January 2, 1996
Web posted at: 9:50 p.m. EST (0250 GMT)
From Correspondent Lucia Newman
MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- Zapatista rebels celebrated the second anniversary of their 1994 uprising Tuesday by calling for the formation of a new political opposition group.
The Zapatista National Liberation Front, leaders said, would be a broad political alliance that would fight for a new constitution and democracy in Mexico outside the conventional political system.
The group is looking to establish a more realistic future for an armed movement that has, for the last two years, been waging mainly a war of words with Mexico's government.
In January 1994, the Zapatistas declared war on the Mexican government, demanding land and social justice for the mainly Mayan Indian peasants of Chiapas. But after months of fruitless talks with the government to try to reach a settlement, the rebels asked an independent civic group to organize a referendum on the dispute.
The referendum held last August showed that a majority of people wanted the Zapatistas to renounce their armed struggle and become a political movement.
In a videotaped communiqué after the announcement this year, rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos said the movement would not aspire to taking power through elections.
"The struggle we launched the first of January of 1994 is entering a new phase," he said. "The EZLN (the rebel group) will not disappear, but its most important struggles will be waged in the political arena."
But he gave no hint as to when the rebels intended to form the new movement. The Zapatistas also said they will not disarm, yet.
Cuautemoc Cardenas of the Revolutionary Democratic Party said he believed that the rebels' willingness to become a civil group was extremely significant. "That means the peace negotiations must be concluded," he said. (168K AIFF sound or 168K WAV sound)
Indeed, government-rebel peace talks have only recently begun to make some headway. But the Zapatistas have indicated they will not disarm until a full peace settlement is reached.
Some analysts said they thought the rebels' New Year announcement was aimed at pressuring the government into moving more quickly. (139K AIFF sound or 139K WAV sound)
Still, the move to form a political front indicates that the Zapatistas have recognized their failure to achieve their goals though an armed struggle.
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