to, a gorgeous little town off the mainrnhighwav to Mexico Citw Like Zacatecas,rnGuanajuato was a silver town. But whenrnthe silver gave out, the government putrnthe miners to work digging a honeycombrnof tunnels throughout the hills uponrnwhich the town is built. The resultrnis a unique place where pedestrian walkwaysrnand automobile passageways cutrnthrough the mountains like so manyrnholes in Swiss cheese. The beauty ofrnGuanajuato is beyond description. So,rntoo, is the oddity of the Guanajuatornmummy museum. The dry climate andrnalkaline content of the soil naturallyrnmummifies the remains of those buriedrnhere. And unless you can afford to pay arnhefty fee to have your loved ones interredrn”in perpetuit’,” you may find them disinterredrnand put on display in the mummyrnmuseum 20 years hence. Very odd.rnAnd so very Mexican, this fixation withrndeath.rnAnother day and another brief ride onrna second-class bus brings you to SanrnMiguel dc Allende, another beautifulrnhighland town. San Miguel and Guanajuatornare considered the curia de independencia,rnor the cradle of independence. Itrnwas in these towns that the notion of anrnindependent Mexico was born, and thernresulting battle for independence wasrncommenced and completed. Oddlyrnenough, it is these same towns that possessrnsuch a strikingly colonial character—rnso very Spanish. Yet the locals insist thatrnSan Miguel is the corazon de Mexico, orrnthe heart of Mexico. And as you walk therncobblestone streets, worn smooth fromrnfive centuries of use, you sense that sure-rnIv it must be. This, in spite of the largernnumber of American expatriates of arn”New Age” persuasion who have settledrnhere. No, not even a bunch of gringo astrologyrnfreaks can destroy the spirit ofrnthis place.rnIf San Miguel is the heart of Mexico,rnthen Mexico Citv, wlicre you arric byrnbus earh the next afternoon, must be itsrnbowels. Twcntv-five million people—rnthe equivalent of the entire populationsrnof California or Canada—reside in thisrnsprawling mass of concrete chaos. Howrnthis place can continue to function is arnmvstcry. Sheer inertia, you guess. Thirt’rnpercent of the water in this waterstarvedrnalley is thought to be lost tornleaky pipes. Natural gas leaks regularlyrnexplode, taking out buildings, or in somerncases entire citv blocks. The air is a noxiousrnyellow haze of sulphur dioxide.rnBreathing it is said to be akin to smokingrnthree packs of cigarettes daily. Schoolchildrenrnwear surgical face masks to classrnin a futile attempt to protect theirrnhealth. Keiko the killer whale, star of thernHollywood movie Free Willy, is undoubtedlyrndying of respiratory disease at hisrnhome in a local amusement park.rnThis city couldn’t function at all, yournconclude, had they not invested in arnwonderfully efficient and clean subwayrnsystem some years back. Ybu leave yourrnbackpack at the bus depot’s luggagerncheck, enter the subway system map inrnhand, and start checking out the sights.rnThe Chapultepec Castle is magnificent.rnThe National Museum of Fine Artsrnis exquisite. The anthropology museumrnis a wonder. But this place is just too bigrnand too fast. bu return to the bus depotrnthat evening, retrieve your backpack, andrnbuy a ticket for the 10:30 P.M. bus tornOaxaca. You climb aboard, knock back arnfew cold Coronas, and put your seat intornsuper-recline. You awake at 6:00 A.M. outrnof the chaos and back into tranquillity.rnOaxaca is a charming, peaceful cityrnbuilt around a pleasandy shaded zocolo,rnor central park. The feeling here is muchrndifferent from the northern part of Mexico.rnIt is slower-paced and more indigenous.rnReally more like Central Americarnthan the north. Barefooted Indian women,rntheir hair braided with brightly coloredrnstrips of cloth, sell baskets of chapulinas,rnor fried grasshoppers, in thernstreets. You try them and find they aren’trnbad. A bit salty, perhaps. And maybe arnbit more garlic than you’d recommend.rnThe flavor is similar to beef jerky, thoughrnthe crunch)- insects melt in your mouthrnand require no real chewing.rnOaxaca was once home to two ofrnMexico’s former leaders—one amongrnthe most honored, the other among thernmost dishonored. A little Indian bo}’ byrnthe name of Benito Juarez learned tornread and write in Oaxaca. As an adult,rnhe led Mexican troops in defeat ofrnFrench colonial forces at Quereterro. Itrnwas there that the puppet Emperor Maximillianrnwas put up against the adobe inrn1867. Another Mexican bo- of a morernEuropean bloodline grew up in Oaxaca.rnHe assisted Juarez in the overthrow of thernFrench. But upon Juarez’s death, he assumedrndictatorial powers and ruledrnMexico with an iron hand for 30 years.rnFrancophile to the hilt, Porfirio Diazrnpowdered his cheeks to affect a more Europeanrnappearance. He lived the ostentatiousrnlifest}’le of the emperor he helpedrndefeat. And when he was driven fromrnMexico by revolutionaries in 1910, hernwent to France, where he currently restsrnwith past French luminaries in the Pantheon.rnA very curious man. A very curiousrncountry.rnThe following morning, the results arernin on a very curious election. A rumprnNational Consultation Poll was held thernprevious week. You hadn’t even beenrnaware of it. But neither were the vast majorityrnof Mexicans, or perhaps they justrndidn’t care. The National ConsultationrnPoll was held to give legitimacy to subcomandanternMarcos and the Zapatista NationalrnLiberation Army. But the resultsrnappear to have done the opposite. Overrn900,000 votes were cast at some 8,000rndifferent polling stations. A majority ofrnvoters—53 percent—believe the Zapatistasrnshould “remain an independentrnforce.” The remaining 47 percent believernthe guerrillas should disarm andrnjoin existing parties within the politicalrnprocess.rnIt initially appears that a half-millionrnof Marcos’ fellow citizens support hisrninsurgency. But further investigationrnshows that the election was open to Internetrnusers, and that as many as half ofrnthe total number of votes cast may havernbeen done by computer. Most of theserncame either from the United States orrnSpain. It is conceivable that no one inrnMexico supports Marcos! In fact, notrnone person you have talked with on yourrnjourney has expressed the slightest support.rnAll agree that the government isrncorrupt and needs changing, but no onernseems to feel that Marcos is the manrnto change it. In fact, many Mexicansrnbelieve he is a PRI dupe who is divertingrnattention while other more sinisterrnactions are taking place elsewhere.rnThe Zapatista political line: “Thernprincipal demands of the people ofrnMexico are land, work, sufficient food,rnhealth, education, culture, information,rnindependence, democracy, liberty, justice,rnpeace, security, opposition to corruption,rnand the defense of the environment.”rnSimple. Simply infantile. Theyrnbegan their insurgency in January 1994rnin opposition to the North AmericanrnFree Trade Agreement. How the importationrnof jobs, foodstuffs, and technologyrncould hinder their demands mystifiesrnyou. They retreated into the forest andrncalled a truce when government troopsrnmoved in. Lengthy negotiations aboutrnthe possibility of negotiations ensued.rnAs this is written, Marcos and companyrnhave been holed up in the village of SanrnFEBRUARY 1996/41rnrnrn