Following the Tlatelolco massacre , the Mexican government continued to suppress instances of political mobilization and social organization as part of what is known as the Dirty War . Despite the threat of government persecution , campesino organizations as well as small armed groups began to form in Chiapas in the 1970s . In efforts to suppress Indigenous resistance in the region , farm and land owners created paramilitary forces sponsored by the Mexican government designed to violently reciprocate against potential Indigenous defiance . At the same time , many Indigenous individuals known as '' guerrilleros '' formed small armed militant groups in response to persecution , one of which became the EZLN
Tlatelolco massacre
Tlatelolco massacre
Zapatista uprising