Biografía de Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919), famoso revolucionario mexicano que sublevó a todo el país contra el gobierno dictatorial del Presidente Porfirio Díaz. Kazan intenta mostrar cómo los líderes revolucionarios se corrompen en cuanto alcanzan el poder. El guión lo firma nada menos que el escritor John Steinbeck (“Las uvas de la ira”, “Al este del edén”).
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a
He was bornt in 8th August 1879 in the village of Anenecuilco (State of Morelos, Mexico)
He was assassinated in 10th April 1919, in Chinameca (Morelos), because of a betrayal and gun fire in an ambush ordered by Venustiano Carranza’s forces.
He came from a modest peasant family with some land (unlike many revolutionary leaders who came from wealthier backgrounds) which gave him deep personal credibility on land rights issue.
His central lifelong demand was a land reform which returns the property to indigenous and peasant communities who had been seized by wealthy hacienda owners under President Porfirio Díaz’s dictatorship (1876-1911).
His famous slogan was Tierra y Libertad (“Land and Freedom”).
After feeling betrayed by revolutionary leader Francisco Madero — who took power promising reform but moved too slowly on land redistribution the Plan de Ayala (1911), where issued this manifiesto of an agrarian revolution in southern Mexico.
He led the Ejército Libertador del Sur (Liberation Army of the South), largely made up of peasants and indigenous fighters from Morelos.
The Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) (EZLN) is an indigenous political-military movement in Chiapas took his name in the 1994 uprising.
The EZLN went public on January 1, 1994 — the same day NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement, between Mexico, the US, and Canada) took effect. That timing wasn’t coincidental: the movement deliberately chose that date as a symbolic protest, believing NAFTA would badly hurt indigenous and peasant farmers while favoring large commercial interests.
They seized several towns by force in Chiapas (a southern Mexican state, one of the poorest and most heavily indigenous regions in the country), including San Cristóbal de las Casas. There were armed clashes with the Mexican army for about 12 days, with death toll estimates ranging from dozens to a couple hundred depending on the source, before a ceasefire was reached.
Who they are
is made up mostly of Maya indigenous communities from Chiapas (Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal, Chol…)
Their best-known leader and spokesperson was Subcomandante Marcos (later renamed Subcomandante Galeano), a phisolophy professor who demanded democracia, libertad, tierra, paz y justicia (“democracy, freedom, land, peace and justice”) for indigenous communities.
They seized several towns by force in Chiapas (a southern Mexican state, one of the poorest and most heavily indigenous regions in the country), including San Cristóbal de las Casas. There were armed clashes with the Mexican army for about 12 days, with death toll estimates ranging from dozens to a couple hundred depending on the source, before a ceasefire was reached.
The EZLN abandoned active armed struggle years ago and has focused instead on building caracoles (means “snails”): autonomous communities in Chiapas with their own systems of governance, education, and healthcare, without a formal secession.
They remain an important symbol of indigenous resistance and anti-neoliberal critique, though their global media prominence has faded considerably since its 1990s peak.
Zapata remains one of the most enduring symbols in Mexican political culture, invoked by movements across the spectrum.
The EZLN went public on January 1, 1994; the same day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), between Mexico, the US, and Canada took effect. They chose that date as a symbolic protest, believing NAFTA would badly hurt indigenous and peasant farmers while favoring large commercial interests.