I can look for the news article on the families departing.  It was just a few days ago, about the same time of your post.  I almost commented then but got distracted.

Re increasing poverty in Chiapas - I don't know. The only indicator I have is the presence of people begging on the streets.  Everyone says they are from Chiapas.  The women in particular are dressed in traditional rural Mayan/indigenous garb, not something one usually sees in Tabasco anymore.

We will be returning to Mexico in March - would have already been there but for health problems.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/feb/08/200-families-leave-zapatista-rebels/

http://www.congoo.com/news/2008February10/Families-Mexico-break-Zapatista-movement

Polho, Mexico - Nearly 200 families have abandoned the Zapatista rebel movement in one of its strongholds, turning to the government for aid at a time when the insurgents are complaining about the loss of outside support.

On Wednesday, each family received initial payments of $43 in a ceremony with Salvador Escobedo, a top official with the federal government's Social Development Department. The government is promising similar payments every two months, as well as a school and medical center.

The ceremony in Polho, long a backbone of the Zapatista movement, appeared to be the most prominent desertion from the insurgency since 2004, when about 400 families in the unofficial rebel capital of La Realidad broke away to accept government help, dividing the village in two.