Who is Subcomandante Marcos?

 As a political and revolutionary piece, the title matches what Subcomandante Marcos plausibly intends. It informs the reader of the struggles endured by the Indigenous in Mexico, using his personal and informed accounts to weaponize the book against the regime. Whether it is intended by Marcos to specifically  galvanize Mexicans across the country and/or bring International discourse on the situation. He highlights the capitalist system as a means to reduce Indigenous value and prolong despicable actions, detailing accounts against the Mayan population in Chiapas. This bodes well in Marcos effectively positioning himself as an indigenous voice to bring all concerns into a collective front. The Mexican government viewed Chiapas as very profitable due to the resources within it. Uranium, oil reserves, and lumber were in their eyes blocked by merely Indigenous will. He presents this information on the Zapatista National Liberation Army as the primary solution for all within Mexico, outlining their purpose and objectives. After all the accounts, logs, and information presented I have one question that I want to discuss, along with weighing what is more likely between the two. Does Subcomandante Marcos truly represent the Indigenous will or are his decisions reflective of his own aims?


This may sound skeptical but from the initial parts of the book it seems as though Marcos resembles almost Guaman Poma-like narcissism. When notoriety was increasing dramatically and they called a unilateral ceasefire, Marcos revealed himself proclaiming “Through me speaks the will of the Zapatista National Liberation Army”. He speaks as though his voice alone holds more weight than the voice of other communities and more shockingly groups every community with specific phrases. He says “we are thousands of Mexicans scattered throughout our national territory”. Does he believe the same struggles and issues exists across all communities? He then places himself as a moral compass in his letter to President Zedillo. Stating “you are no longer you..you are the personification of an unjust system…I have spoken to you with sincerity, in a way in which you have not spoken to me”. Again I am a proponent of the phrase “you gotta do what you gotta do” but it is difficult to speak from a moral high ground when you are engaging in violence.


I will say however he does a great job of bringing international awareness and displaying the issues at hand. Marcos targets through his charisma and it is evident in his letters to the United States and other Indigenous communities globally. Throughout the book, he uses the phrase “we” when referring to anyone and anything. Which makes me question is he a voice for the Indigenous or a voice for struggle? Are those two things intertwined? It is very confusing to pinpoint Marcos’s true intentions other than the intentions of the resistance he is apart of.


Comments

  1. Anthony LockleyMarch 15, 2024 at 12:13 PM

    I think this question of why Marcos writes these texts is an interesting one to consider. Naturally, those written to governments and their agents serve a more ideological role, his letters addressed to the general populous does create some questions. As to his implications of capitalism, and specifically neoliberalism, it seemed to me this was an attempt to unify his audience through a reminder of the ways in which they (we) are communally dispossessed by this same system, perhaps to different degrees, but it binds a regional and international audience together.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Word is our Weapon Part 2: Controversial with Intent

  My reactions to the second half of “Our word is our weapon” shared similarities from the initial pages read. We got a continuation of Marcos projecting himself amongst the greatest writers of Latin America, narcissism to the highest degree, and a splash of propaganda for the resistance. The only difference is whereas the introduction to this dilemma and Marcos raised eyebrows about what his true intentions are, the second half almost exposes his intentional form of writing to coerce others . “Do words know to fall silent when they can’t find the time or place for which they’re called…And the mouth does it know how to die?” (pg.258). This is a quote used by Marcos from Eduardo Galeano’s book “Las Palabras Andantes” which really made me think about the psychology of Marcos and his Zapatista efforts. In his letter to Eduardo and some tales, the form of his writing produces consequences, some of which we discussed in class.  First, his introduction to Galeano is a means to asse...
Read more

The First New Chronicle and Good Government: First half Thoughts

  As a text filled with intricate imagery, a balance of position, and religious promotion, the Poma De Ayala is a very interesting piece of literature that tells a tale of conquest and history. From initial interpretation, the book contains origin stories and brings forth a certain dynamic from one that shares a link with both Indigenous and European by blood. The author asserts an opposing view to the occupation initiated by the Spaniards over the Inca in Peru, while (maybe unintentionally) pushing the narrative of Christianity in the account of history.  What caught my attention was the story of the Wari Wiracocha Runa. It depicts this first generation of the Indies population, identifying them as Spaniards and “the ones who left Noah’s ark following the flood” (p.25). From these people who were unable to increase the population for more than 800 years, came the Wari Wiracocha Runa. These are the Indigenous that stem from Spaniards and were able to as the text says forever m...
Read more