The Zapatista movement has become the lightning rod for an emerging global movement against unfettered capitalism, a loose alliance of activists which gained visibility during the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference in Seattle, in November, 1999.
The rebels defend the right to greater citizen participation in democratic life, from regular village assemblies to discuss bread-and-butter issues at home to popular consultation before international trade agreements can be signed.
The Mexican government first denounced the Zapatistas as "unemployed leftovers" from Central American wars but the movement gained acceptance among Mexicans, who mobilised to stop the war in January, 1994. The rebels demanded "a world where many worlds can fit," where difference is celebrated rather than stamped out.
"The global economic powers want to enforce one single economic and political recipe" said Naomi Klein, best-selling author of No Logo, a critique of global trade. Ms Klein described the globalisation process as the triumph of "McGovernment", a single government the world over, bulldozing cultures on behalf of a small number of powerful companies.
The Zapatistas march to Mexico City was joined by radical French Farmer, Mr Jose Bove, and Nobel Literature prizewinner Jose Saramago.
"The Zapatistas have given the left back its innocence, lost since the collapse of the Berlin Wall," said Spanish writer Manuel Vazquez Montalban, echoing the hopes of a new generation in search of fresh utopias.