August 8, 1879: Happy birthday, Emiliano Zapata!

Today we remember the great Mexican revolutionary leader who was born 137 years ago.

Zapata was the leader of the farmers uprising that would go on to become the famous Mexican Revolution. Zapata led the struggle of the poor farmers deprived of land, against the power of the major hacienda owners and against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.

Less known is that Zapata also led the rebellion of the rural workers that competed with the rebellion of the rural and urban ruling class. His fighters included many rural workers, but also the “peones” or hands of the farm, domestics, and even miners, to a point that the ruling class then considered replacing their labor force with foreign workers.

Despite his prominent role in the guerrilla movement, Zapata was not a mere military leader: He never wished his army to rule the country, and steadily fought for political democracy. He was also cautious in maintaining military subordination to civil rule, the reason why he refused to take power in the state of Morelos, and the reason why he left the state of Mexico although he had won the battle.

Zapata defended socialism and social justice, with Lenin’s model of revolution in mind, as the Russian Revolution was then contemporary to the Mexican one. For instance, he imposed a fair distribution of wealth and power in the state of Morelos.

Federal forces ambushed and shot Zapata twice, in their assassination on April 10, 1919. His body was then exposed in the town of Cuautla. Almost a century later, the “Zapatista movement” of mostly rural indigenous farmers in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas was born. The movement, which switched from military offensives to a battle of communication in order to win international and domestic opinion, has achieved certain successes like the implementation of gender equality and equal access to public health.

Via teleSUR English