Mexican Senate OKs Amnesty for Indian Rebels
An amnesty law to bring a peaceful end to Mexico’s New Year rebellion was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Friday.
After the vote, a bishop mediating the conflict said Indian rebels have sent the government a new response to the amnesty offer.
Samuel Ruiz, bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas in the impoverished southern state of Chiapas, called the amnesty a “very strong step” in ending the rebellion by about 2,000 Indians demanding land rights and decent living conditions. The uprising began Jan. 1.
The Senate voted 54-0, with one abstention, on the amnesty proposed on Jan. 16 by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, approved the measure Thursday without opposition.
The law would ensure freedom from prosecution for actions against the government between Jan. 1 and Jan. 20. But it requires rebels to free their hostages and turn in their arms.
The government’s chief peace envoy, Manuel Camacho Solis, took further steps Thursday to lure the rebels to talks, announcing that the army would move out of towns it has occupied in recent days, posting itself on the outskirts.
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