At least, it seemed to be Marcos. He was, after all, wearing his trademark black ski mask.
Followers were convinced. They listened over the weekend as Marcos ticked off complaints and critiques of Mexico’s war on drugs, the fighting in the Gaza Strip, even the perceived shortcomings of President-elect Barack Obama.
Apparently a year out of the limelight left Marcos with plenty to say.
“We came to know each other in war, and in war we continue,” he said.
Marcos spoke in San Cristobal de las Casas at a four-day conference marking the 15th anniversary of the short-lived rebellion by Marcos’ Zapatista National Liberation Army. It was part of a “first annual” event called the Dignified Rage Festival, which ends today.
In January 1994, the Zapatista guerrillas launched an offensive aimed at dramatizing the bleak living conditions, poverty and alienation of Mexico’s indigenous population. They managed to seize control of a handful of towns in Mexico’s southernmost province, Chiapas, before the army beat them back into remote hills. It was over in less than two weeks.
Since then, the Zapatistas functioned as a largely political movement. A folk culture emerged around the masked Marcos, meanwhile, as he gave interviews, received visitors and saw dolls and T-shirts bearing his likeness. And while he and his followers brought attention to the plight of Mexican Indians and achieved some voice in local governments, Chiapas remains mired in poverty and violence.
Marcos had choice words for both Mexico’s center-right government of President Felipe Calderon, which he accused of being in cahoots with some drug gangs in order to wipe out others; and for leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, under whose stewardship the left has been badly fractured. Marcos accused Lopez Obrador of sectarianism and intolerance.
He said Americans who voted for Obama in hopes of major change in U.S. foreign policy likely will be disappointed; Marcos cited the fact that he has not condemned Israel’s attack on Gaza as evidence.
He also criticized Calderon’s decision to send more than 40,000 army troops into several Mexican states to battle drug traffickers. The action, he noted, had failed to stop the bloodshed while inflaming the crisis because of allegations of human-rights abuses committed by soldiers.
Marcos spoke to about 2,000 followers and was flanked by two fidgety little girls who also wore black ski masks.
About a year ago, Marcos said he felt his movement had “gone out of style” and was failing to attract the support it once did. He announced he would stop making appearances. It was not clear if his decision to speak out now signaled a new political campaign.
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