Mexico's Zapatistas reiterate popular movement call (fwd)

["Bryan A. Alexander" <bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx>]

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Bryan Alexander                                 Department of English
email: bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx                       University of Michigan
phone: (313) 764-0418                           Ann Arbor, MI  USA    48103
fax: (313) 763-3128                             http://www.umich.edu/~bnalexan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 96 16:10:01 -0800
From: Neighborhood Queen <clyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Multiple recipients of list <riot-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Mexico's Zapatistas reiterate popular movement call

Mexico's Zapatistas reiterate popular movement call
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d i BC-MEXICO-ZAPATISTA   01-28 0292
^BC-MEXICO-ZAPATISTA@
 ^Mexico's Zapatistas reiterate popular movement call@
    MEXICO CITY, Jan 28 (Reuter) - Mexico's Zapatista rebels,
reiterating their bid to evolve into a political force, urged
other sectors of society to join the popular freedom movement,
state-owned news agency Notimex reported on Sunday.
    Citing a Zapatista letter signed by the charismatic rebel
leader Subcommander Marcos, Notimex quoted Marcos saying the
movement should be ``wide, embracing and flexible, including
social, political and citizens organisations and also individual
citizens.''
    But Marcos said the movement should try to avoid becoming
too bureacratic and that the popular movement should aspire to
eliminate social inequalities.
    The call was made in a letter read at a low-key national
unity and dialogue forum in the Pacific coast resort of
Acapulco, Notimex said.
    Zapatista rebels took up arms against the goverment on Jan.
1, 1994, demanding indigenous rights and greater democracy. Soon
after a ceasefire was declared.
    Rebels have entered endless rounds of peace talks, seeking
their demands through dialogue rather than fighting a guerrilla
war in the remote jungle areas of the southern state of Chiapas.
    The most recent round of peace negotiations, held in the
Chiapas highlands, ended on Jan. 18 and reached a first
agreement on indigenous rights, although both sides are still to
ratify the accord.
    Zapatistas, largely of Mayan descent from the state that
borders Guatemala, said they needed the accord to be approved by
their indigenous leaders in remote jungle areas of Chiapas
before they could ratify the agreement.
    At least 145 people were killed in the early days of the
Zapatista uprising before the government called a unilateral
truce which was later also upheld by the guerrillas.
 ^REUTER@
Reut18:16 01-28-96

Reuter N:Copyright 1996, Reuters News Service


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