I think the difference between the two situations- chiapas and south
central-that makes one a riot and the other a rebellion/uprising, is that
the organized chiapas action is directed at an identified enemy, and not
simply unleashed at any convenient target. In a riot, as in south central, a
small shop keeper was more likely to be ruined than a corporate criminal,
and truly innocent people just passing or driving by, were beaten and
murdered.

The conditions that brought about a social reaction-explosion were similarly
unjust, but the form of those reactions were shaped by the social
conditions. In south central, despite what organized gangs may or may not
have done, disorganized mobs were more the order of the day. If Chomsky , or
you or I, had been driving through south central that night, we might have
had our asses kicked or been murdered.Only the government forces would do
that to us in chiapas.

fs