Nafta's Impact On Chiapas

The North American Free Trade (NAFTA) might be considered one of Chiapas worst nightmares. The poor people of Chiapas, Mexico have always been known as the poorest city in Mexico. On January 1st, 1994 the people formed a rebellion. The rebels called themselves Zapatista’s. They knew that the North American Free Trade Associations would be passed. They got to the conclusion that the only thing that they could do was to rebel. NAFTA would cause many problems for the farmers if the Zapatista's did not take control of the situation. In order to get cheap exports, NAFTA would allow any trade of goods made in North America tariff free. The peasants in Chiapas were angered by this because they would now have to compete with other countries that
were far more advanced than they were. The people of Chiapas fought hard and rebelled with the government for twelve days. There are three factors that caused the uprising and they were commercialization of agriculture, land ownership, and political rights of the poor people.
Chiapas has two main regions. The highlands and the Lacandona rainforest are the two major regions. These regions produce two main crops, corn and coffee. The new law that took place in 1992 caused huge problems for the peasants. The land would now be used to attract investments, which belonged to the farmers, so that it could be sold. The law Did not allow the the farmers to have ownership of their land. The Political rights of these people were one of the major problems. There was an anti-poverty program in Mexico that was made to overthrow the negative effects of NAFTA. Unfortunately, this program didn't address the countries marketing and production needs that were major causes of poverty in Chiapas. Due to this, most of the people in Chiapas live below the poverty line. Chiapas is said to be the second poorest state in all of Mexico. The Zapatistas, mostly peasants, joined this rebellion to fight for the rights of the people (indigenous people). Subcomandante Marcos is the leader of the Zapatista army. This rebellion against the Mexican government was created because the people were tired of fighting. The zapatistas even took over a few major cities in Mexico. They would not go down without
fight. Many people were affected by this.
Villagers resisted the attacks from the government and protests were created. The rebels went crazy, they releases thousands of inmates that were in captivity. Releasing the inmates created a huge problem because these inmates were extremely dangerous. After the rebellion, the distribution of land to the peasants increased and expanded. This was one of the main reasons why they revolted.The Zapatistas were supported by other areas and thats why they were really successful. Results of the conflict: BY joining with the industrial revolutionary party, Chiapas wealthy landowners blocked land that was meant to benefit a large population of indigenous people. Chiapas still remained one of the poorest states in Mexico. On January first in 1994 the EZLN declared war on the Mexican government because they were worn out due to all of the abuse that they have gone through. The Zapatistas still hope strogly that they may get what have always wanted. Land ownership, political rights, and to get out of the poverty that they had been going through. Mexico will forever be impacted by this devastating day. January 1,1994 The day that the Zapatistas declared a rebellion against the government will always be remembered. It was this day that
changed About twenty years later, there are still people remembering those twelve empowering days. The leader of the Zapatistas, Marcos said, “Rebellion, friends and enemies, is something that has to be celebrated, every day and at every hour. Because rebellion is also a celebration.” ( USA today’s Mexico's Zapatista rebel movement marks 20 years article). It is said that the poverty in Chiapas is still as worse as it originally was. The people of Chiapas actually run their own education and health clinics. "The EZLN remains alive, not as a military option, but as a social and political organization that fights for a dignified life.” “It is an effort to demonstrate that autonomy is possible; you don't have to depend on the government.” said the
Roman Catholic Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, Felipe Arizmendi.

The Zapatistas are still refusing government aid