(16 Aug 1999) Spanish/Nat

Military build-up near a road project in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas has increased tension in the heart of rebel occupied territory.

Subcommandante Marcos called the build-up near La Realidad, a remote village which serves as the Zapatista movement's unofficial base, an act of military aggression.

The Mexican army says it is trying to prevent the Zapatistas from blocking construction of a new highway in the area.


The prospects for peace in Chiapas, home to Mexico's largest rebel movement, have suffered a further set back.

Troop presence has been stepped up in the southern state of Chiapas, close to an area occupied by the insurgent Zapatista rebel movement which first appeared in 1994.

The Zapatistas, led by the legendary subcommandante Marcos, have been fighting in the name of Indian rights and greater democracy ever since.

Chiapas, one of Mexico's poorest states, has been caught in the crossfire.

The latest dispute began Thursday when soldiers arrived in the community of Amador Hernandez, 100 kilometres (65 miles) from La Realidad, the remote village that serves as the Zapatistas' unofficial base.

Marcos said local residents had asked the soldiers to leave, but the soldiers refused.

The army says the 400 soldiers had been sent in because Zapatista rebels had blocked a road project, burning construction equipment.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"A column of one hundred soldiers headed from the San Quintin military base towards the village of Amador Hernandez. The villagers got together to ask them to leave the village but the troops refused. They spent the night there and today they were seen deploying 14 helicopters of the federal army with the aim of moving men from the army barracks in San Quintin and Ibarba towards areas targetted by the government. Next, it is estimated that 300 to 500 soldiers are at this moment digging themselves in with trenches and setting up wire defences around the positions that they have occupied, within the village of Amador Hernandez. Now, we consider that this is an act of reprisal for the university led protests and for their demonstrations against the privatisation of culture, and for the support from ordinary Mexicans against the privatisation."
SUPER CAPTION: Subcommandante Marcos, Zapatista Rebel Leader

Chiapas Governor Roberto Albores Guillen has also joined in the latest dispute, issuing statements that accuse subcommandante Marcos of using women and children as human shields to block the construction.

Peace talks with the Zapatistas broke off three years ago.

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