Guadalajara (Mexico), June 15 (EFE).- Five former members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) took off their balaclavas to tell how the armed movement that rebelled against the Mexican Government in 1994 was created, for the documentary ‘After of weapons’, premiered at the International Film Festival in Guadalajara (western Mexico).
“The EZLN has left a mark for hundreds of families in Chiapas, in the southeast of Mexico, who, although they still face conditions of marginalization, experienced substantial changes in their daily lives, in their habits and customs, which is also part of the revolution. that the movement tried,” producer and journalist Denise Maerker said in an interview with EFE.
The 30th anniversary of the indigenous uprising was the ideal moment for the documentary to see the light and show for the first time the lives of Benito, Elisa, Mario, Felicia and Luis Miguel who led or participated in the confrontations against the Mexican Army on 1 and 2 January 1994.
From the intimacy of their daily lives, the five former militiamen explain the ideals that the movement defended, the way in which the armed uprising was forged and give details of the most critical moments of the confrontation against the Mexican Army, while watching the images broadcast on television at that time.
The movement burst into the political and social life of Mexico three decades ago in search of better living conditions for indigenous people tired of marginalization and poverty, who declared war on the Mexican Government and clashed with the Army for 12 days. , with a balance of 200 dead and hundreds injured.
After negotiations to achieve peace and changes in indigenous communities, the EZLN organized the people of Chiapas to establish autonomous governments that would bring peace and prosperity to their communities, based on equality, an element that has left its mark on those who grew up. in these conditions, mainly women, explained Maerker.
“When you see these men and these women with this bond that is so supportive and so horizontal (you realize that) it is a revolution that these women have a child at 32 years old, that they are capable of surviving in the jungle, that they have been armed, who have fired, we must understand everything that this means as a change,” he explained.
Live from equality
Héctor Laso, director of the documentary, explained in an interview with EFE that this feature film talks about what can be achieved when relationships are based on equality and respect.
“We knew that we wanted to focus there, because giving the gender perspective not only do you talk about women and Major Mario says it, to eliminate machismo you first start with equality and that leads to peace, it was talking about men and women who changed their lifestyle, their way of treating each other and they spoke to each other as equals,” he indicated.
He added that what the former militiamen learned with the EZLN, in addition to military and combat strategies, was to see the world in a different way that influenced their own lives and those of their community.
“We were surprised to find that this not only remains what Zapatismo was, but that it transcended his current life and is transcending his children,” he said.
Laso highlighted the value of the five characters agreeing to reveal their identity and tell the risks and sacrifices they faced to be part of a movement that transcended borders.
“They had not told this story, they had not decided to speak, it seems to me that from there the transcendence begins because, in addition to talking about Zapatismo, today they talk about the story of the five characters and I think that is already an achievement,” he explained.
‘After the Weapons’ competes in the official section of the Guadalajara festival for the Mezcal Award for the best of Mexican cinema and will be screened at two other festivals.
(c) EFE Agency
