This article examines the evolution of the negative conditions which have characterized the lives of the campesinos of the region located between Ocosingo and the edge of eastern Chiapas during the last decades. It was those conditions which generated the profound social conflict that resulted in the armed uprising known as the zapatista movement. In addition, it considers the nature of the previous experience, organization, and structure that the movement possessed and the manner in which these factors influenced the struggle Alemán