A Masked Marxist on the Stump - New York Times

A Masked Marxist on the Stump - New York Times: "Yet the start of a six-month national tour led by the man known as Subcommander Marcos has all the earmarks of a run-of-the-mill campaign for political office: slogans, chants, partisan songs, rallies large and small, a campaign caravan making stops in towns and cities, jabs at other politicians, cute presentations from children and hugs from local community leaders, shaking hands with admirers over a line of bodyguards, and the occasional obligation to kiss, or at least hug, a baby or two.

Marcos, a captivating speaker who now calls himself Delegate Zero, even has a stump speech of sorts, in which he blames 'savage capitalism' and the sins of the rich for everything from gay-baiting to racism to domestic violence.

The crowd of masked supporters, many of them farmers bused in that morning, held banners with slogans like "Death to the Free Trade Agreement" and "Death to Neoliberal Globalization." A red flag with hammer and sickle flew in the crowd. Nearby someone had strung up large portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin.

"This is only going to change from the bottom and from the left," Marcos continued, picking up a recurrent theme. Then he promised a better, more equal world "where we can be respected for the work that we do, the value that we have as human beings, and not for our bank accounts or, let's say, a car, the type of vehicle we drive or the clothing we wear, a world where workers occupy a place that they deserve."

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