In January of 1997, Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN did an interview where he discussed how the Zapatistas are situated in the world.

Here is a thread of highlights from the interview.

In this first clip, Marcos explains how the Zapatista struggle is tied to a global struggle.

“The Zapatistas have said clearly that they don’t aspire to take charge of the government or to take power, but [...] to recuperate the place that they deserve in the world [...]; not just the indigenous but other social groups [...] like [...] the black population of the USA...”

“The consensus and the search for accord and dialogue are things that are barely being discovered in modern political systems of neoliberalism, but are things that are many centuries old within the Indian peoples.”

“The North American government has been converted into the police of a trans-national government [...] of financial capital [...] dedicated to obligate the [...] people [...] to comply with production, payment, and financial quotas [...] established in the financial centers.”

“You don’t learn to listen, only to speak and to impose your point of view.

At the time, we came upon a culture that was different, and as much as you spoke and argued, no one understood you.

You had to detain yourself and learn to hear, to understand, to learn to listen...”

“[Don't] forget the struggle, even though when in the media the Indian is only news when they are dead or armed or commit a crime.

This daily struggle of all these indigenous men and women [...] has a mirror and dignity in other parts of the world.

We are not the only ones.”

You can find the full interview below.