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186-837: Soconusco is a region in the southwest corner of the state of Chiapas in Mexico along its border with Guatemala . It is a narrow strip of land wedged between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is the southernmost part of the Chiapas coast extending south from the Ulapa River to the Suchiate River , distinguished by its history and economic production. Abundant moisture and volcanic soil has always made it rich for agriculture, contributing to

372-566: A Chiapas independent of Mexico and some favored unification with Guatemala. Elites in highland cities pushed for incorporation into Mexico. In 1822, then-Emperor Agustín de Iturbide decreed that Chiapas was part of Mexico. In 1823, the Junta General de Gobierno was held and Chiapas declared independence again. In July 1824, the Soconusco District of southwestern Chiapas split off from Chiapas, announcing that it would join

558-605: A border. It split the Soconusco region, with the greater part going to Mexico. One reason behind the reaching of the agreement was concerns of the United States taking advantage of the continued instability between Mexico and the Central American states. However, Guatemala still made claims to the Soconusco until 1895. Since the finalization of the border with Guatemala, Soconusco's history has been dominated by

744-554: A circular format. Central Mexican calendar wheels incorporate the eighteen annual festivals or the 52-year cycle. In the Maya area, calendar wheels depict a cycle of 13 K'atuns . The only known pre-Hispanic K'atuns wheel appears on a stone turtle from Mayapán. The earliest known Colonial-period calendar wheel is actually depicted in a square format, on pages 21 and 22 of the Codex Borbonicus , an Aztec screenfold that divides

930-509: A common end, and a new Calendar Round begins. This 52-year cycle was the most important for most Mesoamericans, with the apparent exception of the Maya elite until the end of the Classic Era , who gave equal importance to the long count calendar . According to their mythology, at the end of one of these 52-year cycles the world would be destroyed by the gods, as it had been, three times in

1116-465: A distinct cultural and living identity from the rest of Chiapas since Mesoamerican times and remains so to this day. Soconusco lies on the border between Mexico and Central America , but it has had connections with what is now central Mexico since the Mesoamerican period, primarily because of trade routes into Central America and its production of cacao , achiote , and other products. The name

1302-528: A form of tribute and way of locking in a labor supply for tax payments. The conquistadors brought previously unknown diseases. This, as well as overwork on plantations, dramatically decreased the indigenous population. The Spanish also established missions, mostly under the Dominicans , with the Diocese of Chiapas established in 1538 by Pope Paul III . The Dominican evangelizers became early advocates of

1488-460: A high of 79,253 in 1999 to 27,840 in 2007. Most Guatemalan migrants in Mexico are on their way now to the United States. Illegal immigration in the region is still a problem, most of which comes from Central America. Most illegal immigrants work in agriculture and as domestic servants, with women being vulnerable to sexual exploitation, especially those from Honduras and El Salvador . The Soconusco

1674-596: A large number of turtles. To one side of the reserve is the Chantuto Archaeological Site , one of the first human settlements in the Chiapas area. The site includes large mounds of discarded shells. Visitors require permits from the Reserve's administration. Between La Encrucijada and the Guatemalan border, there are a series of lesser known beaches. Barra Cahoacán is located 33 km from

1860-431: A million from El Salvador alone. The Mexican government resisted direct international intervention in the camps, but eventually relented somewhat because of finances. By 1984, there were 92 camps with 46,000 refugees in Chiapas, concentrated in three areas, mostly near the Guatemalan border. To make matters worse, the Guatemalan army conducted raids into camps on Mexican territories with significant casualties, terrifying

2046-413: A more active role in the state's politics. However, it did not solve the economic issues that many peasant farmers face, especially the lack of land to cultivate. This problem has been at crisis proportions since the 1970s, and the government's reaction has been to encourage peasant farmers—mostly indigenous—to migrate into the sparsely populated Lacandon Jungle, a trend since earlier in the century. From

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2232-678: A political crisis after the royal government collapsed in Mexico City in 1821, ending the Mexican War of Independence . During this war, a group of influential Chiapas merchants and ranchers sought the establishment of the Free State of Chiapas. This group became known as the La Familia Chiapaneca . However, this alliance did not last with the lowlands preferring inclusion among the new republics of Central America and

2418-605: A politically destabilized Chiapas. Although Mexico is not a signatory to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees , international pressure forced the government to grant official protection to at least some of the refugees. Camps were established in Chiapas and other southern states, and mostly housed Mayan peoples . However, most Central American refugees from that time never received any official status, estimated by church and charity groups at about half

2604-482: A rough surf and a semi humid climate with rains in the summer. Activities for tourists include sports fishing, boating and ATV riding. Unión Juárez is located on the slopes of the Tacaná Volcano. The town is noted for its surrounding coffee plantations and houses made of wood in a style similar to that of Switzerland, giving it the nickname of “La Suiza Chiapaneca.” It has a relatively cold climate with rains in

2790-614: A rough surf and a semi humid climate with rains in the summer. Activities here include sports fishing, boating and camping. Playa San Benito has beaches with dark grey sand and a rough surf. The beach is lined with restaurants in palapas serving seafood. Some of these have swimming pools. Costa Maya or Playa Maya is in the Tapachula municipality in the Las Gaviotas community. It has open beach and estuaries. Playa Grande are expanses of near-virgin beaches with no constructions on them. It

2976-693: A series of beaches uninterrupted except for estuaries and lagoons created by the various small rivers that run from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the Pacific Ocean. These areas are known for their abundance of mangroves and water lilies as well as aquatic birds. The most important estuary area is the La Encrucijada Ecological Reserve which extends over 144,868 hectares in the municipalities of Pijijiapan , Mapastepec , Acapetahua, Huixtla, Villa Comaltitlán and Mazatán, consisting of lagoons and estuaries that interconnect along

3162-539: A small ragtag army overwhelmingly defeated the army helped by chamulas from San Cristóbal. There were three years of peace after that until troops allied with the "First Chief" of the revolutionary Constitutionalist forces, Venustiano Carranza , entered in 1914 taking over the government, with the aim of imposing the Ley de Obreros (Workers' Law) to address injustices against the state's mostly indigenous workers. Conservatives responded violently months later when they were certain

3348-569: A syncretic form of Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. This split had existed in Chiapas since the 1970s, with the latter group supported by the caciques and others in the traditional power-structure. Protestants and Word of God Catholics (allied directly with the bishopric in San Cristóbal ) tended to oppose traditional power structures. The Bishop of Chiapas, Samuel Ruiz , and the Diocese of Chiapas reacted by offering to mediate between

3534-635: A tourist route called the “Ruta del Manglar.” The center is the La Encruciajada Reserve, which was created as part of the North American Waterbird Conservation Plan signed in 1986 by Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Another feature of the route is the Caimanes y Crocodriles de Chiapas sanctuary, located outside of Tapachula. The mangroves are home to various reptiles such as alligators, the iguana and

3720-494: A wave of Spanish and mestizo farmers who migrated to the state and added to the elite group of wealthy landowning families. There was some technological progress such as a highway from San Cristóbal to the Oaxaca border and the first telephone line in the 1880s, but Porfirian era economic reforms would not begin until 1891 with Governor Emilio Rabasa . This governor took on the local and regional caciques and centralized power into

3906-453: Is Tuxtla Gutiérrez . Other important population centers in Chiapas include Ocosingo , Tapachula , San Cristóbal de las Casas , Comitán , and Arriaga . Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico, and it borders the states of Oaxaca to the west, Veracruz to the northwest, and Tabasco to the north, and the Petén , Quiché , Huehuetenango , and San Marcos departments of Guatemala to

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4092-510: Is a recommended place to see the natural flora and fauna of the area. The main nature reserve in the mountain areas of the region is the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve , near Mapastepec at the north end of the Soconusco. The area is wet with fairly low temperatures and exuberant evergreen tropical vegetation of the cloud forest type. It is home to species such as the quetzal . Visitors are allowed only with permission of

4278-475: Is a strip of land wedged between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre de Chiapas , formed by sediment flowing from the mountains, similar to the rest of the Chiapas coast. However, this area is distinguished because of its history and its economic production. It is the southern section of this state's coast, with its northern border at the Ulapa River. Its southern border used to be the Tilapa River in what

4464-631: Is a town founded during the colonial period as the capital of the Soconusco. Its main church is from this time, today known as the San Pedro Parish, constructed in an austere fashion of adobe. Tuzantán has conserved much of its indigenous identity, populated by ethnic Tuzantecos and Mochos, which are the westernmost Mayan peoples. Their main religious festival is dedicated to the Archangel Michael celebrated in September. Huixtla

4650-556: Is also a key state for the nation's petrochemical and hydroelectric industries. A significant percentage of PEMEX's drilling and refining takes place in Chiapas and Tabasco, and Chiapas produces fifty-five percent of Mexico's hydroelectric energy. Mesoamerican calendars The calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica , primarily a 260-day year, were used in religious observances and social rituals, such as divination . These calendars have been dated to early as ca. 1100 BCE. By 500 BCE at

4836-410: Is an active volcano, the area around it is densely populated. At the lower levels the average temperature is around 20 C and at the highest elevation it is about 10C. Soconusco is distinguished in Mexico as an agricultural center, mostly cash crops destined for export. The agricultural richness of the area and its function as a corridor to Central America helps to counter the negative economic effect of

5022-579: Is derived from 3 words in Nahuatl Xococ (Sour) + Nochtli (Prickly pear cactus) + có (Place) “Xoconochco” means (Place of sour cactus) as noted in the Mendoza Codex . The Mayan name for the area was Zaklohpakab. The area was originally defined as far south as the Tilapa River in what is now Guatemala, but when the final border between Mexico and Guatemala was set in 1882, the Suchiate became

5208-479: Is divided into fifteen municipalities which are Acacoyagua , Acapetahua , Cacahoatán , Escuintla , Frontera Hidalgo , Huehuetán , Huixtla , Mazatán , Metapa , Pueblo Nuevo Comaltitlán , Ciudad Hidalgo , Tapachula , Tuxtla Chico , Unión Juárez and Tuzantán . The region's capital and Mexico's main border city for this area is Tapachula. Tapachula was founded by the Spanish as an Indian town in 1590, with

5394-460: Is home to the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque , Yaxchilán , Bonampak , Lacanha , Chinkultic , El Lagartero and Toniná . It is also home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the country, with twelve federally recognized ethnicities. The official name of the state is Chiapas, which is believed to have come from the ancient city of Chiapan, which in Náhuatl means "the place where

5580-498: Is known for its Chinese food, especially Cantonese . More indigenous dishes include tamales , pozol , sopa de chipilín and other dishes shared with the rest of Chiapas. These dishes are often prepared with beef and pork and prepared with ingredients such as peaches, apples, bananas, quince , chayote , and carrots. Chanfaina is cooked ground beef liver with seasonings. Seafood dishes include various fish dishes and stews along with those made of river snails and turtles. The coast area of

5766-530: Is known that most of Chiapas was not Olmec, but had close relations with them, especially the Olmecs of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Olmec-influenced sculpture can be found in Chiapas and products from the state including amber , magnetite , and ilmenite were exported to Olmec lands. The Olmecs came to what is now the northwest of the state looking for amber with one of the main pieces of evidence for this called

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5952-694: Is near the town of Mazatán. In addition to wide beaches with estuaries, birds and exuberant vegetation, it is home to a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin of the Conception. The waters of the open ocean are rough but the estuaries have little to no wave action. The large expanses of mangroves here are part of the La Encrucijada Reserve in the Las Palmas zone. Playa Linda is in the Tapachula municipality. It has beaches of fine grayish sand and

6138-409: Is not known what ended the civilization but theories range from over population size, natural disasters, disease, and loss of natural resources through over exploitation or climate change. Nearly all Mayan cities collapsed around the same time, 900 CE. From then until 1500 CE , social organization of the region fragmented into much smaller units and social structure became much less complex. There

6324-543: Is now Guatemala, but when the final border between Mexico and this country was set in 1882, the new southern boundary marker became the Suchiate River . The region has a territory of 5,827 km. The climate and ecology of the region varies with elevation. The coastal lowlands are seasonally dry. They are part of the Central American dry forests ecoregion, characterized by open woodlands and thorn scrub of dry-season deciduous trees and shrubs. At higher elevations

6510-415: Is one of the cultural traits that Paul Kirchhoff used in his original formulation to define Mesoamerica as a culture area . Therefore, the use of Mesoamerican calendars is specific to Mesoamerica and is not found outside its boundaries. Since the sixteenth century, most communities have lost both of these once universal calendars, but one—or, rarely, both—has survived in diverse linguistic groups through

6696-638: Is subject to boom-and-bust periods and World War I precipitated a drop in demand for coffee, weakening the plantain owners' position somewhat. Struggles between workers’ groups and plantation owners began in earnest in the 1920s, leading to the establishment of the Partido Socialista Chiapaneco. The amount of land under the control of these owners actually increased during the same period despite some successful attempts at land redistribution. Mexico's coffee production came under competition from abroad, and world coffee prices fell again in

6882-469: Is surpassed only by places in Hawaii and India. The Santo Domingo coffee plantation is noted for its location on the slopes of the Tacaná Volcano. It maintains the look it had during the early 20th century. Visitors can see the main house, housing for workers, chapel, hospital and the installations dedicated to the processing of coffee beans. The main house was constructed in the 1920s by the original owner, who

7068-513: Is that the 260-day period came from the length of human pregnancy . This is close to the average number of days between the first missed menstrual period and birth, unlike Naegele's rule which is 40 weeks (280 days) between the last menstrual period and birth. It is postulated that midwives originally developed the calendar to predict babies' expected birth dates. A third theory comes from understanding of astronomy, geography and paleontology. The Mesoamerican calendar probably originated with

7254-535: Is the Rancho San Alberto in the Cacahoatán municipality which pioneered the growing of this fruit in the country in the mid 20th century. Overall it is estimated that there are 50,000 producing trees over 500 hectares. Growing sectors of the agriculture include organic produce and African palm. The production of ornamental plants began in the early 2000s in the coffee plantations as did “agrotourism” or

7440-459: Is the only town on the Chiapas coast which conserves its old train station. The town is surrounded by fields of wild reeds and “La Piedra,” a 100-meter-high (330 ft) granite formation, is used to symbolize the area. Acacoyagua was a settlement populated by Japanese immigrants. Nearby is the El Chicol waterfall, which forms deep pools of fresh water surrounded by dense vegetation. Soconusco

7626-533: The Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP) . At the southern end, the Tacaná Volcano reaches a height of 4,100 meters with all of the climates and vegetation that is found in the Sierra Madres de Chiapas. It forms part of Mexico's border with Guatemala as set by the 1882 Treaty. Tacaná is one of a series of volcanoes that extend through Central America. Despite the fact that it

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7812-482: The Julian Period (Monday, January 1, 4713 BCE) to the start of creation on 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ajaw, 8 Kumk'u. The most commonly accepted correlation is the "Goodman, Martinez, Thompson " correlation (GMT correlation). The GMT correlation establishes that the creation date occurred on September 6 (Julian) or August 11 ( Gregorian ), 3114 BC (-3113 astronomical), Julian day number (JDN) 584283. The Maya version of

7998-591: The Long Count to record dates within periods longer than the 52 year calendar round. The post-Classic Maya used an abbreviated short count . Many Maya Long Count inscriptions also have a supplementary series which can record which one of the nine Lords of the Night rules, a Lunar series which has information about the lunar cycle, such as lunar phase and position of the Moon in a six lunation cycle and length of

8184-526: The Maya civilization who developed it to its fullest extent during the Classic period (ca. 200–900 CE). The Long Count provided the ability to uniquely identify days over a much longer period of time, by combining a sequence of day-counts or cycles of increasing length, calculated or set from a particular date in the mythical past. Most commonly, five such higher-order cycles in a modified vigesimal (base-20) count were used. The use of Mesoamerican calendrics

8370-494: The Mesoamerican Preclassic period , the people in this region ate fish, white-tailed deer , dog , and gopher . They also grew maize , though it was probably used to create alcoholic beverages or attract deer, rather than being their staple food . They were likely already sedentary when they adopted agriculture, sometime around 900 to 800 BC. It is thought that migrations out of this area east gave rise to

8556-494: The Mexican Revolution in 1910. However, plantation owners initially resisted the effects of the war and the economic changes that the rebels demanded. Coffee was more difficult to convert to cash than cattle and so its farms suffered less pillaging by the various factions than in other places. As the markets were abroad, they could resist the economic reforms of Venustiano Carranza as well. However, export agriculture

8742-537: The Olmec civilization. A later, but also important Mesoamerican culture, was centered on the site of Izapa , considered the most important on the Chiapas coast. It dates to about 1500 BC and is classified as Mixe-Zoque but it is also considered to be the link between the older Olmec civilization and the later Mayan ones. The site was important for about 1000 years as a civil and religious structure. While most of its ruins now consist of earthen mounds, its importance lies in

8928-615: The Olmecs , and a settlement existed at Izapa, in southeast Chiapas , Mexico, before 1200 BCE. There, at a latitude of about 15 ° N, the Sun passes through zenith twice a year, and there are 260 days between zenithal passages, and gnomons (used generally for observing the path of the Sun and in particular zenithal passages), were found at this and other sites. The sacred almanac may well have been set in motion on August 13, 1359, BCE, in Izapa. In

9114-522: The Pacific Ocean , but it is still abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas and many other tropical crops near Tapachula . On the several parallel sierras or mountain ranges running along the center of Chiapas, the climate can be quite moderate and foggy, allowing the development of cloud forests like those of Reserva de la Biosfera El Triunfo, home to a handful of horned guans , resplendent quetzals , and azure-rumped tanagers . Chiapas

9300-702: The Popul Vuh and four times for the Aztecs . While waiting for this to happen, all fire was extinguished, utensils were destroyed to symbolize new beginnings, people fasted and rituals were carried out. This was known as the New Fire Ceremony . When dawn broke on the first day of the new cycle, torches were lit in the temples and brought out to light new fires everywhere, and ceremonies of thanksgiving were performed. The term calendar wheel generally refers to Colonial-period images that display cycles of time in

9486-528: The Soconusco and Tuxtla, all under the regional colonial government of Guatemala . Chiapas, Soconusco and Tuxla regions were united to the first time as an intendencia during the Bourbon Reforms in 1790 as an administrative region under the name of Chiapas. However, within this intendencia, the division between Chiapas and Soconusco regions would remain strong and have consequences at the end of

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9672-513: The Zapatista movement in the 1990s. Although the Zapatista movement couched its demands and cast its role in response to contemporary issues, especially in its opposition to neoliberalism, it operates in the tradition of a long line of peasant and indigenous uprisings that have occurred in the state since the colonial era. This is reflected in its indigenous vs. Mestizo character. However,

9858-516: The chia sage grows." After the Spanish arrived (1522), they established two cities called Chiapas de los Indios and Chiapas de los Españoles (1528), with the name of Provincia de Chiapas for the area around the cities. The first coat of arms of the region dates from 1535 as that of the Ciudad Real ( San Cristóbal de las Casas ). Chiapas painter Javier Vargas Ballinas designed the modern coat of arms. Hunter gatherers began to occupy

10044-409: The glyphs used to depict them were culture-specific. However, it is clear that type of calendar functioned in essentially the same way across cultures, and across the chronological periods when it was maintained. The second of the major calendars was one representing a 365-day period approximating the tropical year , known sometimes as the " vague year ". Because it was an approximation, over time

10230-436: The 13 days in the trecenas of the 260-day calendar. The same god always represented the same day. Quetzalcohuatl (The feathered serpent), for example, always accompanied the 9th day. There are only nine Lords of the Night, which means that they cannot always represent the same day, but the list of gods repeats itself again and again so each lord accompanies a new number each trecena . Some think that there are nine Lords of

10416-455: The 15th century, but were unable to displace the native Chiapa tribe. However, they had enough influence so that the name of this area and of the state would come from Nahuatl . When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they found the indigenous peoples divided into Mayan and non-Mayan, with the latter dominated by the Zoques and Chiapanecas . The first contact between Spaniards and

10602-408: The 1930s. Land reform in the area began in earnest during this decade under President Lázaro Cárdenas , with much of the coffee growing land becoming communally-held in ejidos . By 1946, about half of all coffee growing land in the area was owned by about one hundred ejidos. However, World War II had coffee prices drop again and growth of coffee production in the area would not increase again until

10788-529: The 1950s, when international financing became available. Since then, coffee has remained the area's main cash crop, but it has been supplemented by the growing of tropical fruit and other crops, which have kept the Soconusco as an important agricultural center for Mexico. There are still booms and busts in demand, such as a major fall of coffee prices in 1989, caused by the disappearance of the International Coffee Organization , and

10974-495: The 1970s on, some 100,000 people set up homes in this rainforest area, with many being recognized as ejidos , or communal land-holding organizations. These migrants included Tzeltals, Tojolabals, Ch'ols and mestizos, mostly farming corn and beans and raising livestock. However, the government changed policies in the late 1980s with the establishment of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve , as much of

11160-409: The 1989 fall in coffee prices and a hurricane which wiped out 65% of the banana crop in 2005. These cycles, along with normal yearly harvest period have resulted in migrations of seasonal workers in and out of the area. Most of these workers come from Guatemala for harvests but bust periods can send parts of the local population out of area to find work. The Soconusco is one of the most fertile areas of

11346-467: The 1990s. Another important factor to this movement would be the role of the Catholic Church from the 1960s to the 1980s. In 1960, Samuel Ruiz became the bishop of the Diocese of Chiapas, centered in San Cristóbal. He supported and worked with Marist priests and nuns following an ideology called liberation theology . In 1974, he organized a statewide "Indian Congress" with representatives from

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11532-597: The 19th and 20th centuries, much like the Mexico/U.S. border around the same time. This is in spite of tensions caused by Mexico's annexation of the Soconusco region in the 19th century. The border between Mexico and Guatemala had been traditionally poorly guarded, due to diplomatic considerations, lack of resources and pressure from landowners who need cheap labor sources. The arrival of thousands of refugees from Central America stressed Mexico's relationship with Guatemala, at one point coming close to war as well as

11718-443: The 20th century, Chiapas's traditional agricultural economy has diversified somewhat with the construction of more roads and better infrastructure by the federal and state governments. Tourism has become important in some areas of the state, especially in San Cristóbal de las Casas and Palenque. Its economy is important to Mexico as a whole as well, producing coffee, corn, cacao, tobacco, sugar, fruit, vegetables and honey for export. It

11904-525: The 20th century. The territory was reorganized into municipalities in 1916. The current state constitution was written in 1921. There was political stability from the 1940s to the early 1970s; however, regionalism regained with people thinking of themselves as from their local city or municipality over the state. This regionalism impeded the economy as local authorities restrained outside goods. For this reason, construction of highways and communications were pushed to help with economic development. Most of

12090-650: The 260-day calendar is commonly known to scholars as the Tzolkin , or Tzolk'in in the revised orthography of the Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala . The Tzolk'in is combined with the 365-day calendar (known as the Haab , or Haab'  ), to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabs, called the Calendar Round . The Maya called the 5 unlucky days at the end of the year Wayeb . The Classic Maya, used

12276-516: The 52-year cycle into two parts. The Codex Aubin , also known as the Codex of 1576, shows the 52-year calendar in a rectangular format on a single page. Most other calendar wheels use a circular format. The Boban calendar wheel , an early sixteenth-century calendar on native paper, depicts the Central Mexican cycle of eighteen festivals in clockwise rotation, with Arabic numerals used to total

12462-747: The Carranza forces would take their lands. This was mostly by way of guerrilla actions headed by farm owners who called themselves the Mapaches . This action continued for six years, until President Carranza was assassinated in 1920 and revolutionary general Álvaro Obregón became president of Mexico. This allowed the Mapaches to gain political power in the state and effectively stop many of the social reforms occurring in other parts of Mexico. The Mapaches continued to fight against socialists and communists in Mexico from 1920 to 1936, to maintain their control over

12648-607: The Central American Federation. In September of the same year, a referendum was held on whether the intendencia would join Central America or Mexico, with many of the elite endorsing union with Mexico. This referendum ended in favor of incorporation with Mexico (allegedly through manipulation of the elite in the highlands), but the Soconusco region maintained a neutral status until 1842, when Oaxacans under General Antonio López de Santa Anna occupied

12834-494: The Church's efforts to reach out to the indigenous population was that starting in the 1970s, a shift began from traditional Catholic affiliation to Protestant, Evangelical and other Christian sects. The 1980s saw a large wave of refugees coming into the state from Central America as a number of these countries, especially Guatemala , were in the midst of violent political turmoil. The Chiapas/Guatemala border had been relatively porous with people traveling back and forth easily in

13020-489: The Diocese of Chiapas. What they held in common was indigenous identity vis-à-vis the non-indigenous, using the old 19th century "caste war" word "Ladino" for them. The adoption of liberal economic reforms by the Mexican federal government clashed with the leftist political ideals of these groups, notably as the reforms were believed to have begun to have negative economic effects on poor farmers, especially small-scale indigenous coffee-growers. Opposition would coalesce into

13206-449: The EZLN paralyzed the Mexican government, which balked at the political risks of direct confrontation. The major reason for this was that the rebellion caught the attention of the national and world press, as Marcos made full use of the then-new Internet to get the group's message out, putting the spotlight on indigenous issues in Mexico in general. Furthermore, the opposition press in Mexico City, especially La Jornada , actively supported

13392-510: The Indian force armed only with sticks and machetes . The indigenous force was quickly dispersed and routed with government troops pursuing pockets of guerrilla resistance in the mountains until 1870. The event effectively returned control of the indigenous workforce back to the highland elite. The Porfirio Díaz era at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th was initially thwarted by regional bosses called caciques , bolstered by

13578-474: The Julian Calendar (-3113 astronomical). The Long Count days were tallied in a modified base-20 scheme. Thus 0.0.0.1.5 is equal to 25, and 0.0.0.2.0 is equal to 40. The correlation is based on historical, archaeological and astronomical evidence. The commonly established way of expressing the correlation between the Maya calendar and the western calendars is to provide number of days from the start of

13764-715: The Lacandon Jungle had been destroyed or severely damaged. While armed resistance has wound down, the Zapatistas have remained a strong political force, especially around San Cristóbal and the Lacandon Jungle, its traditional bases. Since the Accords, they have shifted focus in gaining autonomy for the communities they control. Since the 1994 uprising, migration into the Lacandon Jungle has significantly increased, involving illegal settlements and cutting in

13950-581: The Mayan Indians which led to unsuccessful non violent protests and eventually armed struggle started by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in January 1994. These events began to lead to political crises in the 1970s, with more frequent land invasions and takeovers of municipal halls. This was the beginning of a process that would lead to the emergence of the Zapatista movement in

14136-567: The Mesoamericans devised the Long Count calendar. This calendar system was probably developed by the Olmecs and later adopted by the Maya . The use of the long count is best attested among the classic Maya, it is not known to have been used by the central Mexican cultures. The Long Count calendar identifies a date by counting the number of days from August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or September 6, 3114 BCE in

14322-439: The Night because they are connected to the nine levels of the underworld. The 365-day and the 260-day calendars identified and named the days, but not the years. The combination of a solar year date and a 260-year date was enough to identify a specific date to most people's satisfaction, as such a combination did not occur again for another 52 years, above general life expectancy. To measure dates over periods longer than 52 years,

14508-711: The Pacific Ocean. It has the tallest mangroves on the Pacific coast of the Americas, and the La Concepción turtle sanctuary which works to protect several species of marine turtles. These mangroves support a variety of wildlife including oysters, iguanas, alligators, and ocelots. The reserve includes the Hueyate Marsh formed by the Huixtla and Despoblado rivers. The main vegetation here is reeds and palm trees with

14694-641: The Roman Catholic Church, and Mexican army, and Conservatives, who favored centralized autocratic government, retention of elite privileges, did not lead to any military battles in the state. Despite that it strongly affected Chiapas politics. In Chiapas, the Liberal-Conservative division had its own twist. Much of the division between the highland and lowland ruling families was for whom the Indians should work for and for how long as

14880-641: The Simojovel Ax. Mayan civilization began in the pre-Classic period as well, but did not come into prominence until the Classic period (300–900 CE). Development of this culture was agricultural villages during the pre-Classic period with city building during the Classic as social stratification became more complex. The Mayans built cities on the Yucatán Peninsula and west into Guatemala . In Chiapas, Mayan sites are mostly concentrated along

15066-523: The Soconusco, which it did by declaring it part of the Quetzaltenango District in 1840. The population there favored inclusion into Guatemala. However, Antonio López de Santa Anna sent troops into Soconusco and the rest of Chiapas to press the population to formally unite with Mexico, which Soconusco did in 1842. More negotiations were attempted in 1877 and 1879, but a treaty was not signed by Mexico and Guatemala until 1882 to formalize

15252-414: The Spanish king the right to govern Soconusco because of its well-known cacao. The first evangelists came to the area in 1545, sent by Bartolomé de las Casas . These monks were Dominicans , who divided the area into six parishes. Soconusco was originally under the religious jurisdiction of Tlaxcala before it was moved to that of Guatemala. In 1538, the pope created the bishopric of Chiapas, part of which

15438-628: The Spanish. One famous example of this is the Battle of Tepetchia , where many jumped to their deaths in the Sumidero Canyon . Indigenous resistance was weakened by continual warfare with the Spaniards and disease. By 1530 almost all of the indigenous peoples of the area had been subdued with the exception of the Lacandons in the deep jungles who actively resisted until 1695. However,

15624-1136: The Tzeltal communities in the Los Alto region in 1712. Soon, the Tzoltzils and Ch'ols joined the Tzeltales in rebellion, but within a year the government was able to extinguish the rebellion. As of 1778, Thomas Kitchin described Chiapas as "the metropolis of the original Mexicans," with a population of approximately 20,000, and consisting mainly of indigenous peoples. The Spanish introduced new crops such as sugar cane , wheat, barley and indigo as main economic staples along native ones such as corn, cotton, cacao and beans. Livestock such as cattle, horses and sheep were introduced as well. Regions would specialize in certain crops and animals depending on local conditions and for many of these regions, communication and travel were difficult. Most Europeans and their descendants tended to concentrate in cities such as Ciudad Real , Comitán , Chiapa and Tuxtla . Intermixing of

15810-550: The Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal and Ch'ol peoples from 327 communities as well as Marists and the Maoist People's Union . This congress was the first of its kind with the goal of uniting the indigenous peoples politically. These efforts were also supported by leftist organizations from outside Mexico, especially to form unions of ejido organizations. These unions would later form the base of the EZLN organization. One reason for

15996-520: The Union of Unions, or UU. It had a membership of 12,000 families from over 180 communities. By 1988, this organization joined with other to form the ARIC-Union of Unions (ARIC-UU) and took over much of the Lacandon Jungle portion of the state. Most of the members of these organization were from Protestant and Evangelical sects as well as "Word of God" Catholics affiliated with the political movements of

16182-539: The United States and France. These foreign immigrants would introduce coffee production to the areas, as well as modern machinery and professional administration of coffee plantations. Eventually, this production of coffee would become the state's most important crop. Although the Liberals had mostly triumphed in the state and the rest of the country by the 1860s, Conservatives still held considerable power in Chiapas. Liberal politicians sought to solidify their power among

16368-574: The Zapatista-controlled village of Acteal in the Chenhaló municipality just north of San Cristóbal. This allowed many media outlets in Mexico to step up their criticisms of the government. Despite this, the armed conflict was brief, mostly because the Zapatistas, unlike many other guerilla movements, did not try to gain traditional political power. It focused more on trying to manipulate public opinion in order to obtain concessions from

16554-421: The abuse of the indigenous peoples declined by the end of the 16th century, and was replaced by haciendas . However, the use and misuse of Indian labor remained a large part of Chiapas politics into modern times. Maltreatment and tribute payments created an undercurrent of resentment in the indigenous population that passed on from generation to generation. One uprising against high tribute payments occurred in

16740-441: The area had a native population of about 15,000 inhabitants although other estimates have put that number as high as 75,000 in the 1520s. Pedro de Alvarado is credited with the conquest of the Soconusco as he headed down into Central America from the Spanish stronghold in southern Veracruz in 1524. The conquest caused a steady depopulation of the area with the disappearance of much of the native population either from migration out of

16926-550: The area had lost its status as a province and became part of Chiapas. Soconusco and the highlands of Chiapas were one of the first areas in the Central American region to support independence from Spain. They supported the Three Guarantees of Agustín de Iturbide but declared their own separate independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821. There was division in the state as to whether ally or unite with Mexico or

17112-562: The area or death from the diseases that the Europeans had brought with them. Soconusco was declared a province by the Spanish Crown in 1526, with its original extension down into what is now Guatemala. Its first governor was Pedro de Montejo Sr. as part of Chiapas. That lasted only a short time after which it was governed from Mexico City. In the late 16th century Miguel de Cervantes , future author of Don Quixote , requested from

17298-437: The area, and declared it reincorporated into Mexico. Elites of the area would not accept this until 1844. Guatemala would not recognize Mexico's annexation of the Soconusco region until 1895, even though the border between Chiapas and Guatemala had been agreed upon in 1882. The State of Chiapas was officially declared in 1824, with its first constitution in 1826. Ciudad Real was renamed San Cristóbal de las Casas in 1828. In

17484-542: The areas agricultural production. Thirty seven percent of the area's arable land is dedicated to coffee and another 25% to corn accounting for 62% of all cropland. The rest is mostly dedicated to mangos, cacao and sesame seed. The most exported crops are coffee, mangos, papayas and bananas with over 90% going to the United States. One new tropical fruit being grown in the area is the rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) native to Malaysia and Indonesia but become increasingly popular in Central America and Mexico. One important grower

17670-507: The calendar itself. These two 260- and 365-day calendars could also be synchronised to generate the Calendar Round , a period of 18980 days or approximately 52 years . The completion and observance of this Calendar Round sequence was of ritual significance to a number of Mesoamerican cultures. A third major calendar form known as the Long Count is found in the inscriptions of several Mesoamerican cultures, most famously those of

17856-514: The center of the main plaza. Near the town is the Finca Rosario Izapa, which is field research station for agriculture, mostly concentrated on studies on cacao and tropical fruits. Cacahoatán is noted for its colorful wooden structures on the border from plantations dedicated to tropical fruit and those dedicated to coffee production in the higher altitudes. Some of these plantations, such as La Palmira offered guided tours. Huehuetán

18042-560: The central valley of the state around 7000 BCE, but little is known about them. The oldest archaeological remains in the seat are located at the Santa Elena Ranch in Ocozocoautla whose finds include tools and weapons made of stone and bone. It also includes burials. In the pre Classic period from 1800 BCE to 300 CE, agricultural villages appeared all over the state although hunter gather groups would persist for long after

18228-477: The city of Tonalá but incurred no resistance. The only other insurgent activity was the publication of a newspaper called El Pararrayos by Matías de Córdova in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Following the end of Spanish rule in New Spain , it was unclear what new political arrangements would emerge. The isolation of Chiapas from centers of power, along with the strong internal divisions in the intendencia caused

18414-497: The city of Tapachula on the highway to Puerto Chiapas. It contains about thirty km of beaches and a semi humid climate with rains in the summer. Barra San José is a beach area bordered on one with by the estuary of the Huehuetán River. This area has cabins and areas with fish farming, mostly raising shrimp. Tourist attractions include jet-ski, water skiing, boating and horseback riding. It has a semi humid climate with rains in

18600-574: The coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico to the north, which was Olmec territory. One of these people's ancient cities is now the archeological site of Chiapa de Corzo , in which was found the oldest calendar known on a piece of ceramic with a date of 36 BCE. This is three hundred years before the Mayans developed their calendar. The descendants of Mokaya are the Mixe-Zoque. During the pre Classic era, it

18786-519: The colonial period. From the colonial period Chiapas was relatively isolated from the colonial authorities in Mexico City and regional authorities in Guatemala. One reason for this was the rugged terrain. Another was that much of Chiapas was not attractive to the Spanish. It lacked mineral wealth, large areas of arable land, and easy access to markets. This isolation spared it from battles related to Independence. José María Morelos y Pavón did enter

18972-412: The community's male members. The changing social order had severe negative effects on the indigenous population with alcoholism spreading, leading to more debts as it was expensive. The struggles between Conservatives and Liberals nationally disrupted commerce and confused power relations between Indian communities and Ladino authorities. It also resulted in some brief respites for Indians during times when

19158-441: The country for agriculture with plentiful rain and soil enriched by volcanic ash. Large scale cultivation in the area began in the Mesoamerican period with the growing of cacao . Today, crops include coffee, bananas, papaya , mango , kiwi , passion fruit , carambola and African palm . Over half of the area's working population is dedicated to agriculture and livestock. Coffee, bananas and mangos represent over eighty percent of

19344-559: The cult, Liberal landowners had also lost control of much of their Indian labor and Liberal politicians were having a harder time collecting taxes from indigenous communities. An Indian army gathered at Zontehuitz then attacked various villages and haciendas. By the following June the city of San Cristóbal was surrounded by several thousand Indians, who offered the exchanged of several Ladino captives for their religious leaders and stones. Chiapas governor Dominguéz came to San Cristóbal with about three hundred heavily armed men, who then attacked

19530-460: The current lunation and an 819-day count . The Central Mexican calendar system is best known in the form that was used by the Aztecs , but similar calendars were used by the Mixtecs , Zapotecs , Tlapanecs , Otomi , Matlatzinca , Totonac , Huastecs , Purépecha and at Teotihuacan . These calendars differed from the Maya version mainly in that they didn't use the long count to fix dates into

19716-438: The decades after the official end of the war, the provinces of Chiapas and Soconusco unified, with power concentrated in San Cristóbal de las Casas. The state's society evolved into three distinct spheres: indigenous peoples, mestizos from the farms and haciendas and the Spanish colonial cities. Most of the political struggles were between the last two groups especially over who would control the indigenous labor force. Economically,

19902-542: The development of its economy. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the migration of foreigners from the United States and Europe was encouraged by the Porfirio Díaz regime with land grants and the construction of a rail line. The goal of the government was to bring in foreign capital to the country to develop its natural resources and modernize it. For the Soconusco region, that meant the development of coffee plantations. In less than 20 years, between 1890 and 1910,

20088-521: The diocese's attempts to re establish itself among Chiapan indigenous communities against Protestant evangelization. This would lead to a breach between the Church and the Zapatistas. The Zapatista story remained in headlines for a number of years. One reason for this was the December 1997 massacre of forty-five unarmed Tzotzil peasants, mostly women and children, by a government-backed paramilitary in

20274-514: The earliest evidence of the use of the 260-day cycle comes from astronomical alignments in the Olmec region and western Maya Lowlands, dating to about 1100 BCE. The exact origin of the 260-day count is not known, but there are several theories. One theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty , which were important numbers to the Maya. The numbers multiplied together equal 260. Another theory

20460-437: The early 20th century and into the Mexican Revolution , the production of coffee was particularly important but labor-intensive. This would lead to a practice called enganche (hook), where recruiters would lure workers with advanced pay and other incentives such as alcohol and then trap them with debts for travel and other items to be worked off. This practice would lead to a kind of indentured servitude and uprisings in areas of

20646-489: The east and southeast. Chiapas has a significant coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. In general, Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the northern area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa , rainfall can average more than 3,000 mm (120 in) per year. In the past, natural vegetation in this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest , but this vegetation has been almost completely cleared to allow agriculture and ranching. Rainfall decreases moving towards

20832-473: The economy but also the local architecture. As coffee plants need the shade of higher trees, this has conserved much of the original vegetation of the area although the cultivation has had a negative effect on natural water supplies north of Tapachula. Among these plantations is the rainiest place in Mexico, the Finca Covadonga plantation, which receives about 5,000 mm of rain each year. This amount

21018-474: The economy could absorb. There were some attempts to resettle peasant farmers onto non cultivated lands, but they were met with resistance. President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz awarded a land grant to the town of Venustiano Carranza in 1967, but that land was already being used by cattle-ranchers who refused to leave. The peasants tried to take over the land anyway, but when violence broke out, they were forcibly removed. In Chiapas poor farmland and severe poverty afflict

21204-503: The end of first grade. Grievances, strongest in the San Cristóbal and Lacandon Jungle areas, were taken up by a small leftist guerrilla band led by a man called only " Subcomandante Marcos ." This small band, called the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) , came to the world's attention when on January 1, 1994 (the day the NAFTA treaty went into effect) EZLN forces occupied and took over

21390-449: The entire coast. Chiapas Chiapas ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃjapas] ; Nahuatl Chiapan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( Spanish : Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas ), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico . It comprises 124 municipalities as of September 2017 and its capital and largest city

21576-584: The era. Recent excavations in the Soconusco region of the state indicate that the oldest civilization to appear in what is now modern Chiapas is that of the Mokaya , which were cultivating corn and living in houses as early as 1500 BCE, making them one of the oldest in Mesoamerica. There is speculation that these were the forefathers of the Olmec , migrating across the Grijalva Valley and onto

21762-547: The establishment of the "three stones cult" in Tzajahemal. Agustina Gómez Checheb was a girl tending her father's sheep when three stones fell from the sky. Collecting them, she put them on her father's altar and soon claimed that the stone communicated with her. Word of this soon spread and the "talking stones" of Tzajahemel soon became a local indigenous pilgrimage site. The cult was taken over by one pilgrim, Pedro Díaz Cuzcat , who also claimed to be able to communicate with

21948-492: The first day of a trecena was auspicious then so were the next twelve days. This 365-day calendar corresponded was divided into 18 'months' of 20 days each, plus 5 'nameless' days at the end of the year. The 365 day year had no leap year so it varied from the solar year by a quarter of a day each year. The years were given their name in much the same way as the days of the 260-day calendar, 20 names were paired with 18 numbers giving 360 different possibilities for year names In

22134-485: The first modern crop for export was coffee. Since then other crops such as tropical fruits, flowers and more have been introduced. The most recent addition is the rambutan , a southeast Asian fruit. Soconusco is geographically isolated from the political and economic center of Mexico, and it is relatively little known among the rest of the Mexican population. Geographically, it is part of the Chiapas coast, but it has had

22320-458: The first to specialize in this species in Mexico. It is also the starting point for tourist routes such as the Ruta del Café (Coffee Route) and to nearby ocean areas with beaches and mangroves. Puerto Chiapas , in the municipality of Tapachula, is one of Mexico's newest port facilities. The port receives various types of ships including cruise liners. It has a beach with dark gray sand, nine km long,

22506-604: The flowering of the Mokaya and Olmec cultures, which were based on Theobroma cacao and rubber of Castilla elastica . In the 19th century, the area was disputed between Mexico and Guatemala until a treaty signed in 1882 fixed the modern border by dividing the area's historical extension, with most going to Mexico and a smaller portion east of the Suchiate to Guatemala. In 1890, Mexican president Porfirio Díaz and German chancellor Otto von Bismarck collaborated to take advantage of southern Mexico's agricultural potential by sending 450 German families to Soconusco near Tapachula in

22692-401: The government, which wants to open the rainforest up to multinational corporations. Added to this is the possibility that significant oil and gas deposits exist under this area. The Zapatista movement has had some successes. The agricultural sector of the economy now favors ejidos and other commonly-owned land. There have been some other gains economically as well. In the last decades of

22878-623: The government. This has linked the Zapatistas to other indigenous and identity-politics movements that arose in the late-20th century. The main concession that the group received was the San Andrés Accords (1996), also known as the Law on Indian Rights and Culture. The Accords appear to grant certain indigenous zones autonomy, but this is against the Mexican constitution , so its legitimacy has been questioned. Zapatista declarations since

23064-687: The hands of large landholders who when made the local Indian population work for three to five days a week just for the right to continue to cultivate the lands. This requirement caused many to leave and look for employment elsewhere. Most became "free" workers on other farms, but they were often paid only with food and basic necessities from the farm shop. If this was not enough, these workers became indebted to these same shops and then unable to leave. The opening up of these lands also allowed many whites and mestizos (often called Ladinos in Chiapas) to encroach on what had been exclusively indigenous communities in

23250-554: The highlands annexation to Mexico. In 1821, a number of cities in Chiapas, starting in Comitán, declared the state's separation from the Spanish empire. In 1823, Guatemala became part of the United Provinces of Central America , which united to form a federal republic that would last from 1823 to 1839. With the exception of the pro-Mexican Ciudad Real (San Cristóbal) and some others, many Chiapanecan towns and villages favored

23436-568: The highlands. He also changed state policies to favor foreign investment, favored large land mass consolidation for the production of cash crops such as henequen, rubber, guayule, cochineal and coffee. Agricultural production boomed, especially coffee, which induced the construction of port facilities in Tonalá . The economic expansion and investment in roads also increased access to tropical commodities such as hardwoods, rubber and chicle . These still required cheap and steady labor to be provided by

23622-400: The indigenous groups by weakening the Roman Catholic Church. The more radical of these even allowed indigenous groups the religious freedoms to return to a number of native rituals and beliefs such as pilgrimages to natural shrines such as mountains and waterfalls. This culminated in the Chiapas "caste war", which was an uprising of Tzotzils beginning in 1868. The basis of the uprising was

23808-467: The indigenous population. By the end of the 19th century, the four main indigenous groups, Tzeltals, Tzotzils, Tojolabals and Ch’ols were living in "reducciones" or reservations, isolated from one another. Conditions on the farms of the Porfirian era was serfdom, as bad if not worse than for other indigenous and mestizo populations leading to the Mexican Revolution . While this coming event would affect

23994-462: The indigenous' people's plight, with Bartolomé de las Casas winning a battle with the passing of a law in 1542 for their protection. This order also worked to make sure that communities would keep their indigenous name with a saint's prefix leading to names such as San Juan Chamula and San Lorenzo Zinacantán . He also advocated adapting the teaching of Christianity to indigenous language and culture. The encomienda system that had perpetrated much of

24180-528: The information which has been gathered from its steles and other sculpted stone works. Izapa is considered to be where the Mesoamerican ceremonial 260-day calendar was developed. Before the Aztecs, the area was a restless tribute region of Tehuantepec , with the dominant ethnicity being Mame (Modern linguistic corrected to "Mam" in Guatemala because a Spanish word that is vulgar). Tapachultec language

24366-419: The instability led to uncollected taxes. One other effect that Liberal land reforms had was the start of coffee plantations, especially in the Soconusco region. One reason for this push in this area was that Mexico was still working to strengthen its claim on the area against Guatemala's claims on the region. The land reforms brought colonists from other areas of the country as well as foreigners from England,

24552-472: The jungle area to clear forest and grow crops and raise livestock, especially cattle. Economic development in general raised the output of the state, especially in agriculture, but it had the effect of deforesting many areas, especially the Lacandon. Added to this was there were still serf like conditions for many workers and insufficient educational infrastructure. Population continued to increase faster than

24738-410: The last days of the year. The nemontemi were seen as 'the useless days' or the days that were dedicated to no gods, and they had prognostic power for the coming year. Therefore, People tried to do as little as possible on these days, and a person who was born during the nemontemi was considered unlucky. Since both the 260-day and the 365-day calendar repeat, approximately every 52 years they reach

24924-519: The latest, the essentials were fully defined and functional. 260-day calendars are still used in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz , Oaxaca and Chiapas , Mexico . The importance of aboriginal calendars in ritual and other aspects of Mesoamerican life was noted by many missionary priests, travelers, and colonial administrators, and later by ethnographers who described and recorded the cultures of contemporary Mesoamerican ethnic groups. Among

25110-440: The main shortage was of labor. These families split into Liberals in the lowlands, who wanted further reform and Conservatives in the highlands who still wanted to keep some of the traditional colonial and church privileges. For most of the early and mid 19th century, Conservatives held most of the power and were concentrated in the larger cities of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapa (de Corzo), Tuxtla and Comitán. As Liberals gained

25296-508: The main two groups, the Tzotzils and Tzeltals of the central highlands were subdued enough to establish the first Spanish city, today called San Cristóbal de las Casas , in 1528. It was one of two settlements initially called Villa Real de Chiapa de los Españoles and the other called Chiapa de los Indios. Soon after, the encomienda system was introduced, which reduced most of the indigenous population to serfdom and many even as slaves as

25482-494: The mid-1990s have called for a new constitution. As of 1999 the government had not found a solution to this problem. The revolt also pressed the government to institute anti-poverty programs such as "Progresa" (later called "Oportunidades") and the "Puebla-Panama Plan" – aiming to increase trade between southern Mexico and Central America. As of the first decade of the 2000s the Zapatista movement remained popular in many indigenous communities. The uprising gave indigenous peoples

25668-408: The mountains intercept winds from the Pacific, creating clouds, fog, and orographic precipitation . The cooler and humid mountain climate supports the tropical evergreen montane moist forests of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forests ecoregion. Higher-elevation areas of the mountains are part the Central American pine-oak forests ecoregion. The entire Chiapas coast runs for over 200 km as

25854-431: The movement was an economic one as well. Although the area has extensive resources, much of the local population of the state, especially in rural areas, did not benefit from this bounty. In the 1990s, two thirds of the state's residents did not have sewage service, only a third had electricity and half did not have potable water. Over half of the schools offered education only to the third grade and most pupils dropped out by

26040-627: The name coming from the local language meaning “place of the conquered.” Most of the city's monumental structures are in Art Deco style from the early 20th century, when the coffee plantations brought wealth to the area. The main monumental building is the old municipal palace, which is next to the San Agustín parish, both of which face Hidalgo Plaza. Other important sites in the city include the Caimanes Zoo, which has over 1000 alligators and

26226-417: The new Central American Republic when it split from Mexico in 1823. Those in the highlands preferred union with Mexico but the lowlands, including the Soconusco, preferred Central America. Soconusco's political status would be undecided for most of the rest of the 19th century. Mexico annexed Chiapas formally in 1824 and made its first formal claim to the Soconusco in 1825. That was not accepted by Guatemala or

26412-558: The number of days; virtually all the text is in Nahuatl . Some paired festivals share the same glyph, but they are represented in different sizes, the first being the “small feast” and the second the “great feast.” In the center, a 7 Rabbit date (1538) appears with text and images that refer to Tetzcocan town officers. In the post-classic Aztec calendar, there were 13 Lords of the Day . These were gods (and goddesses) who each represented one of

26598-528: The ocelot. The Barra de Zacapulco Tourism Center features a marine turtle sanctuary which monitors the population of various species. La Encrucijada also include the Huayate Marsh formed by the Huixtla and Despoblado Rivers. The Volcano Route is centered on the Tacaná Volcano. It was the object of veneration for the Izapa civilization. Its name is from the Mame language and means “house of fire.” Tapachula

26784-483: The opening of plantations to visitors with accommodations and sometimes spa facilities. Mexico's coffee production has been eclipsed by other growers in the world but it remains an important product. The various major coffee farms are linked by the Ruta del Café or Coffee Route, up in the high slopes and deep valleys of the Sierra near Tapachula. The introduction of this crop by European immigrants not only had an effect on

26970-603: The people of Chiapas came in 1522, when Hernán Cortés sent tax collectors to the area after Aztec Empire was subdued. The first military incursion was headed by Luis Marín, who arrived in 1523. After three years, Marín was able to subjugate a number of the local peoples, but met with fierce resistance from the Tzotzils in the highlands. The Spanish colonial government then sent a new expedition under Diego de Mazariegos . Mazariegos had more success than his predecessor, but many natives preferred to commit suicide rather than submit to

27156-525: The post-classic Aztec calendar the 20 days called veintenas in Spanish and meztli , meaning moon, in Nahuatl, were also important. The five unlucky days were called nemontemi in Mexico. Most believe them to have come at the end of each year, but since we do not know when the year started, we cannot know for sure. We do know though, that in the Maya area these five days (called wayeb in Maya) were always

27342-470: The post-classic Aztec calendar the periods of 13 days called a trecena in Spanish (no indigenous word for this period is known) were also important. The days of a trecena were usually numbered from 1 to 13. There were some exceptions, such as in the Tlapanec area where they were counted from 2 to 14. The first day of the trecena , and the god who was its patron, ruled the following thirteen days. If

27528-401: The protected biosphere reserve. The Zapatistas support these actions as part of indigenous rights, but that has put them in conflict with international environmental groups and with the indigenous inhabitants of the rainforest area, the Lacandons . Environmental groups state that the settlements pose grave risks to what remains of the Lacandon, while the Zapatistas accuse them of being fronts for

27714-465: The races was prohibited by colonial law but by the end of the 17th century there was a significant mestizo population. Added to this was a population of African slaves brought in by the Spanish in the middle of the 16th century due to the loss of native workforce. Initially, "Chiapas" referred to the first two cities established by the Spanish in what is now the center of the state and the area surrounding them. Two other regions were also established,

27900-448: The rebels and authorities. However, because of this diocese's activism since the 1960s, authorities accused the clergy of being involved with the rebels. There was some ambiguity about the relationship between Ruiz and Marcos and it was a constant feature of news coverage, with many in official circles using such to discredit Ruiz. Eventually, the activities of the Zapatistas began to worry the Roman Catholic Church in general and to upstage

28086-479: The rebels. These factors encouraged the rebellion to go national. Many blamed the unrest on infiltration of leftists among the large Central American refugee population in Chiapas, and the rebellion opened up splits in the countryside between those supporting and opposing the EZLN. Zapatista sympathizers have included mostly Protestants and Word of God Catholics, opposing those "traditionalist" Catholics who practiced

28272-442: The refugees and local populations. From within Mexico, refugees faced threats by local governments who threatened to deport them, legally or not, and local paramilitary groups funded by those worried about the political situation in Central America spilling over into the state. The official government response was to militarize the areas around the camps, which limited international access and migration into Mexico from Central America

28458-404: The region became the main producer and exporter of coffee for Mexico. However, these coffee plantations needed large numbers of workers. Recruitment of indigenous peoples from other parts of Chiapas, often through deceit and entrapment was widespread. The need for workers also brought in people from Guatemala as well. The mistreatment of workers here and other parts of Mexico led to the outbreak of

28644-632: The region has a cuisine dominated by seafood, tropical fruit, cacao and coffee. It is influenced by that of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec which can be seen in dishes such as “pollo juchi,” a chicken dish. Traditional handcrafts include leather good for horsemanship made in Tapachula which includes saddles and saddlebags. Ceramics are made in San Felipe Tizapa and wood items in Unión Juárez . Items related to fishing such as nets are made along

28830-464: The region's remoteness from economic center of Mexico. The mainstay of the region's economy is agriculture for export, which makes it relatively economically independent from the rest of the country, despite the recent introduction of some industry and tourism. The dependence on the export of cash crops means that the economy is subject to boom-and-bust periods. These produce times of abundance and economic development but also major economic crisis such as

29016-484: The ruling elite in Soconusco. In 1830, Central American troops entered the Soconusco to pursue a political dissident, but troops from the highlands of Chiapas countered their entrance. The first attempt to settle a border in the area occurred in 1831 with several others in the decades that follow but without success, in part because of political instability in Mexico. The Federal Republic of Central America dissolved between 1838 and 1840, leaving Guatemala to pursue claims to

29202-433: The seasons and the true tropical year gradually "wandered" with respect to this calendar, owing to the accumulation of the differences in length. There is little hard evidence to suggest that the ancient Mesoamericans used any intercalary days to bring their calendar back into alignment. However, there is evidence to show Mesoamericans were aware of this gradual shifting, which they accounted for in other ways without amending

29388-470: The southern boundary. The earliest population of Soconusco region were the coastal Chantuto peoples , going back to 5500 BC. This was the oldest Mesoamerican culture discovered to date. In what is now the municipality of Mazatán , another culture arose. The culture is called Mokaya (people of the corn in Mixe-Zoque ) and it is dated to about 4,000 years ago when cacao and ballcourts appear. During

29574-591: The southern state of Chiapas. Extensive coffee cultivation quickly made Soconusco one of the most successful German colonies, and between 1895 and 1900, 11.5 million kg of coffee had been harvested. Fincas (estates) were erected in the Chiapaneco jungle and given German names such as Hamburgo, Bremen, Lübeck, Argovia, Bismarck, Prussia, and Hanover. This area has experienced a boom-and-bust economy with well-studied migration patterns of agricultural workers. After exporting cacao to central Mexico for thousands of years,

29760-408: The state capital, which he moved from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Tuxtla in 1892. He modernized public administration, transportation and promoted education. Rabasa also introduced the telegraph , limited public schooling, sanitation and road construction, including a route from San Cristóbal to Tuxtla then Oaxaca, which signaled the beginning of favoritism of development in the central valley over

29946-572: The state lost one of its main crops, indigo, to synthetic dyes. There was a small experiment with democracy in the form of "open city councils" but it was short-lived because voting was heavily rigged. The Universidad Pontificia y Literaria de Chiapas was founded in 1826, with Mexico's second teacher's college founded in the state in 1828. With the ouster of conservative Antonio López de Santa Anna , Mexican liberals came to power. The Reform War (1858–1861) fought between Liberals, who favored federalism and sought economic development, decreased power of

30132-925: The state's borders with Tabasco and Guatemala, near Mayan sites in those entities. Most of this area belongs to the Lacandon Jungle . Mayan civilization in the Lacandon area is marked by rising exploitation of rain forest resources, rigid social stratification, fervent local identity, waging war against neighboring peoples. At its height, it had large cities, a writing system, and development of scientific knowledge, such as mathematics and astronomy. Cities were centered on large political and ceremonial structures elaborately decorated with murals and inscriptions. Among these cities are Palenque , Xupa , Bonampak , Lacanha , Yaxchilan , Chinkultic , Toniná , Chinikiha , El Cayo , La Mar , El Palma , Oxlahuntun and Sak Tz'i . The Mayan civilization had extensive trade networks and large markets trading in goods such as animal skins, indigo , amber , vanilla and quetzal feathers. It

30318-534: The state's economy, but it also permitted the political rise of communal land owners called ejidatarios. In the mid-20th century, the state experienced a significant rise in population, which outstripped local resources, especially land in the highland areas. Since the 1930s, many indigenous and mestizos have migrated from the highland areas into the Lacandon Jungle with the populations of Altamirano, Las Margaritas, Ocosingo and Palenque rising from less than 11,000 in 1920 to over 376,000 in 2000. These migrants came to

30504-497: The state's indigenous population unlike in other areas of the country. Liberal governments expropriated lands that were previously held by the Spanish Crown and Catholic Church in order to sell them into private hands. This was not only motivated by ideology, but also due to the need to raise money. However, many of these lands had been in a kind of "trust" with the local indigenous populations, who worked them. Liberal reforms took away this arrangement and many of these lands fell into

30690-548: The state, Chiapas did not follow the uprisings in other areas that would end the Porfirian era. Japanese immigration to Mexico began in 1897 when the first thirty five migrants arrived in Chiapas to work on coffee farms, so that Mexico was the first Latin American country to receive organized Japanese immigration. Although this colony ultimately failed, there remains a small Japanese community in Acacoyagua , Chiapas. In

30876-432: The state, although they never led to large rebel armies as in other parts of Mexico. A small war broke out between Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristobal in 1911. San Cristóbal, allied with San Juan Chamula , tried to regain the state's capital but the effort failed. San Cristóbal de las Casas, which had a very limited budget, to the extent that it had to ally with San Juan Chamula challenged Tuxtla Gutierrez which, with only

31062-576: The state. In general, elite landowners also allied with the nationally dominant party founded by Plutarco Elías Calles following the assassination of president-elect Obregón in 1928; that party was renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1946. Through that alliance, they could block land reform in this way as well. The Mapaches were first defeated in 1925 when an alliance of socialists and former Carranza loyalists had Carlos A. Vidal selected as governor, although he

31248-413: The state. These communities had had almost no contact with the Ladino world, except for a priest. The new Ladino landowners occupied their acquired lands as well as others, such as shopkeepers, opened up businesses in the center of Indian communities. In 1848, a group of Tzeltals plotted to kill the new mestizos in their midst, but this plan was discovered, and was punished by the removal of large number of

31434-502: The steady decline of cacao production. In 2005, Hurricane Stan caused the region to lose 65% of its banana crop, mostly in Suchiate and Mazatán . That caused a temporary but significant economic crisis. Another significant effect was a decrease in the number of seasonal migrant workers who come to harvest and process crops. Most of these migrants come from Guatemala although that migration has lessened for economic reasons. The number of Guatemalans migrating legally into Mexico dropped from

31620-425: The stones, and had knowledge of Catholic ritual, becoming a kind of priest. However, this challenged the traditional Catholic faith and non Indians began to denounce the cult. Stories about the cult include embellishments such as the crucifixion of a young Indian boy. This led to the arrest of Checheb and Cuzcat in December 1868. This caused resentment among the Tzotzils. Although the Liberals had earlier supported

31806-400: The summer and is the primarily mountain tourist attraction of the state. Tuxtla Chico is a town surrounded by dense tropical vegetation. It conserves much of its distinct architecture such as the Casa del Portal de Madera (House of the Wood Portal and the Candelaria Church, which is one of the main colonial era structures of the Chiapas coast region. Another important structure is the fountain in

31992-485: The summer, located in the Mazatán municipality. The Barra Zacapulco is a tourist center with large extension of estuaries with mangroves as it is within the La Encrucijada Reserve. It has a humid climate with rains year round in the municipality of Acapetahua. Playa El Gancho is a beach in the Suchiate municipality open to the ocean with an estuary with mangroves. It has a humid climate with rains from May to October. It has sports fishing, boating and camping. Barra de San Simón

32178-452: The towns of San Cristobal de las Casas , Las Margaritas , Altamirano , Ocosingo and three others. They read their proclamation of revolt to the world and then laid siege to a nearby military base, capturing weapons and releasing many prisoners from the jails. This action followed previous protests in the state in opposition to neoliberal economic policies. Although it has been estimated as having no more than 300 armed guerrilla members,

32364-399: The twentieth century. In the 260-day cycle 20 day names pairs with 13 day numbers, totaling a cycle of 260 days. This cycle was used for divination purposes to foretell lucky and unlucky days. The date of birth was also used to give names to both humans and gods in many Mesoamerican cultures; some cultures used only the calendar name whereas others combined it with a given name. As a result,

32550-419: The upper hand nationally in the mid-19th century, one Liberal politician Ángel Albino Corzo gained control of the state. Corzo became the primary exponent of Liberal ideas in the southeast of Mexico and defended the Palenque and Pichucalco areas from annexation by Tabasco. However, Corzo's rule would end in 1875, when he opposed the regime of Porfirio Díaz . Liberal land reforms would have negative effects on

32736-416: The various calendar systems in use, two were particularly central and widespread across Mesoamerica. Common to all recorded Mesoamerican cultures, and the most important, was the 260-day calendar, a ritual calendar with no confirmed correlation to astronomical or agricultural cycles. Apparently the earliest Mesoamerican calendar to be developed was known by a variety of local terms, and its named components and

32922-460: The word for “day” also means “name” in some Mesoamerican languages. Each day sign was presided over by a god and many had associations with specific natural phenomena. . Earliest written evidence for the 260 calendar include the San Andres glyphs ( Olmec , 650 BCE, giving the possible date 3 Ajaw ) and the San Jose Mogote danzante ( Zapotec , 600 - 500 BCE, giving the possible date 1 Earthquake ), in both cases assumed to be used as names. However,

33108-444: The work was done around Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Tapachula. This included the Sureste railroad connecting northern municipalities such as Pichucalco, Salto de Agua, Palenque, Catazajá and La Libertad . The Cristobal Colon highway linked Tuxtla to the Guatemalan border. Other highways included El Escopetazo to Pichucalco, a highway between San Cristóbal and Palenque with branches to Cuxtepeques and La Frailesca. This helped to integrate

33294-435: Was German. Chiapas is the main producer of bananas in Mexico. Rancho Guadalupe is a banana plantation open to the public for tours. It is located near Puerto Chiapas. Tourism is not the major industry for the region although the state promotes it along with the rest of the Chiapas coast. In addition to the Ruta del Café, there are two others based on the area's natural scenery. Much of the Chiapas’ mangrove areas are linked in

33480-400: Was Soconusco. In 1543, Chiapas became governed by the Audencia de los Confines ( Real Audiencia of Guatemala , which included much of what is now southern Mexico and Central America, with its capital in Guatemala City . In 1564, the capital of this Audencia was moved to Panama City and governance of Soconusco switched back to Mexico City. However, in 1568, the Captaincy General of Guatemala

33666-444: Was an old language in the area that became extinct in 1930s. In 1486, Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl conquered it; the area was then required to send cotton clothing, bird feathers, jaguar skins, and cacao as tributes. However, rebellions against the Aztecs continued with Moctezuma Xocoyotzin sending troops to pacify the area in 1502 and 1505. The first Spanish arrived in the area in 1522. According to chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo

33852-408: Was assassinated two years later. The last of the Mapache resistance was overcome in the early 1930s by Governor Victorico Grajales, who pursued President Lázaro Cárdenas ' social and economic policies including persecution of the Catholic Church. These policies would have some success in redistributing lands and organizing indigenous workers but the state would remain relatively isolated for the rest of

34038-430: Was established and Soconusco and Chiapas was made part of it. That would remain the case until the end of the Mexican War of Independence in 1821. However, the area maintained important political and economic ties with Mexico City throughout the period. Huehuetán was established as the capital of Soconusco in 1540. It remained so until 1700 when it was moved to Escuintla . In 1794, a hurricane devastated this town, so it

34224-415: Was moved again to Tapachula . Mistreatment by encomienda and hacienda owners also caused population loss and various uprisings such as one in 1712 by the Tzendals, which involved 32 villages centered on Cancuc . To counter the mass depopulation of the area, the Spanish Crown created two alcaldes mayores in 1760 to give more protection to the native population. However, that proved insufficient. and by 1790,

34410-452: Was restricted. By 1990, it was estimated that there were over 200,000 Guatemalans and half a million from El Salvador, almost all peasant farmers and most under age twenty. In the 1980s, the politization of the indigenous and rural populations of the state that began in the 1960s and 1970s continued. In 1980, several ejido (communal land organizations) joined to form the Union of Ejidal Unions and United Peasants of Chiapas, generally called

34596-426: Was some influence from the rising powers of central Mexico but two main indigenous groups emerged during this time, the Zoques and the various Mayan descendants. The Chiapans, for whom the state is named, migrated into the center of the state during this time and settled around Chiapa de Corzo, the old Mixe–Zoque stronghold. There is evidence that the Aztecs appeared in the center of the state around Chiapa de Corza in

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