"The indigenous are the victims of countless land disputes in which
feudal land barons, known as caciques, send bands of armed men to
evict Indians from their lands. Violence is institutionalized through
links between the caciques and local officials, who typically turn a
deaf ear to the land disputes and intimidate or jail priests and other
advocates who defend the Indians' land struggles."
OF MASKED MEN AND MASKED TRUTHS
"Mexico has a rich tradition of masked men leading popular
causes. Recently, SuperBarrio, a masked maverick who dresses like
the popular lucha-libre wrestlers, was born out of the ashes of
the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. He defends the homeless in their
fight for housing aid and stands at the side of inner city renters
battling eviction. SubComandante Marcos now joins the gallery of
masked would-be reformers. His mask has become controversial as the
government demanded that Marcos bare his face at peace talks."
Marcos replied fiercely to the demand that he take off his mask.
"Why such a fuss over the ski mask? Is Mexican political culture not the
'culture of the veiled?"
The subcomandante issued a challenge:
"I am willing to take off my ski mask if Mexican society will take off
its mask" and reexamine its images of "modernity" to reconcile the
third world that is Chiapas. Zedillo's claims that Mexico is
entering the first world.
"The 'public face' of the EZLN is SubComandante Marcos, a tall
man who wears a ski mask that reveals only his green eyes and
part of his prominent nose. The subcomandante, who spoke from
behind his mask to a dazed crowd of residents and tourists in the
plaza of San Cristobal de las Casas, has captured the popular
imagination through the bold moves of the Zapatistas
and through a dozen communiques that reveal a direct, powerful
writing style and a sense of humor heretofore concealed by most
Latin American guerrillas. In a sharply worded communique that
warned the army it would have to kill every Zapatista to eradicate
the guerrilla command, the insurgent subcomandante fired a
potshot at Mexican insensitivity to the indigenous".
A question:
"Will all of this serve so that at least the 'Mexicans' learn to say
'Chiapas' instead of 'Chapas' and say 'Tzeltales' instead of
'Setsales'?"
"The origins of the armed movement of Chiapas are in actions that were
stimulated by the government which for decades has ignored the Indians'
claims for land and justice."
"For decades, the conventional wisdom about Mexico held that
democratization...would threaten political stability in a land with
a fearsome history of bloody uprisings. Today, democratization
seems the only guarantor of stability and peace."
"The rebellion uncovered the degree of simulation and lies in which we
live, exposing racism and the impossibility of organizing a
modernization program against the people or [based on] their
ignorance."
"The EZLN [rebellion] is the first postmodern rebellion of Latin America.
The first that is born not only in postcommunism but also, and this is
important, [born] in post-anticommunism,"
"There are and there will be other revolutionary organizations.
We do not intend to be the one, sole, and true historic vanguard."
"It is clear to me that the [government's] economic program benefits me,
but morally it is not fair that my indigenous countrymen are fighting for
land.
"Chiapas has awakened a social conscience that was asleep because
we did not see the possibility of change.
"The Chiapas crisis demonstrates to break an overwhelming popular
rejection of violence and potential resilience on both sides of the
conflict. Under the Zedillo administration's technocrats, political
institutions are cracking and becoming brittle. Zedillo
adopted bold moves characteristic of his leadership and
pushed for a violent solution to the conflict. The Zapatista
guerrillas made agile responses to proposals for negotiations, and
recognized that the deadline for meeting their demands for justice
is at an end. For decades, the conventional wisdom about Mexico held
that democratization of the state-party regime would not threaten political
stability in a land with a fearsome history of bloody uprisings. This whole
theory is about to come to a very violent conclusion."