The Legacy of Mesoamerica History and Culture of a Native American Civilization, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 8 NATIVE MESOAMERICANS IN THE MODERN ERA 301

Figure 8.4 Places and regions of action in the Mexican and Central American revolutions.

The Mesoamerican Indians actively participated in the Mexican revolution, but
not to the same degree in every region; and overall, their impact, although impor-
tant, was not decisive to the outcome. The expansion of haciendas and plantations
in the rural areas during the Porfirio Díaz period had greatly affected the native peo-
ples of Mexico on the eve of the revolution. In the northern states, the native
Mesoamericans had lost most of their best lands, and this outcome forced them to
labor as peons on the large estates. Communities were destroyed and native identi-
ties lost. In the central and southern states, the Mesoamericans survived with more
of their communities and native cultures intact. Even in the latter cases, however,
the surrounding commercial plantations tended to exert strong pressure on the na-
tive communities to yield their lands and laborers.
The Zapatista wing of the early revolutionary movement in Mexico was the pri-
mary recipient of backing from the Mesoamerican peasant communities. In con-
trast, the Villista wing was supported primarily by rural proletariats, most of whom no
doubt had native ancestry but now identified “racially” and culturally with the mes-
tizos. The more moderate constitutionalist wing of Carranza and Obregón received
much of its support from hacienda peons, rural middle-class farmers, and eventually
urban workers. It is not coincidental, then, that the Zapatistas were the most radical
of the revolutionary bands, nor that they placed the greatest stress on the Indian
heritage. They became the only revolutionary group at the time to represent the

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c

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e

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Zapatistas

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Belize

EGP Army of the Poor

ORPA Organization of People in Arms

FMLN Farabundo Martf

FSLN Sandinistas

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Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Panama(

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•Cities and Towns

a. Ciudad Obreg<Jn

b. Chihuahua

c. Saltillo

d. Guadalajara

e. Mexico City

f. Cusrnavaca

g. San Crist6bal

de Las Casas

h. Belmopan

i. Patzicfa

j, Santa Cruz

del Quich£

k. Guatemala City

I, Sonsonate

m, San Salvador

n. Chalatenango

Or Tegucigalpa

p. Ledn

q. Managua

r, Masaya

s. Matagalpa

t. San Jos4

u. Panama City

a\

im

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Zapatistas Zapatistas
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