Word: zapatistas
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...negotiators for the Zapatista National Liberation Army stood ready for betrayal. Through 10 days of talks with the Mexican government, 19 Chiapas rebel leaders kept their faces concealed by masks and bandannas. Their spokesman, the mysterious Subcomandante Marcos, strapped a gun on his hip and slung two bandoliers of cartridges over his shoulder. The precautions proved unnecessary: during round-the-clock talks, the government not only bargained in good faith, but gave in on all but the most outlandish rebel demands. The result was a tentative peace accord that is something of a landmark for Mexico...
...have found attentive ears willing to listen to our truth," remarked a Zapatista commander, before he and his colleagues returned to their mountain redoubts to seek ratification of the agreement from their followers. "This stage of dialogue has ended, and it is on a good path." Government peace commissioner Manuel Camacho Solis was equally enthusiastic: "Every time there was a rebellion, it always ended in a huge massacre of Indians. Here it is ending in dialogue." He insisted that there were "no winners or losers" at the bargaining table, but it is difficult not to see the Zapatistas as triumphant...
Salinas' delicate handling of the popular Zapatista demands has so far proved politically shrewd. He salvaged his reformist image, and his handpicked P.R.I. presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, retains a 60%-to-27% lead over his closest rival. But the policy could still backfire. There is widespread speculation that Camacho, a respected former mayor of Mexico City who was passed over in the presidential sweepstakes, might use the Zapatista negotiation as a springboard to an independent presidential bid. Many ruling party faithful blame Salinas' concessions in Chiapas for a sharp increase in strikes and demonstrations across the nation. Indians...
...Chiapas itself, there is no guarantee that the accord will pass muster among Zapatista supporters, and many point out that they have no assurances that the government's promises will last beyond the Aug. 21 elections. If the paper promises do not produce action, rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos vowed to launch another offensive in the Zapatista...
Negotiations opened between the Mexican government and members of the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army in the state of Chiapas. Both sides have already made concessions: the rebels have agreed to confine the talks to local issues, and the government's liaison has said a settlement to the uprising, begun on New Year's Day, would require "strengthening the institutions of the republic ... and a new treatment for indigenous communities all over the country...