MEXICO CITY - Mexico's leftist Zapatista rebels issued an order Monday closing their offices and sending their leaders into hiding, but did not explain why. The order appeared to come in response to some perceived threat, but the statement, signed by rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos, said only that the decision was made to move local rebel officials to "ensure their safety." "We are evacuating the members of governing councils and autonomous authorities to ensure their safety. For an undetermined amount of time, they will carry out their work clandestinely," the statement said. The Zapatistas, who champion the cause of Indian rights, have complained of government attempts to co-opt their movement through aid programs, but there was little to suggest that officials were planning to launch a military attack. The rebels, however, also fear potential attacks by conservative Indian communities and organizations which the rebels have described as paramilitary groups. Attacks are often motivated by disputes over land and other natural resources in the poverty-stricken mountains of Chiapas. Marcos, the military commander of the movement based in Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost state, called for all rebel combatants to return to their bases, and suspended broadcasts by tiny rebel radio stations. They also asked foreign supporters to leave rebel communities, or "to stay, at their own risk." | Sounds to me like they are planning to launch an offensive |
In a statement issued Sunday, Marcos broke off fragile relations with the Chiapas government and criticized leftist Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the front-runner ahead of presidential elections in 2006. Also mentioned as a possible affront to the Zapatistas was a Monday announcement that about Mexican troops had destroyed a total of 9 acres of marijuana plants in rebel-controlled territory. The rebels oppose any military presence, and also deny there are any drugs or contraband in their communities. The Zapatista movement operated in secrecy for about a decade between its founding in November 1983 and its brief armed uprising in January, 1994. The rebels and the government entered a cease-fire that month that has largely held since. |