MEXICO CITY — Cheered even by critics, the Zapatista rebels made a historic appearance before Congress to appeal for Indian rights, then announced they were heading back to the jungle.
The 24 masked rebel leaders depart — possibly Thursday — with major political victories. And they leave behind a gift for President Vicente Fox: an agreement to begin the contacts he has repeatedly sought.
Zapatista Comandante Esther said Wednesday that Fox had given "a signal of peace" by meeting the rebel demand to close seven army bases near their strongholds.
"We too will give orders of peace to our forces," she said, promising that Zapatista National Liberation Army would not replace the departing troops: "We should not respond to a sign of peace with a sign of war."
More significantly, she said Zapatista envoy Fernando Yanez would contact Fox's peace representative, Luis Alvarez, to coordinate efforts at re-establishing direct talks. Fox has repeatedly invited the Zapatistas to talk.
"We now have our steps firmly on the road to peace treaties," Fox said here during a speech.
Seeming to echo the Zapatistas, Fox warned that peace "is not the destination, it is only the starting point so that our country pays that enormous debt we have with 10 million Indian brothers and sisters who live in extreme poverty."
Two television networks gave the event about seven hours of live coverage.
The rebels' mere presence at the podium of Congress was a triumph for a group whose only military victories came on a single day seven years ago when they sneaked past a surprised federal army to seize several towns in Chiapas state.
But the Zapatistas have become a powerful political force, winning wide support in Mexico and abroad as champions of rights for Mexico's Indians, aided by the charisma and literary style of their military leader, Subcomandante Marcos.
On Wednesday, as the Zapatistas made their most prominent speeches yet, Marcos was pointedly left off the speakers' list — an omission that emphasized the Indian character of the movement and its increasing turn from arms to politics.
"Our warriors have done their job, thanks to the support of popular mobilization in Mexico and the world," Esther said.
"The hour now is ours," she added, saying that the Indian commanders "represent the civilian part of the EZLN."
Even some who fought to keep the rebels out of Congress' chambers were encouraged by the tone of the discussion. Sen. Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, who has exchanged insults with Marcos via the press, expressed "enormous joy" at the civilized tone.
In the wake of the meeting, Marcos joined the comandantes at a rally Wednesday to thank supporters and bid them farewell.
"Tomorrow we are going to pack out bags and leave on the return to our place," Marcos said.
It took a 220-210 vote across party lines to let the rebels use the podium of Congress — and then only in a mass committee meeting, not in a formal joint session.
"This podium is a symbol. That is why it caused so much argument," Esther said. "And it is also symbolic that it is I — a poor, Indian Zapatista woman — who has the first word."
In Mexico's relatively fledgling democracy, the Indian autonomy bill at stake could take minority rights to unpredictable lengths.
It proposes constitutional amendments that would allow Indians to govern themselves at the local level; promote their own languages, customs and justice systems; and grant them greater land rights.
Critics worry the law could allow traditional Indian councils of elders to discriminate against women, political or religious minorities, or to take over nature reserves for farming.