The important and exemplary role that Internet technology played in enhancing the publicity campaign of the Chiapas insurgents in their struggle for political reform in Mexico, is the focus of this thesis. By examining the Internet as an alternative distribution network for Subcomandante Marcos' communiques, it can be conjectured that the technology provided him with a space through which his voice could be heard in the international political arena. It was a space both external to Mexican government control, and through which Macros disseminated a powerful discourse representing the insurgents' political goals and grievances--one contrary to that being transmitted by the state-controlled media. Internet technology, it can be argued, generated the necessary national and international public consciousness, opinion, scrutiny and support for the Chiapas insurgents, that ultimately transformed their conflict with the Mexican government from a violent war of arms, to one of peaceful negotiation and dialogue.

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