Mexico

The Zapatistas after 30 years

On 1 January 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a few thousand mostly indigenous guerrillas, came out of the Lacandón jungle in Chiapas, Mexico with the cry of “Ya Basta” — Enough. On the day of the uprising, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, Canada and the United States came into force. The EZLN, fronted by subcomandante Marcos, called for the cancellation of NAFTA, land reform and indigenous autonomy. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, in his last year leading the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), sent the Mexican military to...

Lessons from Mexico

Verónica Cruz Sánchez is the founder of Las Libres, an organisation based in Guanajuato, Mexico, which campaigns for universal access to free, safe and legal abortion. Since 2021, and the repeal of Roe v Wade, Las Libres have been supporting women in the US to access abortions as well. Verónica spoke to Camila Vergara. What is Las Libres? Las Libres is a feminist organisation in Guanajuato, Mexico, that I and other feminists founded 23 years ago. In 2000, the state decided to criminalise abortion even in cases of rape, the only legal exception previously. There were big mobilisations against...

All the Rage 2023: A socialist feminist dayschool

Internationally the right's culture war is gaining ground, attacking LGBTQ people, in particular the trans community, rallying against immigration, and restricting reproductive freedoms. Working class women are at the sharp end of this assault and at the forefront of fighting back. Join us at for a day of workshops and talks to discuss where we stand and build a movement that can turn the tide. 10am-6pm + after-party until late. Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road London E1 5QJ Free childcare & London crash space on request SESSIONS (click on links for session details): • Opening Plenary...

The Zapatistas are not a model for climate action

Some climate campaigners are promoting the Zapatistas in Mexico as an inspiration and model for building the climate movement. This is a snare, misunderstanding Zapatista politics. An honest account of the Zapatistas’ evolution shows their aims and methods are a long way from what is needed to mobilise millions of workers to prevent dangerous climate change. The spark On 1 January 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), consisting of 3,000 poorly armed, mostly Mayan guerrilla soldiers, emerged from the Lacandón jungle in Chiapas, southern Mexico, seizing towns and the city of...

Trump calls for aid cuts as caravan moves through Mexico

A ″migrant caravan″, which has since 12 October been making its way from Honduras to the USA, has swelled to around 7,000 people as it starts to make its way through Mexico. The caravan is usually a yearly event, although there have been two this year. Known as Viacrucis del Migrante (“Migrant’s Way of the Cross”) the caravan has previously been organised or supported by Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People without Borders) but this one has not been directly organised by them and has had a more organic formation. At the start, migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, who are fleeing...

US workers should oppose Trump trade deals

US President Donald Trump has hailed a “really good” trade deal with neighbour Mexico — it could be a precursor to a comprehensive relaunch of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which Trump had previously criticised. Negotiations with the other Nafta partner, Canada, are ongoing. Canada has clashed with the USA in recent months over tariffs on dairy, aluminium, and steel. Trump has threatened to impose further tariffs on trade with Canada, opening the prospect for a US-Mexico-only deal that definitively excludes them. The Mexican government insists it wants the agreement to...

Like the old PRI

Left populist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the Mexican presidential election on 1 July, but his victory offers little for the beleaguered Mexican working class. López Obrador, often known after his initials as AMLO, won over half (53%) of the vote, defeating Ricardo Anaya of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Although López Obrador led in the polls for months, his victory was surprisingly comfortable considering the history of fraudulent elections in Mexico. López Obrador belonged to the ruling...

Trump’s trade turn is regressive

“Anyone who thinks [Donald Trump] has dropped his vow to rip up the global trading system has not been paying attention”, wrote Edward Luce in the Financial Times (18 October), after the fourth round of US-Mexican-Canadian talks on Nafta, the North American Free Trade Agreement, closed on 17 October. The Mexican and Canadian governments were aghast at the US negotiators’ manner, and their push for arbitrary changes which would destabilise the agreement which dates back to 1994. There will now be a lull: a fifth round of talks on 17-21 November, and then another in early 2018. Peter Navarro...

New hope on the Mexican left?

At a precipitous time in the history of Mexico, is the left finally getting its act together and forming a viable alternative? Certainly Mexico is a state in crisis. Economically, it is suffering from the first wave of shocks as the oil price has slumped over the last six months. With oil a vital source of government revenue, both borrowing and debt are up and social welfare programmes under more pressure. The economic malaise is much deeper. For three decades Mexico has been in the vanguard of neoliberal policy in Latin America. Since the debt crisis of the 1980s, the Mexican state has...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.