Zapatista Army of National Liberation

Chiapas

Brief History

The EZLN take their name from Emiliano Zapata, the leader of the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution who fought for the rights of the campesinos, Mexico's poor farmers.  The Zapatista Army of National Liberation was founded on November 17, 1983, concerned with the social situation of the peasants and Mexico's indigenous people.  Their movement is based in Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state.  The indigenous people of Chiapas had been denied constitutional rights and were suffering from lack of food, health care and the loss of their agricultural land. The Zapatistas were greatly opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a neoliberal policy which would take jobs, land and social services away from the farmers of Chiapas. 

On January 1, 1994, the same day the North American Free Trade Agreement was implemented, the EZLN declared war against the Mexican government.  Their armed movement was done with the hope of bringing about a revolution in Mexico however this did not happen and the Mexican army quickly defeated the rebels.  A cease fire was called and after three years, the San Andreas Accords was signed.  However the Zapatistas felt they were being cheated by the accords and retreated to the Lacandon Jungle.  With a large military presence in Chiapas, little was heard from the Zapatistas until the election of President Fox in 2000.  They then brought their case before Congress only to be rejected.  Following their rejection the Zapatistas began the Other Campaign, traveling across the country to gain support for their movement.

 Emiliano Zapata

North American Free Trade Agreement

The Zapatista movement grew rapidly during the 1980’s but didn’t break out on to the national scene until the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.  In order for the treaty to be ratified, Mexico had to repeal Article 27 of its constitution.  The constitution followed the Mexican Revolution and Article 27 granted land reparations to indigenous peoples and protected their land ownership from foreign exploitation.

NAFTA did away with tariffs between the countries of North America allowing trade without governmental restrictions.  This results in the Mexican government implementing policies similar to the Structural Adjustment Programs of the IMF and World Bank.  These policies include the privatization of land through land reforms, the reduction of social welfare service spending, and concentration on producing exports.  The privatization of land drives the Zapatistas from their land and resulting in the loss of agricultural production, their economic foundation.  Cuts in government spending on social welfare services takes money away from programs such as healthcare, hitting Chiapas the hardest as its people already suffer from malnutrition and poor health.  The focus on export production hurts the low class farmers producing goods for internal consumption by denying them loans and the poor farmers of Chiapas cannot compete with the low price of imported goods.

Political Ideology

Current Situation

Links

EZLN Revolutionary Laws

These are the laws the Zapatista Army issued on January 1, 1994, the day they declared war against the Mexican government.  Certain sections, primarily the Labor Law & Industry and Commerce Law and the Revolutionary Agrarian Law express their radical socialist ideology.

Chiapas Rebellion Video

This is a helpful video explaining the EZLN's declaration of war in response to the North American Free Trade Agreement

Movement Timeline

Timeline of the Zapatista Movement

NAFTA's Impact

An Explanation of the impact of NAFTA on the people of Chiapas