IV.

Political Changes Affecting the Zapatistas

In 2000 Mexico elected a new president, Vicente Fox. Fox was the first president in modern Mexican history to represent a party other than the PRI. He moved quickly to withdraw troops and close military garrisons in Zapatista-held areas in Chiapas. These actions provided some political space for the Zapatistas who subsequently organized a 3,200-km (2,000-mi) march from the jungles of Chiapas to Mexico City. The Zapatistas used the march, which ended in the central plaza of Mexico City, the Zocalo, to call for constitutional and legal reforms regarding the rights of Mexico’s 10 million indigenous peoples. Subsequently, the government approved legislation it touted as satisfying the EZLN’s demands, but the Zapatistas denounced it as inadequate.

During the government withdrawal from the Zapastista-controlled areas, the EZLN began to seal off its remote highland strongholds from all outsiders, including journalists, human rights workers, and other observers. At the same time the Zapatistas operated roadblocks throughout the region, stopping traffic and charging highway taxes to vehicle drivers. The Zapatistas claimed that members of the PRI formed vigilante groups and engaged in political intimidation and violence against pro-Zapatista villages. On the other hand, non-Zapatista villages denounced harassment and intimidation by the EZLN.

August 2003 marked a significant milestone in the EZLN’s strategy in the Chiapas highlands. It withdrew its military forces (believed to number 200 to 400), discontinued roadblocks, and turned over governance to civil authorities of the EZLN.

The new civil structure combined some 30 Mexican municipalities into five new autonomous indigenous areas. These five areas, ruled by Good Governance Councils, were called caracoles. They cover about one-third of Chiapas and include municipalities that are not sympathetic to the Zapatistas, a possible flashpoint for future conflicts in the region.

The group’s longtime spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos, appeared in public for the first time in four years in August 2005. Marcos denounced Mexico’s leading political parties—particularly the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and its leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador—for failing to support Native American rights and said the Zapatistas would work with other leftist groups to influence future elections.