Zapatista National Liberation Army

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Zapatista National Liberation Army

• EZLN

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EZNL

• They are named after Emiliano Zapata a
  revolutionary leader from the early 1900s
• Zapata fought against the government for the
  return of the land to the indigenous communities

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EZLN

• A civil resistance organization made up of
  indigenous people from the highlands and jungles
  from the state of Chiapas
• Chiapas is located in Southern Mexico
• It is one of the poorest states in Mexico

Chiapas
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Chiapas

• Iliteracy rate is the highest in Mexico
• Life Span is 8 years less then the rest of Mexico
• 50 of the population makes less then the minimum
  wage

• 50 of the population is classified as poor
• 40 is without running water
• 23 is without electricity

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The Zapatistas Revolt

• The Zapatistas launched a military revolt against
  the Mexican Government protesting
• 1. The policies of the ruling government, the
  Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
• 2. The increased poverty among the indigenous
  communities

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EZLN Statement

• We have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing, no
  decent roof over our heads, no land, no work,
  poor health, no food, no education, no right to
  freely and democratically choose our leaders, no
  independence from foreign interests, and no
  justice for ourselves or our children

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The Struggle

• The struggle can be traced back to the 1930s
  when President Lazaro Cardenas, a member of the
  PRI, distributed land all over Mexico except in
  Chiapas
• The next centuries where followed by massive
  repressions by the government and elites

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The PRI

• In 1992 President Carlos Salinas de Gortari
  reformed article 27 of the constitution, which
  allowed the sale of communal lands
• Peasants where driven off their lands
• Causing great tension between peasants and the
  government

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The Zapatistas surface

• On January 1, 1994 the Zapatistas took over a
  number of cities in Chiapas
• Including the capital city of San Cristobal de
  las Casas
• It occurred on the day Mexico joined the North
  American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

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NAFTA

• They opposed Mexico joining NAFTA because it
  would benefit the wealthy and drive the poor
  deeper into poverty
• Peasants would be driven off their lands and the
  environment would suffer
• A report by the Commission for Environmental
  Cooperation, a NAFTA agency, concluded that free
  trade has had a negative impact on the air,
  water, and forests

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Demands

• Democracy for all Mexicans
• Equal distribution of land
• Economic policies that would benefit everyone
• Human rights protection
• Self rule for indigenous communities
• Access to the political system at the state and
  local levels

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The Confrontation

• Federal troops were called in to recapture the
  territory
• The fighting lasted for 12 days and 145 people
  were killed
• The Zapatistas then withdrew to the surrounding
  jungles

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Negotiations

• The government sent in mediators headed by Bishop
  Samuel Ruiz, a member of the National Mediation
  Commission, to try to negotiate peace
• Negotiations where on and off and in 1996 an
  agreement was reached
• February 1996 the Zapatistas and the government
  signed the San Andres Accords

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San Andres Accords

• It proposed a constitutional amendment that would
  give natives a political voice exempting them
  from a national law that a candidate had to be a
  member of a political party to run in an election
• Control of natural resources
• Cultural rights and protection

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Violence

• December 22, 1997 paramilitaries with links to
  the government massacred 45 unarmed indigenous
  people in a Chapel
• August 1999 government troops attacked the city
  of Ocosingo with tear gas

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Vicente Fox Quezada

• The 2000 election shifted the presidential powers
  to the National Action Party (PAN) when Vicente
  Fox Quezada won the presidency
• Fox promised change and a resolution to the
  problems in Chiapas

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Vicente Fox Quezada

• There is still a strong military presence in
  Chiapas
• He favors free market policies
• The San Andres Accords are still not implemented
• His term will be over in less then 2 years (2006)

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• The Zapatistas continue to have optimism
• An EZLN spokesman Subcommandante Marcos stated
  Our movement is to have one world where many
  worlds fit