370 UNIT 3 MODERN MESOAMERICA
world through the production and export of traditional products like coffee and
cotton and nontraditional products like strawberries, melon, and redesigned arts
and crafts. They are also linked through the production of labor-intensive apparel
items such as shirts, dresses, or other items of clothing that we buy in the developed
countries and by the constant flow of tourists who purchase Mesoamerican goods, ser-
vices, and cultural representations. Production and export of goods and temporary
or permanent movement of peoples are changing communities and individuals at
both ends and then create transformed and complex identities.
A special case of transnationalism in Mesoamerica is the Zapatista indigenous-
based social movement that originated in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatistas broadly
call for important social and economic demands, including an end to poverty and
marginalization of indigenous peoples. The movement became widely known in Jan-
uary 1994 at the same time that the North American Free Trade Agreement was being
instituted (for a full discussion of this important movement, see Chapter 10). Once
the Zapatistas began using the media to argue for justice, the international commu-
nity served as a shield and often a sponsor of their plight. As the media ceased to pay
as much attention to the movement and to the struggles of Mexican indigenous peo-
ples, the influence of the movement in the area declined. June Nash (1997) referred
to the media as a “third army of news reporters.” The media made the difference be-
tween considering the uprising a legitimate transnational movement rather than an
isolated and a local revolt. When the Zapatistas used the Internet and the news media
to express their struggles and present their strategies, they were symbolizing the ulti-
mate integration of underrepresented groups into the global landscape.Migration to the United States
It is hard to find anyone in the rural or urban settings of Mesoamerica who does not
have a relative or friend living temporarily or permanently in the United States. For
many, this journey is part of the goals and dreams they hope to achieve during their
lifetime. It is difficult to provide a general description of those who are more prone
to migrate or to attempt migration. Research has produced diverse results. Some re-
searchers have noted that although scarce land resources and impoverished condi-
tions at home may motivate people to leave, it is often the middle sectors, not totally
landless nor totally deprived of resources, who tend to migrate.
Individual cases point to the involvement of all socioeconomic sectors of the
Mesoamerican societies, including the wealthier and/or best educated. Distribution
and quality of agricultural lands certainly play a crucial role, but migrants come to
the United States from areas with poor land but also from areas with intensive com-
mercial agricultural production. When competition increases and farm incomes de-
cline, farms tend to diversify through internal and international migration. There are
also migrants who come from urban areas. The latter tend to settle in U.S. cities and
remain on a more permanent basis than rural migrants, who employ more tempo-
rary migration strategies.
Gender trends are also complicated. Men are the first to migrate for practically
all groups, but over time women and children follow. This pattern is somewhat dif-