Feminist to Know: Comandanta Ramona
Comandanta Ramona was a prominent Zapatista revolutionary who pioneered Indigenous women’s rights through armed conflict and organizing. Known for her small stature, iconic black ski mask, and red, embroidered huipils, the comandanta changed the course of movement history in the Americas.
Comandanta Ramona was born in 1959 in the highlands of Mexico’s Chiapas state, in a Tzotzil indigenous community. Before becoming a revolutionary, Ramona was an embroiderer. In Chiapas, power was held in the hands of wealthy, non-Indigenous estate owners, the military, and the state government. She lived under the derecho de pernada, which subjected women to state-sanctioned sexual violence at the hands of any of these power-holders.
Experiencing economic instability, patriarchal violence, and colonial control drove Comandanta Ramona to enlist with the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional), and she quickly rose through the ranks in their leadership body. One-third of the EZLN was reportedly made up of women revolutionaries, and Ramona was one of seven women who held the title of comandanta, indicating a senior leadership position in the liberation army.
During the 1994 Zapatista Uprising, Comandanta Ramona led the takeover of the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas. This and similar Zapatista actions led to national peace talks, during which Ramona famously told Mexican Senator Manuel Camacho, “We are Indigenous, and We are Mexican.” Two years later, she went on to help found the National Indigenous Congress, uniting Indigenous leadership across the country despite a state ban.
Most of Comandanta Ramona’s leadership centered on the particular position of Indigenous women within Mexican colonial control. She most famously helped author the EZLN’s Revolutionary Law of Women, which involved connecting with women across 32 autonomous municipalities. The purpose of the law was to demarcate and protect the rights of women, and included the following pillars:
"Women, regardless of race, creed, color, or political affiliation, have the right to participate in the revolutionary struggle to the extent and place that their will and ability determine."
"Women have the right to work and receive a fair wage."
"Women have the right to decide the number of children they can have and care for."
"Women have the right to participate in community affairs and hold office if they are freely and democratically elected."
"Women and their children have the right to primary health care and food."
"Women have the right to education."
"Women have the right to choose their partner and not to be forced into marriage."
"No woman may be beaten or physically abused by family members or strangers. The crimes of attempted rape or rape will be punished severely."
"Women will be able to hold leadership positions in the organization and hold military ranks in the revolutionary armed forces."
"Women shall have all the rights and obligations indicated by the revolutionary laws and regulations."
These articulated rights have informed feminist and revolutionary movements in the Americas for decades, including the reproductive justice movement. Though Comandanta Ramona lost a battle to cancer in January 2006, her legacy is one of advocacy, leadership, and fearless action in the face of intersectional oppression.