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107-529: The Las Abejas activists professed their support for the goals of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional - EZLN), including their rejection of applying violent means. Many suspect this affiliation as the reason for the attack, and government involvement or complicity. Soldiers at a nearby military outpost did not intervene during the attack, which lasted for hours. The following morning, soldiers were found washing

214-528: 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,

321-574: 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

428-399: 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

535-468: 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,

642-915: A centre-left movement. The association of Marxism–Leninism with the Soviet Union also caused Eurocommunism to be developed as a democratic communist movement in Western Europe, but it only briefly saw electoral success in the 1970s. In the Years of Lead in Italy, far-left militants, such as the Red Brigades , justified the usage of political violence as a revolutionary means and defense against far-right terrorism and neo-fascism in Italy . The Chinese Communist Party had been active since 1921, but it did not seize power in China until its victory in

749-592: A cult of personality in his favor. This also entailed the Great Purge in the late 1930s, an interpretation of Lenin's revolutionary violence that saw hundreds of thousands of Stalin's opponents killed, often to be replaced by ambitious loyalists. By this time, Marxism–Leninism was seen as the definitive implementation of communism by most communists globally, justifying the Great Purge as an effort to eradicate fascist infiltrators, with state censorship obscuring

856-521: A few days after the inauguration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador . On September 2, 2020, the Secretariat for Home Affairs admitted to having responsibility for the massacre. Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez , Undersecretary for Human Rights, officially admitted that the Mexican government had responsibility for the massacre, and he offered a public apology to the victims. This announcement and

963-597: A group of Las Abejas group had a public hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights . In July 2020 , the government announced it was taking twenty actions to repair the damage related to the massacre, including recognition of the deaths caused by the paramilitary forces related to the government and the Institutional Revolutionary Party . An Acuerdo de Solución Amistosa ("Friendly Settlement Agreement")

1070-560: 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

1177-523: 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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1284-447: A total reformation of society and its functions. Proponents of the horseshoe theory interpretation of the left–right political spectrum identify the far left and the far right as having more in common with each other as extremists than each of them has with centrists or moderates . This theory has received criticism, however, by many academics. Communism has historically emphasized economics and class over social issues. In

1391-511: Is an ideological group that seeks the creation of a communist society . Modern communism is a form of revolutionary socialism based on support for the communist society described the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , known as Marxism . Offshoots of Marxism include Leninism , Marxism–Leninism (which was distinct from both of its eponymous ideologies), Maoism , Eurocommunism , anarchist communism , and others. Anarchism seeks to create an alternate form of society that excludes

1498-535: 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

1605-455: Is credited with first using the term communism , though his usage was unrelated to the ideologies that were later known as communism. Early anarchists emerged in the 19th century, including Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin . These anarchists endorsed many utopian ideas, but they emphasized the importance of revolution against and complete abolition of the state for a utopian society to exist. Bakunin argued that peasants rather than

1712-450: Is generally considered to be a centre-left socialist ideology. Socialism seeks to create a socially equal society in which every individual has access to basic necessities and in which prosperity and knowledge are shared. It is derived from ideas of egalitarianism . Democratic socialism is generally considered to be a reformist left-wing or radical-left ideology, and it has historically been considered centre-left , though it

1819-436: Is generally regarded as a right-wing ideology. Far-left groups support redistribution of income and wealth . They argue that capitalism and consumerism cause social inequality and advocate their dissolution. Some far-left groups also support the abolition of private property . Scholars, such as Luke March and Cas Mudde , propose that socio-economic rights are at the far left's core. Moreover, March and Mudde argue that

1926-764: 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

2033-522: Is occasionally considered far-left. Democratic socialism is sometimes used interchangeably with social democracy in political rhetoric, but is often used to describe political movements to the left of or following radical social-democracy. Communists may also identify as democratic socialists to contrast themselves with Stalinists . Democratic socialists reject Third Way social democracy for its association with neoliberalism , and they reject communism for its association with authoritarianism . Communism

2140-507: Is scheduled to be signed by 30 collateral victims of the massacre on September 3, 2020, that will include money for infrastructure projects in the region. The National Human Rights Commission said the 30 signers have agreed to lead peaceful, productive lives, and that the government has agreed to respect the rights of individuals who choose not to sign. Survivors of the massacre had requested the creation of Truth Commission in December 2018 ,

2247-818: Is seen as radical politics because it calls for fundamental change to the capitalist socio-economic structure of society. Radical-left politics, rejecting both neo-liberal social-democracy and revolutionary action, instead seeking to enact change from within government, prioritize equality of outcome over equal opportunity . Post-Soviet radical left-wing movements in Europe and the United States are associated with anti-globalization and anti-neoliberalism . Various courants and movements of socialism are considered far-left. Socialism has historically been divided into left-wing reformist socialism and far-left revolutionary socialism . Modern social democracy

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2354-439: Is situated between the far-left and social democracy . Per Richard Dunphy, "the radical left" desires fundamental changes in neoliberal capitalism and progressive reform of democracy such as direct democracy and the inclusion of marginalized communities, while per March "the extreme left" denounces liberal democracy as a "compromise with bourgeois political forces" and defines capitalism more strictly. Far-left politics

2461-659: 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

2568-532: The Chinese Civil War in 1949. As with the Soviet Union, the newly formed People's Republic of China carried out purges of political enemies, killing millions of land owners. The peasants were not targeted, however, instead using them as a base of political support. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, China under the rule of Mao Zedong distanced itself from the Soviet Union. Maoism then grew in popularity as an alternative to Soviet-style communism. At

2675-585: The Cold War brought an end to communism's political influence in most of Western Europe, and the development of post-industrial society caused many of the traditional sectors associated with communism to dissipate. Following Stalin's death, the workers of several Eastern European countries staged revolutions against communist rule, which were suppressed by the Soviet military. Many of these countries were led by Stalinist rulers, who were forced out and replaced by

2782-666: The Russian Revolution emerged in 1917 amid political instability caused by World War I . The Bolsheviks seized power, under the rule of Vladimir Lenin and his ideology of Leninism. The state ideology developed during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921, setting the preservation of Bolshevik power as the highest priority to assure the building of socialism as well as seeking to spread communist revolution to other nations. Some additional communist governments formed in Europe, but they lasted only months. Though

2889-636: 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

2996-515: The Taborites , who attempted to create a social structure that resembled a communist society. Early examples of communist societies in fiction include Utopia by Thomas More , which proposed a society without personal property, and The City of the Sun by Tommaso Campanella , which proposed a society without the family unit . Modern far-left politics can be traced to Europe and North America in

3103-590: 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

3210-557: 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

3317-472: 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

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3424-593: 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

3531-413: The 1830s with the publications of British reformer Robert Owen , who self-identified as socialist. Owen, as well as others such as Henri de Saint-Simon , Charles Fourier , and Étienne Cabet , developed the utopian socialist movement, and these utopian socialists established several communes to implement their ideology. Cabet responded to More's Utopia with his own novel, The Voyage to Icaria . He

3638-509: The 1970s and 1980s, far-left movements in Western Europe were increasingly defined by the new social movements , which gave prominence to issues such as environmentalism, animal rights , women's rights , the peace movement , and promoting the interests of the Third World . These ideas as a singular movement became less prominent in far-left politics as they were subsumed by green politics, but they are still disparately supported by many in

3745-422: 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

3852-689: The Bolsheviks identified as communist, the term socialist was often used interchangeably at the time. By 1922, as Russian SFSR became one of the founding countries of Soviet Union , it responded to widespread hunger and poverty with the New Economic Policy , which restored market enterprise for smaller industries. After Lenin's death, a power struggle between Nikolai Bukharin , Leon Trotsky , and Joseph Stalin ended with Stalin taking power by 1928. Stalin implemented his ideology of Marxism–Leninism, which reorganized society and created

3959-685: 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

4066-438: 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

4173-655: 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

4280-400: 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

4387-609: 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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4494-651: 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 ,

4601-420: 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

4708-458: 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

4815-399: 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

4922-509: 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

5029-540: The Great Purge's extent. Anarcho-syndicalism was developed as a form of anarchism in the late 19th century, and it grew popular around 1900. It remained relevant in far-left politics through 1940. During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, anarcho-syndicalists seized control of multiple regions in Spain, but this ended when the nationalist faction won the war. This, along with the rise of communism, ended

5136-760: 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

5243-524: 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

5350-554: The Supreme Court decided to reopen the case due to the consistency of the reports made by different organisations pointing to the lack of accessibility of data of the case. In 2014 the US Supreme Court turned down a case filed by the survivors of Acteal massacre against Connecticut resident and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo on grounds of "sovereign Immunity" as a former head of state. On October 20, 2015,

5457-718: 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

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5564-688: 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

5671-753: 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

5778-696: 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

5885-535: 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

5992-636: 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

6099-434: 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

6206-489: 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

6313-658: The approval of a reception committee. Marcos's fame had subsided by the early 2020s. American rock bands have voiced support for the Zapatistas. Rage Against the Machine released three songs in support of the EZLN, including " People of the Sun " (1996). The extreme metal band Brujeria is also known for their support of the Zapatistas. The EZLN invited supporters to Chiapas for two days of celebration in honor of their 30th anniversary in 2023. Far-left politics Far-left politics , also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism , are politics further to

6420-414: 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

6527-609: The attacks. Las Abejas, composed of people from 48 indigenous communities in the highlands of Chiapas, engaged in activism, issuing communiqués that denounced violence through actions centered around fasting and prayer. In November 2006, 100 men and 100 women members of the Abejas organized a peace and justice caravan to Oaxaca , to show their support for the Popular Assembly of the Oaxacan People (APPO) and denounce

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6634-502: The chance of voting radical left"; and second, radical-left voters tend not to share the social nationalism of the radical-right, instead having a socio-tropic, or other-regarding, bias based on the ideological concern for economic egalitarianism. Other characteristics may include anti-Americanism , anti-globalization , opposition to NATO , and in some cases a rejection of European integration . Many far-left militant organizations were formed by members of existing political parties in

6741-465: The church walls to hide the blood stains. Some of the pregnant women who were part of the prayer group were intentionally stabbed and shot in the belly to kill their unborn children. The EZLN and many Chiapas residents accused the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of complicity, and following the change of government in 2000, survivors alleged that the investigation was being stalled, with authorities refusing to question or arrest suspects in

6848-484: 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

6955-410: 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

7062-429: 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

7169-543: 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

7276-630: 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

7383-422: 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

7490-473: The early 19th century to describe the egalitarian ideas of redistribution promoted by writers like François-Noël Babeuf and John Thelwall . Inspired by the French Revolution , these writers objected to the existence of significant wealth, and Babeuf advocated a dictatorship on behalf of the people that would destroy those who caused inequality. Socialism was recognized as a coherent philosophy in

7597-531: 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,

7704-501: The far left is to the left of the political left with regard to how parties or groups describe economic inequality on the base of existing social and political arrangements. Far-left groups are anti-establishment , opposing existing political and economic structures. Both anarchist and statist far-left ideologies may support disestablishment of traditional sociopolitical structures. They are opposed to liberalism and liberal democracy . They may be classified as radical , supporting

7811-543: The far-left and social-democracy) or far-left. At the same time, in the United Kingdom and the United States of America , populist movements formed around Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders . While left-wing populist parties were in power in the 2010s, they were often forced to put aside their strong anti-neoliberalism and accept neoliberal policies, either proposed by their larger allies or imposed due to

7918-575: The far-left declined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union , and it remained relatively subdued during the 1990s. In many Eastern European countries, communist parties were banned by the new governments. In others such as Moldova, they saw continued electoral success. Of the five communist states that survived into the 21st century, three of them — China, Vietnam, and Laos — had restored private ownership and reintegrated with global capitalist markets although state and public control continued as well. For instance, Peter Nolan argues that land in China

8025-494: The far-left varies in the literature and there is not a general agreement on what it entails or consensus on the core characteristics that constitute the far left, other than being to the left of mainstream left-wing politics . As with all political alignments, the exact boundaries of centre-left versus far-left politics are not clearly defined and can vary depending on context. Far-left ideologies often include types of socialism , communism , and anarchism . The radical-left

8132-443: The far-left. Societies resembling communist society have been postulated throughout human history, and many have been proposed as the earliest socialist or communist ideas. The ideas of Plato have been described as an early type of socialism. In medieval Europe, some philosophers argued that Jesus believed in shared ownership of property and that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was contrary to his teachings. This included

8239-647: 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

8346-627: The ideas of Japanese writer Kōtoku Shūsui , who was in turn inspired by Peter Kropotkin . This movement saw its greatest prominence in the 1920s in China. Communism in early 20th century Europe often gained power in countries with significant polarization between segments of the population on an ethnic, religious, or economic basis, and in countries that were destabilized by war. It was less prominent in industrialized nations, where social democracy maintained electoral success over communist parties. The first communist revolution took place in Russia, when

8453-690: The international context. In Europe, the support for populist left politics comes from three overlapping groups: far-left subcultures, disaffected social democrats, and protest voters—those who are opposed to their country's European Union membership. European populist left politics share many of the values of centre-left politics , including cosmopolitanism , altruism , and egalitarianism . They overlap in some areas with far-right politics concerning radicalism , economic nationalism , Euroscepticism , and populism . Two clear distinctions emerge: first, "education [...] tends to statistically significantly lower chances of voting for radical right but increases

8560-424: The late 18th century, when industrialization and political upheaval caused discontent among the working class. Socialists were those who objected to the changing social and economic structures associated with industrialization, in that they promoted individualism over collectivism and that they created wealth for some but not for others, creating economic inequality . The term socialism first came into use in

8667-796: The left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left . The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some scholars consider it to be the left of communist parties , while others broaden it to include the left of social democracy . In certain instances—especially in the news media — far left has been associated with some forms of authoritarianism , anarchism , communism , and Marxism , or are characterized as groups that advocate for revolutionary socialism and related communist ideologies , or anti-capitalism and anti-globalization . Far-left terrorism consists of extremist , militant , or insurgent groups that attempt to realize their ideals through political violence rather than using democratic processes. The definition of

8774-538: The local level and a one-party state at the regional level. In reaction to the neo-liberal turn of European social-democracy under the Third Way , populist left-wing parties and politicians emerged in the late 2000s and early 2010s as a Eurosceptic , anti-globalist response to the Great Recession . These parties and movements are qualified by various observers as either left-wing , radical-left (between

8881-720: 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

8988-487: 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

9095-732: 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

9202-556: 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

9309-555: 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,

9416-417: 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

9523-519: 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

9630-623: The relevance of anarchism among the far-left globally after 1940. As mass production became more common, the traditional style of labor that anarcho-syndicalists objected to ceased to exist, preventing any significant resurgence in the movement. The Soviet Union's influence during and after World War II spread communism, directly and indirectly, to the rest of Eastern Europe and into Southeast Europe . New communist governments were formed in Albania , Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia , East Germany , Hungary , Romania , and Yugoslavia . The onset of

9737-510: 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

9844-544: The repression and violence perpetrated by the state and federal governments. They also delivered at least three tons of food, water, and medicine to the APPO. On August 27, 2007, Martín Rangel Cervantes, writing in national daily El Universal , stated that a federal judge assigned to the Acteal case sentenced, on July 22, 18 persons for their responsibility in this massacre. Each one got 40 years in prison. As of July 2008,

9951-467: The role of the state. Some objected to the increase in the state's involvement, while others believed that the state was a stronger alternative to protect worker's rights than labor movements. Many of the former moved to anarchism, while many of the latter responded with the development of social democracy. East Asian anarchism developed in the 1900s during the Russo-Japanese War , based on

10058-546: The same time, North Korea and North Vietnam were established as communist governments, triggering the Korean War and the Vietnam War against South Korea and South Vietnam , respectively. By the late 1970s, Maoism in China was replaced by the ideology of Deng Xiaoping , which restored the private sector and market pricing. The Cuban Revolution led to Fidel Castro becoming the ruler of Cuba in 1959. Though he

10165-430: 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

10272-561: The signing of the Friendly Settlement Agreement ended the lawsuit filed in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the victims. However, Fernando Luna Pérez, a victim speaking for Las Abejas , requested that the investigation continue and that former President Zedillo be tried. Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Spanish : Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional , EZLN ), often referred to as

10379-398: The state entirely. Anarchism incorporates elements of both socialism and liberalism , and it was a prominent ideology among the far-left globally from 1900 to 1940. Anarchist movements include classical anarchism , anarcho-syndicalism , social anarchism , individualist anarchism , anarcha-feminism , black anarchism , and queer anarchism , and green anarchism . Anarcho-capitalism

10486-551: 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,

10593-572: The subsequent Soviet government. Yugoslavia distanced itself as a neutral communist nation, aligned with neither the East nor the West. The New Left developed in Western Europe as an alternative to communism in the 1950s, taking positions on social issues and identity politics . Green politics developed as an offshoot of the New Left, but it was deradicalized by the end of the 20th century and became

10700-477: 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,

10807-485: The working class should lead a socialist revolution, and he popularized calls to violence among the anarchist movement. Anarchist ideology spread to the Americas shortly after its development. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels introduced Marxism in the 1840s, which advocated revolutionary socialism . As the state bureaucracy was developed in the late 19th century and labor rights were increasingly recognized by national governments, socialist movements were divided on

10914-609: 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

11021-659: 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

11128-544: Was decollectivized but not privatized, with control of land remaining in the hands of the community. The Party of the European Left was established in 2004 as a pan-European political party for the far-left. The far-left parties during this time were rarely new creations, instead descending from earlier far-left parties of the 20th century. In 2012, the autonomous region Rojava in northwestern Syria established self-governance based on an anarchist direct democracy at

11235-751: Was not a communist, he aligned the nation with the communist movement to seek Soviet support. Many other nations adopted socialism distinct from Marxism–Leninism during the Cold War, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Communism was rapidly replaced between 1979 and 1992, in which eleven of the world's sixteen communist states were disestablished. By the 1980s, the Soviet Union moved away from ideas of international communism as such efforts came to be seen as too inconvenient. By 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had effectively abandoned communism. In Europe,

11342-656: 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

11449-464: 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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