Romance in the Hills of Chiapas

In his last visit to Mexico, Peruvian Novelist and former Presidential Candidate, Mario Vargas Llosa, caused considerable agitation and official outrage when he exclaimed, "Mexico, the other Latin American nations stand in admiration of you. You are the 'perfect' dictatorship, all under the guise of apparent democracy." He was quickly hustled out of the country, as much for his own safety, as for any further potential embarrassing remarks he might make.

Now, Mexico can even lay claim to having the "perfect" revolutionary leader. Not since the dark, brooding, mustachioed Emiliano Zapata rode his white horse out of the hills of Morelia, into Mexico City, has a leader captured the imagination and public appeal as the charismatic, ski-masked leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, Subcommandante Marcos. On the night Marcos arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas for the recent negotiations with Government negotiator Manuel Camacho, he was serenaded by women with hired guitarists outside the 16th century cathedral where he was staying. In Mexico City, women talk about spending a "fantasy night in the jungle" with Marcos, and others have confessed to discussing their lust for the dashing leader with their psychiatrists.

In these ten weeks since the insurrection began, Marcos has certainly not discouraged the romantic fantasies, and many women are treating his often poetic "press releases" as personal pleas. In San Cristobal, Marcos gave a passionate speech, asking, "Why do we (the Zapatistas) have to sleep with our boots on, and our souls hanging by a thread?"

However, there is more to Marcos than a mysterious revolutionary, sending of romantic sound-bites. Handwriting analysts have suggested a man who is extremely intelligent, egotistic almost bordering on vanity, often exhibiting a mood of omnipotence, impulsive, and occasionally depressive. He has demonstrated a clear understanding of Mexican history and its even more poignant relevance now, and many of his "communiques" indicate a knowledge of military tactics and organizational principals. 

His Spanish sounds only lightly Mexican, and his conversation is peppered with jokes and occassional phrases in rough English. He has joked that he learned his English by spending his nights in the mountains reading Playboy and Pentagon manuals.

As he has in the past, Marcos has refused to divulge his real name or age. While he has admitted to commanding the Zapatista's military offensive, he continues to insist that his role is subordinate to the indigenous leaders -- thus the title "Sub"commandante ..."My commanders are the Mayan Indian campesinos."

Rebel leaders have carried weapons and worn ski masks at news conferences, but Marcos said they have put away their guns, but kept their masks for the present negotiations. "If you want to see what faces are behind the ski masks, it's easy. Pick up a mirror and look into it!" ... and in a recent missive from his camp in the Chiapas mountains, Marcos promised, "I am prepared to take off my mask if Mexican society will take off its own mask."

Marcos has also shown a clear understanding of the international attention focused on Mexico and the subsequent pressure that its leaders feel, "What is at stake in Chiapas is no longer just Chiapas or even Mexico, but perhaps even the free trade agreement or the whole neoliberal project in Latin America (sweeping economic changes in Mexico and other Latin American countries). Recent changes have brought little, if any, improvement in the lives of the poor. "It's not because we have great force, but because people are saying, 'All right, what happened here? What is going to happen elsewhere? What costs are there going to be?" Motioning to the reporters before him, he added, "if that were not true, you all would not be here."

During their initial occupation of San Cristobal, Marcos issued his first communique, "The war we declare is a final but justified measure. We have nothing, absolutely nothing. Not a dignified roof, nor work, nor land, nor health care, nor education." 

As the latest details of the recent accord were read to the press by govermnent negotiators (on March 3) in San Cristobal, Subcommundante Marcos sat behind, smoking a pipe and reading various reports, no doubt preparing his own impassioned statement from the men and romantic women of Mexico.


Tragic Comedy Under Aztec Sun

These are strange times for Mexico - awash in scandal, kidnappings, armed insurrection, assassinations, and swirling conspiracy theories; only four months ago it all seemed so fine. The North American Free Trade agreement had just been approved by U.S. Congress, the new Presidential Candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, was given the nod by the President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, interest and inflation rates were at their lowest in years, and Mexico was basking in the attention and praise of the international business community.

Enter "stage right" a few rebels in Chiapas wielding old rifles and rusty peeshooters, led by the charismatic ski-masked Subcommandante Marcos (many people have suggested that Marcos is in fact a Jesuit priest), issuing communiques about the lack of democracy in Mexico and the economic dichotomy which Mexico’s indigenous peoples will only further suffer under Free Trade. Throw in a couple of major kidnappings (most notably, the president of one of Mexico’s leading banks, Banamex), daily protest marches by campesinos, farmers, and students, and the assassination of candidate Colosio, and suddenly Mexico finds itself reeling like a "four in the morning" tequila drunk.

Since Colosio was shot on Wednesday March 23rd, in a poor suburb of Tijuana, Mexican streets and newspapers have been full of conspiracy rumours. Official government press releases have insisted that the assassination was simply the work of a disturbed 23 year-old mechanic seeking attention for himself. But Mexico City’s cab drivers know better, many insisting that this act of violence was masterminded by the unanimously despised Ross Perot, in an attempt to undermine the Free Trade agreement! More pragmatic voices have suggested that conservative elements within Mexico’s political system stood to lose under some of the economic and democratic reforms which Colosio was preaching.

Mistrust of officials is such that people on the streets almost matter-of-factly blame the shooting on anti-democratic elements within Mexico’s ruling class. They believe that Colosio was reform-minded and viewed as a threat to those dinosaurs within Mexico’s ruling class. The Zapatista’s in Chiapas said as much in their recent communique: "The hardliners and the militarist option inside the government planned and brought to completion this provocation to end all the peaceful intent of democratization of the country."

Recent developments in the shooting, with the arrest of a second suspect, have only further fueled the conspiracy theories.

ln an effort to stabilize the situation, President Salinas quickly announced his new choice for his successor, by naming Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, former Education Secretary, and campaign manager for Colosio. This traditional practice of "dedazo" or the "tap" whereby the president chooses his successor, has continued for sixty years, robbing the public of an opportunity to voice its opinion for alternatives. Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, one of the few "high profile" and vocal critics of the government and its lack of democratic initiative, commented, "Mexico is not a country of one or two men, but rather of many men, and this authoritarian exercise deprives us of the riches of democracy and casts an ominous shadow over the electoral process and the elections of August 21."

To add a good measure of comedy to an otherwise tragic and ridiculous situation, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, James Jones, called Zedillo’s choice as presidential candidate a bright and competent decision, and predicted the country’s elections will be fair and competitive.

"It is going to be a very spirited election, and I have no idea who is going to win," Jones was quoted in a March 30th news conference. Gee-whiz Senor Jones, we’ll give you one guess! l’m hoping that this statement can be attributed to a momentary lapse of reason, or a sudden surge in ozone and carbon monoxide levels over the American Embassy. Either way, it’s painfully "par for the course" when it comes to American foreign policy and its apparent awareness in Mexico.

The next months will be extremely telling ones, possibly determining the course of Mexican political and sociological developments for the next decade, at least. I’ll keep you posted.

  - Andreas Seppelt, Mexico City, Mexico