Seeds of a revolt
Huerta, Alberto
REPORT ON CHIAPAS SEEDS OF A REVOLT ALL ONE NEEDED TO DO WAS LISTEN T he recent uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, deserves some background. By happenstance, I can provide the following. Sitting...
...They responded in unison, "Yes, here near the village of San Juan Chamula, where the Maya believe the creation was born...
...But three years ago, the promise had been erased when their land was forcibly taken by the Mexican Army...
...I sat alone and read at the same park bench every afternoon, while the police circled the zocalo and the Maya went about like clockwork figures selling their native wares...
...How could an uprising take place with so great a police presence in San Cristobal...
...A minor rebellion had taken place and a group known as the Organization Campesina Emiliano Zapata (Farmworkers' Organization Emiliano Zapata) was formed...
...By 5 p.m., the Indios had retreated to their villages, leaving the plaza nearly empty...
...Then another asked if I knew that the president of Mexico had changed the constitution...
...The Indios from San Juan Chamulas, in white or black ponchos, and the Tzeltals in red-and-white-striped ponchos, broke the pattern of uniformed soldiers standing about everywhere...
...One afternoon, boredom encouraged some of the Indios to ask what I was reading...
...New Year's day, I immediately called San Cristobal to see if my friends were safe...
...Did I not know that Article 27 had changed their lives...
...It is winter and I do not laugh now...
...The book I held in my hands was by Rosario Castellanos, author of Balun Candn (1957) and Oficio de tiniebals (1964), novels about San Cristobal and the plight of the indigenous peoples...
...The dismantling of Article 27 had privatized all lands...
...Before, their paraje could not be sold...
...Another said OCEZ was a group that was seeking to redress land disputes over titles...
...Miguel stated rhetorically: "How can the constitution be changed after so many years...
...One, Jose, asked if I knew about Comitan...
...They asked if I knew of the hero of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, Emiliano Zapata, and I nodded...
...Most did not know about Mexico's first woman ambassador, who was born in la capital but had been reared in Comitan, Chiapas, and who died in middle age...
...ALBERTO HUERTA Alberto Huerta, S.J., is associate professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California...
...Now they could sell, and would probably be forced to sell by local landowners or the Mexican Army...
...No one spoke for a while...
...My contact could tell me little, except that what had happened seemed inevitable: "The Maya know they will die in shame when government forces come to take possession of their paraje, so some feel they might as well die with dignity, defending what little they have...
...Their faces became muted...
...It was my turn to laugh...
...Way back in 1940, a president had promised the Indios there a piece of land (un paraje) for each Indio...
...They laughed and then became somber...
...I played devil's advocate and asked, "What changes...
...When the armed occupation of San Cristobal, Altamirano, Las Margaritas, Rancho Nuevo, and Ocozingo took place by the indigenous Maya at 5 a.m...
...My friends eventually left and I continued reading...
...I told them she had directed my work at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, when I was young like them...
...Sitting for several weeks in the town square of San Cristobal de las Casas late last summer {see my article, "Lawless Roads Still: The 'Red' Bishop of Chiapas," Commonweal, December 17, 1993), I was struck by the number of police and military personnel circling the zocalo...
...One even said that open rebellion might take place before December...
...Miguel added: "Already we hear that the Japanese want a part of the Chiapas Highlands for timber...
...I responded in astonishment, "Here, so far away...
...When various remnants of the Maya—young Ch'ols, Tzotzils, and Tzeltals—came into town, they seemed almost imperceptible, except for their colorful tribal clothing...
Vol. 121 • January 1994 • No. 2
