What appears to be just another ethnic conflict in Mexico, is really a struggle that has endured for the last 500 years. The indigenous peoples of Mexico are prisoners of their own land. Since the arrival of the Spanish, indigenous peoples have been pushed off their lands, first by the expansion of Ladino plantations and now by the Mexican government. Forced from their homes, and escaping to the Lacandon jungles, these Mayan Indians live in their own asylum in the hopes that one day, a democratization of Mexico will include all. PARA TODO TODOS!

The Chiapas rebellion is not a fight against an extreme oppressor such as the Hernand Cortes who sacked the ancient city of Tenochtitlan for colonial conquest. However according to David Stannard, a similarity continues to this day:

"The murder and destruction continue, with the aid and assistance of the United States, even as these words are being written and read. And many of the detailed accounts from contemporary observers read much like those recorded by the conquistador's chronicles nearly 500 years earlier"(American Holocaust, xiii).

Today, governments such as Guatemala assault their indigenous peoples by the thousands for their lands. Elsewhere across the Americas, thousands more are slaughtered by the hands of the government. For what reason do these massacres occur? Well for one, many indigenous peoples form groups such as the Zapatistan rebels in Chiapas. These groups seek to disempower the current regime of their countries because their means of living and survival are not met. When a government such as Mexico's fears a challenge, it will do anything at any cost to hold onto that power, even if it means violating human rights. In Mexico today, the Zapatista's fight the government against a force called capitalism.

Capitalism in its meaning is defined as free economic enterprise for all. If one works hard, then his/her work pays off because the benefits of capitalism may bring wealth, prosperity, and economic independence. However, since 1994, a new phase has begun in capitalism. The fight against capitalism is against new enclosures, what the Zapatistas have labeled as Neoliberalism.

The Zapatista's N-word, neoliberalism, is a term for pro-market, pro-business and anti-worker/peasant policies. It is an ideology that draws back to the ideas based on classical liberalism: free market, individualism, and the pursuit of self- interest. It is the new phase in capitalism that pursues these ideas, using new strategies (NAFTA) and allows peoples to be dominated, exploited, and excluded. Today, interests are still invested in the individual but are rooted in a national interest that includes the few. Call it a restructuring of capitalism and of national economies, including government and the individual. But in this case, the individual is big business.

Neoliberalism seeks to meet the challenges of today through the furthering of economic development in unpracticed ways. This ideology firmly recognizes the absolute need of economic growth, which relies on the expansion of the private sector. By placing an emphasis on the government, society can modernize and move toward progress. This strive for progress destroys traditional communities, cuts social programs, and removes protection from those considered to "hold back" society from advancement. Government seeks to achieve progress by implementing a strategy of free trade, free capital mobility, and reduced social expenditure. The end results are land enclosures, lower wages, and the impoverishment of those who cannot benefit from the system. No single business or individual can ensure economic advantage in the long run without the help of government. The capacity to do so demands the invisible hand. What business needs, such as trade agreements and favorable policies, can only be provided by government.

Up until 1991, indigenous peoples in Chiapas, for example were protected by a piece of legislation- Article 27 of he Mexican Constitution. Article 27 established state ownership of land and set up a program which redistributed land to the landless. Ejidos, or communal lands were set up where peasants could work and have access to plots. It allowed for indigenous communities to preserve their traditions.(John Ross, Latin American Press, 2/4/94) In Chiapas, EZLN leader SubCommandante Marcos has stated that the repeal of Article 27 was the primary factor in the Zapatista's rebellion. The PRI lead government and the former President Salinas administration amended the article because of pressure from neoliberals. Article 27 represented a major obstacle to the economic development foreseen under NAFTA.

The repeal of Article 27 closes communal lands and makes its selling legal, leaving it to the purposes of expansion for local agribusiness and multinational corporations. The sale of these lands is supposed to cover Mexico's foreign debt.

Chiapas is a land of undrilled oil, beef, coffee, bananas, flowers and others. Land seizures force indigenous peoples to move to lands that are too poor for subsistence, making them dependent on what can be grown, what can be sold, and what can be worked for lower wages. The allowance of free trade increases, for example, the export of corn from the U.S., making it difficult for indigenous peoples to compete. Therefore, land is abandoned and wages are lower because not enough Mexican corn can be sold to make a profit (John Ross, Latin American Press, 1/20/94).

The Zapatistan struggle against "development" has been a fight for 500 years because it is a capitalist domination of social programs and a strategy that has been accepted since the defeat of colonialism. Ways of life are being killed and this is why the EZLN has termed NAFTA as a "death sentence". The EZLN believes that taking up arms challenges civil society and allows them to compete for democratic principles. For a democratic society is a society for all the people of Mexico and not just the few. A rebellious Mexico is one that resists the current regime and does not surrender to its inhumane practices.

The Zapatistas struggle for eleven points: work, land, housing, food, health care, education, independence, liberty, democracy, justice and peace. They believe in a politics of autonomy that refuses the restructuring principles of neo-liberalism which sets government against poor people, and an interaction within communities to over come working class strategies. Their struggle is not an assumption of power, but a return of power to the people.

 Pictures courtesy of www.ubrn.com

 

 

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