Hist 020 final:an expert on the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas

A band of guerillas has settled into a mountainous region of Bellamy, a nation somewhere in the Western Hemisphere. They have a long list of grievances concerning the mistreatment of regional inhabitants by the government of Bellamy and, in particular, want to put an end to Bellamy’s sponsorship of foreign investment in their homeland. They claim that this kind of development will either drive people off the land or force them to work at low wages and under harsh conditions for outsiders who care nothing about their culture, their rights, or their well-being. These outsiders are there for one reason – to turn natural resources into money. The rebels seek to organize inhabitants of the region into a movement capable of changing the government’s policies and defending their right to live as they have always lived on the land.

You are an expert on the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas. The revolutionaries in Bellamy have read your writings on the movement in Chiapas and seek your advice on how they might gain the support of the people and wage an effective campaign against the Bellamian government and its foreign backers. They have asked you to produce a short (4-5 page!) report on the movement in Chiapas – how it got started, what kind of actions proved effective, what challenges it faced as it strove to achieve its objectives. They are hoping you can enlighten them about the question of leadership (i.e., how to win the trust and respect of people so that they are willing to fight with you; how to gain the support of people in the rest of the nation and around the world) and help them determine which kinds of objectives/goals they should emphasize in their organizing strategies and media campaigns. You are flattered by their invitation and agree to write the report. 4-5 pages, 12-point font, standard margins, double-spaced use the Hayden reader only (no Internet sources allowed) for direct quotes, place page number in parentheses immediately following quote