Professors prepare panel

By Tammy Ruhle	On-line Forty-Niner
March 5, 1997

The plight of the Chiapas Indians of Mexico has been a topic near to the hearts of Chicanos and Latinos. Recently, the Chiapas have become the Hollywood cause of the hour. Oliver Stone met with the rebel's most vocal leader Subcommante Marcos, perhaps looking to score another mega-hit depicting the Zapatista Rebellion.

But Adriana Manjarrez, a panelist on today's Cal State Long Beach discussion panel on the Zapatistas, maintains that the action taken by the rebels is a lesson for all people sensitive to the issue of poverty and government oppression.

Manjarrez is also coordinator of Que Vivan Los Zapatistas, a study group focusing on the plight of Indian oppression and the grass roots rebellion.

"The democratic decision making process of the Zapatista Rebels, the hope that Mayan Indians of Chiapas have in the face of job loss and oppression and bringing people together are common goals, common economic problems and common solutions for everyone," Manjarrez said.

Panelists, including CSULB professor of Chicano and Latino Studies, Juan Benitez, professor Federico Sanchez, tenure professor Larry George and Manjarrez, will navigate the discussion through the universal waters of the Chiapas Indians plight.

The Zapatista uprising began nearly three years ago and became popular shortly after media picked-up on the cult-like status of the movement's articulate and charismatic, light-skinned leader, Subcommante Marcos.

Chiapas Indians, who are of Mayan decent, were pushed off land allotted to them by the Mexican government. Cattle ranchers and the timber industry have encroached on the territory leaving the Indians with no where to go.

Meanwhile, the Chiapas have descended deeper into poverty.

"The Chiapas Indians are living in miserable poverty," Manjarrez said.

Nearly 70 percent of the homes in Chiapas lack electricity and only half the population has drinking water.

According to Manjarrez the most aggressive participants in this rebellion are the military.

"The [Zapatista] rebellion is a peaceful one," Manjarrez said. "It is the military that is conducting a low intensity war, which includes surrounding and harassing civilians."

Though talks between the Mexican government and Zapatista leaders have nearly broken off, there has been a resurgence of interest by students, according to Sanchez.

Ultimately, the reason the Chicano and Latino studies department has chosen the Zapatistas as the first topic to discuss is student interest .

"Students have heard a lot about the cause and are interested," Sanchez said.