Her real name is unknown. Ramona was, alongside Subcomandante Marcos, one of the main symbols and leaders of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in the insurgent state of Chiapas, Mexico. A Tzotzil Indian, she joined the group before the armed uprising in January 1994. A prominent figure in the fight for the rights of indigenous women, she was the first member of the Zapatista command to leave the region in 1996 to participate in a conference in Mexico City. She passed away in January 2006 after a ten-year battle with kidney cancer.