Mexico, Rebels Resume Talks After 10-Month Break

Peace talks between the government and Mayan rebels resumed Sunday after a 10-month break, bringing hope of progress toward ending the conflict that has smoldered for over a year.

Interior Minister Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, perhaps the most powerful member of President Ernesto Zedillo’s Cabinet, met with the rebels’ most prominent leader, Subcommander Marcos, at an undisclosed location in the remote Lacandon jungle.

A communique from Moctezuma’s office called the meeting “positive” and said details would be revealed after both sides confer with their leaderships.

The meeting, mediated by Roman Catholic Bishop Samuel Ruiz, lasted only a few hours.

In a separate communique, the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army indicated the talks would not result in a rapid peace agreement.

They said the meeting was meant to “agree on measures to ease the belligerent climate” and prevent a renewed outbreak of the violent conflict that began with a Jan. 1, 1994, uprising.

But the meeting itself was a sign of hope. No direct peace talks had taken place since March 2, when the government of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari promised a sweeping series of political reforms and aid packages to end the rebellion.

But in June, the rebels rejected the package, saying it failed to guarantee democracy in Mexico.