Some Events in the History of Mexico and the Border 1910 - Beginning of Epic Revolution, triggered by unrest amongst peasants and urban workers, who are led by Emiliano Zapata. Voice of the Mexican revolution: Emiliano Zapata 1911 - Mexico's dictator, Porfirio Diaz, is overthrown. The new president is Francisco Madero, a liberal. Madero introduces land reform and labour legislation. Political unrest continues with Zapata leading a peasant revolt in the south. 1913 - Madero is assassinated. Victoriano Huerta seizes power. 1914 - Huerta resigns. He is viewed with suspicion by the United States for his alleged pro-German sympathies. Huerta is succeeded by Venustiano Carranza. 1916 - Carranza gives US forces permission to cross the border in pursuit of the guerrilla leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa. 1917 - US forces withdraw, having failed to kill Villa. A new constitution is adopted, which is designed to ensure permanent democracy in Mexico. 1920 - Carranza is murdered. Civil war follows. The PRI 1929 - The National Revolutionary Party is formed. In 1946 it is re-named the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. 1934 - President Lazaro Cardenas begins programme of oil nationalisation, land reform and industrial expansion. 1940 - Leon Trotsky murdered in Mexico. 1942 - Mexico declares war on Japan and Germany. 1960s - Unrest amongst peasants and labourers over unequal wealth distribution is suppressed. Mexico City: Home to 19 million 1968 - Student demonstration in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, during the Olympic Games is fired upon by Mexican security forces. Hundreds of protestors are killed or wounded. The extent of the violence shocks the country. 1976 - Huge oil reserves discovered in southern state of Chiapas. 1985 - Earthquake in Mexico City kills thousands and makes many more homeless. 1993 - Mexican parliament ratifies the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the US and Canada. The Chiapas rebellion 1994 - A guerrilla rebellion in Chiapas by the Zapatista National Liberation Army is brutally suppressed by government troops. The rebels oppose NAFTA and want greater recognition for Indian rights. The government recognises the Zapatista National Liberation Front (EZLN). 1994 August - Presidential elections won by PRI candidate Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, after the previous candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, was murdered. The stock market plunges in December, the peso loses a third of its value. 1995 - Former President Carlos Salinas goes into exile after his brother Raul Salinas is connected with Colosio's murder. Chiapas guerrilla leader Subcomandante Marcos 1995 November - The government and the EZLN reach an agreement on greater autonomy for the indigenous Mayans of Chiapas. 1996 - The insurgency in the south escalates as the leftist Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) attacks government troops. PRI loses majority 1997 - The PRI suffers heavy losses in elections and loses its overall majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time since 1929. 1997 December - 45 Indians killed by paramilitary gunmen in a Chiapas village. The incident causes an international outcry, President Zedillo starts an investigation. Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano erupts in January 2001 1998 January - Governor of Chiapas resigns. Peace talks with the rebels are reactivated, but break down at the end of the year. 2000 July - Vicente Fox of the opposition Alliance for Change wins presidential elections, the first opposition candidate ever to do so. Parliamentary elections see the Alliance for Change emerge as the strongest party, beating the PRI by the narrow margin of just over 1%. 2000 December - Fox is sworn in as president. 2001 February - The new US president George W Bush visits Fox for the first foreign trip of his presidency. 2001 March - Zapatista guerrillas, led by Subcomandante Marcos, stage their 'Zapatour', a march from Chiapas to Mexico City to highlight their demands. 2001 April - The Mexican parliament passes a bill increasing the rights of indigenous people. A few days later, Subcomandante Marcos rejects the bill, saying it leaves the Indian population worse off than before. Marcos says the uprising in Chiapas will continue. To find out more information about the history of the border and this timeline, check out this website.