| Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico by Bill Weinberg |
On January 1st, 1994, in the remote Mexican state of Chiapas, a group of
rebels began an armed revolt against the Mexican government. Calling themselves
Zapatistas, in honor of the Mexican revolutionary
Emilio Zapata, and drawing much of their ideology on Mexico's indigenous and revolutionary traditions,
their presence was timed to coincide with the implementation of the newly
signed North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), which directly affected the lives of Mexico's peasant farmers. Bill Weinberg's
Homage to Chiapas: The New
Indigenous Struggles in Mexico is not only a study of the Zapatistias and
their movement but also a history of the ongoing struggle of Mexico's
Campesinos for economic and political rights. He presents an analysis of the
devastating impact that the NAFTA treaty has
had on their lives, a treaty that
has allowed large agribusiness companies to seize land that had been redistributed
to the Campesinos by way of agrarian reform as well as the proliferation of sweatshops
and toxic waste dumps, both a result of American companies relocating from
the United States.
Weinberg, a correspondent for the journal Native Americas, traveled to Chiapas where he spent time interviewing Zapatista fighters and their leader, Commander Marcos. Though sympathetic to their movement he nonetheless retains a critical perspective in regards to their impact on Mexico's social and political culture as well as the rest of North America. Homage to Chiapas offers us a perspective of Mexico that is rarely reported in the American media and reminds us that as we move into the 21st century the struggle for basic human rights is an ongoing one. It also tells us that that by our actions here in the United States, we do impact the lives of others around the world, and not always in a positive way. Homage to Chiapas is shelved on the basement level of the Library at call number F1219.1.C45 w45. This Monthly Book Spotlight was written by Jonathan Coe
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