Emiliano Zapata

Episode 5.5: Emiliano Zapata

From the rural backwater of Morelos State, Emiliano Zapata rose to national prominence during the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910. The leader of an army of poor peasants, he waged a struggle for land reform and democratic rights for the common people, who faced harassment and exploitation by the landed elite with their ever-expanding haciendas. Though he battled his way to the presidential palace in Mexico City, he faced his demise back in Morelos, where he strove to put into action the reforms for which he had fought.