Comandanta Ramona

Comandanta Ramona (1959 – January 6, 2006) was an officer of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a revolutionary indigenous autonomist organization based in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.[1]

Comandanta Ramona
Born1959
Chiapas, Mexico
DiedJanuary 6, 2006(2006-01-06) (aged 46–47)
OccupationRevolutionary

Biography

Ramona was born in 1959 in a Tzotzil Maya community in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.[2][3] Ramona used to sell handmade goods to make a poor living before she joined the EZLN. It is unknown when she joined the EZLN, and what her life was like prior to the revolution.[4]

Ramona took control of the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, the former capital of Chiapas, on January 1st 1994 during the Zapatista uprising. Ramona began a long fight with cancer the same year. In 1995, she received a kidney transplant.[4]

In 1996, she broke through a government encirclement when she traveled to Mexico City to help found the National Indigenous Congress.[5] She was also the first Zapatista rebel to be granted government permission to travel outside of Chiapas for a three-day conference where she delivered her first peace talk.[6]

Legacy

Ramona was famous for being masked and clothed in traditional Indigenous dresses. Vendors in her hometown have created ‘doll’ replicas of Ramona in her honor.[7]

See also

References
  1. Zwarenstein, Carlyn (January 11, 2006). "Legacy of a Zapatista Rebel". The Globe and Mail. p. 19.
  2. Queen of the Neighbourhood Collective (2010). Revolutionary Women: A Book of Stencils. Oakland, California: PM Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-1604862003.
  3. Amozurrutia, Alina (2008). 101 Mujeres en la Historia de México (in Spanish). Mexico City: Grijalbo. p. 301. ISBN 978-9708103282.
  4. "Comandante Ramona". The Independent. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  5. Ross, John (March 19, 1999). "The Zapatistas are Back". LA Weekly.
  6. "LexisNexis® Academic & Library Solutions". www.lexisnexis.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  7. Wolfwood, Terry (August 1997). "Who Is Comandanta Ramona?" (PDF). Third World Resurgence No. 84. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
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