Shadows of tender fury

Since the 1994 uprisings in the Mexican state of Chiapas, the spokesman of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a masked rebel who calls himself Subcomandante Marcos, has become a symbol of revolt in the post-cold war era. Here are the words of Marcos, words that recast Mexican politics and revived rebel imaginations everywhere.

They look back to the traditions of Indian resistance and the dormant ideals of the Mexican revolution; they look forward to political strategies, styles, and theories that challenge the dominance of capitalism.

The Introduction by John Ross situates the Zapatistas in the context of Mexican history and the Afterword by Frank Bardacke discusses their language and politics, as well as their meaning for the U.S. left. This edition also includes an "exclusive" prologue by Subcomandante Marcos and his speech to the Zapatista's August 1994 national convention.