Born On This Date: Emiliano Zapata

The "Peasant hero of the Mexican Revolution"
Emiliano Zapata is the Mexican rebel leader who said "It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." A former sharecropper, he organized and led peasants during the battles of the Mexican Revolution, joining forces with Pancho Villa and others to fight the government of Porfirio Diaz. Zapata supported agrarian reform and land redistribution; his rallying cry was "Land and freedom!" (His positions attracted the support of some urban intellectuals, who linked him to the theories of Karl Marx.) Though Diaz was defeated, Zapata continued to resist subsequent government leaders; he was ambushed and shot by Mexican troops in 1919. Zapata remains a folk hero in Mexico, where his name has often been invoked by rebels like Subcommander Marcos.

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