Mexican Army Destroys Drug Crops in Zapatista Town Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Mexican Army Destroys Drug Crops in Zapatista Town Reuters 19-APR-99 LOS PLATANOS, Mexico, April 18 (Reuters) - The Mexican army said on Sunday it had destroyed 25 marijuana plantations in a town controlled by Zapatista Indian rebels in the troubled southern state of Chiapas. The army said 300 soldiers backed by police uprooted the marijuana plants on Saturday a few miles from the community of El Bosque, 430 miles (700 km) southeast of Mexico City. It said it believed the drugs were to be sold for weapons. Gen. Jorge Isaac Jimenez of the 31st military zone said the plantations were in an area controlled by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), which took up arms in January 1994 demanding improved indigenous rights. "But we can't attribute the crops to any group in specific," he said, adding however there was "clear evidence the drugs were exchanged for armaments." Locals disputed the suggestion that sympathisers of the EZLN might be cultivating marijuana to pay for their insurgency. "It's a government lie and a provocation," said Roberto Garcia Perez, a representative of the nearby pro-Zapatista community of San Juan de Libertad. Rebel sympathisers said the plantations were in an area controlled by pro-government paramilitaries and police. Jimenez said Saturday's operation was the fourth this year against drug cultivation in the Chiapas highlands, where the Zapatistas have been holed up in their jungle bases since their initial rebellion. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved. ================================================================= 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-04.25.99-12:09:02-1626