MEXICO CITY, Feb 20 (IPS) - Mexico's attorney-general announced on
Monday that if arrested, ''subcomandante Marcos''- leader of the
Zapatista rebels - would not be allowed to participate in peace
talks with the government.
According to attorney-general Antonio Lozano, the leader of the
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) will only be able to
participate in peace talks if Congress draws up an amnesty law and
Marcos takes advantage of it.
However, the attorney-general said that despite the arrest
warrant issued on Feb. 9, neither the army nor the police are
actively searching for Marcos - identified by authorities as
Rafael Guillen - in order to ''give time to political dialogue'',
as President Ernesto Zedillo said.
Last week Zedillo called for a special congressional session to
draw up a law that would offer amnesty to EZLN members who lay
down their arms, but no specific dates have yet been set.
The EZLN has failed to comment on the possible amnesty law but
analysts such as Luis Javier Garrido predict that the guerrillas
will not accept it because ''it would be like admitting they are
criminals.''
Meanwhile, analysts agree that far from leading to a prompt
solution to the conflict in the southern state of Chiapas, the
government's new 12-day-old strategy is causing tension to
heighten and pushing the rebels towards guerrilla warfare.
>From their jungle hide-outs, the EZLN has warned that the
ceasefire could break down at any moment, while in Mexico's cities
thousands of citizens have taken to the streets in support of the
rebels.
Although the government insists it is willing to negotiate with
the guerrillas and that the army has stopped advancing, reports
from Chiapas reveal that government military forces have continued
to advance on the jungle area to which the Zapatistas have fled
and that the arrest warrant for Marcos remains valid.
In their latest communique issued over the weekend, the EZLN
said it is willing to negotiate, but stated that it will only do
so if the army pulls back, a request that Zedillo has already said
he will not accept.
''The federal army continues to surround us. It is pushing us
towards a dead-end alley, to either die or fight. We will fight if
they force us to, we will carry out a guerrilla war is they don't
leave us any other option.
''We only expect lies, humiliation and death from the supreme
government,'' stated the EZLN.
According to the rebels, the situation in the hide-outs is
difficult as a number of indigenous families are living with them
after fleeing when the army entered their villages.
Analyst Eduardo Montes argued that the army strategy seems to
aim at surrounding the rebels and forcing them to come out of the
Lacandona jungle due to weariness and hunger.
For the third time in the last two weeks, over 50,000 people
took to the streets of Mexico's capital city on Saturday in
support of the EZLN, and similar demonstrations took place in
seven other cities.
The marchers, with painted faces and t-shirts reading ''we are
all Marcos, Marcos is all of us,'' chanted peace slogans and
messages of support for the rebels.
Polls reveal that the majority of the population questions the
military strategy launched by Zedillo on Feb. 9 when the army
began to ''recover'' EZLN-controlled areas and alleged rebel
leaders were detained.
A survey by the daily 'Reforma' indicated that 58 percent of
Mexicans disapprove of Zedillo's management of the Chiapas crisis
and 87 percent consider that in the last two weeks little or no
progress has been made towards a solution.
The survey also indicated that 64 percent of Mexicans think the
government should withdraw its troops from what was previously
EZLN territory in order to promote a peaceful solution to the
crisis.
Meanwhile, on Sunday anti-Zapatista ranchers and merchants in
Chiapas attacked the diocese of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, go-between
between the government and the EZLN, leaving 50 people wounded.
Spokespersons for the governing Institutional Revolutionary
Party have added their voices to those of the ranchers who are
calling for Ruiz to resign, as they claim he has ties to the
rebels, and even the government has failed to mention his name in
their recent offers for dialogue.
This has seemed to encourage Ruiz' enemies in Chiapas, who in
the absence of police control beat the bishop's followers and even
attempted to burn down the cathedral of San Cristobal de las
Casas, Chiapas' third largest city.
In the last few days local and foreign human rights
organisations, independent observers and religious groups in the
area of conflict have provided evidence that the army is carrying
out arbitrary detentions and violent raids on private homes.
The groups also report that the majority of the population of
the areas previously under guerrilla control have fled to EZLN
jungle refuges.
The National Intermediation Commission (CONAI) headed by Ruiz
has called for a stable truce by March at the latest and proposed
that agricultural issues, the question of autonomy, the problem of
displaced persons, justice, development and electoral reform be
included on the agenda for eventual peace talks.
The CONAI said that for this initiative to be feasible the EZLN
must be able to discuss the proposals for dialogue and the
government must allow guerrilla leaders for whom arrest warrants
have been issued to move about.
The EZLN stated that the necessary conditions for dialogue do
not exist as they are unable to communicate among themselves due
to ''government aggression.''
(end/ips/trd-so/dc/dg-ag/sw/95)
Origin: Montevideo/MEXICO/
----
Subject: IPS:Chiapas--Mass Exodus/Fear of Violence
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 21:21:44 -0800 (PST)
Title: MEXICO: Thousands Displaced in Recovery of Rebel Area
By Diego Cevallos
.............................................................
MEXICO CITY, Feb 21 (IPS) - The Mexican army's ''recovery'' of
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) controlled areas caused
a mass exodus of indigenous families into the Lacandona jungle,
where they have no food supplies and poor health conditions.
The government moved into the rebel-controlled area two weeks
ago, causing entire populations to flee for fear of torture and
abuse, with estimates from human rights organisations putting the
number of displaced persons at around the 20,000 mark.
Meanwhile, only a handful of the 20,000 presumed to have fled
when the conflict began in January 1994 have returned to accept
military protection and promises of government aid.
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo said the Mexican population
''appreciates the importance of the government recovering
sovereignty over parts of the country which have been beyond
federal authority for nearly 14 months.''
However, Bishop Samuel Ruiz - head of the official mediating
body - called for the immediate withdrawal of government troops
from the indigenous villages ''whose populations have taken
refuge in the jungles and mountains in subhuman conditions.''
Ruiz maintains that ''a rapid return to the negotiating
table'' is urgently needed, saying, ''we are very concerned by
the amount of time that's passing. People will start dying of
hunger, it's impossible to remain calm.''
''We don't know how many children have died because of the
conditions the people are living in ... these people have no food
and can't go back to work. The threat of future starvation will
increase unless the public sends help,'' he said.
The military advance which began on Feb 9 destroyed the social
system the Zapatistas created in the region when the movement was
formed some 11 years ago, with schools, food storage and
distribution networks and a radio communications system.
Human rights agencies recorded many incidents of torture and
mistreatment of indigenous people by the government troops.
The guerrillas are currently hiding out in the jungle. A
Congressional Commitee that visited the area said the ''physical
conditions'' necessary for negotiations between the EZLN and the
government are non-existant.
The Zapatistas have stated that they are ready to negotiate as
soon as the army withdraws to its previous positions, though
Zedillo's statements this weekend that the government would
''never abdicate'' its duty to maintain national sovereignty make
chances of this seem slim.
Furthermore, Attorney General Antonio Lozano pointed out that
guerrilla leaders could not attend negotiations unless an amnesty
is declared, as there are presently warrants out for their
arrests. (END/IPS/tra-so/dc/dm/sm/jt/np-pr/95)
Origin: San Jose/MEXICO/
----
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