Intensely proud of their history and culture, the Isthmus Zapotecs control many local political offices, run much of the local commerce, and enjoy a lively cultural movement. To a larger degree than is common in Mexico, Zapotec women enjoy equality with men and homosexuality is tolerated and accepted. The Zapotecs have formed a radical indigenous political movement--Coalicion Obrera Campesina Estudiantil del Istmo (COCEI)--whose victory in the 1981 municipal elections in Juchitan, Oaxaca, over the seemingly invincible Revolutionalry Institutional Party (PRI) marked the first time the leftist opposition had controlled a Mexican city since the Revolution.
This book is about their history--both past and present--and how it is remembered, drawn upon, and created by contemporary Zapotec intellectuals and politicians and used as a weapon to organize the Zapotec people and to wrest control of their community from PRI.