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Show AQ - The Salt Lake Tribune WORLD/THE WEST Thursday, March 29, 2001 Zapatistas Take Podium in Mexico’s Congress MEXICO CITY — Leaving behind their jungle hide-outs and guns — and their controversial leader — 23 ski-masked Zapatista rebels strode eyoonto the floor of Congress and proclaimed the béginning of a political struggle. Rebel leader Comandante Esther said the absence of Subcomandante Marcos,the rebels’ military leader and media star, was intentional: the rebels’ military mission was over,she said. “Our warriors have donetheirjob. Nowit is our time for respect,” Esther told hundreds of legislators.“The person speaking to youis not the military leader of a rebel army, but the accused them of trying to bully Congress. “Our word is oneofrespect,” said Esther. “We came to have a dialogue. . . not to shove anyone aside.” Butshe wenton to attack Fox’s National Action Party, which opposed their appearance in’ Family of Marine WhoStaged Death Stand Trial for Collecting Insurance ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS — federal conspiracy trial has begun for three family members accused of collecting more than $300,000 in death benefits in the strange tale of a Marine whofaked his death in 1994 near Lake Mead. The Marine, Staff Sgt. Arthur Bennett, committed suicide in jail in 1999 — three months after a federal grand jury indicted him, his mother,two ofhis brothers and his ex-wife in the faked death case. Bennett also was facing murder and sexual assault charges when he hanged himself at the Clark County Detention Center. His ex-wife, Amelia, pleaded guilty in December to concealing her knowledge of a felony without admitting she participated in it. Trial started Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Las Vegas for Bennett’s mother, Ellen, and twoof his brothers, Scott and David. All three admit they knew about the staged death, but deny. trying to defraud the government. Arthur Bennett hadsaid he was involved in covert military operations, and the three relatives said they believed him whenhe claimed military officials were faking his death to help him assume a new identity. Defense lawyer Karen Connolly, representing Elen Bennett, said the military’s actions gave the story credence. She said the military allowed Arthur Bennett to go free while he was facing sexual assault charges in Arizona. During that leave, a charred body was found in Bennett’s burned-out trailer Feb. 3, 1994. The military identified the remains as those of Arthur Bennett, told Ellen Bennett her son had died, conducted a burial with full military honors and didn’t allow relatives to see the body. Connolly said Ellen Bennett, 69, admits she received $200,000 from her son’s life insurance policy, though she knew hewas alive. Connolly said Arthur Bennett told his mother the military wanted him to have the money to start his newlife. He told her his Congress. Manyof the party’s members didn’t show up for the session. About 100 of the senators and congressmen were present, and they gave the rebels rousing applause. The argumentoverletting the rebels take the floor created a bitter division within Mexico's newly independent Congress — and within the National Action Party. Its members claimed the rebel’s past rhetoric suggested they had come to lecture, not engage in a dialogue. ‘The absence ofMarcos — whose rhetoric had angered some congressmen — indicated a more conciliatory tone on the part of the rebels. Fox has reversed the former ruling party's policy of isolating the rebels deep in Chiapas state. Fox has agreed to meetall of their demands,butthe Zapatistas have refused to meet with him. Atissueare constitutional ee ‘that wouldallow Indians to govern atthe with bringingcontraband into places of imprisonment, tampering with evidence and conspiracy in connection with the hopped-up burrito debacle. Miera, who was arrested Friday, is accused of agreeing to allow a woman to deliver two burritos with bags ofheroin in thefill- Hie seas Gest eaentons 2)eve the burritos to inmates Mario Go-~ mez, 21, and Jeffery Padilla, 29, but Hepe Satins #oe ae the inmates another officer OS eee Later, Miera offered one of the burritos to another officer, who took a bite and said he felt a hard substance but ing to the lobby ofthe City-County Jail on April 22, 2000, according to the criminal complaint. shortly afterward, jail spokesman Capt. John Van Sickler said. local level; promote their own languages, cus- toms andjustice systems. Special Purchase Full 3-Year Warranty! Try it, then buyit! BOTH VACUUMSONLY UME Meeee $ 299°* Onein two womenover50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in her lifetime. Your mother may be the one. Should you be concerned?Afterall, a family history of osteoporosis is an important risk factor. 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Esther and string of rebel commanders described 500 years of repression against Indians and argued for approval of a rights bill now before Congress. “Tt is symbolic that I, a poor Indian woman and a Zapatista, am here today,” Esther said. Therebels have mounted a successful media campaign to demand Mexico rethink its treatmentof its 10 million Indians. That campaign has been so successful, and the rebels so unyielding, that some legislators toe 1eenee Guerrillas say fighting is over, Chiapas struggle is now political Ex-Guard Fingered in ‘Hot’ Burrito Scheme. |