I decided to add a Mexico folder to my website during an inspiring trip, in the summer of 1998, into the cloudforest jungle in eastern Chiapas.* In this southernmost state of Mexico, the insurgent Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the many base communities that are sympathetic to and/or supportive of the rebellion are maintaining a defiant presence in the face of continuing military and paramilitary attacks in what is called "low-intensity warfare." In this note I indicate why I am fascinated by this struggle for self-determination, and why I believe it may mark a successful historical turning point in social evolution.
*For an account of the trip, see http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/Othr/1998-10-10Garrucha.htm.

      Why concern oneself with Mexico? Why not Guatemala, East Timor, El Salvador, Congo, Palestine, Sudan, Cambodia? Anywhere in the world where people are struggling to live in the face of enormous oppression? I cannot claim that the struggle of the (primarily) indigenous peoples of Mexico deserves to be singled out for special attention, because I do not know enough about other struggles. Probably they all have aspects that deserve special attention. But I am not Noam Chomsky; the task of encompassing so much information is beyond me. I am drawn to the struggle of (largely but not exclusively) indigenous Mexicans because I believe it may contain the seeds of humane survival for all the world's people. Of course that may not be unique to the Mexican struggle, but it is una lucha popular -- a popular struggle -- that has caught my imagination and led me to learn more about it. The entire introductory note Why Mexico? is at http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/Discus/1999-01-27WhyMex.htm.

1. Essays from Mexico by Nancy Davies, most recent ones first,
2. Mexico travel groups, i.e. groups that organize activist tours,
3. Some news sources, and,
4. Some background info sources.

      I will welcome suggestions for making this a richer, more useful collection.