

The more I read about the EZLN the more and more it seems to have been extremely watered down as of late. It has lost most of its rebellious "steam" so-to-speak.

They've turned more to reform, which seems a losing battle considering they are fighting multi-billion dollar corporations.

[aztecklaw]

Meh, probably not, but Marcos is only half indigenous...

what's your point?


The more I read about the EZLN the more and more it seems to have been extremely watered down as of late. It has lost most of its rebellious "steam" so-to-speak.

it has evolved into a media war, a very important front to fight as well.


They've turned more to reform, which seems a losing battle considering they are fighting multi-billion dollar corporations.

give me an idea or a hint of what this reform is you are talking about.

[Samael]

are the Zapatistas considered terrorist by the US government and other governments? Basically, I want to send supplies to them but will the US government stop it because it's aiding a "terrorist"?

[Holocaustpulp]

In general, the Zapatista movement is a collective effort of the people in the Chipas region (southern Mexico, bordering Guatemala) to gain greater autonomy from the Mexican government and to function by themselves, not according to the government. The Zapatistas are widely anarchist as they have no set commanders and thus they stress the individual.

Here are some links I have picked up (others have been mentioned):

http://struggle.ws/pdfs/revealed.pdf

http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/Zapatistas/INTRO.TXT

- HP

[Holocaustpulp]

I meant this link instead of the second one I gave:

http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/Zapatistas

- HP