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85-648: The Carnival Against Capital took place on Friday 18 June 1999. It was an international day of protest (also known as J18 ) timed to coincide with the 25th G8 summit in Cologne , Germany. The carnival was inspired by the 1980s Stop the City protests , Peoples' Global Action and the Global Street Party, which happened at the same time as the 1998 24th G8 Summit in Birmingham . The rallying slogan

170-483: A 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 -year sentence. In Eugene, Oregon Rob Thaxton was sentenced to 88 months in jail after throwing a rock at a police officer while trying to avoid being arrested. J18 was the first in a line of huge anti-capitalist and anti-globalisation protests. Others included the 1999 Seattle WTO protests , the protests in Prague during the 2000 International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank summit and

255-528: A ceasefire on January 12, peace talks commenced later in the month between Catholic bishop Samuel Ruiz for the Zapatistas and former mayor of Mexico City, Manuel Camacho Solis , for the state. Arrest-warrants were made for Marcos, Javier Elorriaga Berdegue , Silvia Fernández Hernández, Jorge Santiago, Fernando Yanez, German Vicente and other Zapatistas. At that point, in the Lacandon Jungle,

340-574: A decentralized organization. The pseudonymous Subcomandante Marcos is widely considered its leader despite his claims that the group has no single leader. Political decisions are deliberated and decided in community assemblies. Military and organizational matters are decided by the Zapatista area elders who compose the General Command (Revolutionary Indigenous Clandestine Committee – General Command, or CCRI-CG). The Chiapas region has been

425-653: A virtual sit-in of the Mexican embassy in solidarity with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and brought the embassy website to a standstill. A spoof version of the Evening Standard daily newspaper called Evading Standards was produced. 30,000 copies of were printed and distributed to City workers on 17 and 18 June. The cover resembled the layout of the actual newspaper and the inner pages contained agitprop and humorous articles. The newspaper

510-399: A "classic military war of conquest". He said, "The Palestinian people will also resist and survive and continue struggling and will continue to have sympathy from below for their cause." On December 21, 2012, tens of thousands of EZLN supporters marched silently through five cities in the state of Chiapas: Ocosingo , Las Margaritas , Palenque , Altamirano and San Cristóbal . Hours after

595-468: A bloody war. The document also said that the marginalized groups and the radical left that existed in Mexico supported the Zapatista movement. It also stressed that Marcos maintained an open negotiating track. In April 2000, Vicente Fox , the presidential candidate for the opposition National Action Party (PAN), sent a new proposal for dialogue to Subcomandante Marcos, without obtaining a response. In May,

680-664: A concerted publicity campaign was carried out, using colourful stickers and 10,000 posters. Workers were encouraged to phone in sick. An eighteen-minute promotional video was made and distributed globally. Squaring up to the Square Mile was a 32-page pamphlet produced by Reclaim the Streets and Corporate Watch which gave details of financial institutions . An A3 map of the City of London (the "Square Mile") showed where they were located. 4,000 copies were produced. On 29 January 1999

765-560: A group of civilians attacked two indigenous people from the autonomous municipality of Polhó, Chiapas. Members of the Federal Police were sent to guarantee the security of the area. The Zapatista coordinators and several non-governmental organizations described it as "a clear provocation to the EZLN." Vicente Fox was elected president in 2001 (the first non-PRI president of Mexico in over 70 years) and, as one of his first actions, urged

850-625: A practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions. For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event; as for example, the official G8 Summit magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998. Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Spanish : Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional , EZLN ), often referred to as

935-523: A specific political ideology beyond left-wing politics. The ideology of the Zapatista movement, Neozapatismo , synthesizes Mayan tradition with elements of libertarian socialism , anarchism , Catholic liberation theology and Marxism . Some authors also draw parallels between neozapatismo and autonomism , while others argue it can be better defined as semi-anarchist. The historical influence of Mexican anarchists and various Latin American socialists

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1020-504: A trading floor in one of the City’s major exchanges. We'd planned the wall, and built it. We'd planned to free the Walbrook, and done it. But we’d stopped short of planning a full-scale occupation. The rest of the afternoon became a battle as police using horses and personal incapacitant spray containing CS gas pushed the protesters down Lower Thames Street and out of the City of London. In

1105-535: Is apparent in Neozapatismo. The positions of Subcomandante Marcos add a Marxist element to the movement. A Zapatista slogan is in harmony with the concept of mutual aid : "Everything for everyone. Nothing for us" ( Para todos todo, para nosotros nada ). The EZLN opposes economic globalization , arguing that it severely and negatively affects the peasant life of its indigenous support base and oppresses people worldwide. The signing of NAFTA also resulted in

1190-764: Is made up of mostly rural indigenous people , but it includes some supporters in urban areas and internationally. The EZLN's main spokesperson is Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano , previously known as Subcomandante Marcos. The group takes its name from Emiliano Zapata , the agrarian revolutionary and commander of the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution , and sees itself as his ideological heir. EZLN's ideology has been characterized as libertarian socialist , anarchist , or Marxist , and having roots in liberation theology although

1275-510: The Daily Mirror ran a full-page article entitled "Police spy bid to smash the anti-car protesters." Closer to the day, stories abounded in the media about possible violent scenarios. All leave was cancelled for City of London Police officers on 18 June. The Corporation of London wrote to companies warning of disruption and suggesting extra security measures. In London, there was a large march planned for midday and autonomous actions in

1360-659: The Catholic Church (see Liberation theology ). In the 1970s, through the efforts of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas , most indigenous communities in the Lacandon forest were already politically active and had practice in dealing with governmental agencies and local officials. Specifically in 1974 an indigenous conference brought indigenous peoples from across Chiapas together to discuss their conditions. Promoted and organized by

1445-707: The City of London . The G8 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 25th G8 summit was the first summit for German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and was the last summit for Russian President Boris Yeltsin . It was also the first and only summit for Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema and Japanese Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi . These summit participants are

1530-487: The President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived

1615-636: The Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle declaring their principles and vision for Mexico and the world. This declaration reiterated the support for the indigenous peoples, who make up roughly one-third of the population of Chiapas, and extended the cause to include "all the exploited and dispossessed of Mexico". It also expressed the movement's sympathy to the international alter-globalization movement and supported leftists governments in Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, and elsewhere, with whom they felt there

1700-590: The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to raise awareness for their rebellion and indigenous rights, and what they claim is the Mexican government's lack of respect for the country's impoverished and marginalized populations. Appealing to the ECOSOC and other non-governmental bodies may have allowed the Zapatistas to establish a sense of autonomy by redefining their identities both as indigenous people and as citizens of Mexico. One of

1785-557: The Zapatistas (Mexican Spanish pronunciation: [sapaˈtistas] ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas , the southernmost state of Mexico . Since 1994, the group has been nominally at war with the Mexican state (although it may be described at this point as a frozen conflict ). The EZLN used a strategy of civil resistance . The Zapatistas' main body

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1870-485: The initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975. The G8 summits since the late 1990s have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure. In 1999, a global Carnival Against Capital was organised by Peoples' Global Action . 4,000 people rioted in

1955-472: The vanguardist and Marxist–Leninist orientation of the FLN failed to appeal to indigenous locals in Chiapas , leading former members of the FLN in the EZLN to ultimately opt for a libertarian socialist and neozapatista outlook. Over the years, the group slowly grew, building on social relations among the indigenous base and making use of an organizational infrastructure created by peasant organizations and

2040-593: The "Other Campaign" tour would be temporarily halted until all prisoners were released. In late 2006 and early 2007, the Zapatistas (through Subcomandante Marcos ), along with other indigenous peoples of the Americas , announced the Intercontinental Indigenous Encounter. They invited indigenous people from throughout the Americas and the rest of the world to gather on October 11–14, 2007, near Guaymas , Sonora . The declaration for

2125-422: The 1974 Indigenous Congress laid much of the ideological and often organizational groundwork for the EZLN to unite many indigenous communities under a banner of liberation. Further, many of these indigenous catechists later joined and organized within the EZLN. Anthropologists Duncan Earle and Jeanne Simonelli assert that the liberationist Catholicism spread by the aforementioned catechists which emphasized helping

2210-460: The 2001 protests against the 27th G8 summit in Genoa . 25th G8 summit The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia. In addition,

2295-685: The Catholic church, this event helped foster an indigenous political identity in the region. In the 1980s, they joined with the Rural Collective Interest Association – "Unión de Uniones", (ARIC-UU). However, disputes over strategy in the Chiapas would lead to the EZLN taking on over half of the ARIC-UU's membership in the early 1990s. The Zapatista Army went public on January 1, 1994, releasing their declaration on

2380-438: The Chiapas highlands. The Zapatistas soon retreated to the forest to avoid a federal military offensive. "The EZLN listed a series of other demands that were a compendium of long-standing grievances of the indigenous communities of Chiapas, but also found echo in broad sectors of Mexican society outside of Chiapas: work, land, housing, food, healthcare, education, independence, liberty, democracy, justice, and peace." Following

2465-655: The Diocese of San Cristobal, Las Abejas is dedicated to nonviolence, but shares sympathies and solidarity for the aims of the Zapatistas. Due to their ties to the Zapatistas, 45 Las Abejas members were killed in the Acteal Massacre in 1997. Once EZLN rebelled in 1994, the Catholic Church was accused of inciting the rebellion; this accusation was confirmed by Zapatistas, who credited local catechists with persuading local indigenous population to participate in

2550-400: The EZLN agreed to select a candidate to represent them in the 2018 Mexican general election . This decision broke the Zapatista's two-decade tradition of rejecting Mexican electoral politics. In May 2017, María de Jesús Patricio Martínez , a woman of Mexican and Nahua heritage, was selected to stand, but she was unable to gather the 866,000 signatures required to appear on the ballot. At

2635-609: The EZLN announced the dissolution of the Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities due to growing violence in the region. Later that month, they announced the reorganisation of the MAREZ into thousands of "Local Autonomous Governments" (GAL) which form area-wide "Zapatista Autonomous Government Collectives" (CGAZ) and zone-wide "Assemblies of Collectives of Zapatista Autonomous Governments" (ACGAZ). The neo-Zapatistas did not proclaim adherence to

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2720-651: The EZLN reported that there was aggression against indigenous people in El Rosario, Chiapas; The report, signed by Subcomandante Moisés, indicated that the attack occurred that same month and year. In addition, there was a complaint by the Las Abejas Civil Society Organization that stated that an indigenous Tzotzil person was assassinated on June 23 on 2015. In 2016, at the National Indigenous Congress ,

2805-420: The EZLN to enter into dialogue with the federal government. However, the EZLN insisted that it would not return to peace negotiations with the government until seven military positions were closed. Fox subsequently made the decision to withdraw the army from the conflict zone, so all the military located in Chiapas began to leave the area. Following this gesture, Subcomandante Marcos agreed to initiate dialogue with

2890-458: The EZLN until the extensive contact between the Zapatistas and other indigenous organizations during the San Andrés negotiations and use of natural resources normally extracted from Chiapas. It also advocated for protection from violence and political inclusion of Chiapas' indigenous communities. On January 1, 1994, an estimated 3,000 armed Zapatista insurgents seized six towns and cities in

2975-399: The EZLN's traumatic uprising here on the new year of 1994, received them with care and curiosity, without any expression of rejection. Under the arches of the mayor's office, which today suspended its activities, dozens of Ocosinguenses gathered to photograph with cell phones and cameras the spectacular concentration of hooded people who filled the park like a game of Tetris , advancing between

3060-509: The FLN lost its operational capacity. In the early 1980s, some of its militants decided to found a new organization. Thus, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) was founded on November 17, 1983, by non-indigenous members of the FLN from Mexico's urban north and by indigenous inhabitants of the remote Las Cañadas/ Selva Lacandona regions in eastern Chiapas, by members of former rebel movements. Some EZLN leaders have argued that

3145-760: The Intercontinental Encounter for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism to help initiate a united platform for other anti-neoliberal groups. The EZLN also called for greater democratization of the Mexican government, which had been controlled by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party, also known as PRI) for 65 years, and for land reform mandated by the 1917 Constitution of Mexico , which had been repealed in 1991. The Zapatistas had mentioned "independence" among their initial demands; however, it received little systematic treatment from

3230-524: The Land , which adheres to the Sixth Declaration, called in support from other regional and national adherent organizations. " Delegate Zero " and his " Other Campaign " were at the time in nearby Mexico City, having just organized May Day events there, and quickly arrived at the scene. The following days were marked by violence, with some 216 arrests, over 30 rape and sexual abuse accusations against

3315-513: The United Kingdom, a total of sixteen people were arrested on the day. The Metropolitan Police made a website listing 138 photographs of those wanted for further questioning. Using CCTV footage extensively, they had arrested a further 50 people one year on. A protester pleaded guilty in January 2004 to Section 20 unlawful wounding (grievous bodily harm) and two violent disorder charges, plus an additional charge of skipping bail in 2000. He received

3400-718: The Vicente Fox government, but shortly thereafter demanded conditions for peace; especially, that the federal government disarm the PRI paramilitary groups in the area. The Zapatistas marched on Mexico City to pressure the Mexican Congress and formed the Zapatista Information Center , through which information would be exchanged about the trip of the guerrilla delegation to Mexico City, and mobilizations would be articulated to demand compliance with

3485-688: The Zapatista Army of National Liberation was under military siege by the Mexican Army. Javier Elorriaga was captured on February 9, 1995, by forces from a military garrison at Gabina Velázquez in the town of Las Margaritas, and was later taken to the Cerro Hueco prison in Tuxtla Gutiérrez , Chiapas. The PGR threatened the San Cristóbal de Las Casas' Catholic Bishop, Samuel Ruiz García, with arrest. Claiming that they helped conceal

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3570-753: The Zapatistas People with the People of the World was held from December 28, 2007, through January 1, 2008. In mid-January 2009, Marcos made a speech on behalf of the Zapatistas in which he supported the resistance of the Palestinians as "the Israeli government's heavily trained and armed military continues its march of death and destruction". He described the actions of the Israeli government as

3655-696: The Zapatistas enjoyed favorable news coverage from national and international media, particularly via Subcomandante Marcos as its spokesperson. Marcos and the Zapatistas would issue hundreds of missives, hold encuentros (mass meetings), give numerous interviews, meet high-profile public and literary figures including Oliver Stone , Naomi Klein , Gael García Bernal , Danielle Mitterrand , Régis Debray , John Berger , Eduardo Galeano , Gabriel García Márquez , José Saramago and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán , participate in symposia and colloquia, deliver speeches, host visits by thousands of national and international activists, and participate in two marches that toured much of

3740-535: The Zapatistas have rejected political classification. The EZLN aligns itself with the wider alter-globalization , anti-neoliberal social movement , seeking indigenous control over local resources, especially land. Since their 1994 uprising was countered by the Mexican Armed Forces , the EZLN has abstained from military offensives and adopted a new strategy that attempts to garner Mexican and international support. The Zapatistas describe themselves as

3825-636: The Zapatistas' guerrilla uprising, although their activities had been reported years before in Proceso , a Mexican leftist magazine. It is likely however that the Mexican Government knew about the uprising but failed to act. This adversely impacted Holy See–Mexico relations . In response to the siege of the EZLN, Esteban Moctezuma , the interior minister, submitted his resignation to President Zedillo, which Zedillo refused to accept. Influenced by Moctezuma's protest, President Zedillo abandoned

3910-434: The Zapatistas, Subcomandante Marcos, announce that he would be stepping down. The Zapatistas continued to control the Chiapas area through the late 2010s, with around 300,000 people across 55 municipalities. These poor communities run and train their own civic programs (education, health, government, justice) autonomously, with little interference from the Mexican government. The 1994 uprising has led to broader interest in

3995-682: The aftermath, protesters gathered peacefully in Trafalgar Square . Writing in Z magazine , Katherine Ainger described the global protests, which were "as diverse as the groups taking part". There were street parties in Barcelona and San Francisco . Politician Kim Beazley was custard pied in Melbourne for participating in a conference set up by Shell , whilst in Sydney there was another street party. In Nigeria, 10,000 people took to

4080-489: The amendment of Article 27 of the Constitution. The amendment called for the end of land reform and the regularizing of all landholdings, which ended land redistribution in Mexico. The end of land distribution heralded the end of many communities that had been growing of the past decade, as they had been waiting for further distribution that was on an agrarian backlog according to the government. The Zapatistas hosted

4165-414: The area, also known as Zapatourismo . Stores in San Cristóbal capitalize on revolutionary chic, selling balaclavas, music, and shirt souvenirs. Subcomandante Marcos's image and signature balaclava and pipe are widely appropriated in the tourism industry, similar to the iconic status of Che Guevara . Visitors cannot tour the villages but can attempt to visit the caracol administrative centers, subject to

4250-484: The concentration of some 10,000 participants. Beyond the number of people, the silence with which they marched and the lack of an opening or closing speech were the elements that marked this action. The poet and journalist Hermann Bellinghausen , specialist in coverage of the movement, ended his chronicle in this way: Able to "appear" suddenly, the rebellious indigenous "disappeared" as neatly and silently as they had arrived in this city at dawn that, two decades after

4335-410: The conditions of the EZLN for dialogue. Although Fox had stated earlier that he could end the conflict "in fifteen minutes", the EZLN rejected the agreement and created 32 new " autonomous municipalities " in Chiapas. They would then unilaterally implement their demands without government support, although they had some funding from international organizations. On June 28, 2005, the Zapatistas presented

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4420-429: The conference designated this date because of "515 years since the invasion of ancient Indigenous territories and the onslaught of the war of conquest, spoils and capitalist exploitation". Comandante David said in an interview, "The object of this meeting is to meet one another and to come to know one another's pains and sufferings. It is to share our experiences, because each tribe is different." The Third Encuentro of

4505-543: The country. Media organizations from North and South America, as well as from many European and several Asian nations, have granted press coverage to the movement and its spokesperson. The EZLN's writings have been translated into at least 14 different languages and Marcos, according to journalist Jorge Alonso, had by 2016 been the subject of "over 10,000 citations". As EZLN external communications dissipated after 1994, their mainstream coverage similarly decreased, particularly as spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos became critical of

4590-401: The current "core members" of the international forum: Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign. The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As

4675-465: The day became known as simply J18. Groups involved included labour, environmentalist, feminist, anti-capitalist, animal rights and anarchist. In London, the open organising group met every month. The day was also discussed in the open weekly meetings of London Reclaim the Streets . There were between 30 and 100 people at these discussions. The slogan for the event became Our Resistance is as Transnational as Capital . An international email discussion list

4760-630: The day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect. On that day, they issued their First Declaration and Revolutionary Laws from the Lacandon Jungle . The declaration amounted to a declaration of war on the Mexican government, which they considered illegitimate. The EZLN stressed that it opted for armed struggle due to the lack of results that had been achieved through peaceful means of protest (such as sit-ins and marches). Their initial goal

4845-422: The death of teacher and education promoter "Teacher Galeano" (a self chosen name honoring anti-capitalist author Eduardo Galeano ), who was murdered in an attack on a Zapatista school and health clinic led by local paramilitaries. In the weeks that followed, thousands of Zapatistas and national and international sympathizers mobilized and gathered to honor Galeano. This event also saw the unofficial spokesperson of

4930-584: The end of August 2019, Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano announced the expansion of EZLN into 11 more districts. In response, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated that this expansion was welcome, provided it was done without violence. The EZLN has made opposition to mega-infrastructure projects in the region a major priority. In 2020, it announced the Journey for Life and in 2021, Zapatistas visited various activist groups in Europe. In November 2023,

5015-647: The formation of clandestine armed organizations to seek the overthrow of a regime that from their point of view was authoritarian, and thus improve the living conditions of the population. One of these organizations, was known as the National Liberation Forces (FLN). The FLN were founded on August 6, 1969, by César Germán Yáñez Muñoz, in Monterrey , Nuevo León. According to Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro , in his report Subversive movements in Mexico , "they had established their areas of operations in

5100-460: The inside of the masks, the following text was written: Those in authority fear the mask for their power partly resides in identifying, stamping and cataloguing: in knowing who you are. But a Carnival needs masks, thousands of masks...Masking up releases our commonality, enables us to act together...During the last years the power of money has presented a new mask over its criminal face. Disregarding borders, with no importance given to race or colours,

5185-720: The march, a communiqué from the CCRI-CG was released in the form of a poem, signed by the Subcomandante Marcos . This mobilization, which included the participation of around 40,000 Zapatistas, was the largest since the 1994 uprising. Of this number, La Jornada estimated that half would have marched through the streets of San Cristóbal de las Casas, 7,000 in Las Margaritas and 8,000 in Palenque; for its part El País calculated that San Cristóbal would have seen

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5270-633: The marches came together and an estimated 5,000 people converged on the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE). A fire hydrant was set off, symbolising the freeing of the Walbrook river, and the lower entrance to the LIFFE was bricked up. Banners were hung, reading Global Ecology Not Global Economy , and The Earth Is A Common Treasury For All , the latter a quote from Gerrard Winstanley of

5355-487: The media in 1996 and 1997. Zapatista communities build and maintain their own health, education, and sustainable agro-ecological systems , promote equitable gender relations via Women's Revolutionary Law , and build international solidarity through outreach and political communication, in addition to their focus on building "a world where many worlds fit". The Zapatista struggle re-gained international attention in May 2014 with

5440-508: The military offensive in favor of a diplomatic approach. The Mexican army eased its operation in Chiapas, allowing Marcos to escape the military perimeter in the Lacandon Jungle. Responding to the change of conditions, friends of the EZLN along with Subcomandante Marcos prepared a report for under-Secretary of the Interior Luis Maldonado Venegas ; the Secretary of the Interior Esteban Moctezuma; and then President Zedillo. The document stressed Marcos' pacifist inclinations and his desire to avoid

5525-432: The morning. A Critical Mass bicycle ride brought the City of London traffic to a standstill in rush hour. The Campaign Against Arms Trade closed down a Lloyds bank with a 'die-in'. The Association of Autonomous Astronauts began their 10-day festival Space 1999: Ten Days Which Shook The Universe with a blockade of the Lockheed Martin offices at Berkeley Square . The electronic civil disobedience group called for

5610-504: The most important tenets of Zapatista ideology was liberation theology , with the Bishop of Chiapas Samuel Ruiz being considered the key figure. The Zapatista movement is outwardly secular, and does not have an official religion. However, the overarching Zapatista movement has been influenced by liberation theology and its proponents. The organization established early on that it "has no ties with any Catholic religious authorities nor authorities of any other creed." Local Catholic clergy

5695-439: The planters with an order that seemed choreographed, to get the platform installed quickly from early on, raise their fist and say, quietly, "here we are, once again". The Zapatistas invited the world to a three-day fiesta to celebrate ten years of Zapatista autonomy in August 2013 in the five caracoles of Chiapas. They expected 1,500 international activists to attend the event, titled the Little School of Liberty. In June 2015,

5780-417: The police, five deportations , and one casualty, a 14-year-old boy named Javier Cortes shot by a policeman. A 20-year-old UNAM economics student, Alexis Benhumea, died on the morning of June 7, 2006, after being in a coma caused by a blow to the head from a tear-gas grenade launched by police. Most of the resistance organizing was done by the EZLN and Sixth Declaration adherents, and Delegate Zero stated that

5865-450: The poor and addressing material conditions in tandem with spiritual ones brought many indigenous Catholics into the Zapatista Movement. Beyond just the Zapatistas, the blossoming indigenous resistance and identity of the late 20th century saw a broader indigenous movement based in indigenous liberationist Christianity. One such group in the broader movement is Las Abejas , an ecumenical Christian organization. Supported, but not controlled by

5950-427: The power of money humiliates dignities, insults honesties and assassinates hopes. On the signal follow your colour. Let the Carnival begin... Five processions set off in different directions (there were four marches planned and another occurred spontaneously). The spontaneous procession erupted in anger at London Wall when a woman was hit by a reversing police van and had her leg broken. Between two and three o'clock,

6035-440: The protests were reported on the internet by independent media activists from London and Sydney, in a step towards the Indymedia network. In 1983 and 1984, Stop the City demonstrations in London had attempted to blockade the City of London . In planning to contest the 25th G8 summit in Germany, activists connected through Peoples' Global Action decided to make a network of global protests. Preparations took many months and

6120-510: The removal of Article 27, Section VII, from the Mexican Constitution , which had guaranteed land reparations to indigenous groups throughout Mexico through collective land tenure. Postcolonialism scholars have argued that the Zapatistas' response to the introduction of NAFTA in 1994 may have reflected a shift in perception taking place in societies that have experienced colonialism. The Zapatistas have used organizations like

6205-518: The scene of a succession of uprisings, including the "Caste War" or "Chamula Rebellion" (1867–1870) and the "Pajarito War" (1911). The EZLN emerged during the government of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which at the time had ruled Mexico for more than sixty years, in a dominant-party system . The situation led many young people to consider the legal channels of political participation closed and to bet on

6290-606: The seventeenth century Diggers movement. Graffiti messages were sprayed and CCTV cameras were disabled. Then sound systems set up and drum & bass music and punk bands played. In the early afternoon a small group of protesters broke into the Cannon Bridge building, smashed up the reception area and tried to access the LIFFE trading floor, but were prevented by a security screen. We'd failed in our under-ambition. Unprepared, we never imagined we could get so close to occupying

6375-551: The states of Veracruz , Puebla , Tabasco , Nuevo León and Chiapas ." In February 1974, a confrontation took place in San Miguel Nepantla  [ Wikidata ] , State of Mexico , between a unit of the Mexican Army , under the command of Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, and members of the FLN, some of whom died during combat, reportedly having been tortured . As a consequence of this confrontation,

6460-779: The streets of Port Harcourt and blockaded the Royal Dutch Shell offices. A street was renamed in honour of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his younger brother Owens addressed the crowd. A march shut down the stock exchange in Montevideo , Uruguay and ended with the burning of a model television set. In total there were protests worldwide in 40 countries, in cities including Tel Aviv, Minsk, Madrid, Valencia, Prague, Hamburg, Cologne, Milan, Rome, Siena, Florence, Ancona, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Zurich, Geneva, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Austin (Texas), Boston, and Eugene (Oregon). The event

6545-477: The uprising. The Zapatista movement was therefore described as one that combines Marxism with traditional, Catholic spirituality. Because of its commitment to Catholicism, the EZLN was able to rally even conservative Catholics behind its socialist cause. The Zapatistas initially focused on the news media as a weak point of the Mexican federal government and turned the Chiapas war from a military impossibility to an informational guerrilla movement. From 1994 to 1996,

6630-677: Was Our Resistance is as Transnational as Capital . In London, a spoof newspaper was produced, alongside other publicity. The day itself featured a Critical Mass and an action by the Campaign Against Arms Trade , before a large march converged in different streams upon the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange for a street party. Globally there were protests in over 40 cities, including Barcelona, Montevideo, Port Harcourt and San Francisco. Using then new technology,

6715-609: Was catalytic for the formation of neo-Zapatistas in Chiapas, given the strong position that the Church enjoyed within local indigenous communities. Indigenous catechists that taught liberation theology proved essential in organising the local population, and gave the aura of legitimacy to movements hitherto considered too dangerous or radical. The activity of Catholic socialist catechists in the region allowed FLN to make inroads with local villages and start cooperating with Catholic association Slop ( Tzeltal name for 'root'), whose primary aim

6800-659: Was common cause. On May 3–4, 2006, a series of demonstrations protested the forcible removal of irregular flower vendors from a lot in Texcoco for the construction of a Walmart branch. The protests turned violent when state police and the Federal Preventive Police bused in some 5,000 agents to San Salvador Atenco and the surrounding communities. A local organization called the People's Front in Defense of

6885-481: Was covered by live streaming and internet citizen journalism , which at the time were both new technologies. In London, the day's events were transmitted live over the internet. In Australia, a team worked to create all day coverage, collecting stories, photos and videos from activists and publishing them in a news feed . The global activist teamwork formed the basis of what would become the Indymedia network. In

6970-406: Was handed out for free. The headline read 'Global Market Meltdown', followed by a spoof report of the collapse of the world's financial markets. At twelve, the protesters met at Liverpool Street train station. Food Not Bombs and Veggies Catering Campaign gave out free food and a samba band played. Carnival masks were distributed in four different colours, namely green, gold, black and red. On

7055-656: Was organizing indigenous resistance. Cooperation of FLN with local Catholic activists then gave birth to zapatista EZLN. In the decades preceding the 1994 uprising, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas , guided by the Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia , developed a cadre of indigenous catechists. In practice, these liberationist Christian catechists promoted political awareness, established organizational structures, and helped raise progressive sentiment among indigenous communities in Chiapas. The organization of these catechists and events such as

7140-486: Was set up. Fund-raising was carried out by collecting anonymous donations and running a series of benefit gigs. A contributor to the Days of Dissent magazine later wrote: "There is only so much that can be learned from how J18 was organised. J18 and the many other successful anti-capitalist events in recent history were produced by a free flowing convergence of events and political currents combined with sheer luck." In London,

7225-464: Was to instigate a revolution against the rise of neoliberalism throughout Mexico, but since no such revolution occurred, they used their uprising as a platform to call attention to their movement to protest the signing of the NAFTA, which the EZLN believed would increase inequality in Chiapas. Prior to the signing of NAFTA, however, dissent amongst indigenous peasants was already on the rise in 1992 with

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