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Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 19:56:20 -0700
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From: Major Void <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Subject: EZLN and Civil Society Urge Respect for Indigenous Rights
Title: MEXICO: EZLN and Civil Society Urge Respect for Indigenous Rights
By Pilar Franco
MEXICO CITY, May 11 (IPS) - The Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
in Mexico and 2,000 representatives of civil society underlined respect for
indigenous rights as a prerequisite for peace and change in Mexican society.
After two years of keeping out of the public eye, the EZLN's charismatic
leader 'subcomandante Marcos' brought to a close Monday the Zapatistas'
second gathering with representatives of organisations of civil society.
Some 2,000 peasants, trade unionists, students, intellectuals and street
children were convened by the Zapatistas in a rural village of the
municipality of 'La Realidad' - a bastion of the guerrilla group - in the
southeastern state of Chiapas.
As they entered and left La Realidad, participants were questioned and
frisked by security agents searching for weapons and trying to sniff out
foreigners, who were banned from taking part in the gathering.
The meeting was focused on the results of a Mar 21 informal nationwide
referendum, in which 2.5 million Mexicans voted in favour of respect for
the rights of indigenous people and an end to the government's
''low-intensity war'' against the EZLN.
The Zapatistas and non-governmental organisations agreed to divulge the
results of the referendum.
They also reiterated their call for Congress to approve a Law on Indigenous
Culture and Rights drafted in 1996 by members of the parliamentary peace
commission (Comision de Concordia y Pacificacion - COCOPA).
The law is part of the San Andres Accords signed by the government of
Ernesto Zedillo and the EZLN, and later disregarded by the government.
The Zedillo administration's attitude led to a suspension of the peace
talks in September 1996. The EZLN accused the government of standing in the
way of resumption of the negotiations, and opted for dialogue with civil
society.
The EZLN first appeared on the scene on Jan 1, 1994, engaging in just 12
days of fighting with the army before an armed truce was agreed.
The participants in the gathering in La Realidad left the area with the aim
of creating an alternative nationwide network of information and
participation ''so we won't remain silent, and they won't touch any of us
without us finding out,'' said Marcos.
Prior to the referendum, around 5,000 unarmed, masked rebels toured the
country, urging people to come out and vote.
Through the Mar 21 referendum, ''we have found other pieces that help us
imagine a bigger and more powerful'' legal mechanism that would permit the
recognition of indigenous people, said Marcos.
Respect for indigenous rights is a prerequisite for any change in the
political and social life of Mexico, the participants in the gathering agreed.
Mexico's indigenous groups, which account for around 10 million of the
country's 96 million inhabitants, make up the most marginalised and
impoverished sector of society.
In Mexico there are more than 13,000 villages and towns where more than 70
percent of residents speak indigenous languages.
Nearly one-third of indigenous people have not finished primary school,
51.6 percent of indigenous housing lacks electricity, and 90.4 percent
lacks sewerage, according to official reports.
Flanked by indigenous commanders Moises and Tacho, Marcos expressed his
gratitude for the strength society gave the rebels who promoted the
referendum all over the country.
Labourers, homemakers, peasants and tenant farmers, people ''without faces
and without names, made such a big mobilisation possible,'' he said.
Marcos said that together, the EZLN and civil society would support
''struggles whereever they are.
''Together let us support the resistance to the privatisation of the
state-owned electric industry, as well as the students on strike in the
National Autonomous University of Mexico'' protesting hikes in fees, he added.
The day before the meeting, President Zedillo said the EZLNn would sooner
or later understand that no provocation or incident would force the
government to fall into the temptation to crack down on the insurgent movement.
The president reiterated his ''infinite patience'' until ''the other side
understands that there is no other route but dialogue.''
(END/IPS/tra-so/pf/mj/sw/99)
Origin: Montevideo/MEXICO/
c] 1999, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
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