20th Anniversary Of Zapatista Rebel Movement In Mexico Sees Small Gains For Indigenous, Say Advocates

Animal Politico reports that advocates for the rights of indigenous groups in Mexico say that since the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) stunned Mexican authorities in a Jan. 1st, 1994 uprising in the southeastern state of Chiapas, few advances have been made nationally for the living conditions of indigenous peoples. “In the last twenty years, there hasn’t been any change for the indigenous,” said Gerardo González Figueroa, researcher with El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, in an interview with the site. “The armed uprising in Chiapas served for politicians to benefit from the resources which began to flow into indigenous communities, and since then, discourses about poverty and indigenous clamoring has been utilized even more, but without substantial changes for them in their living conditions.”

The AP reports that about 2,000 people from Mexico and abroad gathered on New Years’ Day to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Zapatistas’ rebellion. In the years following the uprising, the rebels’ autonomous communities became a magnet for leftists and activists from around the world, who were drawn to the Zapatistas for their anarchist modes of organization and promotion of indigenous rights. But Animal Politico notes that a report on indigenous rights in Mexico published three years ago by the UN says that no substantial gains have been made since 1988 for indigenous communities in three major metrics: long and healthy lives, education, and a decent standard of living. In the largely rural areas where those communities are concentrated, the report said, indigenous groups often live in “precarious conditions in terms of education, housing, infrastructure and basic services.”

“With the uprising, indigenous communities became more visible, there’s no doubt about that. But there haven’t been any changes in their favor. Unfortunately, that visibility ends by converting them into political treasure,” said González Figueroa. In Mexico, 8.2 million indigenous people are poor, of which 30.6 percent live in extreme poverty.

In a communique published in La Jornada on Dec. 28, the Zapatistas’ spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos, challenged the idea that little had changed. “If the conditions of the Zapatista indigenous communities are the same as they were 20 years ago and nothing has advanced in their lifestyles, why does the EZLN -- as it did in 1994 with the for-pay press -- ‘open up’ with an escuelita (little school) so that the people from down under can come see directly, without intermediaries, what’s here?” He added, “You all ask, ‘What has the EZLN done for indigenous communities? And we’re responding with the direct testimony of tens of thousands of our peers.”