== The Zapatistas - Where it all started. ==
On the 1st January 1994 a group of balaclava clad rebels claimed control of six cities in the Chiapas region of Mexico. This group called themselves the 'Zapatista Army of National Liberation' - EZLN. Many believe that what could turn out to be the biggest political movement of the twenty-first century began in the rainforests of the poorest region of Mexico. The EZLN are a group of peasants fighting for land rights in the face of the North American Free Trade Agreement which devastated the farming families of Mexico. This seemingly unglamorous, local movement has managed to capture the imagination of anti-globalisation protestors world wide and has provided a template for a global resistance movement. The Zapatistas became the unwitting, but not unwilling spark that would light a rebellion world wide whose message was spread from remote areas to like minded people via the World Wide Web. The EZLN have continued to use the internet as their main source of contact and communication. Their offical website [1] is updated with communiques from the members of the army and is also a place to buy Zapatista merchandise such as t-shirts.
=== A Post-Modern, Electronic Revolution? ===
The EZLN seem to have from the very beginning understood the language and nuances of a post modern world and their need to engage with the rest of the world to promote their cause. The EZLN have produced images and words from their struggle that have become emblems of the global resistance movement. The main communicator within the EZLN - Subcommandante Marcos - describes revolution as 'not the same form of power with a new logo'. Marcos understands the potency of logos and savvy marketing and as such the EZLN has one of the best lines of revolution t-shirts since Che Guevara. All areas of online activism rely on messages that are entertaining for and easily understood by a society that is saturated with advertising and subtle propaganda. Consequently the EZLN furthers it cause by capturing the hearts and minds of world through communication methods that are decidedly post-modern. The Zapatistas paved the way for the protestors from all over the world to connect with one another in the understanding that although their struggles were local they are part of a larger fight against market driven globalisation. In January 1996, the Zapatistas issued an invitation to 'rebels from all continents' to join them in Chiapas for a 'Intercontinental Encuentro for Humanity and Against Neo-liberalism', this first conference spawned the ongoing 'World Social Forum'.
=== EZLN sites ===
Offical website - [2]
Information and current news - [3]
=== Sources ===
Azambuja, Carlos (3004). 'The New Face of the Anti-globalisation Movement'. www.cubdest.org. [4].
Kingsnorth, Paul (2003). 'One No, Many Yeses'. London:The Free Press.
www.ezln.org[5]
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Donna hancox 13:43, 27 Oct 2004 (EST)
