| Zapatista Army of National Liberation | |
|---|---|
| Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) | |
 Flag of the EZLN | |
| Also known as | Zapatistas |
| Leaders | |
| Foundation | November 17, 1983 (1983-11-17) |
| Dates of operation | 1994–present |
| Country | Mexico |
| Headquarters | San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas |
| Active regions | Chiapas |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Status | Active |
| Size | About 7,000 active participants and militia; tens of thousands of civilian supporters (bases de apoyo) |
| Allies |  Popular Revolutionary Army(denied by EZLN) ETA (mutual supporters, 1995–early 2000s) |
| Opponents | |
| Website | enlacezapatista |
Preceded by National Liberation Forces | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Indigenous rights |
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TheZapatista Army of National Liberation (Spanish:Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional,EZLN), often referred to as theZapatistas (Latin American Spanish pronunciation:[sapaˈtistas]), is afar-left political and militant group that controls asubstantial amount of territory inChiapas, the southernmost state ofMexico.[7][8][9][10]
Since 1994, the group has been nominally at war with the Mexican state (although it may be described at this point as afrozen conflict).[11] The EZLN used a strategy ofcivil resistance. The Zapatistas' main body is made up of mostly ruralindigenous people, but it includes some supporters in urban areas and internationally. The EZLN's main spokesperson isSubcomandante Insurgente Galeano, previously known as Subcomandante Marcos.
The group takes its name fromEmiliano Zapata, the agrarian revolutionary and commander of theLiberation Army of the South during theMexican Revolution, and sees itself as his ideological heir.
EZLN's ideology has been characterized aslibertarian socialist,[3]anarchist,[12] orMarxist,[13] and having roots inliberation theology[14] although the Zapatistas have rejected[15] political classification. The EZLN aligns itself with the wideralter-globalization,anti-neoliberalsocial movement, seeking indigenous control over local resources, especially land. Since their1994 uprising was countered by theMexican Armed Forces, the EZLN has abstained from military offensives and adopted a new strategy that attempts to garner Mexican and international support.
The Zapatistas describe themselves as adecentralized organization. The pseudonymousSubcomandante Marcos is widely considered its leader despite his claims that the group has no single leader. Political decisions are deliberated and decided in community assemblies. Military and organizational matters are decided by the Zapatista area elders who compose the General Command (Revolutionary Indigenous Clandestine Committee – General Command, or CCRI-CG).[16]
The Chiapas region has been the scene of a succession of uprisings, including the "Caste War" or "Chamula Rebellion" (1867–1870) and the "Pajarito War" (1911).[17]
The EZLN emerged during the government of theInstitutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which at the time had ruled Mexico for more than sixty years, in adominant-party system. The situation led many young people to consider the legal channels of political participation closed and to bet on the formation of clandestine armed organizations to seek the overthrow of a regime that from their point of view was authoritarian, and thus improve the living conditions of the population. One of these organizations,[18] was known as theNational Liberation Forces (FLN). The FLN were founded on August 6, 1969, by César Germán Yáñez Muñoz, inMonterrey, Nuevo León. According toMario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, in his reportSubversive movements in Mexico, "they had established their areas of operations in the states ofVeracruz,Puebla,Tabasco,Nuevo León andChiapas."
In February 1974, a confrontation took place inSan Miguel Nepantla [Wikidata],State of Mexico, between a unit of theMexican Army, under the command of Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, and members of the FLN, some of whom died during combat, reportedly having beentortured.[19]
As a consequence of this confrontation, the FLN lost its operational capacity. In the early 1980s, some of its militants decided to found a new organization. Thus, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) was founded on November 17, 1983, by non-indigenous members of the FLN from Mexico's urban north and by indigenous inhabitants of the remote Las Cañadas/Selva Lacandona regions in eastern Chiapas, by members of former rebel movements.[20] Some EZLN leaders have argued that thevanguardist andMarxist–Leninist orientation of the FLN failed to appeal to indigenous locals inChiapas, leading former members of the FLN in the EZLN to ultimately opt for alibertarian socialist andneozapatista outlook.[21][22]
Over the years, the group slowly grew, building on social relations among the indigenous base and making use of an organizational infrastructure created by peasant organizations and theCatholic Church (seeLiberation theology).[23] In the 1970s, through the efforts of theRoman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, most indigenous communities in the Lacandon forest were already politically active and had practice in dealing with governmental agencies and local officials.[20] Specifically in 1974 an indigenous conference brought indigenous peoples from across Chiapas together to discuss their conditions. Promoted and organized by the Catholic church, this event helped foster an indigenous political identity in the region.[24] In the 1980s, they joined with the Rural Collective Interest Association – "Unión de Uniones", (ARIC-UU).[20] However, disputes over strategy in the Chiapas would lead to the EZLN taking on over half of the ARIC-UU's membership in the early 1990s.[20]
The Zapatista Army went public on January 1, 1994, releasing their declaration on the day theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect. On that day, they issued their First Declaration and Revolutionary Laws from theLacandon Jungle. The declaration amounted to a declaration of war on the Mexican government, which they considered illegitimate. The EZLN stressed that it opted for armed struggle due to the lack of results that had been achieved through peaceful means of protest (such as sit-ins and marches).[25]
Their initial goal was to instigate a revolution against the rise ofneoliberalism[26] throughout Mexico, but since no such revolution occurred, they used their uprising as a platform to call attention to their movement to protest the signing of the NAFTA, which the EZLN believed would increase inequality in Chiapas.[27] Prior to the signing of NAFTA, however, dissent amongst indigenous peasants was already on the rise in 1992 with the amendment of Article 27 of the Constitution. The amendment called for the end ofland reform and the regularizing of all landholdings, which ended land redistribution in Mexico.[28] The end of land distribution heralded the end of many communities that had been growing of the past decade, as they had been waiting for further distribution that was on an agrarian backlog according to the government.[28]
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The Zapatistas hosted the Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism to help initiate a united platform for other anti-neoliberal groups.[26] The EZLN also called for greaterdemocratization of the Mexican government, which had been controlled by thePartido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party, also known as PRI) for 65 years, and forland reform mandated by the 1917Constitution of Mexico, which had been repealed in 1991.[29] The Zapatistas had mentioned "independence" among their initial demands; however, it received little systematic treatment from the EZLN until the extensive contact between the Zapatistas and other indigenous organizations during theSan Andrés negotiations and use of natural resources normally extracted from Chiapas. It also advocated for protection from violence and political inclusion of Chiapas's indigenous communities.[30]
On January 1, 1994, an estimated 3,000 armed Zapatista insurgents seized six towns and cities in the Chiapas highlands. The Zapatistas soon retreated to the forest to avoid a federal military offensive.[31]
"The EZLN listed a series of other demands that were a compendium of long-standing grievances of the indigenous communities of Chiapas, but also found echo in broad sectors of Mexican society outside of Chiapas: work, land, housing, food, healthcare, education, independence, liberty, democracy, justice, and peace."[30]
Following aceasefire on January 12, peace talks commenced later in the month between Catholic bishopSamuel Ruiz for the Zapatistas and former mayor of Mexico City,Manuel Camacho Solis, for the state.[32]
Arrest-warrants were made for Marcos,Javier Elorriaga Berdegue, Silvia Fernández Hernández, Jorge Santiago, Fernando Yanez, German Vicente and other Zapatistas. At that point, in the Lacandon Jungle, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation was under military siege by the Mexican Army. Javier Elorriaga was captured on February 9, 1995, by forces from a military garrison at Gabina Velázquez in the town of Las Margaritas, and was later taken to the Cerro Hueco prison inTuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas.[33]
The PGR threatened the San Cristóbal de Las Casas's Catholic Bishop, Samuel Ruiz García, with arrest. Claiming that they helped conceal the Zapatistas' guerrilla uprising, although their activities had been reported years before inProceso, a Mexican leftist magazine. It is likely however that theMexican Government knew about the uprising but failed to act.[34][35][36] This adversely impactedHoly See–Mexico relations.[37]
In response to the siege of the EZLN,Esteban Moctezuma, the interior minister, submitted his resignation to President Zedillo, which Zedillo refused to accept. Influenced by Moctezuma's protest, President Zedillo abandoned the military offensive in favor of a diplomatic approach. The Mexican army eased its operation in Chiapas, allowing Marcos to escape the military perimeter in the Lacandon Jungle.[38] Responding to the change of conditions, friends of the EZLN along with Subcomandante Marcos prepared a report for under-Secretary of the InteriorLuis Maldonado Venegas; the Secretary of the Interior Esteban Moctezuma; and then President Zedillo.[39] The document stressed Marcos'pacifist inclinations and his desire to avoid a bloody war. The document also said that the marginalized groups and the radical left that existed in Mexico supported the Zapatista movement. It also stressed that Marcos maintained an open negotiating track.
In April 2000,Vicente Fox, the presidential candidate for the oppositionNational Action Party (PAN), sent a new proposal for dialogue to Subcomandante Marcos, without obtaining a response. In May, a group of civilians attacked two indigenous people from the autonomous municipality of Polhó, Chiapas. Members of the Federal Police were sent to guarantee the security of the area. The Zapatista coordinators and several non-governmental organizations described it as "a clear provocation to the EZLN."[40]
Vicente Fox was elected president in 2001 (the first non-PRI president of Mexico in over 70 years) and, as one of his first actions, urged the EZLN to enter into dialogue with the federal government. However, the EZLN insisted that it would not return to peace negotiations with the government until seven military positions were closed. Fox subsequently made the decision to withdraw the army from the conflict zone, so all the military located in Chiapas began to leave the area. Following this gesture, Subcomandante Marcos agreed to initiate dialogue with the Vicente Fox government, but shortly thereafter demanded conditions for peace; especially, that the federal government disarm the PRI paramilitary groups in the area.[41]
The Zapatistas marched onMexico City to pressure theMexican Congress and formed theZapatista Information Center, through which information would be exchanged about the trip of the guerrilla delegation to Mexico City, and mobilizations would be articulated to demand compliance with the conditions of the EZLN for dialogue. Although Fox had stated earlier that he could end the conflict "in fifteen minutes",[42] the EZLN rejected the agreement and created 32 new "autonomous municipalities" in Chiapas. They would then unilaterally implement their demands without government support, although they had some funding from international organizations.
On June 28, 2005, the Zapatistas presented theSixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle[43] declaring their principles and vision for Mexico and the world. This declaration reiterated the support for the indigenous peoples, who make up roughly one-third of the population of Chiapas, and extended the cause to include "all the exploited and dispossessed of Mexico". It also expressed the movement's sympathy to the internationalalter-globalization movement and supported leftists governments in Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, and elsewhere, with whom they felt there was common cause.
On May 3–4, 2006, a series of demonstrations protested the forcible removal of irregular flower vendors from a lot inTexcoco for the construction of aWalmart branch. The protests turned violent when state police and theFederal Preventive Police bused in some 5,000 agents toSan Salvador Atenco and the surrounding communities. A local organization called thePeople's Front in Defense of the Land, which adheres to the Sixth Declaration, called in support from other regional and national adherent organizations. "Delegate Zero" and his "Other Campaign" were at the time in nearby Mexico City, having just organized May Day events there, and quickly arrived at the scene. The following days were marked by violence, with some 216 arrests, over 30 rape and sexual abuse accusations against the police, fivedeportations, and one casualty, a 14-year-old boy named Javier Cortes shot by a policeman.[44]
A 20-year-old UNAM economics student, Alexis Benhumea, died on the morning of June 7, 2006, after being in a coma caused by a blow to the head from atear-gas grenade launched by police.[45] Most of the resistance organizing was done by the EZLN and Sixth Declaration adherents, and Delegate Zero stated that the "Other Campaign" tour would be temporarily halted until all prisoners were released.[46][47]
In late 2006 and early 2007, the Zapatistas (throughSubcomandante Marcos), along with otherindigenous peoples of the Americas, announced the Intercontinental Indigenous Encounter. They invited indigenous people from throughout the Americas and the rest of the world to gather on October 11–14, 2007, nearGuaymas,Sonora. The declaration for the conference designated this date because of "515 years since theinvasion of ancient Indigenous territories and the onslaught of the war of conquest, spoils and capitalist exploitation". Comandante David said in an interview, "The object of this meeting is to meet one another and to come to know one another's pains and sufferings. It is to share our experiences, because each tribe is different."[48]
The Third Encuentro of the Zapatistas People with the People of the World was held from December 28, 2007, through January 1, 2008.[49]
In mid-January 2009, Marcos made a speech on behalf of the Zapatistas in which he supported theresistance of thePalestinians as "theIsraeli government'sheavily trained and armed military continues its march of death and destruction". He described the actions of the Israeli government as a "classic military war of conquest". He said, "The Palestinian people will also resist and survive and continue struggling and will continue to have sympathy from below for their cause."[50]
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On December 21, 2012, tens of thousands of EZLN supporters marched silently through five cities in the state of Chiapas:Ocosingo,Las Margaritas,Palenque,Altamirano andSan Cristóbal. Hours after the march, a communiqué from the CCRI-CG was released in the form of a poem, signed by theSubcomandante Marcos.[51] This mobilization, which included the participation of around 40,000 Zapatistas, was the largest since the 1994 uprising. Of this number,La Jornada estimated that half would have marched through the streets of San Cristóbal de las Casas, 7,000 in Las Margaritas and 8,000 in Palenque; for its partEl País calculated that San Cristóbal would have seen the concentration of some 10,000 participants.[52][53]
Beyond the number of people, the silence with which they marched and the lack of an opening or closing speech were the elements that marked this action. The poet and journalistHermann Bellinghausen, specialist in coverage of the movement, ended his chronicle in this way:[54]
Able to "appear" suddenly, the rebellious indigenous "disappeared" as neatly and silently as they had arrived in this city at dawn that, two decades after the EZLN's traumatic uprising here on the new year of 1994, received them with care and curiosity, without any expression of rejection. Under the arches of the mayor's office, which today suspended its activities, dozens of Ocosinguenses gathered to photograph with cell phones and cameras the spectacular concentration of hooded people who filled the park like a game ofTetris, advancing between the planters with an order that seemed choreographed, to get the platform installed quickly from early on, raise their fist and say, quietly, "here we are, once again".[52]
The Zapatistas invited the world to a three-day fiesta to celebrate ten years of Zapatista autonomy in August 2013 in the five caracoles of Chiapas. They expected 1,500 international activists to attend the event, titled the Little School of Liberty.[55][56]
In June 2015, the EZLN reported that there was aggression against indigenous people in El Rosario, Chiapas; The report, signed by Subcomandante Moisés, indicated that the attack occurred that same month and year. In addition, there was a complaint by theLas Abejas Civil Society Organization that stated that an indigenousTzotzil person was assassinated on June 23 on 2015.[57]
In 2016, at theNational Indigenous Congress, the EZLN agreed to select a candidate to represent them in the2018 Mexican general election. This decision broke the Zapatista's two-decade tradition of rejecting Mexican electoral politics. In May 2017,María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, a woman of Mexican andNahua heritage, was selected to stand,[58][59] but she was unable to gather the 866,000 signatures required to appear on the ballot.[60]
At the end of August 2019, Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano announced the expansion of EZLN into 11 more districts.[61] In response, PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador stated that this expansion was welcome, provided it was done without violence.[62]
The EZLN has made opposition to mega-infrastructure projects in the region a major priority.[63][64] In 2020, it announced theJourney for Life and in 2021, Zapatistas visited various activist groups in Europe.[65][66]
In November 2023, the EZLN announcedthe dissolution of the Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities due to growing violence in the region.[67] Later that month, they announced the reorganisation of the MAREZ into thousands of "Local Autonomous Governments" (GAL) which form area-wide "Zapatista Autonomous Government Collectives" (CGAZ) and zone-wide "Assemblies of Collectives of Zapatista Autonomous Governments" (ACGAZ).[68]
In June 2025, the EZLN said "TheNational Indigenous Congress and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation condemn the police violence with which our Ñhöñhö brothers and sisters Estela Hernández, Sergio Chávez, Jesús Torres, Leonardo García, and Martín Álvarez, along with two others whose identities we have not been able to establish, were arrested and tortured. Their bodies were the center of the hatred andracism that characterizeMauricio Kuri's government inQuerétaro, just as the dispossession and destruction emanating from the Mexican state and its institutions are centered on our Mother Earth and among the indigenous peoples."[69]
The neo-Zapatistas did not proclaim adherence to a specific political ideology beyond left-wing politics. The ideology of the Zapatista movement,Neozapatismo, synthesizes Mayan tradition with elements oflibertarian socialism,[70]anarchism,[12] Catholic liberation theology[71] andMarxism.[13][72] Some authors also draw parallels between neozapatismo andautonomism, while others argue it can be better defined as semi-anarchist.[73] The historical influence ofMexican anarchists and various Latin American socialists is apparent in Neozapatismo. The positions ofSubcomandante Marcos add a Marxist[74] element to the movement. A Zapatista slogan is in harmony with the concept ofmutual aid: "Everything for everyone. Nothing for us" (Para todos todo, para nosotros nada).
The EZLN opposeseconomic globalization, arguing that it severely and negatively affects the peasant life of its indigenous support base and oppresses people worldwide. The signing ofNAFTA also resulted in the removal of Article 27, Section VII, from theMexican Constitution, which had guaranteed land reparations to indigenous groups throughout Mexico through collective land tenure.[75]
Postcolonialism scholars have argued that the Zapatistas' response to the introduction of NAFTA in 1994 may have reflected a shift in perception taking place in societies that have experienced colonialism.[76]
The Zapatistas have used organizations like theUnited Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to raise awareness for their rebellion and indigenous rights, and what they claim is the Mexican government's lack of respect for the country's impoverished and marginalized populations.[77] Appealing to the ECOSOC and other non-governmental bodies may have allowed the Zapatistas to establish a sense of autonomy by redefining their identities both as indigenous people and as citizens of Mexico.[78]
One of the most important tenets of Zapatista ideology wasliberation theology, with theBishop of ChiapasSamuel Ruiz being considered the key figure.[79] The Zapatista movement is outwardly secular, and does not have an official religion. However, the overarching Zapatista movement has been influenced by liberation theology and its proponents. The organization established early on that it "has no ties with any Catholic religious authorities nor authorities of any other creed."[80]
Local Catholic clergy was catalytic for the formation of neo-Zapatistas in Chiapas, given the strong position that the Church enjoyed within local indigenous communities. Indigenous catechists that taught liberation theology proved essential in organising the local population, and gave the aura of legitimacy to movements hitherto considered too dangerous or radical. The activity of Catholic socialist catechists in the region allowedFLN to make inroads with local villages and start cooperating with Catholic association Slop (Tzeltal name for 'root'), whose primary aim was organizing indigenous resistance. Cooperation of FLN with local Catholic activists then gave birth to zapatista EZLN.[81]
In the decades preceding the 1994 uprising, theRoman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, guided by the BishopSamuel Ruiz, developed a cadre of indigenous catechists.[71] In practice, these liberationist Christian catechists promoted political awareness, established organizational structures, and helped raise progressive sentiment among indigenous communities in Chiapas.[82] The organization of these catechists and events such as the 1974 Indigenous Congress laid much of the ideological and often organizational groundwork for the EZLN to unite many indigenous communities under a banner of liberation. Further, many of these indigenous catechists later joined and organized within the EZLN.[83]
Anthropologists Duncan Earle and Jeanne Simonelli assert that the liberationist Catholicism spread by the aforementioned catechists which emphasized helping the poor and addressing material conditions in tandem with spiritual ones brought many indigenous Catholics into the Zapatista Movement.[84] Beyond just the Zapatistas, the blossoming indigenous resistance and identity of the late 20th century saw a broader indigenous movement based in indigenous liberationist Christianity.[85] One such group in the broader movement isLas Abejas, an ecumenical Christian organization. Supported, but not controlled by the Diocese of San Cristobal, Las Abejas is dedicated to nonviolence, but shares sympathies and solidarity for the aims of the Zapatistas.[86] Due to their ties to the Zapatistas, 45 Las Abejas members were killed in theActeal Massacre in 1997.[87]
Once EZLN rebelled in 1994, the Catholic Church was accused of inciting the rebellion; this accusation was confirmed by Zapatistas, who credited local catechists with persuading local indigenous population to participate in the uprising.[88] The Zapatista movement was therefore described as one that combines Marxism with traditional, Catholic spirituality.[89] Because of its commitment to Catholicism, the EZLN was able to rally even conservative Catholics behind its socialist cause.[90]
The Zapatistas initially focused on the news media as a weak point of the Mexican federal government and turned the Chiapas war from a military impossibility to an informational guerrilla movement. From 1994 to 1996, the Zapatistas enjoyed favorable news coverage from national and international media, particularly via Subcomandante Marcos as its spokesperson.[91] Marcos and the Zapatistas would issue hundreds of missives, holdencuentros (mass meetings), give numerous interviews, meet high-profile public and literary figures includingOliver Stone,Naomi Klein,Gael García Bernal,Danielle Mitterrand,Régis Debray,John Berger,Eduardo Galeano,Gabriel García Márquez,José Saramago andManuel Vázquez Montalbán, participate in symposia and colloquia, deliver speeches, host visits by thousands of national and international activists, and participate in two marches that toured much of the country.[92]
Media organizations from North and South America, as well as from many European and several Asian nations, have granted press coverage to the movement and its spokesperson. The EZLN's writings have been translated into at least 14 different languages and Marcos, according to journalist Jorge Alonso, had by 2016 been the subject of "over 10,000 citations".[93] As EZLN external communications dissipated after 1994, their mainstream coverage similarly decreased, particularly as spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos became critical of the media in 1996 and 1997.[94]
The Zapatistas' communication strategy evolved to incorporate mythopoetic techniques, blending Indigenous storytelling traditions with political messaging andmagical realism. This approach allowed the Zapatistas to transcend the constraints of standard Spanish prose, which they viewed as embedded with colonial and hegemonic biases. By employing mythopoetics—a style characterized by metaphorical narratives, allegories, and cultural symbolism—they effectively communicatedMesoamerican philosophical tenets while broadening their appeal to both local and international audiences.[95]
Zapatista communities build and maintain their own health, education, and sustainableagro-ecological systems, promote equitable gender relations viaWomen's Revolutionary Law, and build international solidarity through outreach and political communication, in addition to their focus on building "a world where many worlds fit". The Zapatista struggle re-gained international attention in May 2 of 2014 with the death of teacher and education promoter José Luis Solís López a.k.a. "Teacher Galeano" (a self chosen name honoring anti-capitalist authorEduardo Galeano),[96] who was murdered in an attack on a Zapatista school and health clinic led by local paramilitaries of the Central Independiente de Obreros Agrícolas y Campesinos Histórica,[97] (Historical Independent Central of Agricultural Workers and Peasants, CIOAC-H).[98][99] In the weeks that followed, thousands of Zapatistas and national and international sympathizers mobilized and gathered to honor Galeano. This event also saw the unofficial spokesperson of the Zapatistas, Subcomandante Marcos, announce that he would be stepping down.[100][101]
The Zapatistas continued to control the Chiapas area through the late 2010s, with around 300,000 people across 55 municipalities. These poor communities run and train their own civic programs (education, health, government, justice) autonomously, with little interference from the Mexican government.[102]
The 1994 uprising has led to broader interest in the area, also known asZapatourismo. Stores in San Cristóbal capitalize on revolutionary chic, selling balaclavas, music, and shirt souvenirs.[102] Subcomandante Marcos's image and signature balaclava and pipe are widely appropriated in the tourism industry, similar to the iconic status ofChe Guevara.[102][103] Visitors cannot tour the villages but can attempt to visit thecaracol administrative centers, subject to the approval of a reception committee.[102] Marcos's fame had subsided by the early 2020s.[103]
Two American rock bands have voiced support for the Zapatistas.Rage Against the Machine released three songs in support of the EZLN, including "People of the Sun" (1996).[104] The extreme metal bandBrujeria is also known for their support of the Zapatistas.[105]
The EZLN invited supporters to Chiapas for two days of celebration in honor of their 30th anniversary in 2023.[103]
Since the onset, they have resisted any political classification and prefer to adhere to a political philosophy called neozapatismo that embodies their struggle for a better world vision. The EZLN is passionately anticapitalist, anti-neoliberalism, and anti-imperialist.
... in the period since the fall of the Berlin Wall, two events stand out as examples of libertarian socialist experimentation: the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico in 1994 ...
A second source of Zapatismo, we were told, was liberation theology. Bishop Samuel Ruiz was the key figure.
Latin American liberation theology, and the Zapatistas most incisively, have given us a new hypothesis. It combines Marxist analysis of the dynamics of capitalism with a traditional spirituality, whether Native American or Christian, or a combination of the two. It rejects the goal of taking state power and sets forth the objective of building a horizontal network of centers of self-activity."
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