Viva Zapata
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
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Viva Zapata!
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Emiliano Zapata was born in the village of San Miguel Anencuilco in the state of Morelos on the 8th
of August 1879
<BR/><BR/>
The son of a 'strong farmer', Zapata grew up to become the most famous leader of the Mexican
Revolution. Like Connolly or the Ladies' Land League in Ireland, Zapata is paid much lip service by
the Mexican establishment, but his revolutionary ideas are ignored by those who inherited the power
won in the Revolution. A gifted organiser, Zapata also spoke Náhuatl, his local indigenous language.
<BR/><BR/>
Elected leader of his village in 1909, Zapata began recruiting an insurgent army even before the
Revolution beginning in 1910 which overthrew the dictator Porfirio Díaz. The links between the
dictatorship and the U.S.A., combined with Mexico's colonial past, gave rise to much 'revolutionary
nationalism' - revolution as defence of the nation - which is still a vibrant force today.
<BR/><BR/>
<img src="http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/graphics/ipzapa.GIF" align="left"></a>
Zapata's Liberation Army of the South did not accept the
new reformist government under Francisco Madera. The
Zapatistas fought on against government troops lead by
Victoriano Huerta, the general who overthrew Madera in
February, 1913, and was then deposed in 1914. At the
following Convention in Aguascalientes, called to decide the
future of Mexico, the Zapatistas demanded 'tierra y libertad'
- land and freedom - for their people.
<BR/><BR/>
This was the core of Zapata's 'Plan de Ayala', produced in
November 1911. Clearly influenced by anarchist ideas
spread in Mexico by people like Ricardo Flores Magón,
Zapata demands the socialisation of land:
<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>
The lands, forests and water that have been usurped ... will be immediately restored to the
villages or citizens who have title to them ... Because the great majority of Mexicans own
nothing more than the land they walk on ... one third of these properties will be expropriated
... so that the villages and citizens of Mexico may obtain ejidos , sites for towns, and fields.
<BR/><BR/>
Zapata remained in opposition, fighting against terrible repression, until 1919. Lured to a meeting
with government troops apparently mutinying against President Carranza, he was gunned down on
April the 10th, 1919. Although the insurgents fought on, and Zapata's ghost was seen to ride the hills
of his native state, Morelos, the conservatives won out, and Zapata's ideas of fair distribution of land
remained ignored until the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas in the late 1930's.
<BR/><BR/>
Zapata's memory, like his ghost, rides on in Mexico. His name has been invoked by the indigenous
rebel army in Chiapas, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), in their struggle against
exactly the same social ills that Zapata fought against: large landlords and (often foreign-owned) big
business running a corrupt and repressive régime that leaves the peasants, particularly indigenous
peoples, landless and exploited. Throughout this century, people all over the world have risen up
against oppression, taking heart from Zapata's cry:
<BR/><BR/>
<CENTER> It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!
</CENTER>
</body>
</HTML>
<BODY>
<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>
<h1>
Viva Zapata!
</h1>
<BR/><BR/>
Emiliano Zapata was born in the village of San Miguel Anencuilco in the state of Morelos on the 8th
of August 1879
<BR/><BR/>
The son of a 'strong farmer', Zapata grew up to become the most famous leader of the Mexican
Revolution. Like Connolly or the Ladies' Land League in Ireland, Zapata is paid much lip service by
the Mexican establishment, but his revolutionary ideas are ignored by those who inherited the power
won in the Revolution. A gifted organiser, Zapata also spoke Náhuatl, his local indigenous language.
<BR/><BR/>
Elected leader of his village in 1909, Zapata began recruiting an insurgent army even before the
Revolution beginning in 1910 which overthrew the dictator Porfirio Díaz. The links between the
dictatorship and the U.S.A., combined with Mexico's colonial past, gave rise to much 'revolutionary
nationalism' - revolution as defence of the nation - which is still a vibrant force today.
<BR/><BR/>
<img src="http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/graphics/ipzapa.GIF" align="left"></a>
Zapata's Liberation Army of the South did not accept the
new reformist government under Francisco Madera. The
Zapatistas fought on against government troops lead by
Victoriano Huerta, the general who overthrew Madera in
February, 1913, and was then deposed in 1914. At the
following Convention in Aguascalientes, called to decide the
future of Mexico, the Zapatistas demanded 'tierra y libertad'
- land and freedom - for their people.
<BR/><BR/>
This was the core of Zapata's 'Plan de Ayala', produced in
November 1911. Clearly influenced by anarchist ideas
spread in Mexico by people like Ricardo Flores Magón,
Zapata demands the socialisation of land:
<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>
The lands, forests and water that have been usurped ... will be immediately restored to the
villages or citizens who have title to them ... Because the great majority of Mexicans own
nothing more than the land they walk on ... one third of these properties will be expropriated
... so that the villages and citizens of Mexico may obtain ejidos , sites for towns, and fields.
<BR/><BR/>
Zapata remained in opposition, fighting against terrible repression, until 1919. Lured to a meeting
with government troops apparently mutinying against President Carranza, he was gunned down on
April the 10th, 1919. Although the insurgents fought on, and Zapata's ghost was seen to ride the hills
of his native state, Morelos, the conservatives won out, and Zapata's ideas of fair distribution of land
remained ignored until the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas in the late 1930's.
<BR/><BR/>
Zapata's memory, like his ghost, rides on in Mexico. His name has been invoked by the indigenous
rebel army in Chiapas, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), in their struggle against
exactly the same social ills that Zapata fought against: large landlords and (often foreign-owned) big
business running a corrupt and repressive régime that leaves the peasants, particularly indigenous
peoples, landless and exploited. Throughout this century, people all over the world have risen up
against oppression, taking heart from Zapata's cry:
<BR/><BR/>
<CENTER> It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!
</CENTER>
</body>
</HTML>
