Mexico's Zapatista Rebel Movement Marks 20 Years After the Uprising Jose Maria Alvarez - Associated Press
go to original January 1, 2014

What happened to Mexico's rebel Zapatistas? The BBC's Will Grant reports from Chiapas, where the group continues to push for greater recognition of their rights in what is one of the poorest regions of Mexico. (BBC)

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico — In the misty mountain strongholds of the southern Mexico state of Chiapas, ski mask-clad members and supporters of the Zapatista rebel movement gathered to mark the 20th anniversary of a New Year's uprising that wrenched the world's attention to the plight of the country's impoverished and oft-ignored indigenous.

On Tuesday night, the Zapatistas and hundreds of sympathizers from around the world remembered an armed uprising that although quick, calming after a few days of bloodshed under a government truce, was followed by an occasionally tense two-decade standoff.

One of the celebrations in a school yard in the town of Oventic drew about 2,000 people who danced, played basketball and performed political songs in the chilly night. With supporters from the U.S., Spain, Italy and other countries listening, several Zapatista commanders spoke for about an hour in Spanish and the indigenous languages of Tzotzil and Tzeltal.

They recalled how the Zapatista rebellion stunned Mexico and drew widespread support from leftists across the world with their message of indigenous rights and opposition to economic globalization. But since then, little has changed in the secretive, closed-off enclaves the Zapatistas have formed in the half-dozen communities they hold.

Poverty remains as bad as, or worse than it was before the uprising, in part because the Zapatistas refuse all government aid programs.

And the world's attention has drifted to other, more outwardly successful efforts in indigenous empowerment.

Read the rest at The Bellingham Herald

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