One of the main reasons for creating this blog was to raise awareness to the cause of the indigenous women in Latin America.
I have done a lot of research on the whole issue, and obviously I cannot expect everyone to care about it as much as I do and to feel as connected to it as I do, but there are a few things I thought I could share on here.
Indigenous people in Latin America are extremely oppressed by the government and the society in general. They are placed at the bottom of the social ladder, and they are essentially ignored. The case for indigenous women is even worse. They are oppressed and placed in the corner, not only by the government and the society, but by the indigenous men themselves.
Many social groups have aimed to address this oppression, but there is one particular anti-capitalist group that I have grown fond- The Zapatista Army in Chiapas, Mexico. There is a lot I could say about them, but I think the most important point is to stress that they are trying to fight for the rights of the indigenous people of Chiapas. To me, they represent the whole of Latin America in the fight for recognition. From living in Peru for 12 years of my life, I have witnessed the class struggle and the class division. I actually grew up in a middle class family, I went to a good school and I socialised with people whose parents were intelligent and well educated. However, many people I know have very 'snobby' views and they see the indigenous people (most commonly known as 'cholos' in Peru) as inferior. If someone has European descent, they think of themselves as 'superior'- it is ridiculous! I cannot believe it, it gets to me every time I go back. Anyway, this is why I seriously admire the Zapatista movement, because it is amazing how indigenous people from such a poor town can have so much motivation and so much hope for change. Women and men are welcome to join the Army, which is interesting, because indigenous women are 'expected' to stay at home and look after the children, but this is something the Zapatistas are trying to fight. They stand up for their most common saying 'Ya Basta' which means Enough is enough. Enough oppression, enough exploitation.
I am not going to go on about this too much, because I found a good article that you can read if you are interested in the subject. I do recommend you to read it and to give it a chance, I think it will open people's eyes to many things.
http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/~geneve/zapwomen/goetze/thesis.html
