Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994 TAG: 9402240205
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, MEXICO LENGTH: Medium
"We have arrived at several fundamental points," said Zapatista rebel leader and spokesman Subcommander Marcos after a third day of peace talks. He said the agreements will have to be approved by the indigenous communities involved.
"The talks are giving their first results," said government negotiator Manuel Camacho Solis. "The work has been very complex."
Marcos said the talks had covered about 25 percent of the issues the guerrillas of the Zapatista National Liberation Army want negotiated before they will disarm.
He said the agreements reached Wednesday dealt with issues of health, housing, education and "respect and dignity" for indigenous people in Mexico. He did not give details.
The Zapatistas seized San Cristobal and other towns in southernmost Chiapas state on Jan. 1, then withdrew into the jungle. The government declared a cease-fire on Jan. 12 after more than 100 people had died. Peace talks began on Monday in a cathedral in San Cristobal.
Earlier, Marcos asked for allies in seeking political change. He said the rebels alone could not bring greater democracy to a country governed by one party since 1929. "We have neither the moral authority nor the strength to tell the nation: `This is the Mexico that we want,' " Marcos said. "There are others who do. And we say to them: `Take us into account. That this will not be necessary again . . . killing and dying just so they will listen.' "
He said fair elections are impossible when run by a government so closely identified with a single party - the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
"The central point is . . . democracy, justice and liberty," Marcos said, speaking to Mexican radio reporters. "What happens is that we can't negotiate that at the table in San Cristobal."
by CNB