Institute History
Description
The Zapatistas are a community-based, hyperdemocratic group formed to address the oppression of rural indigenous people by the government of Mexico. Since its inception in 1994, the group has garnered the attention and support of a global community. This is due largely to Subcommandante Marcos, its charismatic spokesman, who has made brilliant use of the Internet and other forms of media to demand equal rights and culture for all of Mexico's ten million indigenous people.
In early 2001, the Zapatistas began a much-publicized march to Mexico City to authenticate the San Andres Accords. The P'urhepecha people in the Michoacan region of Mexico welcomed them along the way. Fernando Leon de Aranoa's Caminantes in their story. Among the unforgettable "ordinary" people we meet: a teacher who sees her students' families vanishing; musicians who have learned their instruments solely to fill days of unemployment; a community leader trying to preserve the language; and the children-the true life of the village.
According to Mayan Indian philosophy, the creator has given the people breath and force to walk this world amid the joys and adversities that are common for all. In a beautiful and moving testament to the human spirit, Leon de Aranoa proves, without a doubt, that to remember the past by bearing witness is to walk forward into the future.