To many people, Mexico is a land of fun in the sun, relaxation and a tropical paradise. To many living inside Mexico, however, it isn’t any of these things. Many Mexicans live in poverty and sickness. In southern Mexico, in the state of Chiapas, which is comprised of jungle and many indigenous communities, things are the worst. The Mexican constitution promises agrarian reform , but there has been none. These indigenous people also have little voice in government. They are a minority and the dominant political parties of Mexico are riddled with fraud. Under these conditions, the people of Chiapas felt that their only option was to take arms against the government. But why should people outside of Mexico care about a seemingly harmless rebellion? Why shouldn’t they? Across the globe, in almost every country, indigenous people struggle for rights and an escape from poverty after many years of oppression. The struggle of the indigenous peoples of Mexico is relevant because it shows that ignoring problems such a poverty and oppression will only lead to more problems in the end. Often though, solving the problem can prove to be harder than ignoring it. In Chiapas, however, this isn’t necessarily the case. The indigenous peoples, operating through the Zapatista Front of National Liberation or the EZLN, took arms and set out to gain their freedom. All they ask for is the ability to democratically govern themselves, autonomous from the corrupt Mexican State. While this request may seem outlandish to some, a brief look at the history, economy and indigenous people of Mexico can give us an insight as to why this rebellion is occurring.
To understand this new rebellion, it is critical to understand that this struggle, in one form or another, has been taking place for about 500 years. It all began in 1519, when Cortes and his army arrived to make Mexico a Spanish colony. The Mayan people fought bravely until their defeat in 1525. By 1540 most of northern Mexico was under Spain’s control. For the next 300 years Spain ruled over Mexico and suppressed the native population. Spain used Mexico mainly as a source of raw materials, including silver, wheat and sugarcane. With the collapse of the Spanish economy in the 17th century, the native population was cut from 12 million in 1520 to 1 million in 1720 , due to overwork and disease. In 1541 the native people attempted to oust the Spanish but failed. The Spanish then ruled unthreatened until the early 18th century.
In 1810 a revolt led by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called for an end to Spanish rule, redistribution of land and empowerment of the masses. He and his followers were captured and executed. Another revolt in 1814 was subsequently crushed. The independence movement went underground, led by Vicente Guerrero. In 1821 he negotiated with the ruling Spaniards to gain self-rule, and following a military rebellion in 1823, Mexico officially became a Republic. In 1857 Benito Juarez tried to eliminate remnants of colonialism by issuing a new constitution with land reforms. This did little to help those living in poverty and in 1858 civil war broke out between the liberal government of Juarez and rival conservative forces. Juarez was victorious and used his power to lessen the power of the church and the military. In 1876 Porfio Diaz seized power and ruled for the next 30 years. This was the major cause of the revolution in 1910. Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata were key figures in this revolution. By 1920 the revolution had been defeated and Zapata killed. In the 1930’s a new party came into power, the PNR (now the PRI). In 1968 an uprising by Mexican students was crushed and the government showed less concern for the poverty stricken people. Then on July 2, 2000 change came. After 70 years of rule, President Vicente Fox, a member of the PAN, replaced the PRI. However, this change in power seems to have had little effect on Mexico, its economy or its people.
The economy is controlled by a small number of rich investors and business owners while the rest of Mexico’s population lives in poverty. This first world country, when analyzed, seems anything but. Forty-one percent of the population has no running water; 34% are without electricity; 63% of the people live in accommodations of only one room; 19% of the workforce has no possible income, and 67% live on or below the minimum wage. Fifty million people live in poverty, while twenty-four billionaires top Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world. Fifty million people live in poverty, while twenty-four billionaires top Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world . In 1999, 4 million poor persons no longer received assistance for food or for their community development, 1,116,000 children no longer received subsidized milk, the spending for UNAM, IPN and UAM fell 50%, the financing for scientific research loses 42%, the construction of health units is reduced by 20%, Conasupo reduced its spending by 75% and prepared for its disappearance and 34 million Mexicans who bought maize in Diconsa stores were confronted with a price increase of 100% .
Recent reform efforts in Mexico have only made things worse. Since January of 1995, foreign investments in the economy have decreased at the rate of $2.5 billion a month. In order to meet labor demands, the country also needs to create at least 19.2 million jobs. In this downward spiraling economy, rural areas are hit the worst, people living in poverty have increased by a third in these areas. In indigenous villages there are almost no schools, hospitals, doctors, medicines, good prices for their products, land, technology in order to work it, fair salaries, food of sufficient quality and quantity and decent housing. It is these conditions of poverty that helped to set the stage for an uprising.
Long before Columbus or Cortes arrived in the “New World”, Mexico was a land with close to 25 million people living within its borders. Many unique cultures developed and advances in science, mathematics and astronomy are still admired. Today there are 56 groups of indigenous people, each speaking their own language, living amongst the general population of 99,600,000. The most significant groups are the Tarahumaras, Nahuas, Huicholes, Purépechas, Mixtecos, Zapotecas, Otomís, Totonacas and Mayas. While these natives are a major population in parts of Mexico, they are often treated as worthless by pure European Mexicans or mestizos, Mexicans of mixed race. The biggest threat to these indigenous groups, however, is the government’s attacks against the ejido system, where the community administers common lands. Indigenous groups are often forced off their land and pushed into cities or they migrate to the United States, where they became the cheapest of labor. There are few choices for these people. Wherever they go they are faced with poverty and discrimination. This is ultimately the reason the Zapatistas took up arms against the government.
These reasons, poverty, government corruption and repression, discrimination and a general lack of concern for the indigenous, are why the Zapatistas took up arms on January 1st, 1994. They were a group of poor farmers armed with nothing but old rifles, rusty knives and whatever armaments they could find. They came out of the jungle and captured five towns and 500 ranches . They called for autonomy, self-rule and an end to discrimination against indigenous peoples. Alarmed by this sudden uprising, the government sent in troops. The Zapatistas fought back and the battle left 145 dead. They retreated back into the jungle and have since been surrounded by close to 30,000 Mexican troops.
Although their military campaign may not have succeeded, the Zapatistas have expertly used the Internet to gain public opinion for their cause. Public opinion however, has not given them much ground in the government. At every step, the movement is crushed. In July of 2000, an Indian Rights bill that would have given the Zapatistas autonomy and allow them to govern themselves and end discrimination, was cut to pieces because it would “destroy Mexican national unity” .
Since then, the Zapatistas have gathered support for their cause through various means. One interesting way was to bring people to Chiapas in a “Reality Tour”. On these tours, people mainly from the United States embark on a two-week trip to southern Mexico to visit with people living in Zapatista communities. These tours can also be grueling however, with an emphasis on politics. In Chiapas one can expect to spend hours in indigenous-rights briefings, Mexican elections, globalization, fair trade and biodiversity. Between these meetings and spending time in their $11 a night hotel, tourists have little time to visit local artisans and shops. On an overnight visit to Nuevo Yibeljoj, an impoverished community of displaced Zapatista sympathizers, the visitors lay their sleeping bags on bare planks, fought off mosquitoes and fleas and urinated behind bushes rather than face a stinking outhouse . All in all however, most travelers thought the trip was well worth the minor inconveniences.
Despite what seems to be a large group supporting the Zapatistas, little progress is made. So how can the issue of indigenous rights be solved by the Mexican government, besides granting self-rule? Passing a bill against discrimination was a step in the right direction, but more could be done. First and foremost is redistribution of land. This would give the indigenous people a chance to produce more and pull themselves out of poverty. Another possible solution is to invest more money in development programs that would give villages better roads, schools, hospitals and so on. Unfortunately, the government has proved so far to not be very cooperative with the Zapatista movement, so any solution may be far off.
The question that is plaguing many who have heard of this struggle is “What should the government do?” This is a very difficult question to answer. I believe that the government should give in and grant the indigenous people self-rule and autonomy from the Mexican State. This would relieve the government having to deal with poverty in the area and allow local groups to work together against it. It would also give the government more power to devote to helping the failing economy and producing jobs for its people. The indigenous people would be happy and could then bring their villages out of poverty, begin to produce more and eventually be able to trade with the Mexican government or import Mexican products, helping the economy even more. This solution, while it may seem to benefit both sides, is very unlikely to occur. Mexican and United States corporations have a lot of money invested in the jungles of Chiapas, in Biotechnology. Mexico also has at least 100 active rebel groups and granting one group’s demands could lead to a full scale revolution, something the government would like to avoid for obvious reasons (although it should be noted that unlike the other rebel groups which are after state power, the Zapatista seek only self rule and want nothing to do with running Mexico). Finally, the government would not accept this solution because it would be a call to arms for all oppressed people worldwide, something Mexico wouldn’t like to be held responsible for in the world community. So, until the government and the indigenous people living within its borders can come to a solution, the struggle will continue in Mexico and across the globe.
