------------------------------
From: Mike Gurstein <mikeg@nywork2.undp.org>
Thu, 30 Mar 1995 22:40:34 -0500
To: Multiple recipients of list <psn@csf.colorado.edu>
Subject: Marcos the man (fwd)
This might be of interest...
Mike Gurstein
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 11:17:52 -0800
From:al@powergrid.electriciti.com
To: prj@garnet.msen.com
Subject: Marcos the man
MARCOS THE MAN
The rebellion that has caught the imagination of the world began in
the old capital of Chiapas, San Christobal de las Casas. This town of
about 100,000 people is set in the mountains and surrounded by rain forest.
The streets are narrow and the houses and buildings are whitewashed in the
manner of the old Colonial towns and cities in southern Mexico. The
streets have sidewalks and high curbs to help control the run off of
rainwater that pours through the town.
The church here, and some of the people, help support the man who
calls himself subcomandante Marcos. They respect the green press cards
that say "war correspondent" designed and issued by Marcos to journalists
and writers allowed into the Zapatista zone. Showing one, and asking for
an interview, somehow gets back into the rain forest and one soon sees
Marcos in a side street, or receives an invitation to go deeper into the
territory.
He is the leader that has taken a ragtag group of native
insurgents, some armed only with wooden guns, into the international
spotlight. More importantly, he and the Zapatistas as a whole, have become
a force that the government of Mexico has had to deal with.
With all of his effectiveness and his place in international news,
very little is known about Marcos. He is larger, broader shouldered, than
his companeros, about five foot eight inches tall. He is a light skinned
mestiso and you can see green eyes peering out at you from behind the ski
mask. He almost always either smokes an oversized pipe, or simply pulls it
out and handles it like an old friend. He is apparently in his thirties.
His English has been called only fair, but his ability to use historical
and literary allusion, and his sophisticated and witty conversation, as
well as his apparent US education, belies the reality of this. He has said
that he has lived in northern Mexico, but most of the people in the area
believe he is from one of the wealthy families of Jalisco or Veracruz. It
is very obvious that he has not been raised in the Indian culture and, in
fact, needs the help of a translator (although less and less) when working
with those who speak only the Mayan dialect of the area.
He says he spent ten years preparing for the revolution and he says
that he and five comrades arrived in Chiapas twelve years ago with the
intention of starting a guerrilla movement. That preparation almost
certainly included a university education in the Untied States. Many
believe he went to school in San Francisco; perhaps the University of San
Francisco, in California; but, the classical nature of allusions and
references suggest one of the eastern schools may be more likely. Wherever
he was educated, he obviously took pains to learn about communication,
public relations, and political science, as well as a fine traditional
program.
The most popular rumor about him is that he is, or has been, a
Jesuit priest; but, there is no evidence for this. In fact, his constant
companion and aide is a young Mayan woman that seems to adore him, and may
be a very special friend.
The most certain thing is that he is a poet and writer. I was told
that he personally wrote the more than three hundred pages of the Zapatista
book called Era; all while he was directing his companeros in their revolt
and dealing with the international press almost daily. He writes under his
persona as Marcos and, at other times, as a companseno; a poor native
farmer. That is how the official notices from the EZLN, signed by him and
the Committee Clandestino Revolucionario Indgena-Coordinadora General, the
communal governing authority of the Zapatistas, are written for the local
and international press. In his letters and announcements, he asks for,
and seems to genuinely need, the emotional support of his readers. He ends
many of his communiqu=E9s with the line "smoking and thinking" and you can
almost see him as he walks into the trees, hands clasped behind his back as
is his style.
Prof. Chris Chase-Dunn
Department of Sociology
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD. 21218 USA
tel 410 516 7633 fax 410 516 7590 email chriscd@jhu.edu