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"It is better to die on your feet than go on living on your knees, I am determined to fight against anything and anyone with nothing more than the confidence and support of my people"
Emiliano Zapata
Aliases
- "El Tigre del Sur"- Tiger of the South
- "El Tigre"- The Tiger
- "El Tigrillo"- Little Tiger
- "El Caudillo del Sur"- Caudillo of the South
Quotes
- Es mejor morir de pie que vivir de rodillas. (Translation: It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.)
- ?Tierra y Libertad! (Translation: Land and Liberty)
- Ignorance and obscurantism have never produced anything other than flocks of slaves for tyranny. (A letter to Pancho Villa)
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Past Warriors |
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Each month, IICOC salutes an Indigenous Warrior, past or present, who shows courage, perseverance and unselfish dedication as they invest in improving the lives of Indigenous people Click here
Emiliano Zapata was a principal leader in the Mexican Revolution who was assasinated on April 10, 1919. But to simply say this misses many points about his life that continue to influence the life of Mexicans even today. Zapata was a man of his generation and beyond. He was a man who carried out his duty under tremendous pressure to unify and represent the people of the Mexican South. Read More |
Zapata
Emiliano Zapata was a principal leader in the Mexican Revolution who was assasinated on April 10, 1919. But to simply say this misses many points about his life that continue to influence the life of Mexicans even today.
Zapata was a man of his generation and beyond. He was a man who carried out his duty under tremendous pressure to unify and represent the people of the Mexican South. He spoke 6 indigenous languages and was appointed to head of his local consejo because of his great humility and responsability.
He was not fighting a war of destruction against the powerful, but fighting to fundamentally change Mexico to give all of its inhabitants control over its destiny. He thought of Mexico not as it would be in 10 years but how it might be in 100 years. He also understood that this Mexico would be created not simply by the power of the rifle, but by the power of civil society as evidenced in EL PLAN DE AYALA.
The General Zapata
Early life and local politics
Zapata was born to Gabriel Zapata and Cleofas Salazar in the small central state of Morelos, in the village of Anenecuilco (modern-day Ayala municipality). At the time Mexico was ruled by a dictatorship under Porfirio D?az, who had seized power in 1876.
The social system of the time was a sort of proto-capitalist feudal system, with large landed estates (haciendas) controlling more and more of the land and squeezing it away from independent communities of Native Americans (pueblos, "towns" in Spanish), who were then subsequently forced into debt slavery (peonaje) on the haciendas. D?az ran local elections to pacify the peones and run a government that they could argue was self-imposed. Under D?az, close confidants and associates were given offices in districts throughout Mexico. These offices became the enforcers of land reforms that concentrated the haciendas into fewer hands.
Zapata's family, although not enormously wealthy, still retained independence. They were never in danger of poverty, avoiding peonage and maintaining their own land (ranchero). In fact the family had in previous generations been porfirista, that is, supporters of D?az. Zapata himself always had a reputation for being a fancy dresser, appearing at bullfights and rodeos in his elaborate charro (cowboy) costume. Though his flashiness would usually have associated him with the rich hacendados who controlled the lands, he seems to have retained the admiration and even adoration of the people of his village, Anenecuilco, so that by the time he was 30 he was the head of the defense committee of the village, a post which made him the spokesman for the village's interests. He was directly elected to this position during the Fall of 1909, just a year before the start of the revolution.
Being recognised as a leading figure of the largely indigenous nahua community of Anenecuilco Zapata, who also spoke the indigenous language nahuatl, quickly became involved in struggles for the rights of the Indians of Morelos. He was able to oversee the redistribution of the land from some haciendas peacefully but had problems with some others. He observed numerous conflicts between villagers and hacendados over the constant theft of village land, and in one instance saw the hacendados torch an entire village.
For many years he campaigned steadily for the rights of the villagers, first establishing via ancient title deeds the claims of the villagers to disputed land, and then pressing the recalcitrant governor of Morelos into action. Finally, disgusted with the slow response from the government and the overt bias towards the wealthy plantation owners, Zapata began making use of armed force, simply taking over the land in dispute.
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