On March 11, the 24 comandantes of the EZLN rode into the center of Mexico City on the back of a flatbed truck. Over 150,000 people greeted them, while millions more in the city and throughout the world celebrated their arrival.

They came to press the Mexican congress to pass the indigenous rights bill, the "Cocopa law." The congress offered a subcommittee to hear the comandantes. The EZLN angrily rejected that proposal as more bad faith. They called it an insult, and announced they would return to Chiapas rather than be snubbed by the politics of "cave men." The congress relented, and by a slim margin, voted to hear the delegates in general assembly.

The comandantes took the podium on March 28, and addressed the congress and the nation, the event being broadcast live on national TV. To wide surprise, Marcos did not appear in the congress. Subcomandanta Esther, the first of the delegates to speak, explained. "Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos is that, a Subcomandante. We are the Comandantes, those who command jointly, the ones who govern our peoples, obeying.

"We gave the Sup and those who share hopes and dreams with him, the mission of bringing us to this tribune. They, our guerreros and guerreras, accomplished that mission, thanks to the support of the popular mobilization in Mexico and in the world. Now it is our hour. The respect we are offering the Congress of the Union is one of content, but also of form.

"And it is also a symbol that it is I, a poor, indigenous and Zapatista woman, would be having the first word, and that the main message of our word as Zapatistas would be mine."

Esther and the other comandantes called for a national government based upon respect for differences, and respect for traditional indigenous society as a part of that nation.

They responded to President Fox, who, after dragging his boots, acted on the EZLN's conditions for opening peace negotiations. "The announcement of the military vacating Guadalupe Tepeyac, La Garrucha and Rmo Euseba, and the measures which are being taken in order to carry this out, have not gone unnoticed by the EZLN. Senor Vicente Fox is responding now to one of the questions which our people made to him through us: He is the supreme commander of the federal Army, and the army follows his orders, whether for the good or the bad. In this case, his orders have been a sign of peace, and that is why we, the Comandantes and Comandantas of the EZLN, are also giving orders of peace to our forces:

"First: We are ordering Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, as military chief of the regular and irregular forces of the EZLN, to carry out whatever necessary in order to see that no military advance by our troops is made into the positions which have been vacated by the federal Army, and for him to order our forces to maintain their current positions in the mountains. We will not respond to a sign of peace with a sign of war."

Esther wrapped up her address with a call for equality: "My voice did not lack respect for anyone, nor did it come to ask for charity. My voice came to ask for justice, liberty, and democracy for the Indian peoples. My voice demanded, and demands, the constitutional recognition of our rights and our culture."

The comandantes have returned to Chiapas. Marcos reclaimed his weapons and the comandantes as community leaders have gone back to their communities. The rights law is now before the congress. The EZLN as a military force is giving way to its role as a political force. The future continues its creation in the autonomous communities of Chiapas.