[img]http://img.booru.org/lefty//images/5/e56a2602fbb73844ae8594018116d3d95bc15f05.jpg[/img] [h1]Faction Name:[/h1] Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities [h1]Territory:[/h1] Chiapas (Marques de Comillas, Comitán, El Bosque, Chiapas Highlands) [h1]Allies:[/h1] National and international NGOs, other Mexican Leftist groups. [h1]Faction History:[/h1] Founded during the NeoZapatista uprising in 1994 following the signing of NAFTA, the autonomous Zapatista municipalities are the small rural collectives formed around the principles of the EZLN as effect of and in wake of the '94 Uprising. Lead by Subcommandante Marcos, the Zapatistas of southern Mexico rose in armed rebellion for two weeks against the Mexican government in protest against the signing of NAFTA in a show of resistance against globalization, which came to be seen as a threat for local indigenous farmers in the southern Mexican state. After the peace of '96 the EZLN has largely withdraw from the stage, principally appearing on the national stage in defense of the autonomous Caracoles. Though while still an armed group and they - among many of the Caracoles - are still in a state of war against the Mexican state, the withdrawal of the EZLN itself is a pragmatic maneuver to avoid confrontation with the Mexican military who over the passed twenty years has been beefing up its presence in southern Mexico as response to the '94 uprising and the surge of drug and human trafficking through Southern Mexico from Guatemala and other points south. Despite slander from the Mexican government that the EZLN is involved in the drug trade the EZLN under Subcommandante Marcos has strongly denied all relation with cartel activity, and verily the Caracoles of the area have enacted swift anti-drug and anti-alcohol policy to stem the use of both in their communities. These policies enacted through direct voice of the community through the autonomous Good Government Councils across Zapatista territory who receive and execute the policy of the people living in the community. The legislation against narcotics and alcohol has largely chased even otherwise legitimate alcohol sales from rural Chiapas and Zapatista territory is notably clean in regards to use of either and the associated effects. While the autonomous Caracoles of Chiapas manage to maintain remain independent of cartel politics their position and radio silence from the EZLN often means they must step aside or organize their own local means to resist the encroachment of narco politics. The battle is uphill from here with investigation by NGOs indicating that even the state government of Chiapas has largely fallen in line with the local cartels and the military are often the ones planting poppy and marijuana into their territory and threatening the autonomy and health of the people there. While the EZLN itself has repeatedly been declared dead or irrelevant it has routinely appeared to show force on the national and global stage as a force. While its absence its notable, its show of force in 2012 has not yet confirmed the movement's irrelevance. Even with the supposed retirement of Subcommandante Marcos, the EZLN and its associated social bases are said to have some 40,000 members. [h2]-On the EZLN and Narcos-[/h2] The relationship between the EZLN and the Narco forces now present in Mexico stems from the 1996 defiance of the treaty and failure to recognize the treaty of '96 by the then Institutional Revolutionary party of Mexico which had reclaimed its presidential power at that time. Instead of acknowledging and adding into legislation the treaty of '96 recognizing the rights and autonomy of southern Mexico's Mayan populations the government instead reimposed paramilitaries on the region to check and combat the EZLN presence. The paramilitaries earned an early reputation of brutality with the notable shooting over over 40 women, children, and elderly men praying for peace. In present Narco politics, much of these paramilitaries have evolved into or became associated with the cartels of the region. Likewise, the Mexican military is no more innocent as it and local government becomes infiltrated with widespread corruption. It is this which inspires the EZLN to stay out of traditional elective politics. While the EZLN and Subcommandanta Marcos - briefly going by the new identity Delegate Zero - are not active in the elective politics, they are still a campaigning force as much as they are a combat-ready, armed force ready to reappear to defend its autonomous communes. [h1]Important Characters:[/h1]