Comandanta Ramona (1959 – January 6, 2006) was an officer of the

Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (, EZLN), often referred to as the Zapatistas (Mexican ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Sin ...

(EZLN), a

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

autonomist Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenci ...

organization based in the southern

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

Biography

Ramona was born in 1959 in a

Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an indigenous Maya people of the central Chiapas highlands in southern Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzo ...

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

community in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Prior to joining the EZLN, Ramona earned a meager wage by selling artisan crafts. When she joined the EZLN is unknown, along with details about her pre-revolutionary life. Ramona took control of the city of

San Cristóbal de las Casas San Cristóbal de las Casas (), also known by its native Tzotzil name, Jovel (), is a town and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was the capital of the state until 1892, and is still consid ...

, the former capital of Chiapas, during the January 1, 1994, Zapatista uprising. Ramona began a long fight with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

the same year. In 1995, she received a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

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

Legacy

Ramona was famous for being masked and clothed in traditional Indigenous dresses. Vendors in her hometown have created ‘doll’ replicas of Ramona to honour her legacy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramona, Comandanta Indigenous Mexicans Mexican feminists 1959 births Members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation 2006 deaths Deaths from kidney failure 21st-century deaths from tuberculosis Mexican people of Maya descent People from Chiapas Tuberculosis deaths in Mexico Women in war in Mexico Women in warfare post-1945 Kidney transplant recipients Female revolutionaries

Biography

Legacy

See also

References