1. Revolution in Latin America: Zapatistas and Cuban Revolution
SS6H3 The student will analyze important 20th century issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.
a. Explain the impact of the Cuban Revolution.
b. Explain the impact and political outcomes of the Zapatista guerrilla movement in Mexico.

2. Think About It…
In what ways can citizens show displeasure or disagreement with its government?
Peaceful
Non-Peaceful

3. Guerilla Movement
The term “guerilla” comes from “guer” which is the Spanish term for war.
Guerilla Warfare is defined as nontraditional military tactics by small groups involving surprise attacks.
Latin America has experienced guerilla movements and revolutions as ways of expressing displeasure or disagreement with their governments and the treatment of people: Zapatistas of Mexico and the Cuban Revolution.

4. The Cuban Revolution
On March 10, 1952, General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the president of Cuba and canceled all elections. This angered many including a young lawyer Fidel Castro.
Time and time again, Cubans protested against the dictators. In the 1950s, Cubans found a leader for their cause in Castro.
For the next seven years he attempted to overthrow Batista’s government.

5. The Cuban Revolution
On July 26, 1953, Castro led an attack against the military barracks in Santiago, but he was defeated and arrested. Although Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Batista released him in 1955 in a show of supreme power.
Castro did not back down and gathered a new group of rebels in Mexico. On December 2, 1956, he was again defeated by Batista’s army and fled to the Sierra Maestra.

6. The Cuban Revolution
He began using guerrilla tactics to fight Batista’s armed forces, and with the aid of other rebels throughout Cuba, he forced Batista to resign and flee the country on January 1, 1959.

7. The Cuban Revolution
Video

8. The Cuban Revolution
Castro became the Prime Minister of Cuba in February and had about 550 of Batista’s associates executed.
He soon suspended all elections and named himself "President for Life", jailing or executing all who opposed him.
He established a communist government with himself as a dictator and began relations with the Soviet Union.

9. Castro’s Cuba
At the beginning of his rule, the United States supported Castro. However, once he embraced communism, the U.S. attempted to overthrow him.
Cuban exiles, armed and trained by Americans, formed an army and invaded Cuba’s Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961.

10. Castro’s Cuba
The army was crushed by Castro after President Kennedy refused to directly involve the U.S. armed forces, and 1200 of the invaders were captured.
The United States was forced to give $53 million worth of food and supplies to Cuba for the release of the captives.

11. Castro’s Cuba
Due to Kennedy’s lack of involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, felt that the U.S. would do little to resist Soviet Expansion. So, in July 1962, Khrushchev began installing missile sites in Cuba.
When this was discovered, Kennedy completely blockaded Cuba and threatened to invade. The U.S.S.R. promised to withdraw from Cuba if the U.S. did not invade, and the conflict known as the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved.

12. The Cuban Revolution
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13. Castro’s Cuba
After the Crisis, Soviet aid represented 75% of Cuba’s economy. The United States had issued a trade embargo around the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, so when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, so did Cuba’s economy. Strict rations were imposed on food and supplies and Castro’s regime continues to be on the verge of collapse.

14. Castro’s Cuba
Toward the end of Castro’s rule, he presented no immediate danger to the U.S., but his status as dictator was still highly opposed by many nations because of the violations of human rights practiced under his rule.
Fidel’s brother Raul Castro is now the leader of Cuba.

15. The Cuban Revolution
Video

16. Zapatistas EZLN- Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional
(Zapatista National Liberation Army).

17. Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, 1993
"We have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing, no decent roof over our heads, no land, no work, poor health, no food, no education, no right to freely and democratically choose our leaders, no independence from foreign interests, and no justice for ourselves or our children. But we say enough is enough! We are the descendants of those who truly built this nation, we are the millions of dispossessed, and we call upon all of our brethren to join our crusade, the only option to avoid dying of
starvation!"

18. Zapatistas
The Zapatistas are made up mostly of the indigenous people of Mexico.
Their main spokesperson is Subdominant Marcos.
Unlike other Zapatista comandantes, Marcos is not an indigenous Mayan.

19. Who are the Zapatistas?
It principally operates in the state of Chiapas (the poorest state in Mexico), although its demands and influence are national.
Current estimates are that the EZLN has around 12,000 troops, 2-3,000 of whom are well armed.

20. What are the Zapatistas’ demands?
There were 11 general demands of the EZLN as outlined in the 1st declaration from the Lancandon jungle; they are: work, land, shelter, food, health, education, independence, freedom, democracy, justice, and peace.

21. The Zapatista Movement
Opposed not only the lack of democracy in Mexico but also the liberal free-market reforms that had opened Mexico’s economy and people to the forces of global capitalism.
Also demanded land redistribution in the conflict zone.

22. Zapatistas
Represented a break from traditional strategies associated with guerilla movements in Latin America.
The EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Army) advocated
bottom-up democratization rather than seizing the state power
nonviolence rather than guerilla warfare (only 12 days of clash with army)
emphasized the potential of civil society for bringing about democratic change

23. Who are the Zapatistas named after?
The Zapatistas took its name from the Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata, who led the armies of the south in the Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution of occurred because of the discontent of the peasants of rural Mexico- a small minority of the people were in control of most of the country's power and wealth, while the majority of the population worked in poverty.