The Zapatista Rebels
"The Electronic Fabric of Struggle"

The sub-title of this section of my paper was borrowed from a chapter written by Harry Cleaver for an upcoming book entitled The Chiapas Uprising and the Future of Revolution in the Twenty-First Century, edited by John Holloway. In this chapter, Cleaver, a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin and undoubtedly one of the authorities on the Chiapas rebellion, analyzes how "The Net" has aided the Zapatistas in bringing their message out into the world. The chapter provides an excellent history of the proliferation of Zapatista materials on the Internet, an overview of the effect this "appropriation of cyberspace" has had on public opinion and an examination of what Cleaver calls "capitalist counterattacks" on this appropriation[1]. Fortunately, the focus of Cleaver's article is sufficiently different from the one I wish to pursue so as to avoid excessive duplication of effort. Nevertheless, his chapter had served as one of the main sources for this subdivision of my paper.

Who Are The Rebels?[2]

On New Years Day, 1994, a virtually unheard-of revolutionary group calling itself the Zapatista National Liberation Army (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional or EZLN) took over a number of villages and cities in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The group proceeded to battle government troops until a fragile cease-fire was arranged at the end of the month. What did these rebels fight for? To understand that question, one must have a general idea of the economic and social conditions in Chiapas. According to George Collier, Chiapas "lags behind the rest of Mexico in almost every way."[3] Only about 11% of the working population earn "moderate incomes" of at least $3,450 per year. Running water is a luxury, and television can be found in less than 15% of the households. At the same time, with only 3 percent of the Mexican population, Chiapas produces 13% of the country's corn and over 50% of the hydroelectric power. Given these numbers, it is easy to understand that most of the money funneled into the state by the federal Mexican government is used to build roads and other infrastructure aiding the transportation of goods from the province to the rest of the country. The large production of corn and other foodstuffs notwithstanding, hunger and disease run rampant among the mostly-Indian population of Chiapas, making it one of the more dismal places in Mexico. The slogan that the Zapatista Rebels have written on their banner is Basta ya! or "Enough is Enough!" In their first communiqué, issued on the first day of their uprising, the EZLN states:

But today, we say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We are the inheritors of the true builders of our nation. The dispossessed, we are millions and we thereby call upon our brothers and sisters to join this struggle as the only path, so that we will not die of hunger due to the insatiable ambition of a 70 year dictatorship led by a clique of traitors that represent the most conservative and sell-out groups.[4]

The mentioned "clique of traitors" refers to none other than the Mexican government, led by the PRI or Party of Institutionalized Revolution, a group that has ruled Mexico since shortly after the 1910 revolution. Calling the PRI "traitors" might not be an exaggeration on the part of the Zapatista propaganda. As recently as 1992, the Mexican government changed Article 27 of the Mexican constitution, a document written after the Revolution in 1917 and realizing many of the ideas and ideals of Emiliano Zapata and others. The change to Article 27 repealed a land reform and thus "robbed many peasants not just of the possibility of gaining a piece of land, but, quite simply, of hope."[5] (A Spanish copy of the Mexican constitution is available on-line; Article 27 is part of Chapter I) The PRI, calling itself the heir to the Mexican Revolution, has long since forsaken the true principles Zapata, Villa and others fought for. As we have examined before, Emiliano Zapata cannot be called a communist revolutionary. The modern Zapatistas also have been regarded by many as communists. It is, however, very hard to box the EZLN's ideology into a traditional category. Some statements regarding their alleged communism:

In a January 19, 1994, interview with Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos:

We do not want a dictatorship of another kind, nor anything out of this world, not international Communism and all that. We want justice where there is now not even minimum subsistence.[6]

In an Interview with the "Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee" -- the Zapatistas' leadership council:

Question: In this sense, the Zapatista movement and the Zapatista revolution have been called the first post-modernist revolution. Now, let's analyze the fact that many current theories of the new left, of an anti-authoritarian left with a definite tendency toward libertarian communism, break with the blueprint that sees the working class as the vanguard of the social revolution. Many of these new theories even see the working class as a class in decline, a class that does not recognize itself as a class, a class that less and less wants to be considered the working class. Is this conception of the working class one that you have adopted during your experiences?
Marcos: No, definitely not. Those idols against which we were fighting were different. The idea that armed struggle was possible in all places except Mexico was so omnipresent that we were obligated to confront it first and leave the rest for later. Beyond this, in historical or theoretical terms, who would have speculated before December 31, 1993 that it wasn't going to be the proletariat leading the revolution? Then who? Who was it going to be? They could have speculated that it would be the teachers, they could have speculated that it would be the unemployed, they could have speculated that it would be the students or some sector of the middle class, they could have speculated that it would be leftist or democratic factions within the Federal Army or within the supposedly democratic faction of the PRI. They could have speculated many things, including that the United States would become socialist and then they would invade us and make us socialists [laughter]. This was the reasoning then. Even in the university this idea had taken root.[7]

Harry Cleaver points out that to be called "communist" in the traditional sense is offensive to the Zapatistas. According to his introduction to Zapatistas! the EZLN "explicitly rejected the traditional Leninist objectives of 'taking power,' 'the dictatorship of the proletariat,' 'international communism' and 'all that.'"[8] Nevertheless, the question of whether one can call these rebels communists or maybe neo-communists might never be settled.

An even more interesting question might be whether these rebels truly are "Zapatistas," i.e. followers of Emiliano Zapata. There are countless references to Zapata in EZLN writings, especially to the Plan of Ayala, Zapata's redistribution plan for some of the hacienda properties and his conditions for laying down arms. When asked to explain the foundation of Zapatista ideology and the structural basis of the movement, Subcomandante Marcos explains that the roots of the organization lie with the Latin American guerrilla movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The EZLN began as a grass-roots organization of indigenous Indians who were disillusioned because nonviolent and non-revolutionary struggle would not lead to a betterment of their living situation. Thus, Marcos says, they arrived at the conclusion that armed struggle was necessary. Interestingly, when Zapatista supporters first began mentioning the need for a revolution, much of the Mexican left disagreed, according to Marcos, and held that revolution "wasn't Mexico's role,"[9] that any change could only be brought about by peaceful methods, partially because of the proximity to the United States.

Marcos uses the metaphor of a "wall" between the cities of Mexico and the jungle, with the wall representing the mountains of southern Mexico. It is this wall that has kept indigenous Mexicans from political power; but it is also the same wall that allowed the modern Zapatista movement to grow clandestinely and gain strength without the Mexican authorities realizing it. While the Zapatistas approached the struggle from a more ideological standpoint, the native population saw things in a more practical light. Says Marcos: "Then, we found each other and we began to speak in two different languages, but in this common point of necessity of armed struggle a relationship began to develop. They needed military instruction, and we needed the support of a social base. And we thus tried to convince them of the necessity of a broader political project."[10] This mixing of a guerrilla army and an indigenous population led to a new ideology and new vision of government. Marcos calls it a "democratic collective," a form of government where positions are filled by community appointment -- one must assume this means a form of election -- and are of indefinite term. The community has the right to remove a person from a position at any time. Leaders would have a chance to defend their actions before the community and the majority would eventually decide whether a person remains in that position or not. Marcos likens this to student assemblies, a horizontal rather than vertical structure of assigning power or positions. One could debate for a long time whether the EZLN is a communist guerrilla army or not. They are certainly not a worker movement, and nowhere in their writings would one find the idea of a supreme proletariat. There is no doubt that they are an "Indianist" movement, fighting mainly for the indigenous people of southern Mexico. This represents a break from the tradition of Zapata, who was less concerned with race and more concerned with class.

Since the second anniversary of the uprising was celebrated in 1996, the EZLN has become much more conciliatory, forming a political wing that will challenge the government with nonviolent means. "'The struggle we launched the first of January of 1994 is entering a new phase,' he [Marcos] said. 'The EZLN (the rebel group) will not disappear, but its most important struggles will be waged in the political arena.'"[11] The government, however, has not reciprocated this dealing and has continued to pursue the Zapatistas with military force as recently as February of 1996.

No discussion of the Zapatistas would be complete without a short sketch of Subcomandante Marcos, their military leader. Appearing in public only behind a skimask, Marcos is surrounded by almost as much mystique as Emiliano Zapata. While the Mexican government claims they have identified him, the Zapatistas argue that, whatever his former identity may have been, it is of no relevance now. It must come as a surprise that Marcos is not an indigenous Mexican but rather either a mestizo or a man of Spanish decent. While he does not sit in the "Clandestine Indigenous Revolutionary Committee" it is not at all clear if he merely follows their orders or makes policy.

It is apparent from Marcos' writings that he is a very well-educated and well-read individual. His sarcasm is biting, his wit is sharp, and his knowledge of Mexican history, world affairs, and ideologies begs the conclusion that he is university-educated. Recently, Marcos has been quoted as wanting to change the EZLN from a rebel movement to a political force in Mexico. When a group calling itself the "Popular Revolutionary Army" appeared on the Mexican political scene in July of 1996, Marcos distanced himself and his organization from the new group, which is calling for violence against the government.

Has the Mexican government succeeded in silencing and co-opting the Zapatistas? It appears doubtful to me, but I am certain the Zapatista situation in Mexico will remain interesting for some time to come.

[Note: For more information on the events surrounding the Zapatista rebellion in 1994, see the Zapatista Timeline.]

The Media Hype

The Zapatista rebellion has been called "post-modern" because of its lack of a clear traditional ideological direction. While it was fought at times with comparatively primitive weapons such as WW2 rifles, the Zapatista uprising is the first major political upheaval that has been extensively covered, commented on, and reported on the Internet. Further than that, the Zapatistas and their supporters have used and continue to use the Internet to broadcast their version of what is happening in Chiapas, bypassing the national Mexican media, largely controlled by the PRI government. This essentially new form of distributing revolutionary material caught the eye of many journalists who promptly reported on this "cyberspace war." A Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, reports that Mexican officials have begun referring to the uprising as la guerra de tinta e Internet or the War of Ink and Internet.

Most articles written in the US have focused on the novelty of having a revolutionary group in a country that some consider to be "Third World" or at least "developing" using the most talked-about new technology of the late 20th century. In a somewhat conceited manner, some reporters -- who must have expected the Zapatistas to fight with sticks and stones and smoke signals -- demonstrated their surprise at this appropriation of the Internet. Not all reporters abstained from romanticizing and probably exaggerating the extent and manner in which the rebels themselves have accessed the Internet. A Christian Science Monitor editorial reports that "Marcos, it turns out, is on-line. Punching out communiqués on a lap-top computer powered from the cigarette lighter in his car, and then passing them along via modem and cellular phone"[12]. It seems rather doubtful that Marcos actually accesses the Internet personally to upload the newest communiqués or maybe to check on the latest world news about his army. Harry Cleaver, who certainly speaks with some authority, asserts that "Subcomandante Marcos is not sitting in some jungle camp uploading EZLN communiqués via mobile telephone modem directly to the Internet. Zapatista messages have to be hand-carried through the lines of military encirclement and uploaded by others to the networks of solidarity."[13] Nonetheless, the information is getting out and various supporters around the world have put up WWW sites to distribute EZLN information, out of the reach of the Mexican government censors.

The German writer Goethe mocks in his masterwork Faust, "Because what one has down in black and white / It is a comfort to take home at night." Unfortunately, in a world where anybody can publish "authoritative" materials on the Internet, one must be careful not to take all that information at face value. In an article called "Mexican Rebels Using A High-Tech Weapon," Tod Robberson of the Washington Post points out that some of the material distributed on the Internet, allegedly by the Zapatistas, does not reflect the true situation in Chiapas. "One user group here sent out a report that airborne bombardments were underway in several named mountain villages and urged an international protest. They passed on rebel assertions that women were being raped and children killed. But reporters who visited those areas and interviewed scores of witnesses said they were unable to confirm even one such incident."[14] Nevertheless, most of the information on-line appears to be genuine.

The Sites

What is actually out there? It would be impossible to list every Internet site that mentions the Zapatista Rebels. An AltaVista Web search for "zapatista*" (which returns all documents that contain words beginning with "zapatista" -- this allows catching the singular and plural of the word) returned over 3000 pages. In the following section, I will examine a select number of Web sites dealing exclusively with the Zapatistas, as well as some sites that mention their cause or are otherwise related to the subject.

¡YA BASTA! Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional Maintained by Justin Paulson New, now located at:www.ezln.org Updated regularly

The most complete page on the Zapatista movement to date, ¡Ya Basta! is deservedly one of Lycos Web Point's top 5% of WWW sites. It contains a regularly updated archive of the communiqués of the EZLN, many of which have been translated into English, some even into other languages such as German. While that list is not complete, all communiqués are HTML-formatted and easy to read or print. A more complete archive, albeit a text-only one, can be found as part of the Chiapas95 mailing list archives. The site provides an invaluable research tool for all who are interested in the Zapatista Rebels. Students who wish to research this topic can find a plethora of primary source information which would otherwise be impossible to track down. Apart from original Zapatista writings, there is a large number of news stories and related information chronicling the rebellion, government responses, and negotiations.

This site is by no means nonpartisan. On the contrary, Paulson clearly supports the Zapatistas and wants his site to "serve as a mouthpiece for the Zapatistas in cyberspace." There is a section titled "How you can help" which lists various ways for those who are interested in activism to get involved in helping the Zapatistas and the people of Chiapas. Possibilities range from writing letters to Mexican officials and lobbying US congressmen to participating in a "peace encampment" in Chiapas or simply helping out with the maintenance of the web page. Naturally, any kind of partisanship will find its detractors and Web Point's reviewer did not take kindly to the lack of even-handedness in Paulson's page:

This unofficial page of the Mexican guerrilla movement (by Swarthmore student Justin Paulson) certainly means well. And there's nothing amusing about war. Yet the page conjures images of Woody Allen's movie classic Bananas by simultaneously condemning and condoning violence: "The Zapatistas... have made every possible move to minimize violence while not compromising their position." ... Info's in English and Spanish, and there are official EZLN communiqués and black and white photos of the leaders in full black-ski-mask regalia.[15]

The mentioned photos, which are hard to find among the various pages, include the image of Subcomandante Marcos which I have included in this page. While the criticism of Paulson's page may be valid, it still provides one of the most useful research tool on the Zapatistas, on or off the WWW. The amount of non-original propaganda written by people other than the rebels is at a minimum, and Paulson reports that his site receives a large number of "hits" (Internet-slang for times accessed) from within Mexico, proving that it is allowing Mexicans with Internet access to circumvent the censorship in their media and receive first-hand Zapatista writings and information.

Acción Zapatista Maintained by NAVE@UTS.CC.UTEXAS.EDU Hosted by www.utexas.edu (Univ. of Texas at Austin) Last updated (as of this writing) November 1996

Acción Zapatista takes a somewhat different approach to the presentation of the Zapatista rebellion. While Justin Paulson's page contains a fair amount of propaganda, this WWW site is composed of little else. The creators, who only identify themselves as Acción Zapatista de Austin (with included e-mail and traditional mail addresses), do not hide their partisanship. In their self-description they write:

Acción Zapatista is an organization that gathers and redistributes information about the Zapatistas and the struggle for democracy in Mexico. We protest US support of the Mexican government, and support local struggles that challenge neoliberal policies and institutions. Because events in different regions are related by the brutal logic of global capital, we invite your input in developing new strategies of organizing and an ongoing understanding of the interconnections between local and international struggles.

Acción Zapatista maintains a communications network designed to link local struggles. The AZ network allows individuals and organizations to collaborate with us via the Internet in order to participate in debate, post important information, request relevant data, present opinions and insights and be informed of upcoming events or actions in the Austin area.[16]

Some of the features of this WWW site that are not included in ¡Ya Basta! include a short history of the Zapatista movement (albeit not a neutral one) and El Paliacate, an electronic newsletter which includes yet more copies of the Zapatistas' communiqués in addition to analysis and commentary written by supporters. One of the most interesting aspects to this page is an essay called "Exposing Neoliberalism" which is available in both English and Spanish. The well-laid-out essay argues against the resurgence of neoliberalism a restoration of classical liberalism which is the foundation of capitalism, according to the author. Or, According to Don Durito (Subcomandante Marcos' pet beetle) neoliberalism is "the chaotic theory of economic chaos, the stupid exaltation of social stupidity, and the catastrophic political management of catastrophe." Durito is a vehicle Marcos uses to explain the Zapatista goal of fighting this perceived "neoliberalism" and conversations with the beetle are a frequent part of the Zapatista communiqués. Incidentally, Don Durito has his own WWW page which includes HTML versions of his stories and a number of original illustrations. Another collection of essays and articles on neoliberalism can be found at "Initiatives against Neoliberalism," an extensive archive of writings in English, Spanish and German, located on a WWW server in Berlin, Germany.

Acción Zapatista is also the home for the "Zapatismo Communications Network," an Internet e-mail list linking supporters of the Zapatistas together and allowing the exchange of information via electronic mail. One of the main concerns of this list is the Red Intercontinental de Comunicación Alternativa (Intercontinental Network of Alternative Communication) or RICA. This proposed network would link together WWW sites, mailing lists, and other on-line elements and unite them in the struggle against neoliberalism. It will be interesting to see if RICA ever goes beyond the planning stage and, if so, what form it will eventually take. Once established, such a network would certainly have to be included in any discussion of the Zapatista presence on the Internet.

Overall, Acción Zapatista is a WWW site calling for action and support, such as a drive for food and money donations, for the Zapatista rebels. One of the most valuable services provided is a list of links to other Zapatista and social activism sites.

Zapatista Net of Autonomy & Liberation (Zapnet) Part of The ACTlab Designed by multimedia students Requires Macromedia Shockwave

Zapnet follows a somewhat different approach to bringing the Zapatista message to the users of the Internet. This site is part of the "The Advanced Communication Technologies Laboratory" or ACTlab, once again at the University of Texas. The "About the ACTlab" page describes this endeavor, a venture of the Department of Radio, Television and Film like this: "We are a freewheeling research facility for advanced work at the boundaries where technology, art, and culture collide." Zapnet was designed by a group of multimedia students and its emphasis clearly lies less with the distribution of Zapatista material but with the stylish and "cyberspacial" presentation of the material. This is a rather large site, with various sections presenting different aspects of the struggle. To fully appreciate the multimedia aspects of Zapnet, one must use a frames-capable WWW browser and have the Macromedia Shockwave Plug-In.

It is hard to describe this site without using somewhat pejorative terms such as "artsy" or "pretentious," but all parts of this project clearly show that their parentage lies with art or multimedia students (a well-designed overview of the available material is provided in the Zapnet Site Guide). There is a plethora of images and animations, including some rather colorful ones about Subcomandante Marcos in a section called "The Revolution Will Be Digitised." Other multimedia aspects include sounds and quick-time movies, mainly video clips taken from commercially available materials on the Zapatistas. Without a doubt, Zapnet is the most colorful WWW-page on the Zapatistas and one of the most multimedia-intensive non-commercial sites on Internet. Zapnet is most likely not a very rich research tool for traditional investigators, but for those looking for non-text-based information Zapnet, with its emphasis on technology and "cyberspace", has a lot to offer.

One of the most noteworthy features of the Zapnet is its "Wall of Autonomy," a page where visitors to the site can leave comments or suggestions readable by all. This allows for a degree of user interaction not seen on other sites. It is often worth the time, just to stop by and check for new contributions.

Other sites

As mentioned before, the number of sites dealing with or mentioning the Zapatistas and their cause is large and constantly growing. To provide a better tool for those researching the EZLN, I have picked a number of other Internet sites which are useful and/or simply interesting in relation to the Zapatistas but which have not been directly mentioned in my writing. Some of these sites may not mention the Zapatistas directly, but they provide useful background material to understand the situation in Chiapas, Mexico, or the developing world as a whole.

• The National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, USA -- According to their WWW site, this is the "structure recognized by the EZLN for coordinating support in the United States." There is a link to a gopher-based archive of NCDM writings as well as membership information.
• Homepage of the PRI -- This site is a minor orgy of self-promotion for the Mexican ruling party, the PRI. A "must" for all interested in Mexico and the Mexican political and electoral processes. This Web site contains an extensive history of the party from 1929 to the present as well as interviews with party and government officials, policy statements, and party platform papers.
• Chiapas 95 Homepage -- Harry Cleaver's page for the Chiapas 95 mailing list contains links to the list archives as well as various articles written by him and other contributors.
• Centro Bilingue de Chiapas -- A language school located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, incidentally the first city to be taken by the Zapatistas during their rebellion. This might be a good way to get to know the region and its people -- traveling or studying in a state with an active guerrilla movement is, however, not recommended for the faint-hearted.
• Rage Against the Machine -- The alternative rock band has written the names of number of causes on their banner, including the EZLN. This site is a good example on how pop culture on the Internet has appropriated political causes. Nothing is safe from merchandising; as an example, see one of the Rage Against the Machine T-shirts.

Note: Citations from the main Zapatista Internet sites discussed in the project are cited in-line with the main text; hyperlinks point directly at the sources. There are also bibliography entries for these sites.

[1] see Cleaver, Harry. The Zapatistas and the Electronic Fabric of Struggle.

[2] Factual information about the Chiapas uprising taken from Cleaver, Collier, and Paulson as well as the various Zapatista documents made available on the Internet (see in-line citations). Image of Subcomandante Marcos from ¡Ya Basta! Map of Chiapas source: Collier.

[3] Collier, p. 16.

[4] see First declaration from the Lacandon jungle by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

[5] Collier, p. 45.

[6] from Cleaver this section on-line at: gopher://lanic.utexas.edu:70/00/la/Mexico/Zapatistas/01

[7] ibid. this section on-line at: gopher://lanic.utexas.edu:70/0R0-113502-/la/Mexico/Zapatista s/11.TXT

[8] ibid. this introduction on-line at: gopher://lanic.utexas.edu:70/0R0-43346 -/la/Mexico/Zapatistas/INTRO.TXT

[9] see footnote [7]

[10] ibid.

[11] from a report by CNN's Lucia Newman

[12] from Christian Science Monitor, "Marcos on the Internet"

[13] see footnote [1].

[14] Robberson.

[15] Web Point, Review of ¡Ya Basta!