MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexico's Zapatistas marked the sixth
                  anniversary of their armed rebellion without fanfare over the weekend as
                  they faced up to losing two church allies.

                  In its New Year's message, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
                  made no mention that two towering figures in the local Roman Catholic
                  Church are about to leave the Archdiocese of San Cristobal de las Casas,
                  the colonial city in troubled Chiapas state.

                  Bishop Samuel Ruiz, a Zapatista sympathizer beloved by local Mayan
                  Indians for his four decades of work on their behalf, is retiring.

                  Auxiliary Bishop Raul Vera, another defender of Indian rights, had been
                  expected to replace Ruiz. But on Thursday the church announced that Vera
                  would be moved to Saltillo in northern Mexico, seemingly a world away
                  near the Texas border.

                  Commentators immediately called the transfer a political move meant to
                  undercut the pro-Indian guerrilla group. Church leaders denied the charge.

                  For its part the Mexican government aired a radio commercial calling on the
                  Zapatistas to return to the negotiating table. Peace talks stalled three years
                  ago, leaving in place an uneasy ceasefire as government troops surround the
                  idle rebels in the jungle.

                  "We have taken one more step, sending an open letter to the EZLN to
                  renew dialogue," the government ad said. "Let's talk, Mexican to Mexican."

                  Led by the pipe-smoking, ski-masked Subcommander Marcos, the rebels
                  launched an armed insurrection on New Year's Day 1994.

                  Combat with the army lasted 10 days and killed about 150 people, but the
                  Zapatistas won over leftists worldwide and drew attention to a wider conflict
                  in the region, where hundreds of people have died in related political
                  violence since 1994.

                  Deep in the jungles of Chiapas, in the rebel stronghold of La Realidad not far
                  from the Guatemalan border, rebel leader "Claudia" on Saturday read a
                  statement to reporters who made the long trip up dirt roads in the mountains.

                  "We're not celebrating ... we don't believe in the celebration of the powerful
                  bad guys in the evil government," Claudia said. "Enough already of slavery,
                  of feudalism, of capitalism, of neoliberalism."

                  Speculation about whether the Zapatistas may be planning actions has been
                  rife ahead of the July 2000 presidential elections.

                  Last month the Mexican government denied that a state of alert has been
                  declared in Chiapas because of fears of Zapatista activity ahead of the Jan. 1
                  anniversary and the second anniversary of the Acteal slaughter.

                  On Dec. 22, 1997, pro-government paramilitaries killed 45 Indian women,
                  men and children in a highland village of Chiapas.

                     Copyright 2000 Reuters.