EXCITEMENT MOUNTS IN RURAL MEXICO FOR ZAPATISTA MARCH Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Copyright 1997 by Reuters Thu, 11 Sep 1997 21:50:32 PDT ACATLAN DE OSORIO, Mexico (Reuter) - Excitement mounted among the Indians of rural Mexico Thursday as a historic march by Zapatista rebels vowing to defend their rights neared its destination in Mexico City. Women and children lined the roadside with flowers as a hundred buses carrying guerrillas of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) and their supporters passed through impoverished Oaxaca into Puebla state, on their way to the capital. Some 1,500 peasants, many of them Mixtec Indians from across the region, converged on this tiny hamlet to welcome the rebel caravan with marching bands and showers of confetti. ``We hold in our hands the staff of command for all Mexico's Indians, Zapatista or non-Zapatista,'' masked Zapatista Commander ``Isaac'' told the excited crowd. At least 2,000 sympathizers have joined the march since 1,111 Zapatistas left the southern state of Chiapas Monday, their first mass foray outside their home state in a bid to drum up support for their movement. The rebels are scheduled to complete their 750-mile , five-day journey in Mexico City Friday. Some 150 supporters joined the march in Acatlan de Osorio. Indalecio Robles, a 70-year-old peasant with a red bandana around his neck and leather huarache sandals on his wrinked feet, hollered ``Let's go to Mexico'' as he joined the march with his wife. The Mexican government, which last week said the Zapatistas were free to carry out their march if they left their guns behind, issued a statement Thursday applauding the peaceful procession. Earlier 3,000 people packed both sides of the highway above Huajuapan de Leon, a town on the frontier of Oaxaca and Puebla and about 180 miles from Mexico City, shouting ``Down with the military'' and urging the rebel caravan on. All along the way Indians have flocked to see the Zapatistas pass. Thousands of peasants poured into Oaxaca city from surrounding villages Wednesday, many waiting for hours under a searing sun to celebrate the late-night arrival of the rebels on their week-long adventure. The Zapatistas, mostly Maya Indians, burst onto the scene in January 1994 with an armed uprising. Fighting was shortlived and drawn-out peacetalks deadlocked last year, but the Zapatistas struck a chord with Mexico's nine million full-blooded Indians who have long felt officially ignored. ``Ever since Jan. 1, 1994, we are no longer Indians that can be stepped on. Ever since then we have supported the Zapatistas in their struggle because the Mixtec Indians of Puebla are also rebel Indians,'' said Mixtec Indian priest Padre Anastacio. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-09.15.97-23:16:44-18491