CHAPTER 8 NATIVE MESOAMERICANS IN THE MODERN ERA 305The Zapatista movement became widely known in Mexico for its nativist char-
acter. One overt symbol employed was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, carried
on battle flags and sewn into wide-brimmed hats. To them Guadalupe stood for the
preservation of Indian identity and the inviolate linkage between native peoples and
the land. Opponents of the movement used the nativist character of the movement
to raise the specter of a new “caste war” and invasion of the capital by “savages” from
the south.
Zapatista nativism, however, was quite general in character, as might be expected
of a movement led by mestizos and supported by native Mesoamericans who had
been strongly influenced by modern forces. Much of the nativism that can be de-
tected was implicit rather than explicit. For example, native cultural features were
manifested in the Zapatistas’ sense of moral outrage at being deprived of ancestral
lands and self-sufficiency; in the unswerving efforts to restore communal property and
political autonomy; in the legitimization of military authority on the basis of com-
munity service and personal ties to caciqueleaders; in the integration of religious rit-
ual and political action (Zapata set aside village lands to be worked in support of
rituals to the saints); in the guerrilla form of warfare, in which the fighting was always
closely articulated with the milpa cycle and community life; and in the use of dis-
cussion and consensus in making decisions.
The assassination of Zapata in April 1919 ended the movement as an effective rev-
olutionary force. Perhaps the excessive reliance on Zapata as a father figure by the
Morelos peasants should be seen as still another nativist feature of the movement. At
any rate, the Zapatistas were defeated, and there seemed little to show for their long
and bloody struggle. Most of the plantation owners were able to recoup lands and
privileges with the help of the constitutional authorities in Mexico City. The villagers
were left landless, their communities ravaged, and the population depleted by one-
half as a result of deaths in the war and forced migrations. The Indians had demon-
strated their willingness to fight for their native identity and way of life, but powerful
acculturation forces were unleashed in the process of their fighting under Mestizo
leaders against mestizo enemies. By the time President Cárdenas restored lands to
the impoverished peasants of Morelos in the 1930s, it was too late to prevent the fur-
ther transformation of remaining Mesoamerican cultural elements.
Reaction to the Zapatista movement was very different in other Mexican states
that had large Indian populations, as illustrated by the case of Oaxaca (described in
Box 8.2).
Central American Revolutions
Full-scale revolutions erupted in Central America half a century later than in Mexico,
although several aborted revolutionary movements broke out shortly after events fi-
nally began to calm down in Mexico (for example, the Sandino rebellion in Nicaragua;
see Figure 8.6). At this time in Central America (early twentieth century), the three
revolutionary features mentioned earlier apparently were not as fully developed as in
Mexico. In particular, capitalist penetration into the peasant Indian communities
was more localized and not as ubiquitous. Middle-class ladino (Mestizo) leaders