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Although they recognise that the group's political influence has waned, the sources pointed out that the EZLN remains active among indigenous people in the southern state of Chiapas, and that the problems that prompted the rebels to take up arms in early 1994 remain virtually unchanged. The Fox administration and researchers estimate that the organisation exercises administrative and political control over 15 percent of Chiapas, Mexico's poorest state, which has a total surface area of just over 75,000 square kilometres. Government social programmes do not operate in the area under EZLN influence, which no one can enter without authorisation from the Zapatistas. The area is home to around 100,000 people, the great majority of whom are indigenous people living in the utmost poverty, like most of the country's 10 million Indians, who account for roughly 10 percent of a total population of 102 million. During a visit to Chiapas Tuesday, Fox said that "Here, that issue (the EZLN) is already being left in the past, and everyone is looking forward. We have found a new Chiapas with a new face, a Chiapas looking towards the future." The largely indigenous EZLN rose up in arms on Jan. 1, 1994, demanding democracy, justice and autonomy for Mexico's Indians. But Deputy Bernardino Ramos, the chair of the legislative peace commission for Chiapas (COCOPA), told IPS that "Fox is mistaken in his evaluation of the situation, and in downplaying the presence of the Zapatistas, who, although currently silent, are still very much present and active." Ramos, who belongs to the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), also said that in Chiapas there is neither peace nor progress. "There are problems of violence between local communities, the intimidating presence of hundreds of soldiers, evidence of paramilitary groups, and so much poverty." "It is true that the situation seen in 1994 no longer exists, but in Chiapas there is still a very fragile armed peace, as well as the absence of peace talks, and the possibility of reactivating the talks has now been closed off by Fox with his unfortunate remarks," said the head of COCOPA, which is comprised of legislators from all of the parties represented in Congress. On Jan. 12, 1994, then president Carlos Salinas (1988-1994) declared a unilateral ceasefire and sent a representative to Chiapas to negotiate with the guerrillas, who are led by the charismatic "Subcomandante Marcos". Around 10 days of armed clashes had left some 200 dead and dozens injured, mainly guerrillas who were poorly armed, many of them fighting with only sticks and machetes. The peace talks stalled in 1996, and have not resumed despite the fact that Fox's December 2000 inauguration put an end to seven decades of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) administrations, which the EZLN considered illegitimate. After Fox, who belongs to the conservative National Action Party (PAN), became president, he ordered the withdrawal of the army from areas near zones under EZLN influence, and the guerrillas consolidated their control over remote jungle areas in the mountains of Chiapas. The last high-profile political move by the EZLN occurred in 2001, when the group's leaders travelled to the capital, with government permission and a security escort, to ask Congress to approve a law on indigenous rights and autonomy that was based on the only agreement that had arisen from the earlier peace talks between government negotiators and the rebel group. But the modified version of the law passed by Congress was rejected by the Zapatistas, who refused the Fox administration's invitation to return to the negotiating table. Since then, the Zapatistas have stayed in the isolated areas under their control, where local communities are governed by EZLN "revolutionary laws" based on the principle of autonomy for indigenous peoples. Michael Chamberlain, an activist with the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Centre, based in Chiapas, said violence between local indigenous communities, which are divided along political and religious lines, remains a serious problem in that state. He also told IPS that "From a human rights point of view, we have seen virtually no change under the current government, neither in terms of respect for indigenous people, nor with regard to putting an end to harassment by the military." "In the Zapatista-controlled areas, there are 91 military camps that have not been moved. And since 1995, we have reported dozens of victims of violence between indigenous communities," he added. Nor has the poverty level dropped, according to the human rights centre. With respect to the EZLN, Chamberlain said its presence was still felt, "not in terms of weapons, but among the people of many communities," who remain under the influence of the organisation. At year-end, the EZLN and its supporters celebrated the 11th anniversary of the uprising. During the celebration, rebel spokespersons said the group was still opposed to the government, which it accused of harassing Zapatista communities through persecution by the army. The EZLN also announced a web site where people around the world can tune in to the programming of the group's "Radio Insurgente", which broadcasts messages in Spanish, German, French, English and Italian.