Here, we find the puny, sickly, leader of a ragtag mob, confused over
the receipt of an olive branch of peace.      Quite a contrast to the
article full of such respect for the leader of the Colombian death
squads, that appeared in their pages a month ago.      That thug, Carlos
Castanyo, was then described as the leader of 'a lion let loose'...
according to the genteel paper of note!      He was also described as
'outspoken', whereas Marcos is only capabe of 'a rare moment of candor'.

Below, America's 'liberal voice', the New York Times
pleads........."Let's Give Peace a Chance'.

Tony Abdo
_________________________________
Mexico Rebel Chief Says the Fight Is Now for Peace
New York Times
January 30, 2001
By Ginger Thompson

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico, Jan. 28 - There was a different kind
of
fight in the rebel leader's voice.
The urgency was unchanged from the day seven years ago when he first
declared war against the Mexican government on behalf of a ragtag mob of
Indians called the Zapatista National Liberation Army. Their cause, the
pursuit of equal rights for all of Mexico's 10 million indigenous
people,
remained their primary goal.

But in an interview in the jungles of Chiapas, his first with an
American
newspaper in four years, the elusive Subcommander Marcos made it clear
that
the masked rebels want peace.

"We want to stop being what we are," he said, his dark eyes so intense
that
the ski mask covering the rest of his face could not conceal his
expression..

"We are people without faces, armed and fighting for what we believe."

"We would like to show our faces," he continued. "We would like to put
down
our weapons, but to keep fighting for our beliefs like people in every
other
part of the world."

Although his words at times shifted from caution to outrage, the message
that rang like a church bell was that peace could soon come to Chiapas.

In seven years, there have been only a dozen days of combat between the
Zapatistas and government troops, leaving 145 people dead. But hundreds
have
been killed in clashes between rebel supporters and pro- government
paramilitary groups. Thousands of others have been forced to flee their
homes.

"I'm optimistic," the guerrilla leader said. "I think we will have a
successful dialogue with the government, that the war will be ended and
that
we will be able to move on to new work."
For a man and a movement that have been shrouded in mystery, it was a
rare
moment of candor. It comes one month before he and a 23- member
commission
of Zapatista leaders are planning to march on Mexico City in a caravan
snaking across at least six states and more than a dozen cities, and
culminating in an address before Congress. The rebels will campaign for
the
passage of a series of new Indian rights - known as the San Andre's
accords -
which, if passed, would mark the most significant achievement of the
movement. It would also mark the Zapatistas' first step toward becoming
a
legitimate political organization.

During the interview, Subcommander Marcos, who has become an idol to
leftist
groups around the world, shunned his signature theatrics and sharp
sarcasm
to talk forthrightly about the lingering obstacles to peace, about the
achievements of the Zapatista movement, and about his own postwar plans.

He and another rebel commander known as Tacho had sneaked on horseback
into
the tiny village of La Realidad. They came with no body guards, and they
did
not orchestrate any gimmicky displays of force.

Perhaps because of the larger- than-life image of the subcommander that
has
been perpetuated by leftists around the world, he seemed surprisingly
small,
perhaps 5 feet, 8 inches, with narrow shoulders and hands that looked
ill-suited for combat. His eyes were watery, and he sniffled from a
cold.
The automatic rifle slung across his back seemed the only threatening
thing
about him. When asked about it, he said it was not loaded.

Seated in a tumbledown mess hall, dimly lit with candles, he
acknowledged
during the 90-minute interview that a brewing political storm in the
Mexican
Congress could wreck the prospect for peace. But what worried him most
was
whether Mexico's new president, Vicente Fox, would respond fully to a
list
of rebel demands and keep the stalemated Zapatista conflict moving
toward a
resolution.