El fuego y la palabra. Una historia del movimiento Zapatista. (The Fire and the Word: A History of the Zapatista Movement)
Reviewed by Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Utah. -- Críticas, 6/15/2008
Ramírez-Muñoz, Gloria.
U.S.: City Lights Publishers. 2008. 341p. ISBN 978-0-87286-478-8. pap. $17.95. POLITICS
Centered in the Lacadona jungle of Chiapas, Mexico, the Zapatista movement is a revolutionary campaign against the ruling elites and government of the state of Chiapas and the Mexican federal government that is. It began in 1983 under the direction of an articulate leader known as Comandante Marcos. Though this group has been involved in some armed activity, primarily small attacks on selected targets, its greatest success has been its ability to garner international support through the use of the media and the Internet. The author of this volume is a Mexican journalist who worked as a correspondent for several newspapers, including the Los Angeles newspaper La Opinion. She left journalism and became part of the group between 1997 and 2004. This well-written history of the movement is based on interviews, documents of the group, and the author’s personal experiences. It is an updated version for a U.S. audience of a 2003 book titled EZLN: 20 y 10, el fuego y la palabra, published in Mexico by La Jornada Ediciones. The history follows the story of the movement from its beginning in November of 1983 but focuses on a chronological history for the years 1993–2003. The book’s value is not in recounting the basic history, which has been done numerous times before in other books, but that it is a positive and personal account told by a participant. It is illustrated with numerous pictures. It is recommended for libraries with a collection on Mexico. An English translation is also available from the publisher.
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