Marcos emerges from jungle

La Realidad - The enigmatic Zapatista leader, Sub-commander Marcos, has emerged from the Mexican jungle of Chiapas for the first…

La Realidad - The enigmatic Zapatista leader, Sub-commander Marcos, has emerged from the Mexican jungle of Chiapas for the first time in more than two years to denounce what he said was the government's desire for conflict and not peace in Chiapas.

Smoking his trademark pipe and wearing a black ski mask, the head of an uprising five years ago to demand Indian rights opened a meeting on Saturday night in the rebel village of La Realidad. The government "decided to make war and abandoned all real commitment to dialogue and a peaceful solution to the conflict," Marcos told around 1,200 Zapatistas, unionists, teachers, students and human rights activists.