Trouble in Chiapas

[Armalite]

What does everyone think of the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas? Are these people 'terrorists' and 'drug traffickers', or revolutionaries seeking freedom? Should the 'war on terror' be extended to them? Should the U.S. do something about the American factories in the area? How do these people compare to the American Revolutionaries?

[TooBusy]

The Zapatista Movement - Then and Now

All communists are terrorists and should be treated as such - JT

[Armalite]

You can just look them up on the internet. They are getting so much support that they have their own websites. Which is crazy, because they have no computers in Chiapas. So many books, news articles, and essays have been written on them, that it is impossible not to be able to find something. I can tell you this. They are anarchists. They are very poor. And they have 3 paved roads.

[Armalite]

They aren't communists. And all communists are terrorists ey? I assume that by 'communism' you mean Marxist-Leninism,, which is a far cry from real communism(real communism is the same as real socialism, anarchy). Because they favor the replacement of exploitation by the corporations with exploitation by the government? Define terrorist. You do know that the American revolutionaries were seen as terrorists, right? Terrorism is a buzzword. If you lose the rebellion, you are a terrorist, but if you win you are a revolutionary. That is how it usually works. I don't see how the Zapatista can be considered terrorists as they have popular support. They aren't enforcing anything on anyone, or using indescriminate bombings or shooting to get their way.

[TooBusy]

You are right in that it is not a communist movement but over the eighty or so years of its existence it has become heavily influenced by the communists (as so many of these types of rebellions have been).

You are also right that the word terrorist is undefined and used too frequently.

[Armalite]

What are you talking about? Do you know the differance between modern communism and anarchy? The autonomous municipalities are anarchist. They are usually organized into council run collectives. Modern communism is run by semi-permanent councils(where it is convenient) or by dictatorship. TYhe essential difference is that an anarchist council may remove an official at the whim of the people. There is no term to wait out, no impeacment process, no red tape. If the delegate no longer serves his purpose, he is taken out of office immediatly. Notice this is how the American colonists self-governed before the War of Independence.