by Utica IWW/Press Release 

On Monday, March 26 there will be an event at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY on the Zapatista Revolution. On January, 1, 1994 the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), otherwise known as the Zapatistas, entered the global stage the very same day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect when indigenous Mayans launched a revolutionary uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. The masked revolutionary insurgents claimed it was a war for survival for indigenous people. Since that day they have been in a declared war against the Mexican state.

The Zapatistas faced brutal military and state repression, massacres and targeted assassinations. Their communities remain under a stage of low intensity warfare to this day, but, “little by little” as the Zapatistas say, they are creating a new world. Over 1,000 villages in Chiapas are under Zapatista control and are governed by a system rooted in concepts of mutual aid, cooperation, self-determination, direct democracy and a fierce anti-capitalist ethos. A synthesis of socialism, anarchism and indigenous Maya beliefs have created a new way of understanding the world, culminating into what is called Zapatismo. The Zapatistas have influenced not only the broader Left in Mexico, but the greater Global Justice Movement around the world, as more movements and groups have taken up the mantle of Zapatismo.

If you are interested in learning about Mayan culture, beliefs and politics, want to explore Chiapas, Mexico, and want to learn how 1,000s of ordinary people are creating a world without rulers, politicians, hierarchies or oppression, this is the workshop for you.

Local community organizer Brendan Dunn traveled down to the village of Oventic in Zapatista territory to learn first-hand about the Zapatista revolution two years ago and will share his experiences from that trip.

This event will take place at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY in the Alumni College Center (ACC) room 116. It is part of the college’s Cultural Series and DGV events. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact maslauskas84@gmail.com