More than 300,000 Mexicans took to the streets of Chiapas to protest against government policy recently, while 1,200 lay pastoral workers (catechists) marched from San Cristobal de las Casas to Mexico City to press for a peaceful solution to the conflict. The December massacre of 45 Indians and the subsequent military advance towards Zapatista villages has awakened a solidarity movement which took the Mexican government by surprise. The catechists marched past 1,111 women, travelling in the opposite direction, heading for Chiapas to show solidarity with Zapatista women who faced down troops with sticks and sharp words.
Around the world Zapatista sympathisers occupied embassies or volunteered to spend time in peace camps set up to monitor army presence close to rebel villages. In Italy 50,000 people protested in support of the Zapatistas while the country's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission approved a resolution to suspend the Mexico-EU trade agreement until peace talks restarted and the Mexican government implemented the San Andres peace accord.
Hundreds of protest letters jammed Mexico's presidential fax machines, while 30,000 of the nation's football fanatics gathered in the Aztec stadium and demanded that the army leave Zapatista territory. The European Parliament's mid-January resolution, calling on the Mexican government to respect human rights and reaffirm its commitment to a peaceful solution in Chiapas, forced the government into action.
A group of ruling party politicians left for Europe recently "to promote Mexico's image abroad" and "highlight economic and political advances" in the country.
The President, Mr Ernesto Zedillo, has instructed ambassadors and commercial representatives to focus on the appointment of a new interior minister and on the removal of the Chiapas governor, Mr Julio Ruiz Ferro, as a sign of its commitment to restart peace talks with the rebels.
"It would be terrible to sacrifice our sovereignty in the search for solutions to the Chiapas conflict," said Ms Rosario Green, the new Foreign Minister, rejecting international mediation offers.
Tension remained high this week as the Mexican army continued to set up roadblocks in areas of rebel influence. In these areas there is one soldier for each family of seven, but just one doctor for every 18,900 people, according to the government's own health statistics.