El fuego y la palabra: Una Historia del Movimiento Zapatista

by Gloria Muñoz Ramírez, Hermann Bellinghausen (Foreword), Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos (Introduction)

An illustrated history of the Zapatistas based on interviews with the movement’s original organizers. Originally published in Mexico to mark the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Zapatistas, this new edition has been expanded with an epilogue that outlines developments from 2003 to the present. According to Subcomandante Marcos, The Fire and the Word is “the most complete version of the public history of the Zapatistas.” Gloria Muñoz Ramírez has worked for Punto (Mexico), La Opinion (United States), and the Mexican daily La Jornada . She has lived and worked extensively in Chiapas, Mexico.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Latin American History, Philosophy, Indigenous, Research

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having moved to San Cristobal de Las Casas, where the EZLN's armed insurrection started in 1994, I figured it was sensible to get more informed about the Zapatistas. Before starting this book, I felt the indelible impression that the movement has made in the region, and have sensed its wider repercussions in the country. Contrary to my belief coming into Mexico that the Zapatistas are a fringe group far to the left of the Mexican political mainstream, each of the handful of Mexicans whom I had a chance to talk politics with are all more or less within the rough proximity of where the green party would land on the US political spectrum, and all spoke more or less approvingly of at least some aspects of the Zapatista movement. 20 years ago the EZLN struck a vein in Mexican society (as I was soon to learn in this book); it had tapped into a progressive, social justice, socialist, and egalitarian vein that runs deep and whose fervor has been feed by the ongoing injustices and egregious inequalities that has been the rule throughout Mexico.

Other marks that the movement has made is manifest in the smattering of EZLN bookshops and coffee shops that sell Zapatista key chains, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. It's also manifest in the invigoration of San Cristobal as a whole as a destination. Over the last two decades, what has always been a beautiful colonial town as become a bustling destination for Western tourists here for the scenery as well as the poverty tourism, European hippies here for the anarchist vibe and cheap cost of living, Mexican creatives and intellectuals here for the same things who have since cultivated a hot bourgeoisie arts scene in the midst of the poverty of Chiapas. It's hard not to smell the heavy scent of irony, that the Zapatista's renown has brought its archnemesis neoliberalism to its very doorsteps, and it not going anywhere.

Okay what about the book. First let's describe what it is not. This is not a book of investigative journalism. It is not an objective or critical account of the Zapatista movement from a third party. It is not, as traditionally conceived, a historical chronicle of a political movement. Why? Although the author/editor/compiler of this book is a journalist by trader, she has created this work as an activist.

If taken as literature it is middling at best, if taken as propaganda it's a bit too meandering and lacks the cutting clarity and simplicity that great propaganda has. What it is is the autobiography (actually more memoir) of a movement. As such, it is not hindered by criticality, and it announces its positivist beliefs and convictions in each passage and chapter. It's construction is a patchwork, much as it likes to believe it's movement is as well. It is a patchwork of first hand accounts of the movement's history, and specific chapters of the progression by members and supporters of the movement, most prominently featuring a large amount of dictations by subcmdt. Marcos. These testimonials are tied together by historical and political context by Munoz Ramirez, but give no doubt, the context is through the lens of a true believer. Due to the degree of conviction this is written with, it often suffers for clarity and coherence, but nonetheless the book will give you a feel for how a movement views itself.

[* · Rating 5 out of 5]

No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/...

I read this book while attending the First World Festival of La Digna Rabia, the Zapatista Festival commemorating 25 years of the EZLN, and the 15th anniversary of their war against the Mexican Army. In fact, I devoured the book on the two 13 hour bus rides from Mexico DF (site of the first stage of the Festival) to San Cristobal de las Casas (largest city taken by the EZLN in 1994, and close enough to Oventik that we could stand in the bed of a pickup truck that ferried people to and from the Zapatista rebel territory).

Because of when and where I read the book, I have a hard time remembering where the pages of the book ended and seeing the direct results of the Zapatista struggle for liberation began. I saw both an invigorated New Left movement for democracy, freedom, and justice in Mexico and an organized movement of indigenous peasants who are at the same time both filled with truly awesome and deserved pride and humble beyond any I've ever met. Here in Zapatistaland, transgendered sex workers and share-croppers share their struggle with day laborers, university students, urban squatter punks and elderly indigenous women. The Zapatistas have brought together an impossibly diverse movement under two concise slogans, one that comes from the mouth of Subcomandante Marcos, "Everything for everyone and nothing for ourselves," and the other from the mouth of the fierce indigenous Comandante Ramona, "Never again a Mexico without us."

I'm amazed by the organizational evolution of the Zapatistas. New Left movements in the 1960s and 1970s often started out with motives for mass-based democratic social movement, and then through cult-of-personality political perversion and exoticizing violence moved towards less and less democratic forms until they became a tiny clandestine "military" organization (see the RAF, Weathermen, other Guevarist organizations). The Zapatistas started off as a strict Marxist-Leninist military organization (literally an army), and have evolved into a mass-based social movement, with support from all of Mexico.

Too often people only know the Zapatistas through their brilliant spokesperson, Subcomandante Marcos. This book gives voice to the many others, including other EZLN officers, but also participants in their Good Government Boards, and members of their base communities. The book has three parts: first, the author interviews the aforementioned parties with regard to the Zapatistas' organizing in the ten years leading up to the 1994 declaration of war on the Mexican government, a fascinating window into a guerilla movement. Second, the author gives a thorough blow-by-blow account of the public history of the EZLN. This part is thorough to the point of occaisionally paragraph-long lists, but it never felt like a "this happened, then this happened" poorly executed historical summary. And then in a third section, Subcomandante Marcos reflects on the struggle at 20 years, and answers questions collected from readers of the leftist daily newspaper La Jornada and the Zapatista-supporting magazine Rebeldí­a. Newer versions will have a 20 page introduction and looking forward epilogue about the Sixth Declaration and the Other Campaign (where the Zapatistas encourage the formation of a new politics for all of Mexico below and to the Left).

The book design is gorgeous. The most iconic photographs of the Zapatista movement are scattered throughout the book, and drawings, paintings and watercolor both fade behind the text (though always maintaining legibility) and pepper the margins. The book has easy, thumb-wide margins, and a very readable font with relaxed leading. I am going to keep this book on my desk while I design my current project for inspiration.

If I had to give someone one book to read about the Zapatistas, it would be this one, without question. If someone was already interested in the Zapatistas and had already read several other books about them, I would still reccommend it, wholeheartedly.

[Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A blow by blow account of the Zapatista rebellion, I found certain sections a bit tedious, but at the same time I recognize the importance of popular documentation of the indigenous struggle whose voices are often silenced and whose history is often erased. Ultimately, the book is carried by the inspiring facts of the Zapatista rebellion and is at its best when it lets the Zapatistas speak for themselves.

[Nathan Titus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of the book says it all. ¨A History of the Zapatista Movement¨ indeed. I wanted to know about their way of life and their philosophy, but like basically all Zapatista literature Ive come across, it went out of the way to avoid discussing that, and focused almost exclusively on the Zapatistas history of oppression and persecution by the Mexican government (and governments all over the world to a lesser extent.) The most obvious example I can think of is the page by page, year by year account of the government breaking, going back on, and refusing to settle any agreement based on the San Cristobal accords. The impression that the book clearly wants you to walk away with (and that I agree with) is that the government is a bad actor whos not to be trusted. What the book didnt tell the reader is what was actually in the accords. In other words, the book, like all Zapatista literature Ive encountered, gives you a very god idea of what they are fighting against, but basically none of what they are fighting for.
The conspiratorial side of me thinks this is deliberate. Its easy to sympathize with oppressed victims, and the Zapatistas need all the sympathy they can get. I suspect they would get less if they came out and explained their life philosophy, which consited of collective ownership of resources, and collective control of the individual. And I cant really explain exactly what that means, because as I said talk of their philosophy is avoided.
let me give you another example: their initial list of demands when they occupied 7 towns in 1994. equality, democracy, liberty, justice, independence, employment, land, food, housing, health, education, and peace. Now the first few sound like they just want the government to leave them alone, right? maybe so. But land, food, employment, housing, ext....to someone who has seen the popularity of Bernie Sanders, this sound like they want the government to also give them some things. But then again maybe not. This wasnt in the book, but take the demand for health. I happen to know that in the Zapatista Carocols, they have their own hospitals that the government didnt give them. In fact im fairly sure the government has shut them down from time to time. This could be a demand for the government to stop doing that, ie, just leave them alone. But who knows. The book doesnt go into detail on what is meant by these demands. It doesnt even mention the Zapatista hospitals; thats something I know from elsewhere.
So if you want a history, look here. If you want to know how the Zapatistas think, keep looking.

[Tram Nguyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I traded for this book while in Chiapas, and it was very useful to have then. While the work comes with impeccable credentials -- written by a La Jornada journalist who spent 7 years living with the Zapatistas...I still found it a bit disappointing. Kind of a blow by blow account of the rebellion, without much context or narrative. The good thing is that it does introduce you to many more names and voices of other EZLN leaders besides Marcos, though I must say, his intro is the best part of the book.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

At its best, this book gets out of the way, and lets the Zapatistas tell their own story - one that, of course, is both touching and inspirational. Muñoz Ramirez herself provides a helpful summary of the Zapatista struggle, though not as profound of one as one might expect, given the years she's lived in the Lacandon Jungle. The artwork and pictures in the book are marvelous, though the inclusion of a map would have been of great help.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

a history told thru the eyes of those who lived it...despite the fact that the author breaks down the series of events that characterized every year of the EZLN movement as of the 1994 uprising, she couples it with commentary and contributions from zapatistas themselves, which makes the story more wholistic than it is linear...damn, the zapatistas rock!

[Rocio · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chronicle of the Zapatista Movement. A wonderful account of the strugles of the people of Chiapas

[Ted Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Zapatista movement, a social/economic/political movement of indigenous Mexicans, emerged in the 1980's and entered a state of armed rebellion against the Mexican government in the 1990's. It is an important part of the modern "anti-globalist" backlash that has surfaced in many nations during the 21st century, most notably in the United States. Unfortunately, I don't think that this particular book is the best place to learn about its history. It is written by a journalist who spent years within the Zapatista community, and her account is based entirely on the internal workings of that group. The book presents a wealth of information about the Zapatistas- personal reflections, speeches, communiques- but there is little to no objective consideration of what all of these things mean in the larger context of the life of Mexico. I became so frustrated at times while reading the book that I went to my laptop to find other sources that could explain, in clearer, more concise language, what this rebellion was all about. The Zapatistas are obsessively democratic in their make-up, so it is not a surprise that this book is "democratic" in its presentation. But that approach can be rather dull and long-winded. If 60 towns in southeastern Mexico welcomed Zapatista spokespeople, the book lists all 60! If twenty individuals did something, the names of all twenty appear. A little editing was called for in quite a few places. The book is full of photographs, but there are no captions, so their meaning is often obscure. In any event, it is a quick read, partly because the narrative ends in 2007, even though the group continues its activities to this day. In the spring of 2021 a handful of Zapatistas has begun a voyage across The Atlantic, destined for Spain and scheduled to arrive approximately 500 years after the Spanish conquistador Cortes conquered the Aztecs of Mexico in 1521. I would say that the definitive history of this group is yet to be written.

[Kassidy Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

although las zapatistas were ultimately unsuccessful, latin america and Africa have had the most successful examples of resistance thusfar, combatting a behemoth is never easy. also, the interviews in this book were quite fascinating and more first-person accounts of resistance and rebellion should be recorded.

[Aidan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing, and important, story. Love Subcomandante Marcos’ speeches, but the writing is overly breathy. I understand he is not credited as the author, but when you’ve read/heard enough from him, you know.

[Cristina López]

she is on tour right now, in Los Angeles!
Go see her!!

[Melondrop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book while in Oventic! Helped so much to have a clearer chronological picture of the movement! Loved sub Marcos' parts.

[elvira menchaca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring.