The Zapatista uprising in Chiapas

In the early hours of January 1, 1994, masked fighters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) seized San Cristobal de las Casas and several other towns in Chiapas. Their first declaration, issued from the Lacandon Jungle, declared war on the Mexican army and called for a march on Mexico City. Most fighters were Maya Indigenous people from Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal and Chol communities. Their public spokesman was a masked figure called Subcomandante Marcos.¹²

Chiapas was one of Mexico's poorest states, with a rich land base but few services for its Indigenous people. In 1992 the government amended Article 27 of the constitution, ending land redistribution, a key promise of the revolution. NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, took effect the same day as the uprising, and the Zapatistas said it was a death sentence for Indigenous peoples. The EZLN had been organizing quietly in the jungle since 1983.²

Fighting lasted about twelve days, with over a hundred killed, before President Carlos Salinas called a ceasefire. The government and the EZLN signed the San Andres Accords on Indigenous rights in 1996, but legislation passed in 2001 was far weaker than what the rebels wanted. The Zapatistas set up autonomous municipalities in Chiapas and turned to nonviolent organizing. Scholars often cite the movement as among the first to use the internet to build worldwide support.¹²