Indian Peasants in Southern Mexico State Storm 4 Cities, Towns; Casualties Reported : Latin America: ‘Zapatista Liberation Army’ says it is protesting abuses by authorities. Rebel pullbacks reported.

Hundreds of armed Indian peasants attacked four cities and towns in the southeastern state of Chiapas on Saturday. At least three police officers were killed and 18 were wounded, news reports said.

The privately owned Televisa network said the rebels, who called themselves members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, unleashed the attacks a few hours after midnight.

Televisa’s correspondent in the area said San Cristobal de Las Casas, the state’s second-biggest community with 80,000 residents, and the towns of Ocosingo, Altamirano and Las Margaritas were stormed.

News reports said Saturday afternoon that rebels were still holding at least parts of three of the communities. They reportedly withdrew from Ocosingo, and police were said to be guarding it.

By nightfall, the rebels in San Cristobal de Las Casas had pulled back and concentrated in the city’s downtown area, where they occupied the mayor’s office, a resident there said.

Angelica Suarez, a 25-year-old teacher, said the city’s two radio stations were off the air. But all was quiet otherwise, and people were out and about as usual, she said.

A statement by the Chiapas government at the state capital of Tuxtla Gutierrez said about 200 people, most of them of Indian origin, “carried out acts of provocation and violence” in the four communities.

The statement mentioned no casualties.

In a statement faxed to the news media, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation said thousands of armed men and women seized San Cristobal de las Casas at around 2:30 a.m.

The Zapatista Army said it was protesting alleged abuses by Mexican authorities against Lacandon Indians in the region. It said the group had “declared war” on the federal army and President Carlos Salinas de Gortari’s administration.

The communique did not detail grievances. But it declared, “For (the government) it doesn’t matter that we possess nothing, absolutely nothing, not a home, not land, not work, not education.”

The group is named after Emiliano Zapata, a leader of the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution who defended the right of poor peasants to free land seized from wealthy landowners.

The Lacandon and other Indian peoples in Chiapas have long been feuding with the state government and federal authorities, usually over land.

The indigenous people have complained their land is being swindled away from them and their traditional way of life is slowly being destroyed by Western ways.

Chiapas is one of the least developed and most violence-prone states in Mexico. Peasant uprisings and land disputes have occurred there for decades.

Saturday’s attack was the first violence bearing any sign of organization.

All three police officers were killed in a gun battle with the rebels in Las Margaritas, the government news agency Notimex said. The agency quoted witnesses as saying the rebels roared into Las Margaritas in eight trucks and stormed a hall where most of the townsfolk were celebrating the new year.

A fourth person was found dead of a bullet wound in San Cristobal early Saturday, but the Red Cross said it wasn’t sure if the man’s death was related to the rebellion.

There were unconfirmed reports of two other civilian deaths.