Radical farm leaders pledge to break Mexico town away from gove

MEXICO CITY -- The leader of a Mexican peasant group that thwarted government plans to build an airport on their land pledged to create an autonomous government in the area's main town.

Ignacio Del Valle wants to turn Atenco into a self-governed town, similar to ones created by the Zapatista rebels in the state of Chiapas following a 1994 uprising.

The pledge came after the federal government agreed to cancel a planned $2.3-billion airport that would have required buying some of their land.

The airport would have used most of the fields outside the town as buffer zones but would have left the town untouched.

The autonomous areas in Chiapas refuse to recognize state or federal authority. They are ruled by voice-vote assemblies instead of elections, and enforce their own rough form of justice.

Atenco would be the first such rebel government outside Chiapas, where the rebel townships are not eligible -- or often refuse -- any kind of federal aid or public works projects.

But Del Valle also said the protesters wanted special federal or state farm aid for the town.

The protests against the airport were backed by hundreds of Zapatista supporters, leftist and anarchist groups, and anti-globalization activists.