Mexico - Mexican rebel leader calls for new political alliance (Subcomandante Marcos / Zapatistas)

Agencia EFE ^ | August 7, 2005

[HAL9000]

San Rafael, Mexico, Aug 7 (EFE).- Subcomandante Marcos, leader of Mexico's Zapatista rebels, said early Sunday he would like to form an alliance with grassroots organizations and launch "another campaign" to take on the traditional political parties at the national level, including leftist parties.

The proposal came after Marcos appeared in public for the first time in five years on Saturday and accused leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of "treason." Wearing a ski mask and escorted by five people, Marcos appeared at a rally in the village of San Rafael, in the southern state of Chiapas, to discuss a wide-ranging political platform with representatives of non-governmental, peasant and labor organizations.

In a 90-minute speech, the leader of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) warned Lopez Obrador, the frontrunner in polls for the July 2006 presidential election, and his leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), that the Zapatistas would work against him in every way.

"Attendees at these meetings must be honest, and if they are with Lopez Obrador, they can't be with the EZLN," Marcos said.

The guerrilla leader fired his first salvo at Lopez Obrador in June, saying in a statement that Lopez Obrador's pledge of "macroeconomic stability" would translate into "growing profits for the rich; poverty and scraps for the dispossessed." Marcos told those taking part in the gathering that the EZLN would tour the different regions of Mexico in the next few months "to listen to the people" and launch a campaign as a counterweight to the traditional parties.

"We want to hear the people and see if it is possible to join our struggle with theirs, but the other campaign is not about laying down a line, or promoting the armed struggle, it's about asking what people think," Marcos said.

The dates and places of the national tour will be determined "after September," the guerrilla leader said.

The overwhelmingly Indian Zapatistas launched an armed "rebellion" in January 1994, the military phase of which lasted only a few days.

Then they retreated into a few villages in rural Chiapas, where the government has not pursued them, to engage in political activity.

Despite having few battles to their credit, the Zapatistas, particularly the media-savvy Marcos, have been highly effective at creating and maintaining a public profile and attracting international support.

[joesnuffy]

Right wing death squad narco terrorists...vs the left wing death squad narco terrorists..

Who will control the drug trafficking and people smuggling into el Norte

[Cindy]

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BD6F4CF96-E7E2-46E8-A493-3966A5C6204F%7D&language=EN

"Zapatista Rebels Want to Shake Mexico"

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Mexico, Sep 19 (Prensa Latina) The 2006 "other campaign" organized by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) will shake up the country from below, pick it up, and turn it on its head, announced rebel spokesman Subcomandante Marcos.

Marcos announced the route of the Zapatista delegation that will tour the nation to build a new political alternative for Mexico, which will begin in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas on January 1 and continue until June 24."


ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "He emphasized that as of September 11, 55 progressive political organizations, 103 indigenous organizations and 162 social movements had joined the Sixth Declaration of Sierra Lacandona.

In this Sixth Declaration and the "Other Campaign" the EZLN is putting on the line its life, survival as an organization, its moral authority and advances, Marcos noted."

hr/ymr/mpm/ccs