More Friction Seen as Mexico Talks Begin

Peace talks between southern Mexican rebels and the government began Monday as local antipathy toward the Indian guerrillas showed itself in threats toward nuns in a nearby town occupied during a New Year’s uprising.

About 200 demonstrators in Altamirano, a county seat about 60 miles from the talks here, on Sunday had given the St. Vincent de Paul nurse nuns a 2 p.m. Monday deadline to evacuate their hospital, threatening to burn it down if they did not.

When reporters arrived at the hospital Monday afternoon, the nuns said the demonstrators had not returned.

“They accuse us of being guerrillas, of supporting the Zapatista (National Liberation) Army,” said Sister Bertha, one of 10 nuns who care for patients at the hospital. She was referring to the guerrillas’ name for themselves.

Townspeople said they were angry that the nuns had treated nine rebels injured in fighting when the town was invaded on Jan. 1. Sister Bertha said the nuns also treated three police officers.

“We give the same treatment to everyone,” she said.

The confrontation is the most open example yet of local frictions arising from the rebellion. Many people in Chiapas, the state where the uprising took place, are resentful of the trouble the rebels have brought and worry about what will happen as a result of it.

Government officials, such as State Rep. Juan Jose Reuda, are already making public statements about redistributing local wealth--one of the rebels’ causes.

“Those in Chiapas who have the most must understand that inequality leads to serious social problems,” Reuda told reporters Monday in San Cristobal.

Many people blame the church for the uprising because, early in the rebellion, Interior Ministry reports said that priests were leading the guerrillas. The government had to back down from such statements when it accepted an offer from Samuel Ruiz, bishop of San Cristobal, to mediate the peace talks.

During a joint press statement, government peace negotiator Manuel Camacho Solis on Monday also retracted early government accusations that the movement was led by foreigners.

Subcommander Marcos, the Zapatista spokesman, said negotiators had discussed the agenda for the talks, dividing it into national, state and Indian-peasant issues.