Sunday March 11 12:27 PM ET
Rebels Set to Enter Mexico City's Heart

By Elizabeth Fullerton

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Zapatista leader Subcommander Marcos accused the government of ignoring calls for a lasting peace in troubled Chiapas state as his rebels prepared to enter the heart of Mexico City Sunday in a march championing Indian rights.

``We are trying to convince the ... federal government, that we are willing to resolve this and to do it quickly but we need signals. We have given one but they don't see it,'' Marcos told the Televisa television network Saturday night.

Marcos' remarks were the latest sign that that he is suspicious of President Vicente Fox, who has embraced calls for peace in Chiapas and for a better deal for Mexico's Indians.

After a marathon 12-state, 15-day march from their jungle hide-out, Marcos and 23 rebel leaders were set to make a triumphant entry into the center of Mexico City Sunday to drive home their campaign for Indian rights.

Tens of thousands of rebel sympathizers are expected to turn out in the capital's main square, known as the Zocalo, for a rally expected to start at 4 p.m.

As the mood of expectation intensified in the capital, newspapers carried faded pictures of the historic march on the capital in December 1914 led by the Zapatistas' namesake -- legendary revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata.

Marcos told Televisa interview that by naming a fellow Zapatista commander, Fernando Yanez, to negotiate with Congress, the rebels had sent a conciliatory signal which the government had ignored.

``Yanez ... amounts to a signal, which like many we have given, the government has not known how to read. The Zapatistas are saying 'we are willing to move from clandestine (activity) to public life'. This is fundamental,'' said Marcos.

Rebels To Lobby For Indian Rights Bill

The rebels were due to meet a congressional peace commission Monday and have pledged not to leave the city until a bill protecting indigenous culture and providing greater autonomy is passed.

The bill was sponsored by Fox in a bid to meet rebel conditions for reviving peace talks that stalled in 1996.

Fox, who ended 71 years of uninterrupted rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) when he took power in December, was upbeat about the prospects for peace in a radio broadcast Saturday, his 100th day in office.

``This is the start of the dialogue that all Mexicans have sought,'' said Fox, who has offered to meet Marcos. ``The longed-for dialogue that will bring us peace.''

Fox welcomed the Zapatistas to the capital, hailing their peaceful march. Taking steps toward peace in Chiapas was one of his first initiatives as president.

The rebels, accompanied by a motley band of supporters sporting body piercings, tattoos and Zapatista memorabilia, will address the crowd in the vast square, flanked by colonial government buildings, with Aztec ruins a stone's throw away.

The rebels have been welcomed as heroes and offered federal and state police protection along the way.

Saturday, on the last leg of the ``Zapatour,'' the rebels were greeted by some 20,000 cheering fans in Xochimilco (pronounced so-chee-mil-ko), a Mexican Venice of floating gardens and Aztec canals on the outskirts of the capital.

``Lower your voices you men of wealth,'' said Marcos, smoking his trademark pipe and wearing military fatigues.

``Now there's another voice that has not come to steal and to impose itself but something far more serious: To take its rightful place,'' said the masked Marcos,

Marcos, a vehement opponent of corporate interests and unfettered capitalism, led a 10-day armed uprising against the government on Jan. 1, 1994, the same day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, Canada and the United States went into effect.

The uprising in support of indigenous rights left 200 army and rebel soldiers dead and subsequent clashes have killed hundreds more, but there has been no major fighting for years.

Foreign Supporters

Growing international support for the Zapatistas and their struggle for the rights of 10 million indigenous Mexicans was evident during the march.

Foreign supporters, including high-profile individuals like former French first lady Danielle Mitterrand, have shadowed the Marcos caravan since it left Chiapas state last month.

The president has invited Marcos for talks at his official residence and said he was open to freeing all Zapatista prisoners, which would meet one of the rebels' conditions for peace.

But Marcos remains suspicious of Fox, prompting concern peace talks could be eclipsed by a battle of egos.

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