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SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS |
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Just 85km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS is
almost 1700m higher - a cool place with an unrivalled provincial
colonial charm. Its low, whitewashed red-tiled houses seem huddled
together on the plain as if to keep out enemies; indeed, the town was
designed as a Spanish stronghold among an often hostile indigenous
population - the attack by Zapatista rebels in January 1994 was the
latest in a long series of uprisings. It took the Spanish four years to
pacify the area sufficiently to establish a town here in 1528.
Officially named "Ciudad Real" (Royal City), it was more widely known as
"Villaviciosa" (Evil City) for the oppressive exploitation exercised by
its colonists. In 1544, Bartolomé de las Casas was appointed bishop, and
promptly took an energetic stance in defence of the native population,
playing a similar role to that of Bishop Vasco de Quiroga in Pátzcuaro.
His name - added to that of the patron saint of the town - was held in
something close to reverence by the indígenas . Throughout the colonial
era, San Cristóbal was the capital of Chiapas, then administered as part
of Guatemala, and it lost this rank in 1892 only as a result of its
reluctance to accept the union with Mexico.
Though it's the local crafts and the indigenous way of life that draw
people to San Cristóbal, this romanticization is not always appreciated
by the indígena themselves, who not surprisingly resent being treated as
tourist attractions or objects of amateur anthropology. Nevertheless,
the life of the town depends on the life of the people from surrounding
villages, who fill its streets and dominate its trade. Many of the
salespeople are expulsados - converts to evangelical Protestantism
expelled by the village leaders - now living in shanties on the edge of
town and unable to make a living from farming. The women making crafts
to sell to tourists soon took advantage of the publicity generated by
the Zapatistas; the most popular souvenirs are now Marcos dolls ,
complete with ski mask, rifle and bandoliers - there's even a female
Zapatista doll of Romana, who is reputed to be in a position of command
in the movement.
Despite being the main focus of the Zapatista attack, the town was only
occupied for thirty hours, and no tourists were harmed. Many, in fact,
took advantage of the opportunity to be photographed with the rebels and
San Cristóbal remains one of the most restful and enjoyable places in
the republic to spend a few days doing very little, with an
infrastructure set to cater for its young, predominantly European
visitors
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