Research Assignment: Source 1

First Source
Comandanta Ramona. “Message from Comandanta Ramona, to the students of University City.” March
Dressed in a black balaclava, Comandanta Ramona looks incredibly similar to her male and more famous counterpart, Subcomandante Marcos. In 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), organized an uprising against the Mexican Government over land policies that threatened the livelihood of indigenous communities. Named after Emiliano Zapata, a revolutionary figure who famously advocated agrarian reform in the Ayala Plan, the EZLN continues to advocate for indigenous rights to this day. The EZLN ran an unprecedented campaign, utilizing guerilla fighting styles while incorporating the use of internet and radio to craft a modern-day revolution. The EZLN was highly successful due to the strong leadership, which embraced a variety of figureheads who connected with the disenfranchised. Wearing masks, Subcomandante Marcos and Comandanta Ramona advocated for the people by limiting the influence of their personal identities on the cause. Comandanta Ramona, on the council for the EZLN, actively incorporated indigenous women into the cause for land rights. In 1997, she gave a speech to the students of UNAM that declared the interests of the EZLN such as women’s rights, indigenous rights, and undoing colonial violence. Her audience is significant giving the timing; dirty wars around Latin America frequently targeted student activists often in extreme acts of violence, such as the Tlatelolco massacre which left many dead. As a Tzotzil woman in a position of power, she represented a largely underrepresented group in the struggle for indigenous rights. 
Comandanta Ramona opens her speech with a nod to International Women's Day, stating that the aim of her work is to not only fight for the women's struggle but to also do so within political frameworks. This acknowledgment as her first sentence is incredibly important; it suggests that she will put women first in her work with the EZLN. During intense political instability, women occupied an interesting space as a largely underrepresented group. Frequently women exhibited powerful displays of resistance against oppressive governments such as in Argentina with the Madres. Their positionality as women complicated government responses to protest, as initially the Madres were allowed to protest before they were realized as a threat to the regime. Comandanta Ramona reveals that while indigenous communities struggled for land rights, indigenous women were also “victims because of the lack of education, of not having jobs, of daily violence, of worsening health conditions.” Her attention to women is important; she persuades the public that although agrarian reform is a pressing concern, so is the disenfranchisement of indigenous women: to solve certain issues while the indigenous woman is still oppressed is no solution at all. Comandanta Ramona argues that violence towards indigenous communities is a vestige of Mexico’s colonial past; the government replicates conquest through murder and force. Her language commands unity; she speaks to the students about “our ancestors” to connect them to the cause and herself. She finishes her speech stating that “we will...construct a Mexico with all of you.” Through her previous language and focus on women, indigenous women knew that this new Mexico would include their voices because of Comandanta Ramona. Young people also felt engaged and listened too as the EZLN frequently reached out to students to garner support. Comandanta Ramona was responsible for the creation of the Revolutionary Women's Law drafted in 1996, which advocated “women's right to self-determination and equality in society, at home and in the ranks of the EZLN.” Her leadership alone gave representation to those who had little autonomy and advocacy through her powerful example of female resistance against abuses of power. 
Sources:
Comandanta Ramona. “Message from Comandanta Ramona, to the students of University City.” March
Wolfwood, Terry. “Who is Comandanta Ramona?” August 1997.
Cambell, Heather. “Zapatista National Liberation Army.” September 11th, 2001.

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