Subcomandante Marcos

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Lore & Background

Born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Marcos earned a degree from the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and taught at the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM) for several years during the early 1980s. During this time he became increasingly involved with a guerrilla group known as the National Liberation Forces (FLN), before leaving the university and moving to Chiapas in 1984. The EZLN was the local Chiapas wing of FLN, founded in the Lacandon Jungle in 1983, initially functioning as a self-defense unit dedicated to protecting Chiapas' Mayan people from evictions and encroachment on their land. While not Mayan himself, Marcos emerged as the group's military leader, and when the EZLN, acting independently of the FLN, began its rebellion on 1 January 1994, he served as its spokesman. Marcos made his debut on 1 January 1994, the first day of the 1994 Zapatista uprisings. According to Marcos, his first encounter with the public and the press occurred by accident. Initially his role was to secure the police headquarters in San Cristóbal de las Casas, but with the wounding of a subordinate, Marcos took his place and headed to the central town square. As a group of foreign tourists formed around Marcos, the only English-speaking Zapatista at hand, others including members of the press joined the throng. Marcos spent from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. intermittently interacting with tourists, townsfolk, and reporters, and gave four interviews. The first three months of 1994 saw the Subcomandante giving 24 interviews (an average of two a week) and participating in ten days of peace negotiations with the government, during which he also held nine press conferences. In early 1995, while the Secretary of Interior Esteban Moctezuma was reaching out to Marcos to arrange talks, Mexico's Attorney General's Office learned of the true identity of Subcomandante Marcos from a former-subcommander-turned-traitor Subcomandante Daniel (alias Salvador Morales Garibay). On 9 February 1995, President Ernesto Zedillo publicly announced that Subcomandante Marcos had been identified as Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, and immediately ordered the Mexican military to go on the offensive to capture or annihilate Marcos and the Zapatistas. Arrest warrants were issued for Marcos and other key figures, and Zapatista territory in the Lacandon Jungle was invaded by the Mexican Army. This provoked responses: Moctezuma tendered his resignation; civil society organized three massive demonstrations in Mexico City in one week, one attended by 100,000 people who chanted "We Are All Marcos"; and Marcos issued eloquent communiqués lambasting the government's treachery and portraying himself as a self-effacing mock heroic guerrilla.

Reader's Guide

Subcomandante Marcos's significance lies in his role as the charismatic face and voice of the Zapatista movement. After the ceasefire the government declared on day 12 of the revolt, the Zapatistas transitioned from revolutionary guerrillas to an armed social movement, with Marcos's role transitioning from military strategist to public relations strategist. He became the Zapatistas' spokesperson and interface with the public, penning communiqués, holding press conferences, hosting gatherings, granting interviews, delivering speeches, devising plebiscites, organizing marches, orchestrating campaigns, and twice touring Mexico, all to attract national and international media attention and public support for the Zapatistas. In 2001, he headed a delegation of Zapatista commanders to Mexico City to deliver their message on promoting indigenous rights before the Mexican Congress, attracting widespread public and media attention. In 2006, Marcos made another public tour of Mexico, which was known as The Other Campaign. In May 2014, Marcos stated that the persona of Subcomandante Marcos had been "a hologram" and no longer existed. Many media outlets interpreted the message as Marcos retiring as the Zapatistas' military leader and spokesman. Marcos is a prolific writer whose considerable literary talents have been widely acknowledged by prominent writers and intellectuals, with hundreds of communiqués and several books being attributed to him. Most of his writings are anti-capitalist while advocating for indigenous people's rights, but he has also written poetry, children's stories, and folktales and co-authored a crime novel. He has been hailed by Régis Debray as "the best Latin American writer today." Published translations of his writings exist in at least 14 languages. His legacy is marked by his ability to blend literary talent with political activism, though his true identity was revealed in 1995 by a former subcommander. The ongoing Chiapas conflict and his multiple pseudonyms reflect the enduring, evolving nature of his leadership.

Did You Know?

• Marcos bears the title and rank of Capitán (or 'Captain' in English), and before that Subcomandante, because he is under the command of the indigenous commanders who constitute the EZLN's Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee's General Command (CCRI-CG in Spanish).
• On 9 February 1995, President Ernesto Zedillo publicly announced Marcos's true identity as Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente and ordered the Mexican military to capture or annihilate him, after a former-subcommander-turned-traitor named Subcomandante Daniel (alias Salvador Morales Garibay) revealed it.
• In May 2014, Marcos stated that the persona of Subcomandante Marcos had been 'a hologram' and no longer existed, leading many media outlets to interpret this as his retirement.
• Marcos has been hailed by Régis Debray as 'the best Latin American writer today,' and published translations of his writings exist in at least 14 languages.
• During the first three months of 1994, Marcos gave 24 interviews (an average of two a week) and participated in ten days of peace negotiations, during which he held nine press conferences.