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from Green Left Weekly #127/Jan 19, 1994


Zapatista uprising in Mexico

In Mexico, a new revolutionary organisation, the Frente Zapatista de
Liberacion Nacional (FZLN) has been born. Made up mainly of indigenous
people, it demands land, democracy and an end to the repression and
massacres carried out by the military against the peasantry.

The Zapatistas, named after one of the leaders of the Mexican revolution of
1910, Emiliano Zapata, began their military operations on January 1, by
taking over three strategic towns along the Guatemalan border in the state
of Chiapas: San Cristobal de las Casas, Ocosingo and Las Margaritas. The
Zapatistas then took over the towns of Hixtlan, Abasolo, Oxchuc and Chanal
further north, declaring war upon the Mexican government.

Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, a promoter of dialogue,
reconciliation and peace in El Salvador, immediately ordered the deployment
of thousands of troops in a military counteroffensive. This resulted in the
massacre of hundreds of rebels and civilians in San Cristobal de las Casas.
Now the Mexican government demands the immediate surrender of the rebels as
a prerequisite to negotiations. At the same time, the Mexican authorities
are not acknowledging the social causes of the unrest, but claim that the
FZLN is a mercenary force.

The Zapatistas accused the Chiapan authorities of repression and massacres
of the indigenous people, who make up 32.5% of the population in that state.
They claim that their offensive is a response to state terrorism. The FZLN
hopes to receive support from the indigenous movements in the states of
Oaxaca and Puebla, aiming to take the war to other parts of the country.

The deployment of thousands of Mexican troops is an indication that this is
a very strong guerilla movement. But at this stage, the elite finds it
easier to exterminate the guerillas rather than enacting political and
agrarian reforms. The capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez, remains
militarised.

The rebels' demands are land and democracy. Agrarian conflict in Chiapas has
a long history. Chiapas was a former state of the Federal Republic of
Central America. In 1823, it was annexed to imperial Mexico by General
Iturbide, who had led an invasion of San Salvador, a liberal stronghold, in
an attempt to annex all of Central America.

The features of the Chiapan land tenure system are very similar to those of
Guatemala and El Salvador. Its radical reform was a main aim of the
revolution of 1910, in which 1 million Mexican people lost their lives.

In the end the Zapatistas won the war, but the control of the federal
government was taken over by the bourgeoisie, who betrayed the aims of the
revolution. There was no radical agrarian reform, and the social democratic
party which put itself in office, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional
(PRI), has ruled the country on behalf of the wealthy ever since.
Radio Farabundo Marti in Australia (RFMA)

                             -30-

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