Latin American History Term Paper Due April 13, 1995 By Aaron Kreider Zapata: A Struggle for Land Introduction On January 1, 1994, rebels struck with surprise in Chiapas, Mexico and seized several cities including San Cristobal de la Casas. In their declarations, they gave themselves the name EZLN or Zapatista National Liberation Army. They invoked the legacy of Emiliano Zapata who had fought for land reform until his death. Zapata's stubbornness and military skill caused him to not only play an important role in the Mexican Revolution, but also to have a permanent influence on Mexico's agriculture policy, by ensuring that land reform was done. As shown by the still festering rebellion in the state of Chiapas, Zapata's legacy lives today. A Description of Zapata He always remained one with the peasants despite the power he rapidly obtained. His peasant face revealed Indian ancestry: swarthy, high cheekbones, dark eyes, thick black hair. (Parkinson 19) Emiliano Zapata was a simple man of peasant origins, and these origins guided his actions throughout the Mexican Revolution. He was a born leader and could raise thousands of men to fight from his home state Morelos (Parkinson 18). His charisma was offset by his peasant sense of humility, and he fought for the benefit of others, rather than solely for his own military glory (Parkinson 18). While not gentle, he was also not cruel as some propaganda from his enemies would portray him later during the Revolution (Parkinson 18). As for most peasants, land and farming were the most important things for him in life (Parkinson 19). Due to the lack of opportunity, he did not receive much education and was not by far an intellectual, though he could read (Parkinson 20). Coming from a village that had been betrayed by the legal process in its dispute with neighbouring haciendas, he was cautious in putting his trust in others (Parkinson 42). Zapata's Background Zapata was born on August 8, 1879 (year unsure), in Anenecuilco, in the state of Morelos (Parkinson 20). The seven hundred year old town of Anenecuilco is located south of a 17887-foot volcano and had about ninety houses (Parkinson 18). Morelos is a state "of rich valleys and mist-covered snow peaks." (Parkinson 17) Zapata's family was slightly richer than others in Anenecuilco, but they were peasants nonetheless (Parkinson 21). At age fifteen, his parents died, and he started making his living by sharecropping and training horses until 1910 (Parkinson 21). Zapata's Motivation Morelos was the center of Mexican sugar production, and recent technological gains led to a desire by haciendas to expand their lands to increase production at the expense of the pueblos, (Womack 42) so as to make Morelos the "Perfect Plantation" (Womack 54). When he was young, Zapata had witnessed the seizure of an orchard from Anenecuilco by a hacienda (Parkinson 22). This was happening throughout the state, and people became dependent on haciendas, instead of their pueblo (Parkinson 23). One Morelos villager wrote of his fellow men: "At dawn, when God awakes, off they go to the fields, and from the fields back home to supper, and from supper to bed - and that is all. These men are like dead ideas . . . In my judgment these men are absolutely dead. Here we call a man like that a 'chunk of meat with eyes'" (Lewis 3 qtd. in A 22). In 1910, all of the 100 pueblos in Morelos had legal disputes over land with haciendas and conflict was on the horizon (Womack 61). A Bad Governor In 1908, the governor of Morelos died, and in the following election campaign there was a real opposition candidate due to Diaz's recent statement that at 78 years (Womack 11) he was ready to resign (Parkinson 24, 26). The opposition was repressed, but the movement had started the ball rolling for future events (Parkinson 28). Pablo Escandon, the newly elected governor, was not a politician and was very different from the previously popular governor (Womack 16-17). While Escandon frequently took leaves of absence from Morelos, planters were free to do as they pleased (Womack 38,39). Escandon was an all-around bad governor, he appointed inexperienced people, and was ill- prepared to deal with the rebellion that broke out in Morelos (Womack 38,39). The Story of Anenecuilco On Sept 12, 1909, Zapata was elected leader of his village, (Parkinson 29) because to the inhabitants of Anenecuilco "he was a neighbor, a younger cousin who could lead the clan, a beloved nephew as rough and true as seasoned timber." (Womack 7) However, the government grew suspicious of him, and drafted him into the army to keep him in check due to his political tendencies (Parkinson 30). Eventually he was able to leave the army in return for working in a wealthy person's horse stables (Parkinson 31). Meanwhile in Anenecuilco, the Hospital hacienda was threatening the village's means of subsistence, its corn lands (Parkinson 32). The village's protests to the governor were met with bureaucratic stalling, and the Hospital hacienda seized the land from Anenecuilco (Parkinson 33). In a reply to the governor over the disputed land, the owner of the Hospital hacienda wrote, "If that bunch from Anenecuilco wants to farm, let them farm in a flowerpot, because they're not getting any land, even up the sides of the hills."(Womack 63). But Zapata returned in the summer of 1910, armed eighty villagers, and they took back their land (Parkinson 36). Then Zapata wrote President Diaz and won official recognition of Anenecuilco's right to the land (Parkinson 37). During October and November, Zapata became a regional leader, defending peasants' rights, returning land to pueblos from haciendas, placing the plantations on the defensive (Parkinson 39). A Maderista Madero ran against Diaz in the presidential elections of 1910, only to be imprisoned before the election (Keen 265). After the election he escaped, declared himself provisional president in his plan of San Luis Potosi, and started the Mexican Revolution (Keen 265). Meanwhile in Morelos, Zapata and others held meetings at the Villa de Ayala to plan action (Parkinson 42). They sent Torres Burgos to contact Madero in the north and to determine whether Madero was sympathetic to their views (Parkinson 43). In January and February 1911, as tensions rose in the state, the group armed itself (Parkinson 45). Torres Burgos returned in the middle of February, and the rebels agreed to ally with Madero (Parkinson 48). On March 11 the rebels struck, seizing the police office in Villa de Ayala, declaring the plan of San Luis Potosi, then they rode south, picking up recruits as went, and they took Jojulta without struggle (Parkinson 51-55). The rebel forces were poorly disciplined in their post-victory celebration, causing Torres Burgos to resign (Parkinson 55). Zapata was elected leader and the rebels rode back north, increasing in numbers (Parkinson 56,57). By April, the force had grown to 1500 men, but Zapata was cautious and guerilla tactics were still being used and pitched battles were avoided (Parkinson 61). On May 13, the rebels attacked a large target in Morelos, the city of Cuautla (Parkinson 64). In a very bloody battle, with a third of their force wounded or dead, the Zapatistas took the city, building their image of fearless fighters (Parkinson 70). On May 21, the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez was signed between Madero and Diaz (Keen 265). Diaz resigned and left for Europe, and new elections would be held under the interim president Fransisco Leon de la Barre (Keen 265,266). On May 26, Zapatistas and other Maderistas took the Morelos capital Cuernavaca without a fight (Parkinson 79,80). Zapata conferred with Madero in Mexico City in June (Parkinson 84). Madero favoured small private farmers instead of community owned lands, in agriculture (Cumberland 208). His Plan de San Luis Potosi was for the small farmer, and he did not feel that land reform was a pressing issue, favouring only small reforms (Cumberland 209,210,216). His position was irreconcilable with Zapata's demands for land reform. Planters outmaneuvered Zapata and gained Madero's favour, so when Madero came to Morelos, he was shown the devastation caused by Zapata's troops (Womack 98). After Diaz's defeat, Zapata retired from fighting, returned to farming, and married Josefa on June 26 (Parkinson 91,92). The marriage was not for love, but to integrate himself as a part of the community (Womack 107,108). Meanwhile, tensions mounted in the state and the federal forces decide to eliminate Zapata's power. Provisional president De la Barra disliked Zapata because he was a mere Indian peasant (Cumberland 176-177). So General Huerta attacked the Zapatistas, pursuing with scorched earth tactics that increased Zapata's support, but Zapata escaped into the mountains to continue his guerrilla warfare (Parkinson 105,106,109). Turning against Madero The Maderistas were "a loose congregation of independent rebels, acquainted with each other barely if at all, and only recently united by a common hope." (Womack 67). When Diaz was leaving Mexico City for exile he predicted, "Madero has unleashed a tiger; let us see if he can control him." (Parkinson 72). This coalition was soon to breakup. Zapata returned from near elimination with an army of 1500 and some of the raids penetrated into the area near Mexico City (Parkinson 111). His skill restarted the movement, "Operations in October 1911 form a classical example of flexibility, rapidity, and decisiveness of first-class revolutionary tactics and strategy." (Parkinson 112). Madero was elected president and he decided to eliminate his former ally, so by November federals had surrounded the Zapatistas again, but Zapata was able to escape (Parkinson 115-117). On November 28, Zapata pronounced his Plan of Ayala to promote his struggle (Keen 266). The plan denounced Madero for compromising the revolution's goals, and called for peasants to retake their lands by force (Parkinson 118,119). The guerrilla campaign continued, as the military commander of Mexico used brutal tactics and burnt down entire villages in February 1912 (Parkinson 124,127). The Zapatistas reached a low-point as a new state assembly implemented progressive reforms, eroding their support (Parkinson 138). Huerta replaces Madero Madero was overthrown and killed by a coup d'etat in February 1913, and General Huerta came to power (Keen 268,269). Carranza was now a major force in the north seeking to overthrow Huerta (Keen 270). The Zapatistas made such progress that the federals pulled-out of Morelos in summer of 1913 (Parkinson 161). Pancho de Villa, another anti-Huertista, was also doing well and had gained control of Chihuahua (Keen 270). On July 15 1914, Huerta fled to Europe and a month later Carranza's general Obregon occupied Mexico City (Keen 272). Zapata had been advancing on Mexico City, but now went back to Morelos and took Cuernavaca (Parkinson 184). The Aguascalientes Conference In October the Aguascalientes Conference brought together Carranzistas, Villistas, and Zapatistas to determine the revolution's future (Quirk 107). The Villistas supported the Zapatistas in their call for the acceptance of the Plan of Ayala at the convention (Quirk 112). However, the convention was dominated by a majority of Carranza supporters, so the Plan of Ayala was only accepted "in principle" (Quirk 114). The convention also dealt with the issue of leadership of the revolution and called for the joint resignation of Carranza and Villa, however they failed to resign (Quirk 117,118). Fighting Carranza Carranza was against any major land reforms and supported planters with big estates when he was in office (Quirk 64). The rebels split, with Obregon and Villa at war with each other by November (Parkinson 195). On November 24, the Zapatistas entered Mexico City with awe, after Carranza's forces withdrew (Parkinson 195,196). Zapatistas in Mexico City Zapata and Villa met on December 4 in Mexico City, with Zapata appreciative of Villa trusting to meet him in Zapatista territory (Quirk 135). They vented anger at Carranza and made military plans for the future with Villa promising to send Zapata some much needed supplies (Quirk 139,140). Zapata conquered Puebla, but then decided that the fight was won and returned to Morelos. To hundreds of Zapatistas, the goal had been reached: they had been to Mexico City, and had found it unpalatable; their world and their country was not Mexico, but Morelos, which they now ruled with Zapata their leader. They wanted nothing more than to return to their fields. Harvest time had come again. (Parkinson 202). Land Reform in Morelos The Zapatistas respected their peasant origins and were more than a typical army. In the Zapatistas, the local leaders were more important than army officials, showing respect for the movement's peasant origins (Womack 225). Also Zapata favoured the village leaders in their disputes with Zapatistas and there weren't any state police so as not to impinge on the villages' authority (Womack 227). Land reform was under the jurisdiction of the pueblos as well (Womack 228). Another of the Zapatistas' goals was to build a civil democratic society in Morelos, and they worked at this during 1915 (Womack 226). Villages liberated themselves and stood-up for their rights (Womack 226). In 1915, land reform was carried out in Morelos by trained young professionals (Womack 232). The land reform legalized the return of land to the pueblos from haciendas that had stolen it by illegal tactics (Womack 232). With hard work, most of the land reform and surveying was accomplished by late March 1915 (Womack 233,234). With their new land the people grew staples like corn and beans, rather than sugar for money, and the increase in subsistence food production led to low agriculture prices (Womack 241). Back to Guerilla Tactics Carranza strengthened and took back Mexico City on August 2, 1915 for good as Villa retreated northwards (Parkinson 210). The United States gave defacto recognition to Carranza and banned arms sales to all non-Carranzistas (Parkinson 211). Zapata now had to fight against his former ally Carranza, and 30000 federals were sent to Morelos to face the 20000 Zapatistas (Parkinson 213,214). Cuernavaca, the Morelos capital, feel on May 2 as the federals used artillery and their superior force (Parkinson 217). In July 1915, the Zapatistas revived their guerilla activity (Parkinson 220). "The guerillas either struck like mountain lightning, disappearing back into the trains and mists of the hills before the federals could recover, or they came on against federal machine guns regardless of casualties." (Parkinson 222). Over the months of December 1916 and January 1917, in a counteroffensive, the Zapatistas retook Morelos and the federals left (Parkinson 225,226). Carranza's new constitution of February 5, 1917 was designed to gain him popular support (Parkinson 228). It took some principles of the Plan of Ayala regarding land reform and it also limited the presidential term (Parkinson 228,229). People were tired of war and wanted to trust Carranza (Parkinson 228). The Zapatistas were hurt by splits and quitting, the federals on a new offensive seized the main cities in Morelos, and a Spanish influenza epidemic devastated the Zapatistas (Parkinson 230-234). Success in Martyrdom Zapata was killed in a trap Wednesday, April 9, 1920, while he was trying to convince a federal officer to defect (Parkinson 239). Obregon joined the Zapatistas and they occupied Mexico City on May 9, after Carranza fled and was killed (Parkinson 243). The Zapatistas were rewarded with a primary role in agriculture reform in the new Obregon government (Parkinson 243). In October, Anenecuilco received 1200 acres of land in the government's land reform policy (Womack 372). In November 1922, the grant was increased to 1700 acres (Womack 373). This situation was paralleled throughout Morelos, and by 1922 there were only four or five haciendas left in Morelos with only half their pre-Revolution land (Womack 374). A partial success of Zapata's long desired agricultural reforms was finally achieved in the years following his death. Works Cited Cumberland, Charles Curtis. Mexican Revolution Genesis under Madero. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1952. Keen, Benjamin. A History of Latin America. Boston: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. Parkinson, Roger. Zapata. New York: Stein and Day, 1975. Quirk, Robert E. The Mexican Revolution 1914-1915. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1960. Womack, John. Zapata and the Mexican Revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968. 4 3