This article discusses the social and political crisis in Mexico resulting from the uprising of Chiapas peasants of Indian ancestry. By revealing a different image of Mexico at a crucial moment in its history, the Zapatista army re-actualizes the contrast and contradictions characterizing this country. By alternating and comparing issues related to the representation and the historico-political facts raised by this crisis, I open new spaces of discussion and relocate such issues in a broader context. The ultimate goal and challenge of this article is thus one of finding new spaces of legibility, thereby allowing for the recognition of the issues raised by the Chiapas uprising despite the unreceptive climate created by the new world order.