Myths and Realities of the Chiapas Uprising

Myths and Realities of the Chiapas Uprising James Petras Steve Vieux Without minimising the importance of the specificities of Chiapas or the relevance of race/class in defining the originality of the movement; the process of linking local peasant movements with urban activists follows a common pattern earlier played out in Indochina, China and in some parts of Latin America. What made the Zapatista uprising appear novel was the timing it occurred during a period of worldwide leftist retreat and in particular at a moment when other central American guerrilla movements were laying down their arms and entering into political deeds with the neo-liberals in power.