The Zapatistas

The story of the Zapatistas is usually defined by their uprising against the Mexican government in 1994, which had been in planning for many years beforehand. These oppressed indigenous people of southern Mexico, mostly Mayan, finally had enough of the years poor treatment from the government (going back to the days of the first Spanish invasions, actually) and decided to take back some of their ancient lands and create their own autonomous government. The armed uprising in 1994 quickly escalated to violence, but in a matter of days, turned to tense, but more peaceful negotiations with the government. Since then, although they've been the victim of occasional violent attacks, they maintain a peaceful stance and continue to hold some of their acquired turf in the mountains of southeastern Chiapas. There's obviously a lot more to this story, but for now, I'll try to let others tell the history that I'm just learning (start here).

The uprising coincided with the day that NAFTA came into force and also with the explosion of the Web in the early 1990's and like no other uprising before, it became a tool of the Zapatistas to broadcast their intent and get the support of other like-minded people and groups around the world, enabling them to counter the overwhelming military strength of the Mexican army. But of course, the Web and the occasional Zapatista t-shirt you see around Berkeley, can only convey so much about what is happening with a group of revolutionaries who are hiding out in the woods and hills of southern Mexico. So, as scary as it seemed, there was also something very compelling about being a first-hand witness to what these people are going through. As we prepared for the trip, we started making contact with many people who would help us along the way and who were excited about the work we were about to do, which motivated us and got the planning into gear. Now we were about to set out make contact with the Zapatistas, hopeful that we could engage with them, talk with them and if we were really lucky, take some pictures. An interview would be a home run.