The 24 traveling comandantes of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), entered Mexico City on March 11. They arrived in the Zocalo, the giant town square, riding on the back of a flatbed truck, to the enthusiastic greeting of more than 75,000 residents.

They came, under terms of the 1996 peace accords negotiated with the National Peace Commission, to press the National Congress for ratification of the Indigenous Rights Law signed as part of those accords.

The caravan wound through 12 southern states over two weeks. The comandantes were accompanied by 3,000 supporters and observers, from both Mexican and international civil society. The caravan was escorted by the Federal Preventive Police, the PFP, who, until recently, were closing in on the Zapatista positions, in concert with the Army and who still retain chokeholds on parts of Chiapas.

>From their reemergence into the public eye last December, the zapatistas have regained their eroded popularity. And their voice has once again excited the imagination of Mexico and the world.

The caravan's departure from San Cristobal de las Casas, the largest town "liberated" by the EZLN in their 1994 offensive, was attended by 20,000 people, mostly indigenous, eclipsing any other gathering in the city's history. The caravan drew 30,000 in Oaxaca, the first stop out of Chiapas, then 50,000 in Puebla, and on and on, through twelve states.

The Caravan stopped along the way for the Third Indigenous National Congress, where Marcos greeted 3,300 delegates assembled from 42 of the 56 ethnic groups in Mexico. "We are nothing to the powerful but a figure in his accounts. We are a bothersome number. One number in the balance sheet. They measure us in order to disappear us. To measure their time and cost. They measure us in order to exploit us. To measure their time and profit. They measure us in order to control us. In order to measure their time and expense."

Saying "we will not resign from being who we are and we will continue defending our autonomy," the assembly demanded that Congress ratify the Indigenous Rights Law.

The Indigenous Congress also stated that Mexico's "natural resources are not merchandise to be bought and sold, because we won't accept the destruction of our territories by the impositions of projects and mega-projects that state and federal governments try to impose on the indigenous regions of the country."

Mexico's new president, the "charismatic," cowboy-boot-wearing Vicente Fox, is widely reputed to be a telegenic match for the masked zapatistas. But with the zapatistas and the indigenous rights issue threatening to overshadow his presidency, Fox has been availing himself of media theatrics.

Days after the EZLN's triumphant reception in Oaxaca, Mr. Fox flew to Oaxaca, the state most identified as "indigenous," for his own photo op with some "indigenous leaders."

The zapatistas have been given dozens, if not hundreds of "bastones de mando," symbolic canes of representational authority in the indigenous Mexican tradition. These are more than symbolic bestowals, however. Mexican law recognizes and incorporates the legal systems of the indigenous populations. These canes might be thought of as equivalent to voting proxies. This is not just fooling around with some decorated sticks.

A few days after this was in the news, Fox appeared on TV, waving his own ribbon-decorated cane, announcing, "I have the cane of leadership!"

One indigenous leader was overhead commenting that Fox's display "was the funniest thing you could imagine. It was truly unbelievable: one of those canes that you can buy in any market!"

Opening his presidency by reaching out to the EZLN, Fox has grown increasingly intransigent with them, while trying to maintain his image as a peacemaker.

Marcos points out that Fox has enacted only a few of the zapatistas' conditions for restarting peace negotiations, to great media fanfare, while balking on the rest. The President says that he is afraid that, if he grants all their concessions, the EZLN will suddenly ask for more. The President questions Marcos' commitment to peace.

The Fox administration began to get more difficult following George W. Bush's mid-February visit to Mexico, according to numerous observers. The U.S. State Department, responding to inquiries, said that it "doesn't get involved in internal Mexican affairs."

Fox's seeming oneness to the zapatistas drew fire from the more conservative wing of his National Action Party (PAN), as well. PAN legislators said they refused to meet with masked delinquents, saying it made the nation look ridiculous. Meanwhile, a PAN legislator from Morelos state ridiculously challenged Marcos to a duel. The PAN and PRI leaders have threatened trouble for the Indigenous Rights Law. They say its strengthening of indigenous autonomy threatens to undermine the unity and security of the nation. They insist it will break Mexico up into backward enclaves. Development through globalization will suffer.

The EZLN says they will stay in Mexico City until the law is passed. PAN officials have raised an outcry that the presence of the masked rebels threatens to inspire unrest.

Seven days out from Mexico City, the EZLN began sending each of seven "riddles" for the people of Mexico. One each day. "Each one of them has a meaning on its own, and they have exponential meaning, that is, the one plus the two has meaning, the one plus the two plus the three another meaning, and so on, until the seventh is complete. Once the seventh has arrived, we shall enter Mexico City."

The seven riddles have been sent and received. The EZLN comandantes have entered Mexico City. And the riddles continue...