Old School

For some reason or another, I just logged into Friendster, and came across this really cool, old photo of me. This was back in the days when I was (a) still smoking, and (b) still growing my hair. Amazingly, while I've lost hair since then, I'm not really sure that I'm all that much balder. I guess i was just more creative then (and a little less bald).

The picture was taken by an Italian friend of mine. It was a misty day, early afternoon. The scene you see behind me is that of the entry area to a Zapatista "caracol". (Caracol means snail, but in this instance, refers to one of the 5 or 6 administrative centers of the Zaptatista movement).

The Zapatistas, for those that don't know, are the members of an army known as EZLN (Zapatista Army for National Liberation). Their name, Zapatista, is taken from Emiliano Zapata, (a liberator from the Revolutionary period of the early 1900's} and his followers. The Zapatistas of today are a revolutionary group of mostly indigenous people based in Chiapas (far South of Mexico). While they don't actually engage in much combat these days, they did begin their struggle with an armed insurrection in San Cristobal de las Casas, a major city in Chiapas. Today, they continue to deny the right of the national government to rule their lives, and live in autonomous communities and zones. When one enters one of these areas, there are signs that read, "Esta Ud. en territorio zapatista -- donde el pueblo manda y el gobierno obedece" (You are in zapatista territory -- where the people lead and the government obeys) .

Pretty heavy stuff.

To read more about the Zapatistas, check out the following links:

Wikipedia Entry on the EZLN
Official EZLN Website (they are very high-tech revolutionaries)
Zapatista communiques in English