Santiago El Pinar | Chiapas: State of Revolution

Photo by Andrea Martinez / Cronkite Borderlands Project

Santiago El Pinar

By Erin O'Connor / Cronkite Borderlands Project

Published Sept. 25, 2014

The Chiapas government had plans to create sustainable cities throughout the state. But now, most of those cities don't even exist.

Reynaldo Arias Ruiz, a director of the Maya Vinic coffee cooperative, holds ripened coffee cherries in his hand. The cherries will be laid out to dry and then processed in amill before they are packaged and exported. (Photo by Brittany Elena Morris.)

Economic challenges of fair trade coffee

The fair trade coffee industry is booming internationally, but Chiapas' indigenous coffee growers still struggle to make ends meet.

A street in Santiago el Pinar leads past the empty houses of the city. (Photo by Andrea Martinez.)

Model city turns into ghost town

The Chiapas government had plans to move highlanders into modern life. But their efforts have thus far proved unsuccessful.

A slide is one of the many pieces of infrastructure in Santiago El Pinar that go unused. (Photo by Erin O'Connor.)

Santiago El Pinar

The Chiapas government had plans to create sustainable cities throughout the state. But now, most of those cities don't even exist.

Virgil Edwards reaches for the stump of a plum tree. The tree was one of 1,000 the invaders cut down for firewood. (Photo by Connor Radnovich.)

An invasion, a battle and a vision

One man fights alone to save the land he grew up on from an indigenous population that claims it as their own.

Doña Mercedes gives Maria Lopez Mendoza, then six months pregnant, a massage to check on her baby. (Photo by Alex Lancial.)

Midwives combine science and tradition

In rural Chiapas, the traditional and scientific knowledge of a midwife are the utmost necessity for expectant mothers.

Lesvia Entzin Gómez tells reporters in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mex., about the day in July 2013 when her husband shot and blinded her. (Photo by Laurie Liles.)

A ‘life free of violence’ for Chiapas women

Activists are attempting to curb the rampant violence against the women of Chiapas in a slow and arduous uphill battle.

A basketball court sits in front of the municipal building in Zinacantán, Chiapas, Mexico. Basketball courts are often near government, religious or educational buildings in the Chiapas highlands. (Photo by Jessie Wardarski.)

Court order: Basketball binds government, people

Mexico's government and indigenous have rarely seen eye to eye. But one man is using basketball to change that.

As the freight train, 'La Bestia' pulled into the 'station' in Arriaga, Chiapas Mexico, a large group of mainly young men gathered waiting for the conductors to finish connecting several cars before they climbed on top Friday March, 8, 2014. (Photo by Jessie Wardarski.)

Shelter operators heed calling to aid migrants

Central American migrants travel thousands of miles to the U.S., often without rest. Two shelters are trying to make the journey easier.

Samuel Carcamo admits he may die traveling through the U.S., but he's doing it anyway to help his family. (Photo by Jessie Wardarski.)

Central American minors pushed north

Thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America are flooding the Southwestern U.S. in hopes for a better life.

Moises and his family live in a festive painted blue house with one twin mattress they take turns sleeping on. (Photo by Brittany Elena Morris.)

NAFTA fails farmers in southern Mexico

The plans for NAFTA were successful near the border, but things are different in southern Mexico.

The sign at the gate to Caracol Morelia depicts the Zapatista lifestyle - production and agriculture, health and education. Visitors to the caracoles, the independent Zapatista communities, need to be approved by the Council of Good Governance before entry. (Photo by Connor Radnovich.)

Zapatistas' slow revolution creates global appeal

The Zapatista ideal moves slowly in Chiapas, but their vision has become an inspiration for revolutions around the world.

A haze over the Los Angeles skyline. Agreements between California and Mexico aim to reduce carbon emissions while preserving forests and protecting indigenous people. (Photo by Carolina Lopez)

Climate-change in California-Chiapas to see new life

A stalled proposal allowing California to exceed pollution limits by paying to protect rain forests in Chiapas now sees hope for gains.