Copyright 1993 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 05-Jan-94 ***
Title: MEXICO: Short-lived rebellion may become a chronic problem
By Eduardo Molina
MEXICO CITY, Jan 5 (IPS) - The indigenous uprising in Mexico's
southern state of Chiapas may now be under control, but analysts
fear that the situation could become a ''chronic problem''since
the rebels' presence is still felt strongly in the area.
Officials say the Mexican army has recovered seven municipal
towns occupied by rebels of the 'Zapata National Liberation Army'
(EZLN) for the past four days. For the moment, the armed conflict
seems to be confined to the region where it broke out.
Observers say the rebels, who may have numbered from two to
three thousand, were no match for the more than 15,000 government
troops who counted on air and artillery support.
The uprising was successfully contained due to the military's
rapid and relentless response and the refusal of Mexico's
political parties to support the rebels' demands.
The EZLN, which sought to overthrow the present government,
called on all political groups to ''form a coalition and create
a transition government until free and democratic elections can
be held' and socio-economic reforms can be implemented.
A report by Mexico's Interior Ministry says authorities had
called for caution in dealing with the rebels because they were
aware of the delicate social situation involved.
But the cautious position adopted by authorities, who admitted
the serious social and economic problems that plagued Chiapas and
even proposed to hold peace talks, did not stop the military from
launching a big offensive.
Mexican Senator Blanca Ruth Esponda, who hails from Chiapas,
warned that the dialogue proposed Monday by Mexican President
Carlos Salinas would only be possible if a truce was reached.
She called on the rebels to surrender because their actions
were ''only worsening the problems they sought to resolve''.
A rebel leader identified only as 'Teco' told reporters late
Tuesday: ''We will never lay down our arms and we are ready to
sacrifice our lives.''
Sporting a camouflage uniform and ski mask to hide his face,
and equipped with modern communications equipment, Teco said:
''The armed struggle is the only path because it has been 10
years since the doors to all legal recourse has been closed to
the poor and we have had to go live in the mountains.''
''Only arms can change the situation of exploitation,
oppression and marginalisation that the indigenous groups and
farmers have been subjected to for the past 500 years,'' he said.
Though he admitted that the Mexican army was ''more powerful
than us, (the soldiers) are ideologically dead''.
Analysts say the rebellion, which was so surprising yet so
easy to explain, has made Mexicans realize the extreme situations
:the country is going through -- while impoverished peasants fight
for the right to a better life in the south, the north prepares
to welcome the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
They say signs of a rebellion in the making were already
evident last year, due to armed clashes between the insurgents
and the military in the region last May.
Sociologist Rodolfo Stavenhagen, researcher for Mexico's
National Autonomous University, said: ''The indigenous uprising
and its fatal consequences could have been prevented, but (in
Chiapas) life means nothing, particularly is one is Indian, a
farmer or poor''.
Stavenhagen said officials recognise only now that Chiapas
suffers from ''repression, racism, human rights violations,
greedy landlords, discrimination, unfair distribution of wealth
and the abuse of power''.
''But we have been hearing these complaints for decades and
authorities never did anything about them,'' he added.
''Now, with the focus on modernization and subsequent
capitalist expansion, these abuses have not disappeared -- they
have even worsened,'' he said.
Stavenhagen blamed ''those in power who knew that trouble was
brewing for months yet did not intervene, perhaps to use it to
crush the legitimate people's groups and destroy the farmers' and
indigenous movements''.
He has also called for a thorough investigation on the
rebellion, ''to find out how it came about and who manipulated
these movements and used the farmers for their own interests''.
(END/IPS/TRD-SP/EM/ER/CIR/93)
Origin: Manila/MEXICO/
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