Mexico's Zapatista rebels won a narrow congressional vote on Thursday which will allow them to address the nation's parliament early next week, to press for the approval of an indigenous rights bill currently under discussion.
"Duro, Duro" ("Be tough, Be tough") shouted thousands of rebel supporters, gathered outside parliament while inside centre-left deputies responded with cries of "Mexico, Mexico", as the nail-biting vote was taken.
Most deputies belonging to President Vicente Fox's National Action Party (PAN) voted against the initiative. It was supported by an alliance of centrist parties, which secured 218 votes against the PAN's 210. There were seven abstentions and 63 legislators were absent.
A majority of Mexican senators voted against admitting the rebels, but the congressional vote prevailed. The vote ended several days of uncertainty in which President Fox tried to persuade legislators to allow the rebels to address them, despite stiff opposition from within his party.
The vote came as the Zapatista commanders were speaking outside parliament on Thursday afternoon at a farewell rally, on the eve of their planned return to Chiapas. The rebels postponed their trip home after the news was announced.
"This decision is a victory for popular mobilisation", said the rebel spokesman Subcommandante Marcos, acknowledging the role of supporters who have rallied throughout the country in support of the rebel demands. "We're not trying to take over parliament, we just want to speak to legislators," he added.
"Neither Marcos nor Mr Fox control this chamber of deputies," said Mr Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, the PAN's congressional spokesman. "We are here because of the votes of millions of Mexicans, because we have democratic legitimacy", he said.