Ten Minute History Lesson

Before we left the hotel, Chris excused himself from the group. He explained that he and Julio would be spending the day traveling to meet with the Juntas to coordinate visits to Zapatista communities located at Yachil and Bolon Ajaw.

Let me explain.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) was named after Emaliano Zapata who was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution which began in 1910. The year before, the National Anti-reelectionist Party announced that Francisco Madero, a young and wealthy landowner, would stand as a Presidential Candidate. At the time, the country's capitalist economy was peaking and Spanish haciendas were controlling more and more of the land and squeezing out independent communities of aboriginals who were being forced into slavery. Chiapas alone was home to over 6,800 private estates -- a 680% increase from 1880. By 1910, 80% of Mexicans were living in the countryside, 1/3 of the population was pure Indian but 87% spoke Spanish.

During the 10 years of the Mexican Revolution the country would be rocked by rebellion and conflict. In 1914 in Chiapas, a new labour law abolished debt servitude and instituted a minimum wage; major landowners revolted. In 1915 the war peaked and Zapata's forces were the focus of countless attacks. In Chaipas, rebellious landowners and indigenous supporters form guerilla forces. In the years that follow, Obregon founded the PLC (Liberal Constitutionalist Party); Morones founded the CROM (Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers); CROM organizes the PLM (Mexican Labour Party); and, a peasant party (PNA) is formed. And then, in 1920, Zapata is assassinated. Obregon becomes president but the USA refused to recognize the new regime.

In 1923, de la Heurta leads half the federal army in rebellion against Obregon and Calles; worker and peasant armies organized by the PLM and PNA help the rest of the army quell the rebellion. In 1924, Calles becomes President with Obregon's support. PLM and PNA dominate the federal congress and soon become rivals. PNA aligns with Obregon and PLM aligns with Calles dividing the country. In 1927 a new rebellion begins -- the Cristero rebellion -- with over 50,000 armed rebels involved. Obregon is assassinated in 1928. Calles remains the power behind the presidential throne and creates the Party of the National Revolution (PNR) in 1929.

In 1934, Cardenas becomes President and begins the first major land reform since 1917. Calles remains in the background and threatens a coup in 1935. When the coup fails, Calles is forced to flee the country. Cardenas expropriates 17 British, Dutch and US oil companies and establishes the national oil company PEMEX. He dissolves the PNR and creates the PRM -- made up of peasant, labour, popular and military. In 1940, Camacho becomes president -- 65% of the population still lives in the countryside and wages peak. PRM becomes the PRI - Party of the Institutionalized Revolution -- and almost 15% of the national territory has been redistributed among 1.8 million peasants and half of the rural population are part of the new rural class of ejiditarios -- approximately 20,000 ejidos were recognized, of which 900 were "collective" in character. In 1941, the US entered WWII and boycotts were lifted against Mexican oil imports. Things were starting to look up.

Fast forward to 1976 when Portillo becomes President; this "friend of business" cuts back on government spending, increases borrowing and welcomes foreign investors with wide open arms. By 1982, Mexico faced a debt crisis that further devalued the peso. The crisis continues in the years that follow and peaked in 1986 when many state-owned companies were privatized. Mexico signed a structural adjustment agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which greatly accelerated the pace of neoliberal reform and further encouraged foreign investors to set up shop and take advantage of cheap Mexican labour.

The loose definition of neoliberalism is the transfer of economic control from the public to the private sector. The idea behind neoliberalism is that public (meaning government) control of the economy is at best inefficient, at worst corrupt. Critics argue that the economic transfer to private industry absolves the government of its accountability which is subversive of the democratic process. We saw success through the deinstitutionalization of state economic controls in Chile (Pinochet), Britain (Thatcher) USA (Reagan), New Zealand (Douglas) and Canada (Mulroney).

What about Mexico? Mexico's political environment was too unstable and too corrupt to provide an infrastructure of support that would allow its people to reap the benefits of a neoliberal economy. Without the benefit of a strategy to build a healthy economy for its people, Mexico's leaders looked for a panacea in capitalism. Foreign investors would buy their way into the country and use their financial assets to drive the country's political agenda by lining the pockets of corrupt government officials. To meet their annual financial objectives they would require cheap labour, a devalued peso, low taxes, and lots and lots of inexpensive raw materials. Their stockholders after all, lived elsewhere and were rewarding management with fat bonuses in exchange for high dividends. All this did was widen the gap between high-income and low-income households in Mexico.

By 1987, the PRI party split into a rival faction called the PRD (Part of the Democratic Revolution) over questions of economic policy reforms. In 1990, NAFTA negotiations begin and Cardenas becomes PRD Mayor of Mexico City. Salinas signs off on NAFTA in 1992 though Clinton's election meant more policy changes that resulted in side deals regarding labour and environmental issues.

Mexicans would never benefit from NAFTA, however the idea was not to satisfy the voters but to support the growth of capitalism in the country's new neoliberal environment. Foreign investors saw great potential in open border trade with the US and Canada. Importing raw materials and exporting cheaply manufactured products meant a bigger bottom line. But who was protecting the interests of poor Mexican farmers? Well, nobody...except the EZLN.

Poor Mexican farmers who harvested crops by hand would be forced to complete with commercial farms in the US and Canada -- donkeys and a team of oxen versus John Deere and Massey Ferguson. The "people of the corn" would be forced to compete in the marketplace with subsidized farmers and their artificially fertilized, genetically modified, mechanically harvested crops. Fair? Not by a long shot. As if that is not enough, the terms of NAFTA required an amendment to the Mexican constitution that outlawed land collectives. Land holdings must be privately owned under the terms of NAFTA, which was a direct violation of guaranteed land reparations to indigenous groups in Mexico. There was not protection for social policy under the terms of NAFTA. Or at least, there was not sufficient incentive for Mexico's leaders to protect the rights of its indigenous land holders.

Mexico had signed off on NAFTA in 1992. Despite protests, Mexico's border would officially open when NAFTA became effective on January 1, 1994. The EZLN struggled to find a public platform for the voice of the Mexican farmers. In 1993, the Zapatistas declared war on the Mexican government arguing that it had absolved itself of its right to rule because it was so out of touch with the needs of its people. In effect, the Zapatistas claimed that the government was illegitimate.

In November 1993, NAFTA negotiations conclude and the agreement is narrowly approved by the House of Representatives.

On January 1, 1994 -- the day that NAFTA became effective -- the Zapatistas' rebellion became armed and active. It was New Year's Day and politicians and peacekeepers were relaxing with their families when members of the EZLN donned ski masks and took up arms. Their strategy was planned with flawless precision and executed by passionate patriots whose interests were entirely invested in protecting the rights of their countrymen. They stormed government offices and burned land titles in protest. They burned empty haciendas while their owners celebrated the holidays with their families in one of their other houses. Their strategy included the occupation of communities throughout the state of Chaipas and established EZLN military forces to defend them against policy and army forces. Violent clashes continued for nearly two weeks until a Bishop in San Cristobal de las Casas successfully negotiated a ceasefire.

The EZLN had captured the world's interest though it came at the cost of many human casualties. Zapatista leaders demanded autonomy from the Mexican government so that they could create their own socialist government to protect and advance the rights of the Mexican people. What's more, they demanded that the natural resources extracted from Chiapas benefit more directly the people of Chiapas. For the first time, the government was listening. As leaders argued over issues of human rights and freedoms, government forces stormed the EZLN's military holdings and slaughtered rebels. Unarmed civilians displaced by government forces would be relocated to refugee camps throughout Chiapas. Leaders of the movement were still at large and so the government ended its raids and proceeded with negotiations. The EZLN laid down its arms and abandoned military strategies in favour of political ones that would include media campaigns to garner support from international solidarity groups.

The Mexican government would recognize the EZLN as a political movement and agreed to enter into negotiations with its leaders that would culminate in the recognition of autonomy and rights for the indigenous people of Mexico through the San Andres Accords signed in 1996. When the Mexican government failed to implement the terms of the Accords, the Zapatista's returned to their communities with the support from "civil society" and began to implement their autonomy unilaterally. They established their own school systems, health facilities and socialist governments. During this period, the Mexican army would deploy forces in the surrounding territories to monitor EZLN activities and serve as a government presence poised to dismantle this structure.

In 2001, Zapatistas marched into Mexico City to protest "watered down agreements" developed by the new government of President Fox. The Mexican Congress was not responding to their demands to recognize the San Andres Accords. The rebels returned to their communities in Chiapas and established 32 autonomous municipalities in effect implementing the agreements without government support. International organizations supported their efforts by providing financial and human resources. International visitors and observers were traveling to Chiapas to support the movement and report on its progress. Their tenacity and perseverance was serving as a model to other indigenous groups throughout the world and inspiring similar movements.

The 32 autonomous municipalities would elect representatives to attend assemblies where this body of government would review and rule on communal issues including the allocation of resources and development projects. To avoid corruption, the representatives serve for only a very short time which results in a continuous rotation of leadership; this body of government is called the Junta. The Mexican government tolerates these renegade municipalities but is involved, I believe, in infiltrating and sabotaging their progress using subversive tactics.

In June 2005, the Zapatistas published the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona outlining their vision for Mexico. It begins, "This is our simple word which seeks to touch the hearts of humble and simple people like ourselves, but for people who are also, like ourselves, dignified and rebel." They go on to say, "we the zapatistas of the EZLN, rose up in arms in January of 1994 because we saw how widespread had become the evil wrought by the powerful who only humiliated us, stole from us, imprisoned us and killed us, and no one was saying anything or doing anything. That is why we said "Ya Basta!" that no longer were we going to allow them to make us inferior or to treat us worse than animals."

While I understand that a country's social and economical environment is a complex puzzle influenced by its history, its culture and its geography, I was feeling terribly naive. How could it be that I knew so little about the contemporary struggles of this country? We are partners in trade for God's sakes. How did Mexico's human rights issues not have come up in my social studies classes, or law classes, or Sunday's paper? What was I doing on January 1, 1994 when the Zapatista's rose up in rebellion against their government? I don't remember.

I tried to walk on the sunny side of the street all the way from the hotel to CEIPAC across town. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I had a picture in my mind of a glass building, a boardroom with bottled water and men in suits. The walk across town was beautiful. We passed this incredibly old chapel on a street corner just a few blocks from the Zoccola.



I quietly contemplated the information that I had learned about earlier in the morning as I walked beneath the watchful eye of the sun. I felt uncomfortable as I envisioned our days ahead and shivered despite the rising warmth of the late morning. I manufactured images of our group meeting with angry men in ski masks and listening to their stories of violent oppression.

The meetings scheduled by our hosts were intended to provide us with context and understanding about Mexico and, more specifically Chiapas. My thoughts drifted to aboriginal issues in my own country. I felt a deep sense of shame wash over me and understood that by becoming a witness to the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, I would forfeit my silence at home.