Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

ZAPATISTAS • 709National (FLN), which had been formed in reaction to the governmentmassacre of university students at Tlatelolco in 1968. These leadersformed the EZLN General Command, but most troops consisted ofMayan Indian villagers who had many long-standing grievancesagainst the Mexican federal government and the Chiapas state governmentover the dispossession of their communal lands, which theyfeared would eventually be privatized to facilitate foreign investmentunder NAFTA. Suspicious of outsiders, these Indians would likelyhave never been recruited were it not for the intervention of SamuelRuíz, Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas. Both the bishop and hisdiocesan clergy had embraced the cause of the Indians and the EZLNin the name of liberation theology. Through the mediation of thesemonks and priests already serving the Mayan Indian villages, theEZLN leaders, including Subcom mander Marcos, who is believed tobe Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, were able to gradually recruitthe Mayans to their cause.The EZLN had few military successes. Their initial New Year’s Dayoccupation of five towns and the state capital of San Cristóbal de lasCasas by 1,000–2,000 guerrillas was quickly routed by 12,000 federaltroops. However, the reaction of Mexican and international nongovernmentalgroups, including the Mexican-based Coalition of NongovernmentalOrganizations for Peace (CONPAZ), put tremendouspressure on the Mexican government to resolve the conflict peacefully.President Carlos Salinas de Gortari ordered a cease-fire on 12 January1994; the EZLN reciprocated, and negotiations began through a speciallycreated Commission for Peace and Reconciliation.Negotiations proceeded unevenly with occasional breakdowns, butthe EZLN on several occasions used the social netwar tactics of itsallies in civil society to force the Mexican government to make concessionsit would otherwise never have made. By 14 February 1995,following successful Mexican military strikes against EZLN and thecapture of several of its leaders, pro-EZLN public pressure broughtPresident Ernesto Zedillo to release the captured leaders, to replacethe governor of Chiapas, itself a long-standing EZLN demand, andto restore peace negotiations. On 13 January 1998 the Mexican armybegan arresting those Chiapas police officers who fired on pro-Zapatista demonstrators on 12 January 1998, and by 8 April 1999 theEZLN enjoyed such national and international support that it couldsend 1,000 unarmed Zapatistas to reoccupy Indian villages as a form