On New Year's Day, 1994, the world awoke to news of an uprising in southern Mexico. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation, an indigenous guerrilla that had been organizing in secret for a decade, had occupied cities in the state of Chiapas and declared war on the Mexican government. Their demands were basic human rights: land, work, healthcare, education, and justice. It was the last in a long line of attempts at leftist revolution that rocked Latin America during the Cold War era.
At the time, Chiapas was one of the poorest states in Mexico, and the colonial legacy of Indian exploitation was ingrained in its economic and social system. The Zapatista Uprising set off national dialogue and progress around indigenous rights, but it also brought years of counterinsurgency warfare, polarization, and violence to the communities of Chiapas. Negotiations with the rebels eventually broke down, and the state remains militarized today. I began this series in 2011 to look at life in Chiapas on the 20th anniversary of the uprising.
