Over the weekend, Dave Pentecost told Boing Boing,
The Zapatista rebels leave today on a six-month tour of Mexico, aimed at influencing the Mexican presidential elections. Here's my 2001 video report on their tour that year, which was the highwater mark of Zapatista support and influence: blog post link, and Video link.
The Zapatistas have been called the first internet rebellion. They certainly put the state of Chiapas on the map in 1994, capturing several towns to dramatize their opposition to NAFTA. They maintained international support which protected them in their long stalemate and allowed them to create autonomous communities. Few shots were fired, but the state of Chiapas was militarized, the Lacandon jungle pierced by roads which allowed both military and new settlers into the rainforest.
In 2001, new president Vicente Fox declared that he could settle the conflict, and gave the rebels safe passage out of the jungle, to travel to Mexico City and make the case for an indigenous bill of rights. I traveled in the back of a pickup truck with Mexican journalists in a high-speed caravan, jumping out every day to cover huge rallies in the towns along the way. My report was one of the few that made it to American television.
Once they reached the capital, the Mexican congress stonewalled them, passing a watered-down version of the rights they demanded. They returned to Chiapas, allowed to peacefully administer their communities, but they have not changed the lives of the poor of Mexico as much as they had hoped.
This year's tour is their chance to grab the spotlight again. They could gain greater influence in Mexican politics, or they could end up as spoilers. They have already criticized Lopez Obrador, the most progressive candidate. It will be interesting to see whether Subcomandante Marcos becomes the Nader of Mexico, draining support from the progressive wing and strengthening the rightwing candidates, or continues with his skillful command of internet and media tools.
Photos: Dave Pentecost. Above, Zapatistas at the last press conference before the march, 2001. Below, Zapatista children, 2001.
Link to a related AP report today, "Zapatistas Aim to Reshape Mexican Politics."
