Subcomandante Marcos, "We are indigenous and we are Mexicans"
Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos, the rebel leader who champions indigenous rights in Mexico, left his Chiapas jungle hide-out last night with thousands of Indian supporters to begin a march to the capital. Speaking to supporters massed in San Cristobal on the eve of the Zapatista's two-week march to Mexico City to demand greater respect for the human rights of Indians, Marcos told the crowd: "We are indigenous and we are Mexicans."
The masked Marcos spoke near midnight, several hours later than planned, after the Catholic diocese revealed it had received a telegram with a death threat against him. He and 23 rebel commanders are travelling unarmed. State officials announced that 1,600 security troops would accompany the march, which departs from San Cristobal later today. But there was evidence of police protection at Saturday's event.
An estimated 10,000 people or more packed into San Cristobal's historic church plaza which overflowed with rebel sympathisers in ski masks, bandannas and traditional dress. They crowded together journalists, tourists and foreign workers who showed up in solidarity with their cause.
The scene recalled New Years Day 1994, when Zapatista rebels seized the quaint colonial city and others in the Indian heartland in a surprise uprising that shocked the nation and catapulted Marcos onto the world stage.
