71 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
71 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
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from Green Left Weekly #127/Jan 19, 1994
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Zapatista uprising in Mexico
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In Mexico, a new revolutionary organisation, the Frente Zapatista de
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Liberacion Nacional (FZLN) has been born. Made up mainly of indigenous
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people, it demands land, democracy and an end to the repression and
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massacres carried out by the military against the peasantry.
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The Zapatistas, named after one of the leaders of the Mexican revolution of
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1910, Emiliano Zapata, began their military operations on January 1, by
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taking over three strategic towns along the Guatemalan border in the state
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of Chiapas: San Cristobal de las Casas, Ocosingo and Las Margaritas. The
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Zapatistas then took over the towns of Hixtlan, Abasolo, Oxchuc and Chanal
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further north, declaring war upon the Mexican government.
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Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, a promoter of dialogue,
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reconciliation and peace in El Salvador, immediately ordered the deployment
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of thousands of troops in a military counteroffensive. This resulted in the
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massacre of hundreds of rebels and civilians in San Cristobal de las Casas.
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Now the Mexican government demands the immediate surrender of the rebels as
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a prerequisite to negotiations. At the same time, the Mexican authorities
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are not acknowledging the social causes of the unrest, but claim that the
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FZLN is a mercenary force.
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The Zapatistas accused the Chiapan authorities of repression and massacres
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of the indigenous people, who make up 32.5% of the population in that state.
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They claim that their offensive is a response to state terrorism. The FZLN
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hopes to receive support from the indigenous movements in the states of
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Oaxaca and Puebla, aiming to take the war to other parts of the country.
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The deployment of thousands of Mexican troops is an indication that this is
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a very strong guerilla movement. But at this stage, the elite finds it
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easier to exterminate the guerillas rather than enacting political and
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agrarian reforms. The capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez, remains
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militarised.
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The rebels' demands are land and democracy. Agrarian conflict in Chiapas has
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a long history. Chiapas was a former state of the Federal Republic of
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Central America. In 1823, it was annexed to imperial Mexico by General
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Iturbide, who had led an invasion of San Salvador, a liberal stronghold, in
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an attempt to annex all of Central America.
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The features of the Chiapan land tenure system are very similar to those of
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Guatemala and El Salvador. Its radical reform was a main aim of the
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revolution of 1910, in which 1 million Mexican people lost their lives.
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In the end the Zapatistas won the war, but the control of the federal
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government was taken over by the bourgeoisie, who betrayed the aims of the
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revolution. There was no radical agrarian reform, and the social democratic
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party which put itself in office, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional
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(PRI), has ruled the country on behalf of the wealthy ever since.
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Radio Farabundo Marti in Australia (RFMA)
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-30-
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Six-month airmail subscriptions (22 issues) to Green Left Weekly
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are available for A$60 (North America) and A$75 (South America,
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Europe & Africa) from PO Box 394, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia
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+ 212-675-9690 NY TRANSFER NEWS COLLECTIVE 212-675-9663 +
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+ Since 1985: Information for the Rest of Us +
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