—————- Nuestra Arma es Nuestra Palabra

Our Words are Our weapons

Subcomandante Marcos (Date of birth unknown), is the de facto spokesman for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), aMexican rebel movement. In January 1994, he led an army of Indian farmers into the eastern parts of the Mexican state of Chiapas in protest of the Mexican government’s treatment of indigenous peoples. Marcos is an author, political poet, adroit humorist, and outspoken opponent of capitalism and neo-liberalism. Marcos has advocated having the Mexican constitution amended to recognize the rights of the country’s indigenous inhabitants. The internationally known guerrillero has been described as a “new” and “postmodern“ Che Guevara. The nom de guerre “Marcos” is the name of a friend killed at a military road checkpoint^] He is known as Delegado Cero (Delegate Zero) in matters concerning the Other Campaign. He is only seen wearing a balaclava, and his true identity remains unknown. Like many of his generation, Marcos was radicalized by the Tlatelolco massacre and became a militant in the Maoist National Liberation Forces. In 1983, he went to the mountains of Chiapas to convince the poor indigenous population to start a proletarian revolution against the bourgeoisie.The indigenous Mayans “just stared at him,” and replied that they were not workers; that, from their perspective, land was not property but rather “the heart of their communities.” When asked about his first days in Chiapas in the documentary A Place Called Chiapas, Marcos says:

“

Imagine a person who comes from an urban culture. One of the world’s biggest cities, with a university education, accustomed to city life. It’s like landing on another planet. The language, the surroundings are new. You’re seen as an alien from outer space. Everything tells you: “Leave. This is a mistake. You don’t belong in this place.” And it’s said in a foreign tongue. But they let you know, the people, the way they act; the weather, the way it rains; the sunshine; the earth, the way it turns to mud; the diseases; the insects; homesickness. You’re being told. “You don’t belong here.” If that’s not a nightmare, what is?

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bcomandante Marcos Subcomandante Marcos AKA Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos Born: ? Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: Hispanic Occupation: Activist, Military, Author Nationality: Mexico Executive summary: Spokesman for Zapatista Army Military service: Spokesman (EZLN) Spokesman for the EZLN, the militarized indigenous movement rising out of Chiapas, Mexico. From behind a mask, he railed against globalization and the corruption of government for the better part of the 1990s. His communiques used global capitalism’s infrastructure of fax machines and email to spread his messages of solidarity and outrage, while drawing international focus to the EZLN. This international focus on the armed indigenous rebellion resulted in a ceasefire agreement and the Mexican government’s passage of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing some rights for indigenous peoples. While his identity is unknown, the Mexican government believes that his real name is Rafael Guillen and that he is a former Liberation Theology Jesuit who attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Author of books: Our Word is Our Weapon (2002, essays)

Marcos immersed himself in Mayan culture. After the political struggles within the FLN, the outlook of the indigenous peasants of Chiapas, and the failure of the Chiapas uprising, he embraced an approach to social revolution that has important parallels to the theories of Antonio Gramsciwhich were popular in Mexico. Go to fullsize image ——————– —————– – ————————————- ———– ———— ———————— —

Subcomandante Marcos – Definition and Overview

comandante Insurgente Marcos is the self-described spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), but considered by many one of its main leaders, since he is so prominent a figure. According to the Mexican government, Marcos’ real name is Rafael Sebastian Guillén Vicente. Guillén studied high school in a Jesuit institute in Tampico. Later he moved to Mexico City where he graduated from UAM Metropolitan Autonomous University, then received a masters degree in philosophy at UNAMNational Autonomous University of Mexico and began work as a professor at UAM. After that he left to begin his revolutionary activity. While Marcos always denied being Rafael Guillén, Guillén´s family doesn´t know what happened to him, and they won´t say if they think Marcos and Rafael are the same person. During the Great March to Mexico City in 2001, Marcos visited the UAM and during his speech he made clear that he had at least been there before. Like many of his generation he was radicalised by the events of 1968 and became a militant in a Maoistorganisation. However, the encounter with the outlook of the indigenous peasants of Chiapastransformed the Zapatistas’ ideology, and Marcos has embraced an approach to social revolution that has been described by some as post-modernist; others argue that his philosophies and actions are more closely related to the revisionist marxist ideals of Antonio Gramsci that were popular in Mexico during his time in University. Marcos in his own words: “Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a gang member in Neza, a rocker in the National University, a Jew in Germany, an ombudsman in the Defense Ministry, a communist in the post-Cold War era, an artist without gallery or portfolio…. A pacifist in Bosnia, a housewife alone on Saturday night in any neighborhood in any city in Mexico, a striker in the CTM, a reporter writing filler stories for the back pages, a single woman on the metro at 10pm, a peasant without land, an unemployed worker… an unhappy student, a dissident amid free market economics, a writer without books or readers, and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains of southeast Mexico. So Marcos is a human being, any human being, in this world. Marcos is all the exploited, marginalized and oppressed minorities, resisting and saying, ‘Enough’!” A famous idol for Marcos is the Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, important militant in the Cuban Revolution. Much of his writings — articles, poems, speeches and letters — have been compiled into a book: Our Word is Our Weapon. In December 2004, he announced to write a book, called Muertos Incomodos (Awkward Dead), together with crime writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II.

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Zapatista Army of National Liberation – Definition and Overview

Related Words: Annexation, Appropriation, Boosting, Break, Breakout, Conversion, Deliverance, Delivery, Emancipation, Embezzlement,Emergence, Escape, Escapism, Evasion, Flight, Fraud, Getaway, Graft

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed revolutionary group based in Chiapas, one of the poorest states of Mexico. The EZLN claims to represent the rights of the indigenous population, but also sees itself and is seen as part of a wider anti-capitalist movement, fighting for democracy, peace and justice for all Mexicans, and for all people. The Zapatistas are consciously opposed to neoliberalism, the economic system advocated by the Mexican presidents from 1982 to 2000. The group takes its name from the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata; they see themselves as his ideological heir and the heir to 500 years of indigenous resistance against imperialism. The EZLN breaks from the ordinary mould of revolutionary groups; except for the initial uprising in the first two weeks of 1994, they aren’t known to have used any weapons or bombs and have remained primarily in Chiapas. They refuse to use the normal channels Mexico provides to listen to demands and provide solutions–including running for public office or endorsing political parties. They say these channels have been ineffective for the indigenous and for everyone else for too much time (500 years, as they say), thus the EZLN motto:¡Ya Basta! (“Enough!”). A few times, some of their elements have publicly visited (unarmed) Mexico City, marching down the streets, doing press conferences and organizing meetings with the civilian population and some political parties. The great march to Mexico City, described later, was also relatively peaceful, with some minor, mostly verbal, incidents. This peaceful approach is one of the reasons for its longevity and some popularity with the civilian population

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

“Our Word Is Our Weaponcrystallizes the passion of a rebel, the poetry of a movement and the literary genius of indigenous Mexico.”-Martn EspadaThis original and historic CD, recorded on location in Chiapas, Mexico, features the internationally renowned, yet enduringly enigmatic, Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos, reading selections from his most urgent and poetic works. Marcos recites-for the first time in English-his visionary allegory, “To Plant the Tree of Tomorrow,”and other masterly writings that have earned him a place as “one of the most remarkable minds of our time.” Subcomandante Marcosis the author of several books, including the acclaimed children’s book Story of the Colorsand Our Word Is Our Weapon: Selected Writings of Subcomandante Marcos.

Publisher Comments:

In January 1994, the Zapatistas seized towns in Chiapas, Mexico, calling for broad democratic changes. The writings of Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, who emerged as the groups eloquent spokesman, are collected here. This edition features new pieces and new commentary by the editor.

Synopsis:

This is a powerful collection of literary, philosophical, and political writings of the masked Zapatista spokesperson, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.

About the Author

Subcomandante Marcos is the spokesperson for the Zapatistas, an indigenous rights movement based in Chiapas, Mexico. Marcos is author of several books translated into English, including the acclaimed children’s book Story of the Colors (Cinco Puntos), and his collection with Seven Stories press, Our Word is Our Weapon, Selected Writings of

uerrillas in our midst

Nicholas Lezard finds that Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos is a fighter who can write as he reads Our Word is Our Weapon

- , Saturday 27 July 2002
- Article history

Our Word is Our Weapon: Selected Writings, by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, ed Juana Ponce de León (Serpent’s Tail, £14.99) In a recent review of Andy Beckett’s excellent Pinochet in Piccadilly, Christopher Hitchens used a couple of haunting phrases to describe two different kinds of left-wing radicalism: one is compared to a graffito from Pompeii; the other, the minutes from a 1970s union meeting where workers refused to handle Chile-bound aircraft engine parts, to “signals from a dying planet”. So a certain kind of radicalism is, then, dead. But what’s this? A collection of essays, poems, slogans and fables – the favoured umbrella term is, I think, communiqués – composed in the depths of a Latin American jungle by an ammunition- draped guerrilla in fatigues and a ski-mask. The most regular cry: “Democracy! Liberty! Justice!” Which I imagine sounds even more stirring in Spanish. And have a look at the copyright details: “The original works of Subcomandante Marcos are not copyrighted.” Which isn’t exactly a surprise, but you have to check to make sure such a declaration is made these days. Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN – the Zapatista National Liberation Army – has been called the world’s first postmodern revolutionary leader. I am not quite sure what that means; there have been one or two situationist-style stunts for TV, but if you know what’s postmodern about hiding in the jungle from the entire Mexican army, do tell. In one of the pictures represented here Marcos has a mobile phone strapped to his bandolero. Perhaps that’s something to do with it. Or it could be that he’s funny, generous and self-deprecating. The kids in the camp keep trying to get sweets out of him; he invents a cynical, patronising beetle who steals his tobacco and pesters him with arcane stories. Marcos refers at one point to a “smelly” ski-mask lying on his table, and you suddenly glimpse the more gently tiresome aspects of guerrilla life than just being shot at. It is hard to imagine someone with such a voice becoming a dictator, and this is the clever bit: it is also hard to imagine him shooting anybody. Marcos fights against neoliberalism in general, and Nafta and the Mexican government in particular. The chief cause is the brutality and poverty of the Chiapas region of south-east Mexico, whose management by the national government is that deliberately violent knuckle-headedness that marches under the banner of economic progress. In short, it’s the kind of place where four homes in five have dirt floors, and a family farmer will get shot for cutting down a tree: this is a privilege reserved for multinational cattle-ranchers, oil prospectors, and the like. Marcos is prepared to take a stand on broader issues, such as the international campaign in Kosovo, and while you may reflect that he is a long way from the Balkans and may not have all the facts at his disposal, you may also be struck by the integrity of his case and the aptness of the phrase “violent supermarket” to describe the free-market world that beggars the already poor. Nato’s prime target in the Balkans, he cheekily asserts, was the UN. This is a baggy monster of a book, perhaps destined to be more cradled in the hands or saluted than read. It could have done with a bit of editing, and an index. Or perhaps that would have diminished the seat-of-the-pants excitement you get from its best passages.

It is clear that Marcos is a fighter who can write a bit; but there are times when it seems that he’s a writer who can fight. He quotes Shakespeare, Cervantes, Borges. He smokes a pipe. He’s as cuddly as you can get with a gun in the hand. Subcomandate Marcos.mmmmmmmmmmm – The Other Campaign

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos

Subcomandante Marcos is a spokesperson and strategist for the Zapatistas, an indigenous insurgency movement based in Mexico. He first joined the indigenous guerrilla group that was to become the Zapatistas in the early 1980s. Marcos is author of several books translated into English, including Story of the Colors (Cinco Puntos), which won a Firecracker Alternative Book Award, and Our Word is Our Weapon(Seven Stories Press). For more info see: http://www.ezln.org.mx/

The Speed of Dreams Selected Writings 2001-2007

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos

The literary and poetic genius of Latin America’s greatest living writer/rebel.

Since the publication of Our Word is Our Weapon – which Publishers Weekly described “as strong as dignity and as subtle as love” – Mexico’s enigmatic Zapatista leader has written some of his most brilliant and complex works. From a retelling of indigenous myths and legends, to visions of the future of Mexico, from searing critiques of the U.S. war in Iraq, to clandestine radio broadcasts from the jungles of Chiapas, here is an amazing selection of writing that gives voice to the literary and poetic genius of Latin America’s greatest living writer/rebel. Subcomandante Marcos is a spokesperson and strategist for the Zapatistas.

Publisher City Lights Publishers

ISBN-10 0872864782

ISBN-13 978-0-87286-478-8

Publication Date November 2007

List Price $17.95

The Other Campaign: la otra campaa (City Lights Open Media)

The Other CampaignThe Other Campaign is a collection of texts by Subcomandante Marcos and his Zapatista compaeros that articulate a vision for “change from below,” a call to create social change beyond the limits of electoral politics. As Mexico approaches the presidential elections, Marcos and supporters are touring the country in an effort to build a broad-based movement. The book includes a recent interview with Marcos and speeches made by Zapatista comandantes, as well as the Zapatistas’ “Sixth Declaration of the Lacandn Jungle,” which places the indigenous struggle for democracy in its historical context and articulates an evolving vision for democracy, dignity, and justice.

Subcomandante Marcos is a spokesperson and strategist for the Zapa

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, Greg Ruggiero

The Zapatista Call for Change from Below

The Other Campaign is a collection of texts – in English and Spanish – by Subcomandante Marcos and his Zapatista compañeros that articulate a vision for “change from below,” a call to create social change outside and beyond…

Nuestra Arma es Nuestra Palabra : Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos by Juana Ponce de Leon, José Saramago Softcover, Seven Stories Press, ISBN 1583222707 (1-58322-270-7)