Ixel Aguilar
February 9, 2024
Under pressure from the lack of attention towards the humanity of the people from Chiapas, the Zapatistas took arms and became the Army of National Liberation on January 1st, 1994. Formed by desperation, and making sure the Mexican Government heard their demands. For this assignment, I watched the documentary, “Zapatistas: A Big Noise Film”. A documentary that displays the upbringing of the Zapatistas, and the cruel treatment that had been enforced towards the indigenous people of the Mexican Southeast mountains, importantly the documentary focused on the political movement that was the EZLN (The Zapatista Army of National Liberation) in response to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), between the United States and Mexico in 1994. It is important to note that for almost a century Mexico was under the political power of the PRI (Party of Institutionalized Revolution) from 1929-2000 until Mexico finally became a democracy. The PRI relied heavily on its military and troops to enforce control, a corrupt government that unattended to the needs and rights of the citizens of Chiapas Mexico. During this time, the natives of Chiapas were exhausted of the unfair treatment from not only the government of Mexico but also from international affairs. There was a lack of democratic principles that were discussed by the leaders of the Zapatistas, stating that the indigenous people never had the right to freedom of expression, the right to organize, and the right to price their products and labor on their own. I highly encourage all of you to watch this documentary, you can learn so much about the politics and state of democracy Mexico was in.
Mexico shaped its political regime during the wake of the 1910-1920 revolution. From this came the dominance of authoritarian regimes institutionalized by the PRI, which affected different regions in Mexico disproportionately. When we look at the map of Mexico we notice how the Northern regions were increasingly modernized, the population was “whiter”, and overall the people of those regions were approached differently than those who lived in the Southern regions. In class, we have discussed how race and culture have been a prominent motivator for democracy in Latin America, reforms and policies that were created but initially failed many indigenous people, the right to own land, and the human right to freedom. Now, the Zapatistas formed during the end of the PRI’s authoritarian regime. If we think about democracy, countries in Latin America were developing democratic nations and Mexico was just now finally joining and “completing the wave” in 2000. According to the textbook in Mexico’s civilian authoritarian regime, there were elections with multiple parties during this time, however, the PRI never granted the other parties a fair chance of winning until the 1990s and had finally lost an election for for the first time in 2000, for better worlds there was lack of fair contestation and participation.
Concerning the Zapatistas and the reign of democracy that was soon to hit, the people of Chiapas knew that they wanted an open democratic space where all people could participate and decide who was to represent them and their movement. A lot of these ideas and attitudes of the Zapatistas came from the harsh years of authoritarianism in the 1960s and 70s. They knew that it was not only them who were struggling to be a part of society, but that the rest of Latin America’s indigenous and farm workers were also fighting this kind of regime. In addition to this, another important factor related to the concepts we’ve been covering in class is those of partially domestic and international exchanges associated with economic globalization. The Zapatistas formed during the era of Mexico’s booming economy, because of NAFTA only large corporations were taken into account. Mexico wanted to adapt the country to the needs of the international market, viewing the indigenous people as a means of profit, causing poverty and misery to the people of Chiapas. The consumption of the U.S. profited Mexico billions of dollars, therefore the PRI made sure to prioritize that relationship, causing the people of Chiapas great disparity. The relationship between the Zapatistas and the Mexican government started on bad terms, naturally to shut down the Zapatistas the PRI sent thousands of troops and military to their land to intimidate and keep them quiet. Fortunately, the Zapatistas had too much public support that the PRI had to back off until February 9th, 1995 when the U.S. announced that they would guarantee a $47.5 billion bail-out on the Mexican economy because of attention that they were receiving, causing the military to break their cease-fire agreement with the Zapatistas. Leading to the mistreatment and invasion of indigenous culture, homes, and territory.
With all of this information, my analysis suggests that the Zapatistas took the initiative during the peak democratization of Mexico. I am not sure where this will take the indigenous group of Chiapas in the future, considering that the current president of Mexico AMLO has pledged to defend indigenous rights, but is also not taking the initiative. In recent years the government of Mexico has taken the initiative on the Morelos Integral project, which would develop a plant that would construct a new energy infrastructure for Mexico. Including two large thermoelectric plants and a massive pipeline running through Amilicingo. This leaves a lot of citizens of this region feeling unheard and concerned. According to Truthout, a news analysis organization, they claim, “the multinational companies first usually think about their capital, their money, and the later about the communities”. Although this is not focusing on the Zapatistas, it does feel very similar to the issues that were occurring in Chiapas. Therefore I do not feel a great sense of optimism, but understanding that Mexico has only been a democracy for 24 years allows us to analyze the progress that has been made, as well as be critical of the new government.
Resources
Montaño, J. B. (2019, November 24). Mexico’s president pledged to defend indigenous rights, but he’s attacking them. Truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/mexicos-president-pledged-to-defend-indigenous-rights-but-hes-attacking-them/
YouTube. (2013, October 3). Zapatista: A big noise film. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBqIowBEL60