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

CHAPTER 8 NATIVE MESOAMERICANS IN THE MODERN ERA 341

Figure 8.12 Artistic

portrayal of Rigoberta

Menchú, Nobel Laureate and

leader in the Guatemalan

pan-Mayan movement.

Illustration by Bradley W.

Russell.

Multiculturalism in Mexico In recent decades the so-called “Indian problem”
has emerged as a major issue in the political life of Mexico. The Indian population
there is expanding rapidly, and it now exceeds ten million in number. In states
such as Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Puebla, and Veracruz, native Mesoamericans
make up significant percentages of the population. In Chiapas, for example, they
number over one million persons and constitute almost one-third of the total
population. It has become clear that Mexico, like Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, and
Bolivia, should be considered an “Indo-American” rather than a “Euro-American”
nation, made up of “complex mixtures (and conflicts) of many cultures of remote
historical origins” (Hamnett 1999:22).
Rebellion in the Mexican countryside has become common once again, most no-
tably in the cases of the Zapatistas (EZLN) in Chiapas, and the Popular Revolutionary
Army (EPR) in Guerrero and Oaxaca (Foley 1999). The Indian rebels have particularly
focused on the destructive effects of neoliberal policies adopted by the Mexican gov-
ernment, especially during the Salinas and Zedillo presidencies (1988–2000). These