The New York Times January 2, 1998

A New Year of Frustrations Dawns for Mexico's Indian Rebels

By IAN FISHER

OVENTIC, Mexico -- At midnight four years ago to the day, bands of masked guerrillas, some armed, others carrying only sticks, streamed from the mountains and jungles of southern Mexico.

They invaded four major towns as their articulate leader, Subcommander Marcos, proclaimed a fight for autonomy for the nation's 10 million Indians. At least 145 people died in the battles of the first few days of the uprising.

There was nothing so dramatic this New Year's Day. Members of the Zapatista National Liberation Army are still masked -- several hundred Zapatistas kept bandanas wrapped around their faces while they danced at an anniversary celebration in Oventic early Thursday morning. But the commemoration seemed muted in the face of so many setbacks.

Most recent was the massacre last week of 45 Tzotzil Indians, Zapatista sympathizers, in a hamlet not far from here. But on a broader scale, the Zapatistas are still outmanned and outgunned in the face of the recent rise of paramilitary groups hostile to their cause and the increased deployment of the Mexican military, especially since the massacre. Peace accords that would have given greater rights and autonomy to Indians have still not been put in place.

Several Zapatistas in this small stronghold said they were frustrated that more had not changed in four years.

"Only a little has happened," said one of the masked men, who would give only his first name, Jacobo. "They treat us better. They recognize that we need schools, highways, food, health care. But that's not enough. We are very poor. It is very grave."

For the first two anniversaries of the uprising, Subcommander Marcos, who became a cult figure in leftist circles and whose real name is not known, appeared at celebrations deep in the Lacandon rain forest. But the last two years, he has not shown up in person, and this year the speculation was that rising tensions since the massacre have made it far too risky.

Marcos did issue a communique, read at a Zapatista cultural center in Oventic in a deep fog and chilly rain just before midnight. He did not offer any new initiatives and did not declare any intention to repeat the violence in 1994.

"The principal arm of the Zapatistas, and what most bothers the federal government, is our words," the statement said. "We continue speaking. That means we continue fighting."

But Marcos acknowledged that talks had failed, calling for a renewal of the formal negotiations and asking that the government put into effect a set of initiatives agreed on almost two years ago that would have granted Indians the right to their own forms of government in their own towns, as well as allowing education in their own languages and greater political representation.

The chief negotiator for President Ernesto Zedillo has announced his intention to put new proposals on the table in the coming days. But several Zapatistas at the Oventic celebration said they were growing increasingly frustrated at what they said was the government's inaction.

They said that barring new progress in the talks, fighting should begin again despite the thousands of army troops now in place around Chiapas' rugged countryside.

"If the government does not understand our struggle, we will have to get arms again," said Manuel Gonzalez Santiz, a 39-year-old Zapatista who lives in Acteal, the municipality where the massacre occurred.

But as if to underscore the chief problem of the Zapatistas -- the deep poverty of the Indians who make up their ranks -- Gonzalez added, "I don't have a gun because I don't have any money." Then he asked several reporters for a donation.

As the speeches and dancing began to wind down late into the night, another Zapatista, who would give his name only as Emiliano, said life for Indians had actually worsened since 1994 because of what he called repression by army troops in Chiapas. He also said he was frustrated by the halt in talks with the government. But he said he began the new year with a sense of hope things will get better.

"They can never conquer the whole community," he said. "Because we are too many."