Indigenous march for peace in Mexico

Hundreds of indigenous Mexican Indians from the southern state of Chiapas have begun a one thousand two hundred kilometre peace march to the capital Mexico City.

A spokesperson for the group Antonio Gutierrez said that the group will march to the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City where they will pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, for the resumption of stalled peace talks between the government and the Zapatisita National Revolutionary Army.

They are hoping to reach the capital by early December for a celebration of Mexican indigenous peoples. The Zapatista guerrillas launched an uprising in support of greater indigenous rights in 1994.

Three years ago forty five Indians who suppported the rebels were massacred in the mountain village of Acteal by paramilitary groups, meanwhile thousands more, including some of the marchers, were forced to flee their homes.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service