John Ross on Subcomandante Marcos

February 22, 2009

John Ross on Subcomandante Marcos

In Chiapas Under Siege by Global Industries, a new article published in NACLA, John Ross expounds on the commodification of the Zapatista movement, and the threats to Chiapas posed by mega projects.

The real juice, however, is towards the end of the piece:

The Subcomandante's shameful performance at the Digna Rabia Fiesta is an embarrassment to long-time Zapatista supporters such as this writer who has authored four books chronicling the rebel movement. This writer offers his profound apologies for misleading readers about Marcos's exalted status. In recent years, the Sup has transformed himself into a vituperative, narcissistic charlatan who is single-handedly responsible for the depreciation of the Zapatista movement as a national and international player on the Left.

I was in Mexico in December of 2008, and it was headline news in La Jornada that John Berger (who Ross mentions in the article) and Naomi Klein were in Chiapas for an Encuentro. I'd be curious to read Klein's response to Ross' piece, which finishes so:

While the EZLN eschews the public spotlight and has auto-marginalized itself from participation in national and international political activism, autonomous Zapatista communities in southeastern Chiapas continue to be living proof that another world is possible.