Zapatistas to Tourists: Go Home!

Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 02.07.03 | 4:47 PM ET

Zapatista rebels in Chiapas, Mexico have had their fill of tourists. In the last two weeks a group of French and Canadian kayakers was reportedly detained and threatened, and the rebels are threatening to seize a ranch and guest house owned by U.S. citizens. “The conflict is part of the rebels’ battle against foreign investment and eco-tourism, the small-scale, environmentally friendly operations that were supposed to help save the jungles where the Zapatistas have their last redoubts,” according to an Associated Press report. “‘We don’t want any American tourists. ... We don’t want any tourists at all,’ said Gabriel, a black-clad Zapatista guarding a roadblock near the ranch who would give only his first name. ‘We don’t want strangers coming around.’”