Conflict In Chiapas Research Articles

Beyond the ethno-national divide: intersecting identity transformations during conflict

This article examines intersecting processes of boundary formation and change during periods of conflict in Chiapas and Northern Ireland in a comparative fashion. It provides new approaches to the studies of boundaries, of intersectionality and of identity change. Looking at female activists’ collective identity narratives reveals the interrelation of different processes of identity change and solidarity formation during ethno-national conflict. Those processes are determined by differences in female activists’ perceptions of and positioning towards different levels of society and by spaces for bridging those boundaries. In order to enhance our understanding of ethno-national conflicts, we need to examine intersecting identity categories in relation to social change and highlight underlying and interacting processes at different levels of society that obscure and deny the existence of the gender category.

Conflicto armado y grupos paramilitares en Chiapas: implicaciones para la democracia mexicana

The armed conflict in Chiapas began in 1994 after the armed uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Until now the Mexican government do not recognize the existence of an armed conflict there, for what they call inter-ethnic violence that happens in different municipalities in Chiapas. This study aims at demonstrating that, first, the Mexican state of Chiapas has an armed conflict since the mid-nineties, which has intensified and transformed over sixteen years. It is in this transformation that have emerged paramilitary groups seeking to destabilize the state, generating dynamics of appropriation and control of territory through different practices such as forced displacements, selective assassinations and terror spread within populations who are the targets of their attacks (mainly community support of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation). This work studied the Peace and Justice paramilitary group operating in different parts of the state of Chiapas, mainly in the Northern Zone. This case-study will look at the changes it has undergone Mexican democracy, which will be analyzed at two points: first, the failure of federal and Chiapas state to allow or endorse the creation of paramilitary groups and not to punish their actions; on the other, the consequences of the actions of such actors in democratic institutions, and democracy itself. Will seek to demonstrate that indeed both the permissiveness of the Mexican state and its complicity has weakened democracy in Mexico, since they are not able to manage conflict so that they do not degenerate into violence.

Indigenous rights and internal wars: The Chiapas conflict at 15 years

This article examines the origins and outcomes of the indigenous-based Zapatista rebellion launched 15 years ago in Chiapas, Mexico. The precursors responsible for the resistance movement are assessed, as well as the proximate events which convinced the indigenous communities to embrace a militarized approach. International relations conflict theory is plumbed for explanations of the conflict and for conflict resolution strategies relevant to this particular event. This study finds that the conflict in Chiapas was the consequence of two antecedent conditions – systematic human rights abuses and extreme material deprivation; and two proximate factors – NAFTA ratification and pending revisions to communal land laws. The article also explains how violence mitigation was subsequently achieved as a result of the behavior of state and non-state actors.

An Interview with Carlos Montemayor

^^^B Carlos Montemayor was ^^^B born in the city of Pa^^^^B rral, Chihuahua, in 1947. ^^^^B When he was in his early ^^^^B twenties, Montemayor ^^^B published his first collec^^^^B tion of stories, Las Haves ^^^B de Urgell (1971), which ^^^^B won the prestigious ^^^^^B Xavier Villaurrutia Prize. ^^^^H He received the award ^^^^H a few years after mov^H^JH ing from Chihuahua to ^^^^B Mexico City, where he ^^^B was supported and ^^■■PP influenced by a communrtyof writers and scholars that ^^^ncluaedRosario Castellanos, Ruben Bonifaz Nuno, Salvador Elizondo, AK Chumacero, and Juan Rulfo. Montemayor thus began a very successful career as a novelist, essayist, poet, short-story writer, literary critic, and translator. A member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua Espanola since 1 985, Montemayor has earned a number of additional prizes and distinctions over the course of his prolific career, including the Alfonso X Prize for translation in 1989 and, most recently, the Giuseppe Acerbi Prize (2004) for his novel Los informes secretos. Currently, he is finishing a sequel to Las armas del alba that will continue his portrayal of armed conflict in his home state of Chihuahua. Montemayor's writing, fiction and nonfiction alike, addresses a broad range of topics, from the personal sensations and experiences of growing up in rural Mexico to moments of tremendous collective import, like the Tlatelolco massacre of October 1968 and the current conflict in Chiapas. His literarycritical essays also attest to his remarkably eclectic interests, including ancient Greek tragedy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's narrative fiction, and the poetry of Ezra Pound, Vicente Huidobro, and Efrain Huerta. A very active public intellectual, Montemayor has taught courses at a number of universities and given lectures at conferences around the world. He currently lives in Mexico City. Montemayor's most recent novelsGuerra en el paraiso (1991), Los informes secretos (1999), and Las armas del alba (2003)do not shy away from portraying events from the 1960s and 1970s that the Mexican establishment would prefer to forget: namely, armed resistance (la guerrilla) and the government's corresponding counterinsurgency campaigns. These texts exemplify Montemayor's malleable, descriptive prose and his mastery of complex narrative structures, while they also expose abuses of state power and shed light on the manifold causes of popular resistance. When I had the pleasure of speaking with Montemayor in his Mexico City home in spring 2005, our conversation moved easily between the aesthetic and the political, much as Montemayor's writing does. We discussed the sociopolitical character of his work and his essays on Tlatelolco and Chiapas, entitled Rehacer la historia (2000) and Chiapas: La rebelion indigena de Mexico (1998). We also talked about how influential classical literature has been on his entire career, about the strong connections between nature and his formation as a writer, and about his latest poems, which are an homage to the ancient Chinese poets Montemayor studies and admires. Ry n Long What motivates you to write fiction inspired by political and social topics?

Das montanhas mexicanas ao ciberespaço

ESTE ARTIGO faz uma apanhado histórico contextualizado e uma análise comunicacional sobre o Exército Zapatista de Libertação Nacional - EZLN, que apareceu publicamente no estado mexicano de Chiapas em janeiro de 1994, a partir de sua origem indígena, com as demandas seculares dessa parcela da população marginalizada, suas peculiaridades e sua prática política, que o fazem um grupo armado bastante original dentro do contexto das lutas populares na América Latina. As estratégias políticas e de comunicação do EZLN são diferenciais importantes em relação a outras experiências guerrilheiras anteriores. Assim, analisamos também a habilidade que os zapatistas tiveram - e ainda têm - para conquistar espaço nos meios de comunicação convencionais e criar uma eficiente rede de solidariedade e comunicação, combinando as tradições seculares das comunidades indígenas, que são suas bases, aos recursos tecnológicos de meios eletrônicos como a Internet e a Web. Esta combinação criativa de iniciativas políticas bem-sucedidas, bases sociais resistentes, diálogo permanente com a chamada sociedade civil - nacional e internacional - e vitórias importantes no campo da comunicação, compensam a fragilidade militar do EZLN e possibilitam sua continuidade, mesmo no contexto militar bastante adverso em que se situa o conflito chiapaneco.

The Emergence and Development of the Politics of Recognition of Cultural Diversity and Indigenous Peoples' Rights in Mexico: Chiapas and Oaxaca in Comparative Perspective

In this article I attempt to explain the differentiated development of the politics of recognition – that is the process of formal recognition of cultural diversity and indigenous peoples' rights – in Mexico, particularly in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. I follow an explanatory framework that proposes that the recognition agenda emerges in the context of armed conflict and/or legitimacy and governability crises, and evolves successfully when indigenous actors get access to the decision-making process and form alliances with key political actors. I find that government legitimacy has eroded in both states, and that governability has been severely threatened in Oaxaca and disturbed by armed conflict in Chiapas. However, only in the former have indigenous actors influenced the decision-making process and made alliances with the key decision-makers. This latter finding – fundamental within the explanatory framework followed – begs a further question – why was an alliance between the indigenous and the government elite possible in Oaxaca but not in Chiapas? I go beyond the original explanatory framework and identify a series of structural, contextual and agent-related factors that account for the uneven development of the politics of recognition in each state.

Indigenismo, indianismo and ‘ethnic citizenship’ in Chiapas

For many Zapatista supporters and others with an interest in the armed conflict, the struggle by Mexican Indians for autonomy is indistinguishable from that waged by the EZLN. Although this peasant organization has played a central part in the conflict in Chiapas, to understand this role it is necessary to contextualize it historically. To this end, the analysis examines three areas of that history. First, it highlights some aspects of the relationship between struggles for autonomy, indigenismo, and indianismo. Second, it looks at the role played by indianista leaders in the construction of the socio-political networks that maintained and encouraged Zapatismo at the local, national, and international level. And third, it scrutinizes the relationship between the struggles for autonomy, indigenismo and the politics of identity. The object is to show how and why present-day indigenous struggles for autonomy and self-determination are rooted in ‘old’ quests for ethnic citizenship, which were led initially by earlier indianista organizations and leaders.

Pregnancy outcomes, site of delivery, and community schisms in regions affected by the armed conflict in Chiapas, Mexico

The Zapatista armed conflict began in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, in 1994, and overlaps pre-existing local disputes about land, religion, and other issues. Related disruptions in access to and utilization of health services have been alleged to have compromised local health status, particularly in vulnerable subgroups such as indigenous women and infants. The study objective was to measure maternal and perinatal mortality ratios and utilization of pregnancy-related health services in the region affected by the Zapatista conflict, and to describe associations between these primary outcome measures, socioeconomic and demographic factors, and factors associated with inter-party and intra-community conflict. A cross-sectional, population-based survey was conducted in 46 communities in three regions. The study subjects were 1227 women, 13–49 years old, who had been pregnant during the preceding 2 years (1999–2001). Principal outcome measures were maternal and perinatal mortality, and site of delivery. Secondary analyses explored associations between primary outcomes and socioeconomic, demographic, and conflict-related factors. Most births (87.1%) occurred at home. The crude observed maternal and perinatal mortality ratios were 607/100,000 and 23.5/1000 live births, respectively. Those who died had difficulty accessing emergency obstetrical care. Both home birth and mortality were associated with descriptors of intra-community conflict. Observed maternal and perinatal mortality ratios were substantially higher than those officially reported for Mexico or Chiapas. Reduction of high reproductive mortality ratios will require attention to socioeconomic and conflict-related problems, in addition to improved access to emergency obstetrical services.

Challenges to state hegemony, competing nationalisms and the staging of the conflict in Chiapas

Challenges to state hegemony, competing nationalisms and the staging of the conflict in Chiapas

Rebellion in Chiapas: An Historical Reader

Carlos Fuentes writes, John Womack has an uncanny feeling for the infinitely complex strains of Mexico. Here, Woack examines the conflict in Chiapas in light of 500 years of struggle and uneasy accomodation between the region's Maya population and the Spanish conquerors and ladino landowners. Rebellion in Chiapas opens with a major new essay examining the Zapatista revolt and chronicling the attempts at a negotiated peace. It goes on to reveal the roots of the rebellion through a range of primary source materials and other key documents from the time of the conquest through the present.

Revolution: The Central American War: Photography of Susan Meiselas and Adam Kufeld

Barring the conflict in Chiapas, which has been portrayed more like theater (though deadly serious theater) than as warfare, the Central American civil wars of the 1980s and 1990s have ended, at least for the foreseeable future.