In Chiapas, dissatisfaction and revolutionary fervour has been growing for over 500 years, due to the extreme poverty, discrimination and repression faced by indigenous groups since the Spanish conquest.
Emiliano Zapata was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution at the beginning of the twentieth century. Indigenous and incorruptible, he refused to take power; his slogan was "land and freedom", he believed "the land belongs to those who work it", and "it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees". Betrayed and assassinated in 1918, legend says that he is not dead, but waiting in the mountains.
Since the 1970s, guerrilla groups have been growing in Chiapas. The Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), named for Zapata, is founded by six people in secret in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas in 1983, and spends over ten years working with, and learning from, the indigenous peoples. The result is an armed uprising.
1994
January
On January 1st, a previously unknown force, the EZLN (the Zapatista Army of National Liberation) emerges in Chiapas and takes control of seven towns in the eastern part of the state. After massive international pressure and solidarity, a ceasefire is called on Jan 12th. It is proposed that a "dialogue should begin between the federal government and the EZLN, with the purpose of finding a just and dignified political outcome appropriate to the present conflict."
February
The Dialogue for Peace and Reconciliation in Chiapas begins.
March - May
The communities consult about the outcome of the dialogue. The Mexican army is building up its forces in Chiapas.
June
The communities decide to reject the dialogue's conclusions but not to go back to war.
August
The Zapatistas hold a national meeting for civil society, the National Democratic Convention, in a specially constructed centre in Guadalupe Tepeyac, named 'Aguascalientes'.
December
The EZLN forces slip through the military encirclement and set up 39 autonomous municipalities. The next day the Mexican currency collapses, and US President Clinton agrees to a US$30 billion bailout for Mexico.
1995
January
Chase Manhattan Bank memo calls for the Mexican government to eliminate the Zapatistas.
February
Without warning the government puts out arrest warrants for the Zapatista general command, and the army goes on the offensive in Zapatista areas. The EZLN retreats to the hills, holding their fire and appealing to civil society for support to avert a massacre. 30,000 people are displaced as the Mexican army advances into the communities.
August
National Consultation for Peace and Democracy held by Zapatistas throughout Mexico. Over a million people vote.
November
New dialogues begin in San Andrés.
1996
January
The Zapatistas call for the creation of the FZLN (the Zapatista Front of National Liberation) and the holding of a national and international gathering. Marcos goes to San Cristóbal to address the National Indigenous Forum called by the Zapatistas. The first campaign to expel foreigners begins in the wake of this.
February
On the 10th the first large scale civil mobilisation of Zapatistas takes place when hundreds march on the town of Guadalupe Tepeyac which has been occupied by the military. On the 16th the San Andrés accords are agreed after months of negotiations, outlining a programme of indigenous rights and autonomy and land reform.
March
To mark International Women's day, 5,000 Zapatista women march through San Cristóbal.
April
First Continental Encounter for Humanity and against Neoliberalism is held in La Realidad.
June
Two significant Zapatista prisoners, Elorriaga and Entzin, are released.
July - August
The First Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and against Neoliberalism, the Intergalactica, is held at five different Zapatista communities in Chiapas. About 5,000 people from 43 countries attend.
August
The Zapatistas react to the growing militarisation and the racism towards their delegates at the talks by breaking off the peace negotiations.
October
Ramona attends the first National Indigenous Congress in Mexico City.
December
President Zedillo formally vetoes the San Andrés Accords.
1997
January
The 'Low Intensity War' intensifies.
February
The largest demonstration of Zapatistas until now takes place in San Cristóbal, demanding the government keeps its word. The government effectively rejects the law drafted by Cocopa (The Commission of Concord and Pacification) which would have implemented the San Andrés agreement.
April - May
As the state-sponsored paramilitary groups become more blatant in their operations, the military build-up reaches massive proportions. Military bases are now near 80% of the Zapatista communities.
July
The Second Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and against Neoliberalism begins in Spain.
September
Despite attempts to stop Zapatistas from leaving Chiapas, 1,111 travel to Mexico City for the National Indigenous Congress and to observe the founding of the unarmed FZLN.
November
Build-up of extreme violence by paramilitary groups.
December
On December 22nd 1997 pro-government paramilitaries enter the community of Acteal, and over the course of several hours massacre 45 refugees there, mainly unarmed women and children belonging to the pacifist group, Las Abejas (Zapatista sympathisers).
1998
"A year of government war against the indigenous communities of Mexico".
January
In the immediate aftermath of the Acteal massacre, the army starts to raid Zapatista communities, prompting a massive international response. In retaliation the government starts a campaign to expel international human rights observers. Over 150 are expelled over the next two years.
April
The army begins to dismantle autonomous Zapatista communities. Over 1,000 troops and police invade four communities.
June
The autonomous municipality of San Juan de la Libertad is attacked by the army on June 9th. At least eight civilians and one policeman are killed. The resulting outcry from civil society temporarily halts the army offensive.
November
Meeting between the EZLN and 'civil society' to plan the future referendum.
1999
March
The Zapatistas send one man and one woman to every municipality in the country to hold the Consulta Nacional (national referendum) about the recognition of Indigenous Rights and Culture. Over 3 million Mexicans take part, agreeing that the San Andrés accords should be implemented.
April
State police occupy the autonomous community of San Andrés and install a PRI mayor. The next day, 3,000 unarmed masked Zapatistas take back the community, and restore their own elected representatives.
May
In the wake of the Consulta, the Zapatistas call the Second National Gathering of Civil Society. 2,000 people attend. Meanwhile the state continues a new strategy of staging photo calls at which small groups of 'Zapatistas' come out of the jungle and lay down their arms.
August
The National Encuentro in Defence of the Cultural Heritage is held in La Realidad. A major confrontation blows up as the military try and build a new road to encircle the Zapatista heartland. The army occupy Amador Hernandez.
September
The government once more tries its strategy of offering new peace talks before it has implemented what has already been agreed at San Andrés.
2000
January
New wave of harassment begins against foreigners in Chiapas, along with a further build-up of troops.
March
Reports emerge that the government gave some reporters paid positions in the army in order to buy favourable coverage of their war in Chiapas.
April
The government builds towards a major operation in the Selva (jungle) under the pretext of protecting the Montes Azules biosphere.
July
The PRI lose the presidential election to the PAN's Fox after over 70 years in power. However, few real changes emerge, and the low intensity war and paramilitary attacks continue.
September - November
The PRI is defeated in the elections for the governorship of Chiapas, but continues to hold a majority in the state congress. Despite Fox's talk of implementing the San Andrés Accords, the conflict continues.
December
On taking office, Fox orders the army to withdraw from a few positions in the rebel area of Chiapas as a token goodwill gesture. The Zapatistas announce they will march to Mexico City to demand the government approve the Law on Indigenous Rights and Culture.
2001
January
The peace process starts to unravel as the army continues to maintain bases at five of the seven sites they must withdraw from before dialogue can start.
February
The EZLN High Command"s march to Mexico City gets going on the 24th, despite government attempts to sabotage it.
March
'The march of the people who are the colour of the earth' reaches Mexico City, where 250,000 people greet their arrival in the Zocalo (the main square). After some delay the PAN reverse their initial decision, and the Zapatistas are invited to address the national Congress. On the same day the army abandons the last of the seven bases demanded by the Zapatistas.
April
The Zapatistas arrive back in Chiapas. The government passes the Law on Indigenous Rights and Culture, but omits the most important parts: the Zapatistas and indigenous groups throughout Mexico reject it.
August
There are reports of major troop movements in Zapatista areas.
September - December
A long period of silence follows, but in the background the 'Low Intensity War' goes on with several attacks in October.
2002
January - April
Conflict is building over government plans to expel Zapatista communities from the Montes Azules Biosphere.
May - July
Three more Zapatista prisoners are released and another Encuentro takes place in Belen, Brazil.
August
Paramilitary activity is stepped up with attacks on the autonomous townships resulting in four dead, more than twenty wounded, and many displaced.
September
The Supreme Court upholds the watered down version of its Law on Indigenous Rights and Culture ignoring over 300 complaints raised against it. Widespread protests follow. A political solution to the conflict becomes less and less likely.
November
First edition of a new Zapatista magazine, Rebeldia, is published.
December
Subcomandante Marcos sends a series of letters and communiqués an Opportunity for the Word, in relation to the Basque conflict, breaking the EZLN"s silence. The first displacement of indigenous villages begins in the Montes Azules biosphere reserve. Zapatista communities located there pledge to stay and fight.
2003
January
To mark the ninth anniversary of the uprising in Chiapas, over 20,000 Zapatistas gather in the main square in San Cristóbal, taking over the city again. During this gathering, the EZLN break their two year silence as seven commandantes and commandantas give speeches criticising the neoliberal policies of the Mexican government and the USA, showing solidarity with other struggles in Mexico and around the world, and affirming their decision to implement the San Andrés Accords.
The EZLN start to release a series of thirteen articles marking a Calendar of Resistance, linking the struggles from below throughout Mexico.
February
The Zapatistas speak out against the war in Iraq.
April
Luxury ecotourism projects are being pushed forward in the Montes Azules biosphere reserve threatening the jungle and the communities living in it.
July
New military checkpoints are being installed, and there is an increase in paramilitary activity.
August
Without asking anyone's permission, the Zapatistas implement the San Andrés accords themselves in their territories. On August 9th, at a major celebration in Oventik, attended by more than ten thousand people, they formally declare the death of the Aguascalientes, and the birth of the five autonomous Caracoles, political and cultural centres, and their Good Government Juntas, who "govern by obeying". This marks the full separation of the Zapatista civil and military structures and authorities, and the symbolic creation of full autonomy. "There has been a time to ask, a time to demand, now is the time to act".
First broadcast is made of Radio Insurgente, the Zapatista radio station which brings news to the remotest communities.
2004
January
The year began with celebration of the anniversary of 20 and 10: the Fire and the Word, the Zapatistas' tenth year of public existence, which followed 10 years clandestine organising in the Lacandon Jungle.
The year is marked by an increase in military and police presence, and by renewed efforts to remove communities from the Montes Azules biosphere reserve "in the interests of preserving the jungle". In fact, 52 ecotourism projects are being set up, a road built to Laguna Miramar and a bridge built over the River Jataté.
April
A large demonstration of Zapatistas carrying water to a community in Zinacantan is attacked by the PRD authorities. 29 Zapatistas have to be taken to hospital and 125 families flee for several weeks.
August
The first financial accounts of the new JBGs are summarised. They are doing well.
November
The first episode of the story muertos incomodos, The Uncomfortable Dead, is published in La Jornada, with alternate episodes written weekly by Marcos and Paco Ignacio Taibo. It is subtitled What's Missing is Missing.
2005
June
The EZLN call a Red Alert in Zapatista territory. Nine days later they publish the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, usually known as The Sexta, the first such document they have released since July 1998. It defines who the Zapatistas are, how they got to where they are now, how they see the world, what they want for Mexico and the world, and what they want to do now, which is to go in search of what is missing, the rest of Mexico, and to plan another Intergalactica.
The EZLN announce the birth of a new campaign (La Otra) to bring together leftist groups all over the country and try and decide on a nationwide plan of action to bring about radical social change.
August
The Other Campaign begins with a series of preparatory meetings in Zapatista territory, where unions, campesino organisations, indigenous groups, social justice organisations, collectives, NGOs, and all groups and individuals "from below and to the left" come from all over Mexico to present themselves, their struggles, and their vision of how the campaign could be brought about.
September
The meetings culminate in a plenary in the Caracol of La Garrucha, where the main points and general principles of the campaign are agreed on, and the Other Campaign is handed over to its adherents.
October
64 leftist political organisations, 118 indigenous groups, 197 social organisations, 474 NGOs, groups and collectives and 1898 individuals have already signed up to become part of the Other Campaign.
2006
January
The campaign is launched on 1st January when Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, as Delegate Zero, begins a tour of every state in the country to make contact with all the groups who are taking part in the campaign. The tour is due to return to Chiapas in June, just before the presidential elections… if everything goes according to plan.
Ramona dies of kidney failure on 6th January.
May
The Other Campaign is forced to halt in Mexico City, following the devastating police attack on the People's Front in Defence of the Land in San Salvador Atenco, during which 275 people are arrested and detained, two killed, and 23 women sexually abused by police. Demonstrations are held in thirty countries. A Red Alert is called in Zapatista territory, and the Caracoles and communities are closed to outsiders.
October
The Other Campaign resumes in the north of Mexico. The Caracoles are re-opened.
Zapatistas announce a national and cross-border consulta to be held about the internal workings of the Other Campaign, and a forthcoming intergalactic gathering.
November
The Other Campaign reaches the bridge from Ciudad Juarez to the United States.
Hurricane Stan devastates Western Chiapas and Tabasco. The Zapatistas are among the first to bring aid.
Zapatista support bases block all major roads in Chiapas in support of the APPO in Oaxaca.
December
First phase of the Other Campaign comes to an end after travelling 45,000 kilometres.
2007
January
The First Encounter between the Zapatistas and the Peoples of the World is held in Oventik over the New Year, giving the Zapatistas the opportunity to explain their autonomous organisation to over 2,000 people from 43 countries.
February
Zapatistas set up International Peace Camps at Huitepec near San Cristóbal, and in the Cucapa lands in el Mayor, Baja California, under the title The Indigenous People in Defence of Life, Culture and Nature, Below and to the Left.
March
Launch of the International Campaign in Defence of the Indigenous, Peasant and Autonomous Lands and Territories of Chiapas, Mexico and the World, endorsed by, as well as the Zapatistas, groups including the Landless Movement of Brazil (MST) and the international agrarian reform organisation Via Campesina.
This launch also marks the beginning of the second phase of the Other Campaign, travelling to the north of Mexico, this time with the participation of 15 EZLN commanders.
June
Completion of the first part of the second phase of the Other Campaign in Northern Mexico. Commanders return to Chiapas.
Attacks on Zapatista communities by paramilitary groups such as OPDDIC, as part of their continuing campaign to take land 'recuperated' by the Zapatistas in 1994, are increasing.
July
The Second Encounter between the Zapatistas and the Peoples of the World is held in three of the Zapatista Caracoles, Oventik, Morelia and La Realidad. More than 2,000 people attend, including representatives from twenty different campesino ('peasant') organisations from all over the world.
August
Two more communities are expelled from Montes Azules.
September
Mexican army enters Eastern Chiapas in search of 'EPR guerrillas'. OPDDIC members attack Zapatistas in Bolon Ajaw, 3 are captured, brutally beaten and seriously injured. Report by CAPISE lists 13 communities at very serious risk from paramilitaries.
In a communiqué issued on September 22 the EZLN suspends the second stage of the Other Campaign tour in the face of the rapidly deteriorating situation faced by Zapatista communities: the evictions, paramilitary attacks, invasions, persecution and threats.
October
The Encounter of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (Encuentro Indigena) is held at Vicam, Sonora. This gathering was inspired during the Other Campaign visit there. Only Marcos attends, after the commanders are stopped at a military checkpoint.
November
Chiapas governor Sabines calls for an investigation into OPDDIC, four members are arrested and jailed. Campaign to boycott the waterfalls at Agua Azul begins.
December
The first International Conference in Memory of Andrés Aubry takes place in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Marcos announces that this will be the last time that he or any of the commanders will appear or speak in public for a long time: “the foul smell of war has returned to our lands".
2008
January
The Third Encounter between the Zapatista Women and the Women of the World, named after Comandanta Ramona, is held over the New Year in La Garrucha. Over 3,000 attend.
February
The incessant attacks against Zapatista communities continue, especially at Agua Azul/ Bolon Ajaw. Political prisoners in Chiapas are on hunger strike.
May
Violence is escalating. Large numbers of Mexican army troops and police enter communities in convoy, in one case accompanied by helicopters, in at least four regions of Chiapas. US Congress agrees to give Mexican army billions of dollars to "fight drug trafficking", under the Merida Initiative, widely known as Plan Mexico.
June
In an act of serious provocation, a convoy of 200 Mexican Army troops in tanks and trucks, together with state and local police, attempts to enter the Zapatista Caracol of La Garrucha, followed by two local communities. They are turned away.
Plan Puebla Panama is re-named The Mesoamerica Project. New developments are to be launched, including The San Cristóbal - Palenque Planned Integral Centre which will include tourist developments and a highway which will pass through Zapatista lands…
Police set up an encampment on the land of the community of Cruzton to protect gold explorers.
July
Threats and confrontations in the communities continue. The National and International Caravan for Observation and Solidarity, composed of over 300 national and international human rights promoters, visits many of the threatened communities in Chiapas.
October
Disputes at Agua Azul are continuing.
November
Mexico's Energy Secretary announces oil drilling is to start in the Lacandon Jungle, and a new 'bio-diesel' plant is to be built in Chiapas.
2009
January
From 26th December to 6th January, the Worldwide Festival of Dignified Rage (Digna Rabia) takes place in Mexico City and Chiapas. The theme is "Another World, Another Politics", and many thousands attend.
Military movements and flyovers are reported and military presence is said to be increasing.
March
Zapatistas hold a festival in Oventik on International Women's Day, in honour of Mama Corral; thousands attend.
Resistance to the highway from San Cristóbal to Palenque is beginning, while at the same time, repression is worsening in the area of the Agua Azul waterfalls. Eight Other Campaign members from the community of San Sebastian Bachajon are imprisoned.
A campaign is set up in Chicomuselo, Chiapas to struggle against the Canadian-owned Blackfire barite mine there.
June
The First American Continental Gathering against Impunity is held in the Caracol of Morelia.
The World Tourist Organisation meets in Chiapas and announces plans for a major tourist development Chiapas 2015.
July
San Sebastian Bachajon prisoners are freed. A member of the community of Mitziton, Other Campaign adherents also opposing the new road, is run over and killed by a truck driven by an evangelical paramilitary group based in the community, as part of a constant campaign of threats, attacks and harassment.
August
The first group of paramilitaries who committed the Acteal massacre are freed. The rest are released in November. The message is one of impunity.
September
Attacks on and harassment of journalists, human rights defenders and non-Zapatista communities increase.
November
The leader of the campaign against the mine in Chicomuselo is murdered.
Intensification of the campaign of press disinformation - one says the Zapatistas are planning a new armed uprising, while another says they are surrendering!
December
More 'bullets of silver' are offered - financial and material incentives to tempt people in the communities to leave the Zapatista movement.
2010
January
The Zapatista caracoles are closed for the New Year celebrations for the first time.
An international seminar in honour if Andrés Aubry is held in San Cristóbal, packed with Zapatista supporters.
Two communities in the Montes Azules are violently evicted. More are at risk. The Caracol of La Realidad says they will defend their land.
February
Major conflicts break out Mitziton and Bolon Ajaw, both communities in resistance to the government road, who are threatened by paramilitary groups.
March
Intensification of paramilitary activity and land conflicts. The government's press disinformation campaign is focussing on foreign human rights observers, and on linking the EZLN with terrorism.
June
The paramilitary group Army of God - Eagle Wings threatens the Other Campaign adherents in Mitziton: "we are going to commit a worse massacre than that of Acteal".
July
A European support caravan visits threatened communities in Chiapas.
Paramilitary activity and land invasions continue. A European support caravan visits all five Caracoles. A series of press conferences are held, and an extensive series of reports, audios and videos are produced on the subject of Zapatista resistance and autonomy.
September
170 Zapatista supporters are displaced from the community of San Marcos Avilés, municipality of Chilon, by political party members, because the Zapatistas have built their own autonomous school.
Aggression by the ‘Army of God – Eagle Wings’ continues in Mitzitón.
October
The evicted villagers return to San Marcos Avilés, but repression against them continues.
2011
January
An increase in attacks on human rights defenders is reported.
The Zapatistas are accused in some of the Mexican press of having kidnapped Diego Fernandez de Cevallos. A denial is issued by Enlace Zapatista.
The death of Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, is announced on 24th January. The EZLN break nearly 2 years of silence with a communiqué honouring him.
February
The first part of a series of letters between Marcos and the philosopher Luis Villoro, ‘on ethics and politics’, is released.
117 Other Campaign members are arrested in San Sebastian Bachajón during the ongoing dispute over the tollbooth at the entrance to the waterfalls at Agua Azul, an area where a huge international tourist development is planned. 10 remain detained, accused of murder and other serious crimes. An international campaign mobilised by the Movement for Justice in el Barrio in New York starts to organise actions in their support. Five of the prisoners are freed.
March
NGOs denounce the forest programme against climate change (REDD) now operating in Chiapas, saying that it represents a threat to the indigenous peoples who live there. For example, health services have been withdrawn from the community of Amador Hernandez.
More worldwide actions take place in support of the prisoners of Bachajón, who have, in effect, been offered their freedom if they give up their land.
La Jornada reports that the state government is offering large amounts of money to anyone who deserts from the EZLN. In response, the Caracoles have tightened their security measures.
President Felipe Calderon inaugurates the second “Sustainable Rural City” at Santiago del Pinar, close to Oventic.
April
The Mexican Army announce the creation of two new military bases on the Chiapas/Guatemala border, part of the increasing militarisation of the area. La Jornada reports 63 actions in 22 countries take place in support of Bachajón. The EZLN issue a communiqué calling on their supporters to participate in the march convoked by Javier Sicilia against the war and the bloodshed.
May
A worldwide declaration in support of the prisoners of San Sebastian Bachajón, signed by a large number of organisations and individuals, is released, demanding compliance with international law (ILO 169) regarding respect for indigenous territory, release of the 5 prisoners, and the withdrawal of the police and military from the community.
On 7th May more than 20,000 masked Zapatistas, including 30 commanders, along with members of the Other Campaign and civil society march in silence through the streets of San Cristobal in solidarity with the National March for Peace with Justice and Dignity. This is the first time they have made an appearance outside their territory for five years, and shows the world that they never went away.
June
Families residing in the first “Sustainable Rural City” in the world, Nuevo Juan de Grijalva, denounce police persecution and harassment in response to peaceful protests. Eight members of the community and their lawyer have been imprisoned since 13th April.
The EZLN announce their support for the Peace Caravan to Ciudad Juarez. Javier Sicilia calls the Zapatistas “a great moral force”.
Zapata still lives, and the struggle continues…
Though they are less in the public eye now, the Zapatistas remain strong in their autonomy. The relative silence of their politico-military commanders has enabled the autonomous communities to come more into view. Faced with constant attacks and attempts to take their land by paramilitaries, police, elected officials and political party members, and also with government-sponsored media disinformation campaigns, the Zapatistas are concentrating on strengthening and building their autonomous structures and communities, and perhaps also another, better, world.