NAFTA and Chiapas

Mexico is now plagued by guerrilla uprisings in its poorest states, the most theatrical and celebrated of which is that of the Zapatista National Liberation Army in Chiapas under the leadership of the enigmatic, pipe-smoking Subcomandante Marcos. The rebels have made the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) a focus of their fury and have cleverly used the Internet to air their complaints. While free trade certainly is contributing to the economic problems of the Mexican underclass, the depopulating of rural areas and growth of the cities is an almost inevitable trend that even the most dramatic gestures by Marcos and his followers are unlikely to postpone. NAFTA has become a scapegoat for the modernization of Mexico.