What did the slogan Tierra y Libertad mean to Zapata and his followers?

For Emiliano Zapata and his followers, the slogan "Tierra y Libertad" ("Land and Liberty") served as a foundational call for agrarian justice during the Mexican Revolution.1

The meaning was deeply rooted in the struggle against the hacienda system, which had systematically appropriated lands from peasant villages. To the Zapatistas, the slogan represented:21

• Land Reform: The primary objective was to return stolen land to the ejidos—the traditional communal system of landownership. This was formalized in the Plan of Ayala, which vowed to expropriate hacienda lands to restore them to the peasantry.1
• Liberty and Autonomy: Beyond physical land, the slogan embodied the fight for the dignity and independence of rural communities against oppressive political regimes and landowners. It reflected a commitment to self-determination, where peasants could farm their own land and live free from the exploitation of the hacienda system.1

Zapata sought to put these ideals into practice by establishing agrarian commissions, creating the country's first agricultural credit organization, and organizing cooperatives.1