BY MORRIS THOMPSON
 Herald World Staff

 MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's Zapatista rebels Wednesday proclaimed an end to their armed struggle in the state of Chiapas and the beginning of a purely political effort for Indian self-rule.

 "Our warriors have done their job,'' Commander Esther, a leader of the group, told hundreds of legislators. "The person speaking to you is not the military leader of a rebel army, but the political leadership of a legitimate movement.''

 The plea for improved Indian rights came at an unusual, largely theatrical appearance in which rebels in ski masks addressed the half-empty Mexican Congress.

 Mexican President Vicente Fox has endorsed the rebels' calls for constitutional change, but most members of his political party, the National Action Party, boycotted Wednesday's session.

 The rebel group's leaders have monopolized the political stage since they arrived in the Mexican capital nearly three weeks ago amid huge media fanfare.

 Critics charge that Fox's focus on seeking a peace agreement with the rebels has undercut efforts to pursue a broader reform agenda. In any case, the fighting in Chiapas died down months ago.

 The group's charismatic military leader, Subcommander Marcos, who has gained the stature of a romantic revolutionary leader at home and abroad, surprised observers by skipping the session.

 Instead, the main speaker was Commander Esther, a Tzotzil Indian. In a 40-minute speech, she said Marcos had fulfilled his mission of getting the group a platform in the Congress. She implied that she and the 22 other masked rebel commanders lounging in the chamber's front row outranked Marcos and said they would be guiding the political fight.

 "We are the commanders,'' she said. "He is a subcommander.''

 For weeks, Marcos had been at the center of a political circus over whether Congress should receive rebel leaders clad in ski masks. After an appeal by Fox, the rebel group was permitted to speak to senators and congressmen from the rostrum of Mexico's equivalent of the U.S. House of Representatives.

 Observers noted that Esther's speech was filled with poetic metaphors and ironic comments that strongly resemble of Marcos' speaking and writing style, suggesting he has not retired from the scene.

 Esther was one of seven Zapatista speakers who appealed to Congress to right the wrongs endured by Mexico's Indians since the Spanish conquest 500 years ago.

                                    © 2001