Zapatista Caravan

On January 1, 1994, in the southeast of Mexico, the uprising of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) began on the same day that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect. The revolt of the EZLN made evident that the recent neoliberal reforms enacted by the PRI, Mexico’s corrupt ruling party, had left a large gap among social sectors of society, with indigenous peoples and peasants being the most marginalized.

One of the firsts groups to stand in solidarity with the demands of the Zapatistas were students. In the various schools and campuses of the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), students quickly began holding meetings and leading educational brigades to inform their peers about the uprising in Chiapas. Thus, organized students amplified the voice of the indigenous movement in order to break the blockade of disinformation and rumours that commercial mass media, together with the government, erected between the people and the EZLN.

University students found in Zapatistas what nobody in the Mexican political class could offer: honesty.

In this context was born, on June 19, 1994, the Ricardo Pozas University Caravan (named after the Mexican anthropologist Ricardo Pozas Horcasitas, whose writings had provided a clear description of the conditions of the indigenous Tzotziles in the highlands of Chiapas), also known as the Zapatista Caravan. Led by members of the University Student Council, several student organizations took on the task of organizing the First Rock Festival for Peace and Tolerance, a massive music concert inside the university campus that promoted the gathering of two autonomous movements of the country: the university community and the indigenous peoples of Mexico, whose aspirations were reflected in the Zapatista demands.

In the presence of massive numbers of young people from all social sectors, an agreement was reached for the student movement to support and spread information about the EZLN movement. The bond of solidarity and trust between the young people from the Caravan and the Zapatistas became so strong that some were invited to act as consultants for the EZLN in peace talks with the government.

University students found in the Zapatistas what nobody else in the Mexican political class could offer — honesty. From that first concert in 1994 until the Zapatistas’ national consultation of 1997, the Caravan accompanied all activities organized by EZLN, embracing Zapatista slogans and ideas, specifically leading by obeying and everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.

The youth movement in general, and specifically the student movement, learned from their solidarity with the indigenous uprising that their demands and struggles should not just focus on issues of public education, but also on the national demands they shared with all marginalized sectors. For its part, the EZLN gained a bridge that allowed them to share their message more widely, in diverse and creative ways, making it strongly visible in different sectors of Mexican society and around the world (see: PRINCIPLE: Seek safety in support networks).

Originally published in Beautiful Rising.