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FEBRUARY 12, 2001

Mexican President Vicente Fox visited the southern state of Chiapas on Friday to encourage leaders of an Indian-rights movement to meet with the government.

Supporters of the Zapatista movement held a protest on Saturday, demanding that Fox remove military troops from a jungle village. The Governor of Chiapas has released more political prisoners and Zapatista supporters, another demand of the rebels.

One of Fox's reforms targeted for Chiapas is economic development. Fox has proposed a $50 million railroad renovation project will help stimulate the local economy.

The economy is just one of many issues facing the entire country. Historically, Indians have been treated as second-class citizen and have been the subject of ridicule, criticism, and jokes -- even in the popular media. Xochitl Gomez, the country's first director of indigenous affairs and a successful businesswoman, says she was fired from her first job because of her Indian accent.

Unlike American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States and Aboriginals in Canada, there is no legally defined status of "Indian" in Mexico. Languages were once forbidden to be taught in schools and local customs were frowned upon. A new self-determination bill Fox has sent to Congress would give greater control to Indian communities in governing their affairs.

Get the Story:
Rebel sympathizers protest military occupation of Chiapas village (AP 2/11)
Make investment, not war: Mexico touts business for Chiapas (AP 2/10)
Mexico struggles to come to grips with treatment of its Indians (AP 2/10)