Introduction
By the end of 1968, student movements all around the world in universities and in high schools were breaking out into riots. In Mexico, it was no different, with the student masses breaking out against one another mostly at the end of football games. Their parents were for the first time able to accommodate them in university and a vast number of the middle class were now able to educate their children to that level (NPR 5).
It was not long before the riot police would be called in to try and calm the ravaging rioters but to no avail. After hours of trying, the army was then called in and the day ended with the soldiers forcing their way into National Preparatory School killing students in the process through their bazooka blasts. Student organizations took this opportunity to initiate a wake of a series of student protests against riot police, who would more often than not, were known to use excessive force in calming the protesting crowd and in more cases than would be allowed, ended up killing civilians.
Over the following months, Mexico would experience unrest caused by these protests. The book, “Plaze of Sacrifice” explains how the idea behind the student’s riots was not just aimless student riots, but the demonstration focused more on the freedom for the common citizen to demonstrate without the fear of harassment by riot police (Wheeler 3).
This paper aims at following up on the events and situations that followed after these rots, that is the topic of NAFTA, maquilas, and the border life. We ask ourselves whether these events could be predicted and possibly be avoided. Are these events a recap of the 1910 Mexican Revolution? We also would want to know whether the events that took place had anything to do with the Mexican identity and finally, we will look at the factors that created tension in Mexico in this period.
The Events that followed
The rise of the Zapatista Movement
Chiapas, a small highly populated state in Mexico, harbors the largest level of poverty in Mexico. A Zapatista Primary source (Sup 5) also explains how much in conflict the indigenous people in this area of Mexico are in with the government. The Zapatista is a political group that since 1994 has been making a cry against the government due to its oppression against the lower class in society.
The name has been brought down from one generation to the other over the last five hundred years and has always spoken against the governments against assimilation and poverty. They are considered a threat to the security of the country owing to their possession of heavy ammunition which assists them in their constant “war” against the government. One of their most common benchmarks is the revelation of the flaws that were in the free trade in the current system that the government in collaboration with other neighboring countries got involved in. At this time, the country would be going through its worst economic time since 1932, and the Zapatista had its finger pointed at the government for this.
NAFTA
With its aim at reducing trade tariffs amongst its member countries, this free trade agreement happened to be the largest one in the world. Signed through by then-president George W. Bush and the then Mexican president, the agreement would reduce Mexico’s tariffs for U.S. imports from the soaring 250%. Consequently, heavier investment from large players in the international market would find their way into Mexico, thus would outplay the smaller players who were the majority.
The cry, therefore, was that in the agreement of NAFTA, the playing ground had not been leveled for both large and small investors in the regime. The indigenous people also had a problem with “neoliberalism” or “free trade”. They are conservative people and sharing their land with others would go against their custom. With the signing of this treaty, there would therefore be the sparking of new protests by the Zapatistas.
An article on the analysis of the book “Lives on the Line” (Miriam 1) gives a description of how families in “Maqulardome” spent their days in deplorable working conditions, many of them being victims of the constant fighting atmosphere created by the conflict between the Zapatistas and the government. These are families that work in assembly factories that import raw materials from foreign countries in duty-free conditions only to sell them back to the original countries as a finished product. Most of the time, these factory domes were used as drug trafficking and weapon exchange points by the Latin Families, to cover up most of their tracks.
Although these places provided the natives with a source of income, the maquilas were a risk to the workers especially when the government would decide to have a crackdown on these dens for any drug-related events that possibly would take place. So intense was the war in these areas that many have fled north towards the border with their businesses in order to look for peace and some form of security. (Panigua 2).
The Consequences
Clearly, beginning from the Mexican revolution where Madero would pressure the then president of Mexico Diaz into an election, the Mexicans nave had a series of riots that bring about their form of revolutionary freedom. Madero would later win the election after which he would be overthrown by Zapata (where the political group’s name comes from) after denouncing him due to many of the policies he would not agree with. He was known for chasing away the estate owners and sharing out the land to peasants.
Years later, students from high schools and universities are in more ways than one fed up by the rule of law that the state has set in place. They go about expressing their disappointment through the numerous amounts of riots and hereby initiate and stimulate the onset of a new guerilla war from the vicious Zapatistas, against the current regime. The country at this point breaks into a series of wars, which is accompanied by loss of lives, infrastructure, many businesses, and the loss of property. Just like the Mexican revolution we see a continuum of events where the fight for the oppressed the poor are not tackled democratically or neither diplomatically but are taken to the streets where arms and firearms are used just to make points clear.
With a majority of the people in these places living in poverty, the government should have made an effort to make policies that would give an equal opportunity to every player especially in the economic field. The events that followed after the signing of the NAFTA agreement between the Mexican government and those of other governments contained flaws which the some of the well-educated Zapatistas would observe. The spark of new raids, riots, and guerilla wars in protest of these signings is simply synonymous with the raids that were experienced when Zapata became fed up with Madero’s land policies. These same policies were the ones that made him be overthrown eventually.
Arguing from this point of view, where it is easy to understand that lack of proper policies leads any people to extreme measures, we may be forced to conclude concerning the Mexicans that come, strong oppositional leader, another revolutionary war may take place. If the trend as seen from history was the one seen in the wake of these events, we would most definitely see another measure like these take place. One of the main reasons why this is the case is because Mexico still harbors a lot of people who are still living below the poverty line. If efforts are not made by the government to accommodate and uplift the ones who are living in this condition, then more likely than not, the trend is to go this way of riots than of diplomacy.
Nevertheless, the strength that has been placed on the international community as concerns Mexico will probably make riots or opposition very hard to succeed in trying to bring change. The world has become more and more dependant on diplomatic agreements than on conflict as a tool in solving internal disputes especially as concerns a certain group of people. The suggestion that another revolutionary measure can take place is still arguable, but what can be openly concluded is that war more often than may not see the wake of a new regime more than strong democratic opposition would.
The Mexicans are conservative people. The notion that some of their lands can be taken and used to the benefit of other rich minorities will definitely spark issues with the authorities. The move to sign the free trade treaty which contained excessive flaws was a perfect example of the results of what stepping on their customs would eventually give rise to. Their identity had been tampered with and their ego disturbed. In such unstable times the last thing that one would want to do is to bring about a rule that would go against a tribe’s customs and tradition.
Unstable central government leadership has therefore been a culprit in making the country is filled with tension. The government has failed to make policies that can accommodate the likings of the opposition as they consider the Zapatistas as a rebel group and a threat to national; security. It has failed to disarm the rebels who in many ways create unending tension amongst the common citizen; therefore the migratory move of very many of the people to the border areas where peace and calm can be realized. The constant attacks on the government and its arm make life have a bit too stressful on some on the citizens.
Conclusion
It is the high time that even the international community intervene to make Mexico a better place. The custom and culture of the Mexican people are to be respected and are to be used as a strong point for the nation. It’s upon the people to appreciate their different and unique diversity and come to a balanced conclusion on how they would bare with one another not only for their sake but for the sake of their future generation.
Works Cited
Miriam, Davidson. Lives on the Line: Dispatches from the US-Mexico Border. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. 2009. Print.
Panigua, Flores. “Mexico’s violence Scars Border Life”. My SA News. 2010. Web.
NPR. “Mexico’s 1968 Massacre”. NPR. 2008. Web.
Sup Marcos. “Chiapas the War: The Machinery of Ethnocide”. In Motion Magazine. 2009. Web.
Wheeler, Sarah M. “Carey, Elaine. Plaza of Sacrifices”: Gender, Power, and Terror in 1968 Mexico.” International Social Review (2010). Web.