In Mexico, a land with abundant natural resources and astonishing poverty, wealth is distributed along racial boundaries. Mexico's poorest towns are in Chiapas state, towns inhabited primarily by the Tzotziles, Tzeltales, Choles, Mames, Tojolobales, and Zoques--the descendents of the Maya and other ancient peoples. Centuries of high infant mortality, nonexistent health care, widespread malnutrition, and constant land shortages became intolerable in the early 1990's due to a series of economic downturns. In the first days of 1994, just as NAFTA came into effect, the EZLN took control of six municipal seats to bring attention to the oppression of Chiapas' indigenous.

The moral force of this indigenous army captured world media attention and galvanized global support. While the U.S. media have gone back to ignoring Mexico, the problems remain--and so do the Zapatistas, as well as many others struggling for political, economic, and social justice across the nation of 100 million.

When the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) rose up in 1994, it had a plan: to liberate Mexico's southern state of Chiapas and then move northward, eventually advancing on the capital.

After holding positions for several days, the EZLN retreated to its hideaways in the Lacandon Jungle. Soon, a bilateral cease fire was called. For 13 months, the EZLN held a large part of eastern Chiapas. Then, in February 1996, the federal army invaded and established military bases on squatted lands. Entire communities fled into the mountains and the jungle for many weeks, living without permanent shelter and surviving with very little food. Many returned to find horses and housewares stolen, foodstuffs destroyed, and homes burned to the ground.

EZLN and government representatives negotiated and signed the Accord on Indigenous Rights and Culture in February 1996. It was to be the first of six accords; the second never made it to the table. In August 1996, the EZLN refused to resume talks due to the government's increased militarization of the region and tacit support of human rights abuses by the "white guards," private armies maintained by landowners and loyal to the local government.

The peace process has stood at impasse since, but the social ills that led to the rebellion have not been solved. The federal government maintains a "low-intensity war," attempting to break the will of Zapatista communities with fear and hunger. The U.S., of course, has funded much of the government's militarization of the region.

In many ways, day to day life for many of Chiapas' indigenous is worse than before 1994 because of that militarization. At best, the army's ominous presence, with checkpoints, big trucks, and big guns, interferes by blocking access to corn or bean fields, often miles away from the homes of the people who till them. Still worse are the crimes the soldiers and police commit, such as the 1994 rape of three Tzeltal women by soldiers near Altamirano, or the Public Security police killing last March of four members of the center-left opposition party PRD in San Pedro Nixtaculum. In August, when Public Security police forces violently broke up a protest against electoral fraud in Oxchuc, many protesters were "disappeared."

Last month the EZLN, in a way, made good on its initial objective--without arms. On September 12, representatives of the 1,111 Zapatista communities in Chiapas marched on Mexico City, arriving by caravan. Tens of thousands of cheering Mexico City residents filled the main square to greet the Zapatistas, who had made the three-day trip to demand fulfillment of the San Andres Accords, attend the second National Indigenous Congress, and observe the convocation of the Zapatista Front of National Liberation. Typical of zapatismo, it was a time of bold action, historic symbolism, poetry, and soccer games. It was a week of astounding political convergence, proof that, U.S. media silence notwithstanding, the drive for true democracy in Mexico continues.

The non-profit Enlace Civil ("Civil Link") recently formed in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, to coordinate international support, providing for improving education, health care, sustainable agriculture, and community radio stations. The nearby Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center coordinates the "civil camps for peace," placing Mexican and international "companions" in Zapatista towns to discourage military harassment.

Chiapas' indigenous, the most oppressed people of Mexico, are also some of its bravest, but they need support to keep up the fight. To get involved, contact Seattle's Committee Against Repression and for Democracy in Mexico at 206-720-0646, or the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico, at 915-532-8382, e-mail moonlight@igc.apc.org.

--Jeremy Simer