page_title: Zapatista Army of National Liberation
section_title: Postcolonialism
hierarchical_section_title: Zapatista Army of National Liberation / Ideology / Postcolonialism
caption_attribution_description: Slovenščina: Kontrolna točka zapatistov v bližini Aqua Azul, Mehika.
context_page_description: The Zapatista Army of National Liberation, often referred to as the Zapatistas, is a far-left libertarian-socialist 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. In recent years, the EZLN has focused on a strategy of civil resistance. The Zapatistas' main body 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. Unlike other Zapatista spokespeople, Marcos is not an indigenous Maya.
  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. Nearly all EZLN villages contain murals with images of Zapata, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and Subcomandante Marcos.
  While EZLN ideology is similar to libertarian socialism, the Zapatistas have rejected and defied political classification.
context_section_description: The Zapatistas' response to the introduction of NAFTA in 1994, it is argued, reflects the shift in perception taking place in societies that have experienced colonialism. Over the last 20 years, Chiapas is said to have emerged as a formidable force against the Mexican government, fighting against structural violence and social and economic marginalization brought on by globalization. The Zapatista rebellion not only raised many questions about the consequences of globalization and free trade; it also questioned the long-standing ideas created by the Spanish colonial system. Postcolonialism is the antithesis of imperialism because it attempts to explain how the prejudices and restrictions created by colonialism are being overcome. This is especially obvious in countries that have large social and economic inequalities, where colonial ideas are deeply entrenched in the minds of the colonials' descendants.
  An early example of the Zapatista resistance and postcolonialism was their use of organizations like the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to raise awareness for their rebellion and indigenous rights, what critics described as 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.
caption: Zapatista point towards Palenque (2010).
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