What's the origin of the EZLN interest in snails?

[Skyhilist]

So there seems to be a lot of imagery related to snails that is used by the EZLN. I can't figure out for the life of me why they've chosen a snail though and what its significance is.

Just to give some examples: the geographic regions controlled by the EZLN are referred to a "caracoles" by Zapatistas, which translates to "snails".

There is also a lot of imagery of snails that is apparent in EZLN artwork. For example:

http://komanilel.org/wp-content/uplo...08/PUYETIK.jpg
http://komanilel.org/wp-content/uplo...ro-avanzo1.jpg
http://www.justseeds.org/blog/images...41351071_n.jpg
http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/archaeolog/caracol1.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wg29KGko4B...0/Chakrin8.png

So anyways, what's up with the snails?

[Sasha]

Dont know, never noticed, but maybe the areas where called that for some reason and the snails in the artwork are a reference to that?
A bit like the angry cat as an anarchist symbol as an reference to "wild cat strikes" I mean.

[QueerVanguard]

Maybe it stands for Socialism at a snail's pace

[Tim Cornelis]

Le google:

In an ethnographic interview conducted in June 2007, leaders of the autonomous community of Oventic in highland Chiapas, Mexico discussed with me and a colleague the meaning of the caracol (snail) as a Zapatista symbol. They explained that the ancient Maya ancestors used a conch shell as a horn to summon people to gather in one place as a community. Their ancestors lived during less technologically advanced times, they noted, when the world moved at a much slower pace than today, much like the slow-moving caracol. Today the symbol of the caracol expresses the ideals of small community government in the face of globalization. The caracol represents the ideals of an autonomous Zapatista government with direct reference to a distant Maya past on two levels, and connects the Zapatista present with a conception of the Maya past as a direct and logical historical trajectory. Other icons frequently employed by the Zapatistas, such as pyramids and glyphs, reference more blatantly the ancient Maya past. The symbolism of the caracol is more subtle, yet more powerful in the meaning it relays.
http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/archae...ia_zapa_1.html