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Leftist Dominate News About Hispanic America

Zapatista rebels in rickety trucks and buses streamed out of their jungle strongholds for the first time in nearly five years for a six-month tour of Mexico aimed at reshaping the nation`s politics.

The rebels have pledged to move away from armed struggle and toward politics, but have not clearly defined their new political role 12 years after seizing several towns in southern Chiapas state in a short-lived revolt for Indian rights and socialism. Thousands of supporters cheered as Subcomandante Marcos, the Indian rights movement`s ski-masked leader, roared through La Garrucha on a black motorcycle.

The trip through all 31 states and Mexico City is meant to influence Mexico`s July presidential election. Marcos has said Zapatista leaders will reach out to leftist groups and create a movement that will "turn Mexico on its head." Meanwhile, fresh from talks with Cuban President Fidel Castro, Bolivia`s president-elect this week will visit another leftist Latin American leader, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.