Emiliano Zapata

Killed on 10 April 1919 at the Hacienda of Chinameca in Morelos in an ambush organized by government officers loyal to President Venustiano Carranza.

Overview

Emiliano Zapata led the peasant army of the south during the Mexican Revolution, fighting successive governments for the return of land to village communities. His Plan of Ayala of 1911 demanded land reform under the slogan of land and liberty. After breaking with Carranza he continued the struggle in Morelos. Colonel Jesus Guajardo, acting under General Pablo Gonzalez, lured Zapata to a meeting by feigning defection, and soldiers opened fire on him at Chinameca. His death did not end the agrarian cause, and land reform was written into the Constitution of 1917 and later expanded. The Zapatista movement of 1994 in Chiapas took its name from him.