SAN SALVADOR ATENCO, Mexico (AP) - With the Zapatista guerilla movement gone quiet, this farming town on the outskirts of Mexico City has become the central battleground for the leftist and anti-globalization movements that were attracted to southern Chiapas state eight years ago.

Mexican anarchists, national farm groups, even a delegation of U.S. university students have been drawn to San Salvador Atenco in recent months to brandish machetes at demonstrations and denounce the expropriation of farms to build a new Mexico City airport.

On Thursday the anger reached a critical mass, and Atenco exploded in riots. Protesters have barricaded themselves in the town 15 miles northeast of Mexico City and are threatening to kill 12 hostages, including city officials and police officers.

Since the airport project was announced in October, peasants in Atenco, and around the surrounding region known as Texcoco, have grown increasingly radical in their opposition to the plan.

Outraged by the government's original offer to buy their land for as little as 60 cents per square meter, their almost-weekly protests have become a fixture on Mexico City's streets.

The protesters' refusal to compromise, even as the government has offered more money to buy their land, has made their cause increasingly attractive to leftist activists across Mexico. Buildings in the town are now covered with murals of revolutionary heroes.

"This is now the center of the fight against globalization and the multinationals," said Juan Blanchen Nieto, an activist from the southern state of Morleos who came to Atenco to assist the protesters. "Chiapas was the center, but by sheer activity, the movement is here now."

The Coca-Cola company - a frequent target of anti-globalization activists - has taken a particularly hard beating from the farmers. This week, several Coca-Cola trucks were hijacked and turned into barricades. Coke bottles in the trucks were turned into Molotov cocktails.

Thursday's violence was the kind of revolt not seen since 1994, when Zapatista rebels staged a bloody 12-day rebellion in Chiapas in the name of socialism and Indian rights.

But the Zapatistas have lapsed into silence since a successful bus caravan to Mexico City to address legislators in March 2001.

In April, students from Evergreen State College in Washington State wanted to visit Chiapas during a two-month exchange program. Their professor steered some of them to Atenco instead.

Seventeen of the U.S. students, brandishing machetes and chanting revolutionary slogans in broken Spanish, joined Atenco farmers in a May 1 protest march, and were promptly expelled from Mexico for violating a ban on foreigners becoming involved in domestic politics.

On Friday, demonstrators turned out for another March in Mexico City opposing the airport. Many said they see the Atenco protest as the extension of the Chiapas conflict.

Rodrigo Oliveras, a 19-year-old marcher with a mohawk and a black leather jacket with an anarchy symbol spray-painted on the back, said the anti-globalization movement "hadn't yet noticed what was happening in San Salvador Atenco" but that they would after this week's events.

"San Salvador Atenco has now won support all of the world," Oliveras said.

Some of the farmers say they are gratified - but a little surprised - by the interest shown by activists of other stripes.

Jorge, a 34-year-old Atenco farmer who, like most here, covered his face with a bandanna and would give only his first name, said he didn't consider himself anti-globalization until this week's standoff began.

"I'm just a working stiff, and this didn't start out as anti-globalization," he said. "But if the movement means survival, then I'm anti-globalization."

Farmers block a road next to burned police cars in San Salvador Atenco, near Mexico City, Friday, July 12, 2002. Farmers protesting against the seizure of their land for a new Mexico City airport threatened Friday to kill about a dozen hostages and spark uprisings across the country. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

 

 

Activists on bikes patrol a blocked road in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico State, Saturday, July 13, 2002. Protesters opposed to the construction of a new Mexico City airport refused Saturday to negotiate with state officials or hand over hostages, demanding to talk to federal officials in the third day of a standoff on the outskirts of Mexico City. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

 

 

A Mexican woman walks near burned police cars on the outskirts of San Salvador Atenco, near of Mexico City, July 13, 2002 , where Mexico's federal government plans to build the capital's new international airport. Hundreds of machete-wielding farmers protesting the government's plan to take their land for a new airport outside Mexico City prepared for a showdown with police, two days after taking seven hostages during clashes that left 30 people injured. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

 

 

University activists block a road in San Salvador Atenco, Mexico State, Saturday, July 13, 2002. Protesters opposed to the construction of a new Mexico City airport refused Saturday to negotiate with state officials or hand over hostages, demanding to talk to federal officials in the third day of a standoff on the outskirts of Mexico City. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

 

 

Residents block a road near burned police cars on the outskirts of the town of San Salvador Atenco, near Mexico City, July 12, 2002, where the federal government plans to build the capital's new international airport. Hundreds of machete-wielding farmers protested against government plan to take their land for a new airport outside Mexico City and prepared for a showdown with police Friday, a day after taking seven hostages during clashes that left 30 people injured. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

 

 

Policemen and local officials kidnapped by villagers are shown to the media July 11, 2002, after a day of rioting in the village of San Salvador Atenco, where Mexico's federal government plans to build the capital's new international airport. Hundreds of machete-wielding farmers protesting the government's plan to take their land for a new airport outside Mexico City prepared for a showdown with police Friday, a day after taking seven hostages during clashes that left 30 people injured. The farmers threatened to kill their hostages, including police and government officials, unless all 15 of those arrested in Thursday's violence were freed. Picture taken July 11, 2002. REUTERS/Henry Romero

 

 

A Mexican Campesino leads around a kidnapped policeman with a rope around his neck July 11, 2002, during rioting in the village of San Salvador Atenco, where Mexico's federal government plans to build the capital's new international airport. Hundreds of machete-wielding farmers protesting the government's plan to take their land for a new airport outside Mexico City prepared for a showdown with police Friday, a day after taking seven hostages during clashes that left 30 people injured. The farmers threatened to kill their hostages, including police and government officials, unless all 15 of those arrested in Thursday's violence were freed. Picture taken July 11, 2002. REUTERS/Henry Romero

 

 

His face covered and armed with a machete, a mexican campesino walks past an overturned burning car on July 11, 2002, during rioting in the village of San Salvador Atenco, where Mexico's federal government plans to build the capital's new international airport. Hundreds of machete-wielding farmers protesting the government's plan to take their land for a new airport outside Mexico City prepared for a showdown with police Friday, a day after taking seven hostages during clashes that left 30 people injured. Picture taken July 11, 2002. REUTERS/Henry Romero