Our Word is Our Weapon

Starred review from July 1, 2003
In 1994, as a guerrilla group of indigenous people calling themselves "Zapatistas" rose up in armed rebellion in the poor Mexican state of Chiapas, the writings of their enigmatic spokesman, Marcos, began being published in various Mexican journals and newspapers. They have since been disseminated around the world via the Internet and by Cinco Puntos press in the U.S. This collection of Marcos's work clearly showsDno matter one's stance on his politicsDwhy he has become an international phenomenon: he is a writer of rare ability. As a political analyst and propagandist, Marcos offers trenchant analyses of the plight of the native people of Mexico, their neglect by a corrupt national government and the exacerbation of their poverty and marginality, according to him, as "neoliberalism"Di.e., international financeDpermeated that nation. But he moves easily to romantic realist musings on his life in the remote mountains of Chiapas and the path that led him to the role of rebel. Finally he becomes a fabulist, writing his own brief talesDat times achingly poetic, at other times laugh-out-loud funnyDand retelling the ancient myths and legends from Mexico's Mayan past. Though the pieces here are, in the end, difficult to categorize, what connects them is Marcos's commitment to making the indigenous people visible, revealing the poverty of their lives and the richness of their traditions. He writes, "Being silent, our voice was passing away." Marcos has broken that silence in language as strong as dignity and as subtle as love. To read this collection is to discover that rare animal: an original voice.

January 1, 2001
John Charles Chasteen, in the final chapter of his "Born in Blood and Fire" [BKL Ja 1 & 15 2001], describes the neoliberalism that currently dominates Latin America. "Our Word Is Our Weapon" displays the most visible and articulate opposition to that neoliberalism and the globalization it serves: the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico. The first section of this collection of the writings of Subcomandante Marcos describes conditions in Mexico in the context of the world economy, while the second section includes Marcos' more philosophical writings. The third section gathers Marcos' fables and parables, among them the tales of Don Durito of the Lacandon, a beetle who is a knight-errant, and of Old Don Antonio, a Mayan shaman. In political communiques and poetry, letters to writers and political leaders, and homely celebrations of traditional wisdom, Marcos insists on the dignity and value of an indigenous culture and people. With a foreword by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago.

\plain\f4\fs24 (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2001
On January 1, 1994, an indigenous guerrilla group, the Zapatistas, named after the early 20th-century revolutionary Mexican leader Emilio Zapata, seized several key towns in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The most significant uprising in Latin America in the last 20 years, this act focused Mexican military and political attention on the region and caught the imagination of the world's leftist community. A major reason for the international interest centers partly on the elusive figure of its spokesman leader, known only as Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos. This mysterious character, who has remained unidentified and appears in public with his face partially hidden, declared that this movement would focus not on the battlefield but on winning worldwide public opinion and support over the airwaves and Internet. As a result, Marcos's poetic and articulate writings, including an awarding-winning children's book, Story of the Colors, are essential elements in understanding this movement. A good compilation of translations of his more important writings, this volume will be of interest to university research libraries and public libraries with an interest in Mexico and revolution.--Mark L. Grover, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, UT

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.