Admits group's internal problems, denies movement's end

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) --Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos broke a
months-long silence in a letter published Monday, in which he denied the pro-Indian
movement was "finished," but did refer to apparent splits and rebellions in the group
that staged an armed 1994 uprising.

Marcos wrote that some Zapatista sympathizers "are carrying out autonomy
and resistance ... against us," in a letter that was published Monday by the
newspaper La Jornada, and reportedly delivered by Zapatista representative
Fernando Yanez.

He also referred to "the disorganized rebellions we are suffering in the EZLN,"
the formal name of the movement that rose up in the southern state of Chiapas
to demand greater Indian rights.

In a somewhat more bitter tone than his past statements, Marcos which insulted
all of Mexico's main political parties, left and right.

Marcos, who has not appeared in public since he lead a Zapatista protest
caravan to Mexico City in early 2001, was no more kind to Mexico's largest
leftist group, the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD.

"There is another myth that says "the PRD is an option for the left," according to
the letter. "It's not that the PRD is a right-wing option or centrist option, it's just
that the PRD is not an option for anything at all."

'The only thing running out ... is their patience'

Marcos also did little to explain his extended silence, joking -- then denying --
he was sick.

"The federal government and the Chiapas government say 'the Zapatistas are
finished,' when the only thing that's running out for the Zapatistas is their
patience."

He also accused the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party of being "a
den of 40 thieves, waiting vainly for their Ali Baba."

While his hatred for the party, know as the PRI, is well known, real-world
events appeared to sustain his theory: the head of the PRI reportedly had his
pocket picked while addressing a party rally Monday.

PRI leader Roberto Madrazo and another well-connected party member lost
their wallets to pickpockets while attending a gathering at the party's local
headquarters in the city of Puebla, 65 miles (105 kms) east of Mexico City, the
government news agency Notimex reported.

The thieves were quickly collared and forced to return the wallets. It was
unclear whether they were party members.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.