Global Conflict in Chiapas
Every now and then a tourist commercial on the Mexican state of Chiapas airs on Mexican television. The camera sweeps over the grand details of a perfect day in Chiapas: mystical Mayan ruins, abyssal canyons, turquoise rivers and lastly a "Welcome to Chiapas" sign adjacent to a newly painted highway. Despite its luster, this image is not as deceptive as it might have been eight years ago before the Zapatista Rebellion shook Mexico. Because of the revolution, "Chiapas" now evokes resistance, uncertainty, and instability.