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MARCH 29, 2001

The leaders of the Zapatista Indian rights movement made an unprecedented address to Congress on Wednesday, calling on Mexico's lawmakers to approve a long-delayed self-determination bill.

In doing so, the 23-member delegation of the of the Zapatista National Liberation Army left behind their primary spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos, a former university professor who has been at the forefront of the group's seven-year battle. But as Comandante Esther pointed out, Marcos's absence was intentional.

"Subcomandante Marcos was just that, a sub-commander. We are the leaders," said Esther. "Our warriors, men and women, have done their job."

"Now it is our time," she continued. "I am an Indian and I am a woman. That is only what is important now."

For more than five historic hours, which Mexican television eagerly broadcast, it was indeed the Zapatistas time. The delegation repeatedly spoke of the struggles the nation's indigenous have faced for more than 500 years.

Esther, in particular, addressed the the condition Indian women face and the noted the need for improvement. Her speech appeared to be a well-calculated response to critics who charge that the San Andrés Accords shouldn't be passed because it would allow indigenous communities to discriminate against women.

"For many years, we have come to learn suffering, pain, oblivion, scorn, marginalization, and oppression," she said. "That is why we decided to organize and fight as Zapatista women -- To change the situation because we are tired of all this suffering without having our rights."

"But now we need our rights recognized by law," she said, referring to an the accords that were negotiated in 1996 with the previous administration but which were scrapped by former President Ernest Zedillo.

With Vicente Fox at the helm, the Zapatistas yesterday accepted his offer to begin peace negotiations. All last week, the repeatedly chided Fox for breaking his campaign promise to improve the government's relationship with the nation's 10 million Indians.

Now, they have appointed Fernando Yanez to begin talks with Fox. Since he has closed all seven Army bases, the Zapatistas said they would agree to meet and end their own military offensive.

But members of Fox's party, the National Action Party (PAN), boycotted yesterday's session. They had also voted against holding the session altogether. About 100 out of 628 lawmakers were present, who loudly cheered on the masked rebels.

The delegation will be leaving Mexico City to return to Chiapas and southern Mexico this week.

Get the Speeches (Only in Spanish):
Comandante Esther | Comandante David | Comandante Zebedeo | Comandante Tacho

Relevant Links:
Zapatista National Liberation Army (In Spanish) - http://www.ezln.org
Zapatista Mexico City Site (In Spanish) - http://www.ezlnaldf.org/index.php
The San Andrés Accords - http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/mexico/SanAndres.html

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