Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

In Review: Zapata and the Mexican Revolution

~ Emiliano Zapata Salazar (August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution. In this review, Zachary Parker examines John Womack Jr’s. book, Zapata and the Mexican Revolution.

Bringing the Fields to the Federals - Review of Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, by Zachary Parker


The prized possession of Emiliano Zapata was the rights and respect of lands that were the heritage and legacy of the families of Southern Mexico. Why a man with seemingly simple demands must find himself in short time the supreme chief of a revolutionary army, a guerrilla general or even a symbol and figurehead to a movement that would sweep across the nation is an injustice to logic. The story of Zapata's crests and ebbs traverse local politics, insurgencies, and outright warring and international martyrdom.


What becomes evident of the pages of John Womack Jr's dedicated and highly detailed telling of the travails Zapata and his rugged, unremitting rabble is that the scope of the agrarian movement exponentially distends with every snub, assault or closed door in the faces of the poor farmers of the south.


To read of the obscene scenarios of peonage, penury and uniform despotism these people met at the hands of the commercial planters, and the state and federal government at their behest, is to read of fear, shame and guilt.


The bulk of the book puts the reader into the shoes of the Zapatista regulars, the farmers in their whites and sandals. From field to federal district they march, armed first with pleas, then Mausers for their cause. With a cast and crew of citizens (whose names and backgrounds are greatly detailed, making for a substantial gift of memory to keep straight), rallying behind their chief in the struggle to retain their communal lands and livelihood, the reader finds the intrigues and politicking as engrossing as the fiery escapades and raids against the Federales.


Of interest to an observer of the popular movement – especially after Zapata has risen to the patriarchal high of supreme general of the revolutionary army – is the Sissyphusian spiral that the leader and the movement plunges. That Zapata, a man who wanted only reform in the local land policy against those who were gaining while hardship reigned in the lives of the poor farmers, had to assume the role, to bear the target of the oppressing governments was unjust. His single-minded dedication to justice and land rights made him a hero, but this same single-mindedness also exposed him to a life wrested from the very farmland he wished to save.


What John Womack, Jr. offers is more narrative than simply historical in delivery. He makes use of impressive, ample quotes, insights and documents, both official and personal in accounting the social and political struggle that Mexico was home to in the early 20th century. The atrocities committed by every successive dictatorial regime, the waves of oppressive governments and their crushing armies; all is covered in great detail and expression.


The reader may well be swept up in the flurry of events. They may though, also be caught under the weight of the details, names and political entanglements of the revolution. That Womack was able to weave through all the broken alliances, nuances and sheer amount of partisans and players of the era is a testament to his exploratory depths and knowledge of the subject.


What struck me most, and as disheartening in the endeavours of the Zapatista mythology, is that for every length the man and mission moved forward, for every triumph and coup achieved, the displaced force was inexorably replaced by a worse entity.


From the initial ousting of the dictator Diaz came a champion, Francisco Madero. However, when Madero proved to be not only an opponent of change, but an enemy of the revolution, Zapata took the struggle further.


Seeing the devastation and forced deportation of the southern farmers, labour and draft of the people of the south, Zapata then moved against Huerta. Under the banner of the constitution, Carranza brings about nothing less than a continuation of the depravity and evils of a government against the needs of its citizens. Throughout all this turmoil, Zapata never moves from his initial goals of agrarian reform. The hubris shown in the decade of turmoil by the succession of generals, presidents and political bodies is extreme and most unsettling to dissect.


"Rebels of the South, it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees" sums up, though posthumously uttered, the years of Zapata's revolution. The progress socially, economically and ethically of the common workingmen and poor farmers of Mexico is all that the man sought. Zapata was called to this in his village, took it all the way to the president (all subsequent ones) and paid the ultimate price for it.


Emiliano Zapata took up the challenges of local reform, and brought it to the district, the state, and to the federal level. He was forced by fate to become the champion of Mexico's poor and indigenous citizens. For this he has a place in the pantheon of rebel heroes and martyrs. What he really deserved though, and what he really wanted was to continue farming the traditional lands his family had been farming for generations before him.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zachary_Parker

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Week That Was #9

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Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.


The Odd: Rhyolite, Nevada Bottle Building - In 1906, in the old ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada a saloon owner named Tom Kelly, built a house out of bottles because lumber was scarce at the time. Reportedly he used some 50,000 beer, whiskey, soda and medicine bottles to build the structure which still stands today. Mr. Kelley was 76 years old when he built the house and it took him almost six months to complete. Read more here…



The Useful: The Rule of Thirds. Ned Levi is a professional photographer who points out the rationale behind the “Rule of Thirds”, the concept that the most eye-pleasing photographic compositions split the field of view into roughly equal thirds, and that the scene’s important compositional elements are placed along these lines or their intersections. It doesn’t matter whether you are using a typical consumer-level, point-and-shoot camera, or the most expensive professional digital SLR, the ‘rule’ has been in use for hundreds of years by generations of artists and photographers, and for a very good reason. It works. Read more here…


The Downright Bizarre: The Illegal Border Crossing Tour in Mexico. Yes, you read it right. This tour apparently lets you the experience the drama and the adrenalin rush of being an illegal immigrant trying to cross the Mexican border in the United States. According to a New York Times reporter who tried it, the locals want tourists to understand the experiences and traumas that illegal immigrants face. During the night-time guided hike you’ll be chased in the dark, shot at by (fake) police, and you may or may not make it under the fence. But you’ll definitely have an interesting story to tell the folks back home. Read more here…

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Beating The Post-Travel Blues

~ Julie Blakley is a staff writer for BootsnAll.com and also maintains her own site at France Travel Guide. She recently wrote an article outlining 10 Tips for Beating the Post-Travel Blues which is worth summarising. Among her suggestions:
~ Immerse yourself in your hometown culture
~ T
ake shorter trips closer to home

~ Write about your trip
~ Start planning your next adventure
~ Remember that everyday life is what makes travel so invigorating
~ Eat your favourite foods from your trip
~ Find a community that is just as passionate about travel or a destination as you are
~ Make a photo album or scrapbook
~ Take a language class or join a conversation group

~ Work on your photography skills


This are all very good suggestions to which I thought I would add my own 2cents worth to some of Julie’s ideas.

Be A Tourist At Home. Pretend you have international visitors coming to stay with you for the weekend. Now make a list of the most interesting places you would show them – and get out and visit them yourself. Or make a list of all those places you have always intended to see ‘one day’ but still haven’t made the effort to visit. There’s no time like the present, as the old adage goes, so get out there and discover the attractions in your own home town.

Don’t Mope – Write! If you were able to maintain a journal while you were travelling, now is a good time to put the finishing touches to it. Or (as Julie suggests) get creative and put together a photo album or scrapbook. Add photographs, ticket stubs, postcards, receipts, menus, in fact anything that helps document your trip. You will be amazed at how much this helps you remember the small details of your journey, and also how it keeps you focussed on your next holiday, even if it is a year or more away. Which brings me to…


Start Working on Your Next Trip. When I returned to Australia last October following my seven month vacation, I was already thinking about the next one – starting March next year – which I am constantly working on and researching. I have been frequenting lots of second-hand books shops, looking for books about America, Mexico and other countries I plan to visit, or hope to visit over the next few years. Becoming knowledgeable and informed about the countries you would like to visit is a great way to prepare for your journey. I am reading travelogues, histories, and books dealing with art and culture. In fact, anything that grabs my attention and helps me ‘know’ the countries I plan to visit long before I get there.

Learn the Lingo. I have written previously (Never to Old to Live And Learn) about signing up for a Spanish language course, or other short courses which will help me as I travel through the American south, and Mexico next year. It doesn’t matter that I won’t be able to speak the language fluently. I have found that often you can endear yourself to the locals simply by making the effort to learn the language of the country you are visiting. It is probably the one thing that sets you apart the most from the bulk of the common tourists who are merely passing through, and who are not interested in trying to connect with the local people in any meaningful way.

Use The Internet to Connect With Like-Minded Travellers. While I have long been aware of, and made use of the reviews on Trip Advisor, I have only recently joined the forums on that site. This has given me a chance to not only help with my own research, but to also offer advice and tips to other travellers who are planning to visit locations I have already been to. Whether you use Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor, or one of the many other online sites, connecting with fellow travellers is a great way to keep your travel dreams alive.

Take a Short Course. In the same way that I am preparing for my next trip by taking a Spanish language course, you can also sign up for many other types of short courses as well. In a previous entry (WEA = Life-long Learning) I wrote about the opportunities to broaden your knowledge about a huge range of different subjects via adult classes at local colleges, universities, and other places of higher learning. Whether your interest be photography, archaeology, history, culture, dance, or other creative arts, there is almost certain to be a class or short course taking place in your town or city. Use the internet to research these courses or visit your local library and ask there. Or drop in to your local college or university and make enquiries about summer classes and courses.

Image: United Nations Building, New York, April 2008
Photo by Jim Lesses

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Never to Old to Live and Learn

~ Yesterday, I signed up for a ten week Spanish For Fun and Travel course at an Adelaide based institution, the WEA. The Workers' Educational Association was founded in 1913, and is Australia's largest non-government adult community education organisation. It provides learning opportunities for anyone aged 15 years or older in its nearly 1800 short courses – for which the Association receives over 30,000 enrolments annually.

Using a concession card my ten week by two hour course cost me just AUD$112.00. That breaks down to a mere AUD$5.60 per hour! Even at the full price of AUD$124.00 the course is still incredibly cheap. Further down the track I may even sign up for a French or German language course. And why not? At the above prices, learning a language for ‘fun and travel’ is pretty much affordable to everyone.


I’ve decided to tackle Spanish first because next year I want to drive across America. I will probably start on the west coast at Los Angeles and either drive Route 66 to Chicago and New York, or drive across the south towards New Orleans and then up the east coast to New York.


After spending eight weeks in New York City last year, it quickly became apparent that a basic knowledge of Spanish would be very useful – not just in New York but wherever I happened to be in the United States. Of course it will be even more useful if I decide to take a side trip into Mexico during my road trip.


I know there are regional differences between Spanish as it is spoken in Spain as compared to Mexico (and indeed throughout Latin America), but I figure the little I learn during this course will be better than the complete lack of knowledge I now have.


From the USA I will be going to Europe, and since I have never been to Spain, I am considering a trip to that beautiful country too.


Life is for living and learning, folks, and now that I have the time, I plan to live and learn and travel as far and wide as my finances will allow.


By the way, the WEA is not unique to Adelaide. There are similar institutions elsewhere in Australia and overseas, so if you want embark on a journey of life-long learning, check out the sites below, or ask at your local public library for information about similar organisations in your city.


Links to Associated Sites

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