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On January 1st, 1994, the Southern Mexican state of Chiapas made international news when an army of peasants, some armed with nothing more than pieces of wood cut to look like rifles, marched out of the Lacandón jungle and declared war on the Mexican state. The group, who were mostly indigenous men and women, seized territory including towns across central and eastern Chiapas: territory that in many cases, they still hold today.
The Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN, or in English, Zapatista Army of National Liberation) shared the reason for their rebellion in a public declaration of war, posted online and shared in the captured territories via radio and printed leaflets. This stated:
“To the people of Mexico: Mexican brothers and sisters: We are a product of 500 years of struggle: first against slavery, then during the War of Independence against Spain led by insurgents, then to avoid being absorbed by North American imperialism…
They don’t care that we have nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a roof over our heads, no land, no work, no health care, no food nor education. Nor are we able to freely and democratically elect our political representatives, nor is there independence from foreigners, nor is there peace nor justice for ourselves and our children. But today, we say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”
Whose Globalisation?
The date of the rebellion was significant. On 1st January 1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trade liberalisation deal struck between the US, Mexico and Canada, came into effect. This was heralded as a policy of economic liberalisation that would ‘modernise’ the Mexican economy, pulling thousands of Mexicans out of poverty by further integrating the country into the global economic system.
The Zapatistas opposed NAFTA in large part because in order to join it (and therefore the modern global economy) the Mexican government was required to privatise collectively owned land. This was land many indigenous and peasant Mexicans had fought and died for in the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. Emiliano Zapata, who inspired the name ‘Zapatista’, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He advocated for the seizure of land from the oppressive hacienda system, in which dispossessed indigenous Mexicans were forced to labour for a small elite on land that used to be their own. Zapata fought for – and won, in part, until the 1990s – collective rights and indigenous access to agricultural land.
The EZLN’s 1994 rebellion gained wide international support. Their explicit stance against NAFTA chimed with a sense of uneasiness felt by many following the breakup of the Soviet Union, which had been known as the ‘second world’. A more ruthless form of globalisation was emerging which involved not just a crackdown on industrial opposition and trade unionism in ‘first world’ states, but also rising ‘third world’ debt, and a consequent squeeze on African, Asian and Latin American governmental autonomy. By 1994, Margaret Thatcher’s insistence that “there is no alternative” to this increasingly exploitative version of capitalism seemed to be becoming an uncomfortable reality. But the Zapatistas insisted that there were alternatives, as many of them as were necessary to allow dignified, autonomous lives: that we could all stand in solidarity to create “a world in which many worlds fit”.
The Zapatistas’ inclusive and empowering message of hope, and their savvy use of the new world wide web to communicate about their struggle, made their rebellion an important catalyst in what came to be known as the ‘anti-globalisation movement’, which defined and shaped leftist politics of that era.
This wasn’t ‘anti-globalisation’ as the phrase is often used today, suggesting reactionary nationalism and a distrust of strangers or outsiders. It was a worldwide counter-globalisation movement, that sought to link the struggles of indigenous peoples in Mexico to other struggles for autonomy, dignity and compassion – for alternatives – wherever these might be, whether in Syria, Brazil, or Palestine.
The Zapatistas hosted encuentros, or ‘international encounters’ to which people from around the world were invited, to share their struggles and build solidarity across geographical and cultural differences. These encuentros inspired a series of World Social Forums, which from 2001 onwards became a key site of international resistance.
The World Social Forums, which were inspired by but not directly affiliated with the Zapatistas, have in recent years become increasingly professionalised, and more representative of the NGO sector than of grass-roots radicalism. As the counter-globalisation movement has fallen out of the public consciousness, so too has the Zapatista rebellion, which many internationally now see as a historical event rather than ongoing, living-and-breathing practices of resistance and world-building.
Still Going Strong
This perception, however, is wrong. Since 1994, the Zapatistas have built autonomous communities across Chiapas, with their own governments, justice systems, health care and schools. All members of Zapatista communities, both men and women, take turns serving on the ‘good government juntas’ and decisions are made collectively.
The Zapatista economy is organised collectively, and their political system is based on seven important principles: to obey, not command; to represent, not supplant; to construct, not destroy; to suggest, not impose; to convince, not conquer; to go down (in the sense of paying attention to those with less power than you) and not up.
As of 2021, the Zapatistas still hold significant areas of Southern Mexico. In fact, in 2019 the autonomous territories were expanded significantly, not by military means, but by delegations of indigenous women striking out to dialogue with other communities and win their allegiance and support.
In 2017, The National Indigenous Congress, a Mexico-wide indigenous solidarity group established by the EZLN, announced that an indigenous woman, Marichuy, would run as an independent presidential candidate in the 2018 Mexican elections. Their aim, they stated, was not to win the election, but to call Mexicans to organise themselves and think about a new way of being. A documentary film directed by Luciana Kaplan recording Marichuy’s journey around Mexico, The Spokeswoman, will be screened in the UK later this year.
Sailing To Spain
On the fourth of May this year, a delegation of seven indigenous Zapatistas (four women, two men and one non-binary person) set out for Spain on the sail-powered ship La Montaña, to mark 500 years since colonisation. “We are following the route taken 500 years ago; in this case to sow life, not like 500 years ago, which was the opposite,” said Zapatista spokesperson Subcomandante Moisés.
The EZLN communique “Declaration for Life” announcing this voyage stated:
“The fight for humanity is global. Just as the ongoing destruction does not recognise borders, nationalities, flags, languages, cultures, races; so the fight for humanity is everywhere, all the time…there are many worlds that live and fight within the world. And that any pretence of homogeneity and hegemony threatens the essence of the human being: freedom.
The equality of humanity lies in the respect for difference. In its diversity resides its likeness. The understanding that what allows us to move forward is not the intention to impose our gaze, our steps, companies, paths and destinations. What allows us to move forward is the listening to and the observation of the Other that, distinct and different, has the same vocation of freedom and justice.”
In line with their seven principles, the Zapatistas have stated their aims in visiting Europe are to listen, not to preach:
“While our struggles are different, dissimilar, and even contradictory and contrary, at the least we, Zapatistas, we want to know and learn from you. Maybe, who knows, it could be, that both struggles, yours and ours, they discover that among so many differences, distances and contradictions, there is something in common.”
To this end, a series of ‘encounters’ and solidarity events will be held in Europe over the course of summer 2021. Anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of political philosophy and orientation, as long as they identify with the Zapatista positioning of “below and to the left.”
What is particularly liberating about Zapatista political philosophy is that unlike Marxist communism, it presents no rules or road map to create a better world. Their focus on indigenous rights and environmental protection have much in common with the anti- and post-colonial movements which are so important politically today. But the Zapatistas circumvent both identity politics, which may feel irrelevant or exclusionary to those outwith the identified ‘group’, and monolithic economic or political ‘solutions’ to which advocates must commit wholeheartedly in order to be recognised as companions in struggle. Zapatismo is for everyone, everywhere, and advocates community autonomy and liberation, rather than principles imposed from outside.
In the words of Mexican decolonial activist Gustavo Esteva, “Hope is one of the most important elements of the Zapatistas’ contribution. In times of fear and despair, they are nourishing and inspire hope.”
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To follow the journey of the Zapatistas and find out about events near you, join the UK Zapatista Solidarity Network mailing list at https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/ezlneneuropa_uk
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