Zapatistas mark 13th anniversary

On Jan. 1, thousands of Zapatista rebels celebrated the 13th anniversary of their uprising against the Mexican government, dancing, singing and holding discussions on improving the status of poor indigenous people in the southern state of Chiapas. The meeting in the Zapatista village of Oventic, about 460 miles southeast of Mexico City in the southern state of Chiapas, drew some 2,000 people, mainly Mexicans. The aim of the gathering, which the Zapatistas said was fulfilled, was to share experiences of peaceful struggles against "neoliberal" free-market policies, in order to strengthen these efforts. The Zapatistas organized conference-style discussion sessions on indigenous autonomy, health, education, women's participation and experience, media, art, culture and land where representatives from the five rebel Zapatista regions took turns speaking on their experiences organizing village life without help or permission from the federal government. The ceremonies, which attracted hundreds of foreigners from numerous countries, began the night before under the stewardship of Subcomandante Marcos, the ski-masked, pipe-smoking Zapatista spokesperson. Participants saluted the Mexican and Zapatista flags, and held a large dance and ate traditional tamales and coffee. The Zapatistas seized the main city of San Cristobal de las Casas and other Chiapas communities in the name of autonomy and indigenous rights on Jan. 1, 1994. A cease-fire ended fighting between rebels and government forces after a few days, and the two sides have since maintained an uneasy truce. Marcos has continued to champion a quieter social revolution from the jungles of Chiapas, issuing missives harshly critical of Mexico's politicians and government policies. Speaking in the indigenous language of Tzotzil, Marcos recalled how the movement was founded to end the isolation and misery of the indigenous. It was the first time in many years that Marcos attended anniversary celebrations. He was escorted by several ski-masked members of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). In what was dubbed "The Other Campaign," the Zapatistas toured much of Mexico over the past six months in an attempt to bring together left-wing groups uninterested in electoral politics and to create a movement to press for constitutional change. Marcos said the Zapatistas would set out on a new tour in February. According to Mexico's state intelligence services, Marcos is Rafael Guillén, a former university professor with a degree in philosophy who turns 50 on June 19. The sources say he was a member of a guerrilla organization in the 1970s and went to Chiapas–Mexico's poorest state–in the early 1980s, where he and local indigenous people founded the EZLN. Although there is broad consensus that Marcos is Guillén, he has consistently denied such reports. The Zapatistas control a small area in the jungles of Chiapas, where they remain hemmed in by the military. In the impoverished indigenous villages under their influence, they have set up a system of autonomous government, with their own authorities, schools, health centers and production systems. Around 12 million of Mexico's 103 million people identify themselves as indigenous.