NUEVO JERUSALEM, Mexico (AP) --Zapatista rebels are threatening to seize a ranch
and guest house owned by U.S. citizens and are running tourists out of parts of southern
Chiapas state -- an unexpected turn for a country whose fourth-largest income source is
tourism.

The conflict is part of the rebels' battle against foreign investment and
eco-tourism, the small-scale, environmentally friendly operations that were
supposed to help save the jungles where the Zapatistas have their last redoubts.

"We don't want any American tourists. ... We don't want any tourists at all,"
said Gabriel, a black-clad Zapatista guarding a roadblock near the ranch who
would give only his first name. "We don't want strangers coming around."

Over the last two weeks, Zapatista sympathizers have detained and threatened
a group of French and Canadian kayakers on a jungle river, blocked access to
Rancho Esmeralda, the U.S.-owned ranch and guesthouse, and allegedly
kidnapped and beat a ranch employee.

Those who suffer the most from this ideologically fueled battle may not be the
tourists, but the Mexicans who depend on tourism for their livelihood.

"This is an injustice. The government should solve this problem, but instead they
just let it go unpunished," said Ernesto Cruz, 21, a ranch employee who said he
was kidnapped and beaten for six hours last week by rebel supporters in the
nearby village of Nuevo Jerusalem.

Gabriel, the Zapatista, said Tuesday that Cruz was "detained for interrogation,"
but not beaten. The Zapatistas deny they have plans to seize the ranch, but say
they want to force out the owners, Idaho natives Glen Wersch and Ellen Jones,
and then decide what to do with the land.

That was the same message sent to a half-dozen French and Canadian
kayakers who set off Jan. 25 for a planned five-day trip down Chiapas' Jatate
River, which runs into the heart of the Lacandon jungle.

"They pulled us out of the water and held us for about four hours, locked up,"
said Ernesto Lopez, the kayakers' guide. "At first they were pretty threatening,
with machetes, and said they were going to burn the boats."

In the end, the villagers released them -- after one boater was forced to pay a
"fine" -- but Lopez said the rebel supporters told the group they couldn't
continue down the river, citing Zapatista positions against foreign investment
and tourism.

"I think they were easier on us because it was a group of French and
Canadians, but I don't know how it would have been if they were Americans. I
think it might have been tougher," Lopez said.

The dispute over the Americans' ranch now appears to be coming to a head.

Since mid-December, rebel sympathizers from the village of Nuevo Jerusalem
-- about 50 miles east of Chiapas' main tourist destination, the colonial city of
San Cristobal de las Casas -- have blocked roads leading to the ranch.

In the last week, they threatened employees and cut water lines, forcing the
ranch's guests to leave.

The American owners have vowed not to leave their property, but without
water, supplies or access, they're basically trapped on the 26-acre spread of
tropical flowers, coffee plants and macadamia groves.

"It's getting ugly," Wersch said by telephone. "But we're not walking away, at
least until we get compensated at fair market value."

Wersch and Jones came to Chiapas in 1993 after a two-year stint in the Peace
Corps in the Dominican Republic inspired them to mix environmentally friendly
agriculture with a tourist getaway. They set up cabins where guests could see
how coffee is grown and harvested -- and drink it as well.

Chiapas state officials have done little to protect the Americans. Police don't
enter rebel villages, fearing a violent rebel backlash if they do.

And when the U.S. government pressed Mexico to do more to protect the
Americans, Chiapas Gov. Roberto Albores accused the Americans of
provoking the rebels, because some ranch guests allegedly once wore
camouflage clothing.

Zapatista supporters frequently claim the tourists are spies or disguised
Mexican soldiers researching plans to attack rebel communities.

"They said our kayak helmets were military helmets, and our life vests were flak
jackets," said Lopez, the river guide.

In the rebels' view, tourism and investment -- in the jungle cabins and new
phone lines in rural areas -- are signs of a foreign effort to invade their land.

But some residents fear the rebels could end up betraying the goals of their
struggle, which began with a 1994 uprising aimed at improving conditions and
getting autonomy for Indian areas.

"Jobs are scarce," said Cruz, the ranch employee. "And if we lose these, there
might not be more."

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)