Killing Hope
By: Itzocelotl

For 510 years, the indigenous people of Mexico have endured utter poverty: they live in houses made from wood scraps with dirt floors while dealing with fierce racism, racism they must face every hour of every day. Throughout Mexico’s history, the indigenous people have been subjugated to second-class citizenship; they have been reduced to strangers looked down upon in their own land. While history followed its course, the indigenous people strived for equality using every peaceful means possible. On January 1, 1994 while many people woke from their hangovers, the sound of change exploded in Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state. A guerilla movement composed mostly of Mayan natives made their voice heard through the sound of bullets. A civil rights movement was born, the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation), which is vulnerable in many ways to the world’s only superpower, the United States. While hiding behind the “Drug-war”, the U.S. continues to pour its arsenal into Mexico, which the government uses to murder innocent civilians. Under this engagement, U.S. foreign policy threatens to destroy Mexico’s modern civil rights movement.

The roots of this conflict date back to March 4th, 1519, when Hernan Cortez arrived in Mexico and began the destruction of many indigenous civilizations. The most commonly known people were the Aztecs, whose relics of an advanced society still survive. After having defeated the most powerful people of Mexico, Cortez claimed all of Mexico, and some of Central America in the name of Spain. Having established complete control over the Aztec metropolis, he systematically destroyed every indigenous culture with which his Spanish troops came into contact. With this indigenous civilization was destroyed. However the problem of labor arose. Who would build the colonial buildings of New Spain? This problem was solved quickly. Instead of importing Africans, it was easier to enslave and exploit the millions of highly skilled Indians who populated all of Latin America. And thus, this invasion, which is falsely labeled a discovery, marked the beginning of 510 years of European oppression.

“To the finqueros (owners of large estates) and the hacenderos (owners of vast acres of land for cattle ranching) the Mayans of southeast Chiapas were of far less value than their prized cattle” (Ross 5). After the colonization of Latin America, European oppression was firmly enforced against the indigenous people. Cortez gave all his followers vast acres of land populated with hundreds of indigenous families. These natives, in turn, became property of the Spanish, whose initials were branded on the face of the Indian males. The women were spared of this barbaric practice because the white men were sickened by the scar they would gaze at, when they decided to rape a woman. The native men were forced into extreme labor mining for gold and silver, or building the masters estates, while the women cooked and were subjugated to rape. These practices went unchanged until the last slave was freed in 1829. Even though the native population was now free, the hatred and racism lingered on to haunt them to this day. “As I walked through the market, I heard a man yell “Filthy Indian” as he threw the woman on the ground. She was selling bread, which ended up on the street” recalls Elizabeth Maldonado, a university student at UCLA, who is an active protestor in Mexico against discrimination. Incidents like these have never been uncommon in Mexico, where fierce racism is publicly exercised and never punished. This enduring racism is a product of European colonization, which imbedded the hatred of the native into the non-indigenous population of Mexico. As horrible as this account sounds, these problems always go un-noticed by the government and by most of the population, leaving the natives in a position where help is nothing but a distant dream. Such incidents helped fuel the need for change, which lead to the eventful uprising of the peasants of Chiapas.

The formation of the EZLN took place deep in the Lacandon jungle in 1986, where the poorest of the poor are concentrated. As many indigenous people became interested, their numbers grew, and they began to train. The EZLN contains between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters, both men and women. Needless to say, they have unconditional support from over 10,000 indigenous communities all over Mexico. The EZLN derive their name from Emiliano Zapata, an agrarian reformist and leader of the army of southern Mexico around 1910. Like Zapata, the EZLN doesn’t wish to overthrow the government, but to act as an armed reformist fighting for, as stated in their 11 word plan, “Work, land, shelter, bread, health, education, democracy, liberty, peace, independence, and justice” (Ross 20). However, the war against oblivion wasn’t official until the morning of 94’ when the EZLN began its first military battle and staged a bloodless takeover of nearby communities composed of rich cattle ranchers. All political prisoners were set free, and land was distributed among the poor. On this morning, the world found out what has been happening to the forgotten in Mexico. The EZLN has no leader, but work as a collective. To symbolize this, all Zapatistas show unity by wearing ski masks. Their uniform is black and red, showing the traditional colors of working people on strike. When approached by reporters, many claimed that if their cause was so righteous, why do they cover their faces? The EZLN issued a statement pertaining to this message stating, “For 500 years the Mexican government, as well as the world, has acted like we never existed, and now they want to see our faces?” (Chiapas). After overcoming fierce military attacks from their government, a cease-fire was declared and negotiations for peace began. Through all the turmoil and grief which the indigenous people suffered while negotiating, a flicker of hope gleamed as ’The San Andres Accords’ were introduced. Among its many points, it strongly emphasized indigenous autonomy, and intense reform. This seemed to be a turning point for Mexico, when the government decided to sign it, but Mexico’s government showed its true identity. They planned to sign everything, but implement nothing. A low intensity war with the occasional massacre ensued, until the 70-year-old dictatorship known as the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) ended with the election of Vicente Fox. To push for peace, the Zapatistas staged an un-armed march to Mexico City under Fox’s new government to enforce the San Andres accords. With such a peaceful demonstration, and over a million supporters, both national and international, stationed in Mexico City, Fox had no choice but to re-introduce the accords the government had already signed.
Instead of constitutional recognition of the rights and culture of indigenous peoples, they got 'Constitutional Recognition of the Rights and Culture of Plantation Owners and Racists', as an EZLN communiqué put it. Now the dialogue is suspended-- again. Indigenous people have been betrayed-- again. The low intensity war is still on. But, as the EZLN said in their April 27 communiqué: 'know that it's not over for us'.
(Mexico’s Modern Right)

Fox, instead of implementing the San Andres accords, revised it and made it protect rich landowners, while leaving the indigenous people in the same situation. So, after having mangled the accords to favor the white landowners and, of course, the U.S., the Indian population was once again ridiculed and betrayed. For many, it may seem hopeless for the EZLN to continue the struggle, but to cease to dream is to cease to be human. In order for the Zapatista struggle to end, Mexican oppression must be eradicated. Until then, the Zapatista dream will live on.

As many may know, January 1st, 1994 marked the launch of NAFTA (North American free trade agreement) which is “A death sentence for the indigenous people of Mexico” (Chiapas). NAFTA is, in effect, a new step for globalization in Latin America. This agreement calls for the privatization of all land, deep cuts in social spending, and an emphasis on export production, which threatens the very existence of the indigenous people. Before NAFTA came into effect, the government protected the ejidos (communal lands), which were held by the indigenous people of Mexico, but since the launch of NAFTA, 1.5 million people have lost their homes and their land. The privatization of property has had a dramatic effect on millions of families. The government has once again robbed the Indian population of their land to help the spread of global capitalism. This seems to be nothing less than a brutal attack on the indigenous people in order to destroy their culture and force them to assimilate. Deep cuts in social spending also narrow the possibility for the Indian population to survive by its own means. The little schools that were offered to the indigenous people have been closed, as well as hospitals, and clinics. As of now, 46% of the population of Chiapas suffers from mal-nutrition, compared to 5.5% for the rest of the country (Problem with NAFTA). But the last phase that will ultimately tighten the noose is the emphasis on export production. This will hurt both the middle and lower class of Mexico. Many of the farmers who specialize in internal goods pertain to the middle and lower class. These men and women have suffered from the drastic cuts in loans available to them, which will lead to wide spread bankruptcy and loss of traditional jobs. To put it into a better perspective, the corn farmers are the exact personification of the severity that has come with NAFTA. Corn has been synonymous with the Mayan people throughout history; after all, Maya means ’children of the corn’. But in this modern age, capitalism has tainted every civilization in the world. Corn is being imported to compete with internal prices. This modern market has driven the Indian population of Mexico deeper into poverty. Imported corn is cheaply priced, which has driven the price of corn to an all time low, depriving millions of indigenous families, as well as Mexican peasants, from a major cash income. Further development of NAFTA, has called for severe deforestation of the land, as well as the expulsion of indigenous communities from their land. Also, the rate in which cattle and timber are harvested is ridiculously high. Already, oil hungry capitalists have increased oil prospecting in Chiapas which has devastated the ecosystem that was once untouched. An increase of pollution has also been a major problem, since southern Mexico and Central America contain one of the world’s most important rain forest or “The earth’s last lung” as many Mexican Indians put it. The severity of U.S. intervention is evident, as the rate of poverty has increased and the rain forest begins to diminish. U.S. intervention in Latin America has always been negative, but this new chapter that is being written embodies every negative aspect of capitalism, globalization, and America’s fierce arsenal.

“We were at a meeting of women and they told us that the North Americans had been bombed. We did not understand this at first because it is always the North Americans who bomb other people” (Bush fixes Zapatistas). This was the typical reaction of the indigenous people towards 9/11, who know all too well what U.S. military can do. Since the EZLN uprising, the U.S. has increased military aid to Mexico. Many may be familiar with the SOA (School of the Americas), which is known as an effective tool for indirect terrorism upon Latin America. Students who have graduated from the SOA are responsible for Latin America’s worst human rights abuses, among these graduates are infamous dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower level graduates have also participated in human rights abuses, like the massacre of 1,000 civilians at El Mozote in El Salvador. “The SOA is our terrorist training camp” says Vincent Coyle, a U.S. history teacher at Carson High School. Since the Chiapas uprising, “Mexican enrollment at SOA has proceeded accordingly. Here are the figures for number of students: 1994-15; 1995-25; 1996-148; 1997-333; 1998-219” (Blum 62). These newly acquired graduates “have formed an “army of occupation”, which has militarized Chiapas, setting up camps from which they beat, terrorize, often murder, and dislocate the indigenous population and inhibit free movement with road blocks” (Blum 62). Now, how can the U.S. government declare itself a “beacon of freedom” when they are responsible for destroying it all over Latin America? As problems in Chiapas escalated, the U.S. and all its oppressive force came down on Chiapas.

The Mexican government “will need to eliminate the Zapatistas to demonstrate their effective control of the national territory and of security policy…[and] will need to consider carefully whether or not to allow opposition victories if fairly won at the ballot box.” Thus reads a 1995 memorandum from Riordan Roett, a consultant on Latin Americas emerging markets, working for chase Manhattan bank in New York.
(Blum 161)

It is evident that American interest vows to destroy this movement, even if they have to throw democracy out the window. U.S. military aid includes sophisticated weapons such as surveillance technology to track Zapatista fighters in the jungle and hundreds of helicopters, used to attack civilian indigenous communities with machine guns, rockets, and bombs.
Back in 1994, during the first days of the Mexican military’s campaign against the Zapatista rebels, U.S. - manufactured helicopters dropped several bombs and Swiss jet fighters pumped U.S. - made missiles into and around rebel villages.
(Bush fixes Zapatistas)

This military aid is in direct violation of congressional laws, which ban military aid to foreign security units guilty of human-rights violations. With recent events such as 9/11, issues such as terrorism have stirred up. There is no doubt on America’s stance on terrorism, but the U.S. can hardly be excluded as a base for global terrorism. As a result of military aid, thousands of indigenous men, women, and children (born and un-born) have been mangled by U.S. manufactured bullets, charred by U.S. manufactured bombs, and tortured by U.S. sponsored terrorism. While President Bush sits in his throne, labeling countries as “evil” and “not evil”, one must consider American terrorism, which plagues Latin America and other third world countries. Actions like these threaten to destroy Mexico’s blooming opportunity to create a true democracy, and establish equality for all its citizens. U.S. capitalism/terrorism and all its destructive force have cast a malicious shadow over equality and democracy in Mexico, which now hangs in the balance.

In this world, which is now dominated by the ruling gods of market and money, one of the worlds oldest people are stuck in the middle of it. The colonial hatred spread by European conquerors in Latin America has yet to erode, while newly forced agreements, which ultimately hurt the voiceless, are imposed to benefit globalization and oblige assimilation. The spread of capitalism eats away at beautiful cultures leaving behind a vast emptiness that will never be reclaimed. However, if we are to survive, we must stop excluding types of people from our world, because they are “bad for business”. If we realize our arrogant errors, and put aside personal profit, there may be a way for every type of people to live among us, as equals. Like the EZLN stated “What we want is a world we can all live in. The world really needs to be a world” (Chiapas).

Blum, William. Rogue State. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 2000.

“Chiapas”. Noticiero Univision. Univision. Univision, Miami. 17 Jan. 2001.

Coyle, Vincent. Personal Interview. 11 Mar. 2002.

Maldonado, Elizabeth. Personal Interview. 11 Mar. 2002.

Martinez, Maria Elena. “Roots of Rebellion”. Crossroads Magazine. 14 Mar. 2002.
<http://www.cs.unb.ca/~alopez-o/politics/roots.html>

O’Malley, Bryan. “Poblem with NAFTA”. Online Posting. 27 Jun. 1998. Professional
Writing Bulletin Board. 6 Mar. 2001.
<http://www.providence.edu/polisci/projects/zapatistas/nafta.html>

Ross, John. “Bush Fixes Zapatistas”. Online posting. 9 Oct. 2001. Professional Writing
Bulletin Board. <http://www.zmag.org/chiapas1/rosscalam.htm>

Ross, John. The War Against Oblivion. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 2000.

Podur, Justin. “Mexico’s Modern Right”. Online posting. 11 Jun. 2001. Professional
Writing Bulletin Board. 6 Mar. 2001.
<http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2001-06/11podur.htm>