Zapatista

A Zapatista was originally a member of the revolutionary guerilla movement founded around 1910 by Emiliano Zapata, whose Liberation Army of the South (Ej?rcito Libertador del Sur) fought during the Mexican Revolution for the redistribution of agricultural land. They are famous for their battle victories against four armies and for being the first ones to ever drop a bomb from a plane.

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More recently, the term is now used for a member of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ej?rcito Zapatista de Liberaci?n Nacional), which in 1994 launched a relatively popular (at least in the poor southern population, which was it's main target recruiting base) uprising for agrarian and broader social reform, after the signing of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement).

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Both movements, the during the Mexican Revolution and the current one started in Southern Mexico — the 1910-movement in Morelos and the more recent-one in Chiapas.

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The Intercontinental Encounters for Humanity and against Neoliberalism, an international conference in the Chiapas, hosted by the Zapatistas in 1994, resulted in various other Zapatista groups emerging outside of Mexico, including the West Essex Zapatistas in East London.

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This is a relatively peacefull rebelion as there have been no serious encounters with the government since four years ago. This is the same reason that the mexican government has made no more attempt to crush it, but to try to make agreements.

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1910: 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar)....

Emiliano Zapata: Emiliano Zapata Salazar (August 8 1879 – April 10 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution against the dictatorship of Porfirio D?az that broke out in 1910....

Liberation Army of the South: The Ej?rcito Libertador del Sur (ELS) was an army formed and led by General Emiliano Zapata in 1910 in the southern Mexican state of Morelos, thus starting the Mexican Revolution....