All Mexican politicians dispute Emiliano Zapata's revolutionary legacy

Sitting in the shadow of a small trolley, Jorge Zapata González gives a slow draft to his cigar and tells an alerting story about the revolution and betrayal.

A century ago, his grandfather, the Mexican rebel Emiliano Zapata, recruited poor peasants with the battle shout "Earth and Freedom", but was finally betrayed by an old ally and murdered.

A century after the murder of Zapata, on April 10, 1919, his grandson feels a certain fresh tuition."One hundred years later, the government returns to betray Zapata's ideals," he says.

The current Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has expressed admiration for Zapata, promised to recover the rural economy of Mexico and declared 2019 as the year of Emiliano Zapata.

But in Morelos, the native region of the revolutionary leader, a battle for its legacy has been unleashed, since López Obrador wants to finish an energy plant and a pipeline to which the local community opposes fervently.

"It is a mockery: declare 2019 the year of General Emiliano Zapata and then commemorate it by giving multinationals the water of the peasants of the region that saw him born," says Zapata González.

Zapata's revolutionary motto: "Reform, freedom, justice and law" still resonates in a country where these four ideals usually scarce, and the southern leader is an inspiration for Latin American radicals, among which the Zapatista rebels who raisedWeapons against the Mexican government in 1994.

Zapata's images with his wide hat, the great mustache and the bandit compete with those of Che Guevara and both of romantic rebellion and capitalist ventures.The descendants of Zapata recently requested the brand with their name and the image of it and now charge copyright for products that range from t -shirts to Tequila.

"There has always been a dispute over Zapata's legacy. It began shortly after his death," explains Emilio Kourí, historian of the University of Chicago.Kourí believes that Zapata's imperishable attractive is because he is "a malleable figure that serves everyone."

Zapata, an essential figure of the country's revolutionary pantheon, is often invoked by politicians of all ideologies.

The former president Carlos Salinas - who carried out a series of privatizations and free trade agreements that made many peasants lose their land - put his son the name of Carlos Emiliano.He said that his agricultural reforms, which allowed the sale of community lands, would have been approved by Zapata.

Last year, López Obrador, popularly known as AMLO, managed to bring to the left to power for the first time from the establishment of democracy in 2000. In his campaign he spoke again and again against the structural reforms of the last25 years and recently declared the end of the "neoliberal period" in Mexico.

Analysts affirm that Zapata's legacy is of special importance for the president, who promoted his government as "the fourth transformation" of Mexican history, putting it at the same level of the independence of Spain, the revolution and the legal and anticlerical reforms of the XIX century.

However, since he assumed power, AMLO has taken a conservative path, especially in relation to social policies.The indigenous communities of Mexico have expressed concern about the president's enthusiasm around megaprojects in his land.

"López Obrador wants to build a new official story and appropriate Zapata's legacy to say that he also cares for the peasants," says Harim Gutiérrez, professor of history at the Metropolitan Autonomous University.

Zapata González rejects politicians who claim to share the causes of his grandfather and is very protective of the family last name.He still lives in Anencuilco, the hometown of Zapata, where a museum has been built in the childhood house of the revolutionary leader.Like many of Zapata's heirs, he uses a long and heavy mustache."My dignity and my last name are priceless," he remarks.

Recently, Zapata González supported a campaign against the construction of an energy plant, a pipeline and an aqueduct in the town of Huexca, a project supported by the president.

AMLO assumed the presidency in December 2018, capitalizing on the anger of Mexicans for corruption to achieve an overwhelming triumph.In Morelos, where violence reigned and drug traffickers acted with impunity, the president devastated.

At first, López Obrador opposed the plant in Huexca, but then changed his mind by assuming power, arguing that this electricity is needed and that billions had already been invested in its construction."He has done the opposite of what he promised," says Zapata González of the president.

The neighbors complain that when the plant's operation tests were tested, the noise was unbearable.And Zapata González ensures that the waste of these tests contaminated the nearby Cuautla River.

López Obrador tried to appease the concerns of the neighbors hastily calling a plebiscite, but the tensions in the region increased when an indigenous activist who opposed the project was shot dead days before the vote.

AMLO said that the murder of Samir Flores Sovereign on February 20 was an act "cowardly and vile", but then offended the residents of the region by stating that the objective of the murder was to sabotage the plebiscite.Finally, the vote ended up favoring the president.

"López Obrador is not welcome in the state of Morelos," says Teresa Castellanos, a neighbor who opposes the energy plant in Huexca."He has betrayed the people."

State prosecutors say they are investigating indications that point to the participation of organized crime, a very listened to phrase in Mexico where often the murders of ecological activists, defenders of human rights and journalists are unpunished.

"We all feel threatened," says Yasmin Ríos, a local former official who opposes the project.

"What the president is doing," he added, "is to go over all of us, as did the other president."

Translated by Lucía Balducci