A Snapshot of Internet Activism: the Zapatistas of Chiapas

Some of you may remember my blog post last week about the book @ Is for Activism.  The basic idea was that the rapid and decentralized transfer of information on the Internet allowed activists to organize and spread their message with little interference from censors.

Today I'd like to share a real life example of Internet activism that I learned about in my class on Hispanic-American Culture.  In Chiapas, a state in southern Mexico, the revolutionary group Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN or Zapatista Army of National Liberation) uses the Internet to disseminate information, organize, and promote their cause.

The EZLN came into the public spotlight on January 1, 1994, when they seized control of the town San Cristobal de las Casas and of several other small towns to protest the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which came into effect the same day.  The Mexican government quickly sent troops and retook the town, but the Zapatista message was now on the world's radar.

The EZLN is composed mostly of indigenous Mayan residents in Chiapas, though their main spokesperson, Subcomandante Marcos, is not indigenous.  They protest NAFTA because it floods the Mexican market with cheap produce from the U.S. that poor rural farmers can't compete with.  NAFTA also removed a clause from the Mexican constitution stipulating that the government would give lands to indigenous people.

Since 1994, the EZLN has used mostly non-violent methods to promote their cause. One of their main methods?  The Internet.  Instead of staying local, the EZLN has used the Internet to go global.
The documentary A Place Called Chiapas, produced in 1996, spends considerable time emphasizing the movement's use of the Internet.  It includes an interview with a member of the EZLN leadership whose sole responsibility is to create support through publicity online.  The EZLN have their own website, http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/, which gives regular updates on the movement.  They also have an online magazine, Rebeldia (Rebellion), at revistarebeldia.org.  Since the organization thrives on the anonymity of its leaders, who wear masks in public, the Internet is a useful way to spread information anonymously.

What I find most interesting is how the Internet allowed the Zapatista's to go global instead of staying local.  In 1996 the EZLN issued an open invitation  to a conference in Chiapas via their website to people all over the world interested in their cause and in broader issues of social justice.  A few thousand people from several different countries showed up to debate issues surrounding the rebellion and show support for the cause.  More recently, from December 28, 2007 to January 1, 2008, the EZLN organized the Third Encuentro of the Zapatistas People with the People of the World.  

Whether you agree with the Zapatista cause or not, isn't it AWESOME that a relatively unknown and small political movement in rural Mexico could use the Internet to garner international support?  I love how in response to the online invitation, people from all over the world came to show support for the Zapatistas.  The Internet isn't just good news for activists.  It's good news for anyone who cares about what humans on different parts of the globe are going through.  The Internet helps us stay informed about important issues, gives us more avenues to contribute to or show support for far-away causes, and helps us organize with people across the globe.  And every once in a while it gets us invited to a big fiesta in southern Mexico.