Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit 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- Six-month airmail subscriptions (22 issues) to Green Left Weekly are available for A$60 (North America) and A$75 (South America, Europe & Africa) from PO Box 394, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + 212-675-9690 NY TRANSFER NEWS COLLECTIVE 212-675-9663 + + Since 1985: Information for the Rest of Us + + e-mail: nyt@blythe.org info: info@blythe.org +