More than 25,000 women, children, and men of all ages, wearing masks and brandishing machetes, came streaming into the city of San Cristobal to call on the indigenous people of Mexico to maintain their autonomy without the permission of the government, to express publicly that the Zapatista communities will not accept the forced removals of people living in the zone of Montes Azules, and to emphasize the importance of a global resistance to imperialism.

A blockade of the borders by a farm union was called off at the last moment, but the fear remains that the lifting of Mexican tariffs on farm products from the US (the 3rd stage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2003) will devastate small farmers, ranchers and campesinos.

Zapatista leaders re-emerge in Chiapas, blast Mexican gov't Mexico City, Jan 2 (EFE).- Zapatista leaders appeared in public following the ninth anniversary of their uprising to criticize politicians and reaffirm the rebels' commitment to freedom, justice and Indian rights. Seven "comandantes" of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) appeared unexpectedly at the end of a march in San Cristobal de las Casas in which 15,000-20,000 Zapatista supporters, most of them masked, took part. Protesters congregated Wednesday night at the town's Cathedral Plaza to commemorate the uprising and occupation the EZLN staged on behalf of Indian rights on Jan. 1, 1994, in the colonial-era town in impoverished Chiapas state. It was the first time the EZLN leaders appeared in public since the march of early 2001 that concluded with their addressing Mexico's lower house of Congress on behalf of an Indian rights and culture law. The insurgent leaders underscored their loyalty to Subcomandante Marcos, the EZLN's principal spokesman, and denying rumors that the movement is breaking up. Comandantes David and Tacho blasted Mexico's political parties for adopting a version of the indigenous rights and culture law that did not include all the provisions the Indians wanted. They also disparaged the social programs the federal government is conducting in Chiapas. David accused Peace Commissioner Luis Alvarez of implementing social programs with the sole intent of dividing the people and vowed not to allow him to move around freely in territory where the EZLN is active. Tacho, for his part, accused the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), traditionally the most supportive of Zapatista causes, of fearing the power the guerrilla group might command should it become a legal political party. During the EZLN's march on the capital, the PRD realized the support the group enjoys and now "fears losing its clientele," he said. At the rally in San Cristobal, thousands of Tzotzil, Tzeltzal, Chole, Tojolabal and Zoque Indians from different parts of the state raised their staffs and machetes defiantly. Comandante Esther attacked the "threats of eviction" of Indian squatters from the Montes Azules environmental preserve in Chiapas and apostrophized Mexican President Vicente Fox, asking, "Where is peace?" and warning, "The people have wised up to your lies." She was apparently alluding to statements by then-candidate Fox during the 2000 presidential campaign to the effect that if elected, he would resolve the conflict in Chiapas within minutes. The demonstration, the largest in nine years, ended at midnight amid lighted torches and the sound of machetes pounding the floor. Zapatista leaders broke their long silence in December, when Marcos published a letter attacking Spanish authorities for seeking to ban a political party linked to the armed Basque separatist organization ETA, which has killed more than 800 people in its 33-year campaign for an independent Basque state. EFE ehc/mp/dr Other photos: http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104007 - Reuniendose para la marcha (18/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104006 - Reuniendose para la marcha (17/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104005 - Reuniendose para la marcha (16/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104004 - Reuniendose para la marcha (15/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104003 - Reuniendose para la marcha (14/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104002 - Reuniendose para la marcha (13/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=104001 - Reuniendose para la marcha (12/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103999 - Reuniendose para la marcha (11/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103998 - Reuniendose para la marcha (10/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103997 - Reuniendose para la marcha (09/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103996 - Reuniendose para la marcha (09/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103995 - Reuniendose para la marcha (08/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103994 - Reuniendose para la marcha (07/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103993 - Reuniendose para la marcha (06/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103991 - Reuniendose para la marcha (05/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103990 - Reuniendose para la marcha (01/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103989 - Reuniendose para la marcha (04/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103988 - Reuniendose para la marcha (03/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103987 - Reuniendose para la marcha (02/18) http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=103986 - Reuniendose para la marcha (01/18)

Mexican Zapatistas celebrate 9th anniversary with anti-government protests ALEJANDRO RUIZ; Associated Press Writer SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico Associated Press Worldstream January 1, 2003 Wednesday Thousands of Zapatistas thronged the streets of this historic colonial city Wednesday to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the rebel group's uprising against a government that they say continues to betray them. Carrying machetes and wearing their trademark ski masks, the Zapatistas rolled into town aboard more than 200 trucks and buses for the first joint celebration of the rebels' takeover of San Cristobal and several other towns on Jan. 1, 1994. At least 57 people died in battles between the Zapatistas and government troops during the short-lived rebellion. The rebels have waged a peaceful struggle since then. Previous anniversaries had been celebrated in individual villages; this year's event brought together more than 15,000 Zapatista sympathizers from towns throughout the region, some as far as 300 kilometers (185 miles) away. In a march to the city's central plaza, the rebels knocked their machetes together and against the asphalt pavement, yelling chants in favor of Indian rights and against the government as intrigued visitors to this popular vacation city snapped photos or shied away intimidated. Among the rebels were women carrying small babies in their arms. Some protesters carried banners critical of President Vicente Fox that read "Fox equals Zedillo," a reference to former President Ernesto Zedillo, who took office just weeks before the 1994 uprising. Fox made the Zapatistas his first priority after he assumed the presidency in December 2000, closing a number of military bases in rebel territory and backing an Indian rights bill championed by the Zapatistas. Led by leader Subcomandante Marcos, the rebels and hundreds of their supporters made a two-week pilgrimage to Mexico City in March 2001 in favor of the bill. But the Congress passed a watered-down version of the bill that the Zapatistas unanimously rejected. Marcos had been silent for more than a year before he resurfaced last November with a letter published in the newspaper La Jornada that blasted all of Mexico's political parties and criticized Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon. Garzon is perhaps best known for his effort to bring former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to trial for human rights abuses. This latest communique drew criticism from Mexican intellectuals who previously had supported Marcos and his cause. Last month, the peace envoy in charge of negotiating an end to the 9-year-old conflict between the government and the Zapatistas said that Zapatista rebel commanders had lost the trust of many of their supporters. "I think Marcos has been left behind," Luis Alvarez said. In his November letter, Marcos denied the pro-Indian movement was "finished," but did acknowledge that the National Zapatista Liberation Army was suffering from "disorganized rebellions." In 1994, the rebels timed their takeover of San Cristobal and other towns to coincide with the day the North American Free Trade agreement went into effect. Since then, the Zapatistas have become icons for the so-called anti-globalization movement worldwide. On Wednesday, as they celebrated their ninth anniversary, key elements of NAFTA went into effect as tariffs on nearly 80 U.S. agricultural goods dropped from 49 percent to zero. Mexican farmers groups have complained that without the tariffs they won't be able to compete with their U.S. counterparts. Major farm groups had threatened to block bridges along the length of the U.S.-Mexican border on Wednesday to protest the dropped tariffs but backed down after the government promised to work on a national accord in favor of farmers. Despite the agreement, an organization representing other Mexican farm groups held small protests against NAFTA on New Year's Eve on the border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas. A dozen of the protesters also began what they said would be three days of fasting.

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