AFP March 11, 2001 'SUBCOMANDANTE MARCOS' BLASTS CORPORATE WORLD, RICH, CONSERVATIVES XOCHIMILCO, Mexico March 10 (AFP) - Setting the stage for the conclusion of his rebel march on Mexico City, "Subcomandante Marcos" Saturday fired a volley of verbal attacks at the corporate world, conservative politicians and the wealthy, who he said feared all feared Mexico's pro-Indian movement. "We arrive here amid attacks by these three sectors that are worried by the growth of the color of the earth," said Marcos, using his oft-repeated metaphor for indigenous people. Cheers erupted from the crowd of 15,000 that gathered at a stadium in Zochimilco, just outside the capital, to hear the masked, pipe-smoking insurgent, who portrays himself as a leader of the 11 million Mexican Indians. The address was expected to be the last before the Zapatistas' caravan rolls into the heart of Mexico City for a massive rally on Sunday, two weeks after the 25 masked but unarmed Zapatista commanders left the conflictive state of Chiapas aboard a tourist bus escorted by hundreds of supporters. The "Zapatour" was largely aimed at promoting an indigenous rights bill currently before the Mexican Congress. But Saturday's address concentrated on attacks against business leaders, conservative politicians and wealthy Mexicans. "We will not listen quietly to their insults, nor will their threats remain unpunished, and they will no longer humiliate those who are the color of the earth," said Marcos who leads the pro-Indian Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN.) "Fear troubles the already diminished perception of business leaders. This and their tiny intellectual quotient prevents them from realizing that the 20th century has ended and that the second millennium is over," said Marcos. One banner hanging in the stadium proclaimed: "How can there be peace if those who cause war continue to clamor for the perpetuation of our misery." The radical language at the Zapatista gathering sharply contrasted with the conciliatory tone adopted by conservative President Vicente Fox, who praised the struggle for indigenous rights in a radio address, even at one stage saying: "May Zapatismo win, may the 'subcomandante' win ..." Fox said now that the march was ending, the time had come for Marcos to sit down at the negotiating table to seek a peaceful end to the seven-year-old conflict in Chiapas.