On 5 January 1995 , the Secretary of Interior Esteban Moctezuma started a secret meeting process with Marcos called " Steps Toward Peace " Chiapas . Talks seemed promising for a agreement , but Zedillo backed away , apparently because the military was not in accord with the government 's apparent " acceptance of the Zapatistas ' control over much of Chiapas territory . " In February 1995 , the Mexican government identified the masked Subcomandante Marcos as Rafael Sebastián Guillén , a former professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico City . Metaphorically unmasking Marcos and identifying him as a non-indigenous urban intellectual turned-terrorist of was the government 's attempt to demystify and delegitimize the Zapatistas in public opinion . The army was prepared to move against Zapatista strongholds and capture Marcos . The government decided to reopen negotiations with the Zapatistas . On 10 March 1995 President Zedillo and Secretary of the Interior Moctezuma signed the Presidential Decree for the Dialog , the Reconciliation and a peace with dignity in Chiapas law , which was discussed and approved by the Mexican Congress . In April 1995 , the government and the Zapatistas began secret talks to find an end to the conflict . In February 1996 , the San Andrés Accords were signed by the government and the Zapatistas . In May 1996 , Zapatistas imprisoned for terrorism were released . In December 1997 , indigenous peasants were murdered in an incident known as the Acteal massacre . Survivors of the massacre sued Zedillo in U.S. , but the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the suit on the basis of his immunity as a head of state
Acteal massacre
Acteal massacre
Ernesto Zedillo