Ya Basta!

Ya Basta!: The Battle Cry of the Faceless

Directed by Thierry Zeno

In Mexico on January 1, 1994, Indians of Mayan origin staged an armed take-over of several Chiapas municipalities. But the Zapatista Army of National Liberation did not wish to seize power; rather it demanded land, work, housing, education, healthcare, food, justice, independence, freedom and democracy.

The Indians' spokesman and head of military operations, Subcommander Marcos, is not an Indian. He has been able to rally public opinion on the Indians' tragic living conditions.

Now a war of words has replaced the armed struggle. The Zapatista movement's cause echoes worldwide but the lives of the Indians today in the mountains and the jungles of Chiapas are no less precarious than before.

In this documentary it is the Indian men and women who speak, re-situating their struggle in its human, cultural and historical context.

"Stories of the oppressed rising up in a bid to clinch freedom always make excellent, dramatic material, and this is no exception."—Ian MacDonald, The Bulletin

50 minutes / color
Release Date: 1998
Copyright Date: 1997
Sale: $390

Subject areas:
Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Latin America, Mexico

Related Titles:
Alonso's Dream: A contemplative and critical look at the impact the Zapatista uprising and paramilitary violence have had on the Mayan people.

A Massacre Foretold: Chronicles the historic events surrounding the 1997 massacre of 45 pacifist supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation who were massacred while seeking refuge in a church.

The Passion of María Elena: Following the hit-and-run death of her son, Maria Elena, a young woman from Mexico's Raramuri community, embarks upon an eye-opening journey from grief to unexpected spiritual resolution.