Chiapas

Chiapas is a poor, largely rural state in southern Mexico. Most of the population are of Mayan? descent, and many do not speak Spanish.

Chiapas, like most poor, agricultural areas, was largely ignored for a long time, until the [Zapatista National Liberation Front]? (Zapatistas, or FZLN) began an armed rebellion against the Mexican government in the 1990s. The Zapatistas were only marginally successful militarily, but they and their leader, [Subcomandante Marcos]?, succeeded in attracting sympathy both in Mexico and overseas. After several years of sporadic fighting and negotiation, President [Vicente Fox]? invited Marcos to address the Mexican Congress in 2001.