the virgin of cancuc and subcomandante marcos · subcomandante marcos was the spokesman and...

The Virgin of Cancuc and Subcomandante MarcosA parallel dynamic between the past and the present indigenous rebellions in Chiapas, Mexico

In the public presentation a parallel dynamic is discussed between the indigenous uprising of 1712 in the Highlands Chiapas (Mexico) where the ‘Republic of Cancuc’ was proclaimed, and the ongoing Zabatista re-bellion that began in 1994. In particular, I focus on the roles played by Maria de la Candelaria and Subcoman-dante Marcos – Maria being the main figure of the first uprising and Marcos of the second.

Maria acted as the spokeswoman of the insurrecting indigenous people. In this role it was claimed that the Virgin of Rosary (La Virgen de Rosaria) was talking through her, encouraging the natives to rebel against Spanish power and the Catholic Church that was actively participating in exploiting and subjugating them. Taking on the divine representation of the church gave Maria authority to challenge the oppressing agents.

Subcomandante Marcos was the spokesman and archetypal leader of the Zapatista from their initial pub-lic appearance in the late twentieth century. His image became so iconic that he was often mistaken as the unique, powerful leader of the Zapatista movement fighting for the rights of the natives. In May 2014 the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) revealed that this figure was just a ‘hologram’ and his ‘farewell’ or symbolic ‘death’ was celebrated in a dramatic ritual event performed by the Zapatistas in La Realidad (24 May 2014) on a hearth in the Lacandon Forest.

The death ritual given for Marcos refer to power relations that extend to the spirit realm that are only alluded to here, and reveal some important elements of the strategy of communication and narrative con-struction used by the Zapatistas. Alessandro Zagato