According to the Miami Herald, the explosions could be seen miles away, as the flames and black smoke rose above the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. There were no reports of injuries, but over 20,000 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution.

Economic Loses
Due to the lack of fuel because the attack shut down the pipeline running between Mexico City and Guadalajara, Volkswagen de Mexico, Volkswagen’s only manufacturing facility in North America, along with another major auto plant, and over 2,000 companies across the country were forced to shut down or cut back production. Business groups estimate economic losses could total 90 million in US dollars.

Pemex will millions of dollars per day in lost gas sales and will have to spend millions more to repair the damaged infrastructure. This comes at a time when Pemex is already under strain because of a decline in revenue and output from its aging oil fields. Pemex officials are aiming to repair the pipelines and get production back on line by September 17th. However, Economist.com raises concerns if Pemex’s financial constraints could prevent it from making the necessary investments in security at its installations because Pemex officials have already admitted that they are unable to protect it’s massive pipeline infrastructure.

The Spin Game Begins
Some security analysts have suggested a possible alliance between the EPR and drug cartels. Ernesto Mendieta, director of the security consulting firm Aquesta Terra, said that the attacks are similar to the attacks that occur in Columbia, which, according to him, is the proof that they are connected with Mexico’s Gulf drug cartel, the Zetas. Mendieta said:

“There are changes in the variables of how the EPR makes its decisions that are coming from violent elements within drug trafficking, drug distributors, which is a separate group, and others,” said Mr. Mendieta. “These groups are involved in the decision-making process.”

The notion quickly been rebuffed by Ricardo Alemán, a columnist for El Universal, a Mexico City newspaper. Alemán said,

“There is no evidence that they [EPR members] are directly linked to drug trafficking,” adding that powerful drug cartels who buy entire police departments and mayors “don’t need the EPR at this moment.”

However, it seems the government has its own spin on the matter. On Thursday, Attorney General Manuel Medina, said that EPR is a “small group which diverts federal government efforts from confronting organized crime.”

This was quickly rebuffed by EPR. In a communiqué, EPR denied government allegations that its attacks are acts of terrorism, and claimed their demonstrations stem from social and political reclamations or demands. EPR also stated that it is hypocritical of the government to condemn their actions, yet remain silent about State terrorism and allowing the extreme right to reissue its dirty war and the institutionalization of fascism, while having gall to demand that they be prosecuted to the fullest extent permissible by law in name of the democracy and the right of an oligarchical state.

Hay quienes condenan y descalifican nuestro accionar de autodefensa colgándonos el epíteto de delincuentes y terroristas, pero callan y guardan silencio ante el terrorismo de Estado y el proceder de la ultraderecha, avalando en los hechos la reedición de la guerra sucia y la institucionalización del fascismo, llegando al descaro de exigir el castigo y todo el peso de la ley en nombre de la democracia y un estado de derecho oligárquico.

The reference to a “dirty war” is in regards to Mexico’s dirty war in the 1970s, when the army made sweeping roundups of hundreds of people accused of being linked to rebels.

There are recurrent reports of detention of “suspects” whose only connection with anti-governmental activity may be blood relationship with wanted guerrillas; of persons detained extra-constitutionally by military authorities, […] and of prisoners tortured while in detention. Lately, there have been indications also that GOM [Government of Mexico] has murdered some prisoners after extracting all information they have to give…

EPR is still insisting that its two disappeared members, Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez, who were arrested by security forces from the streets of Oaxaca city in May are being held in secret prisons or a military camp. This was stated in their communiqué to the Mexican media during the attacks. They stated that the attacks were intended to force the release of two of the group’s leaders held by President Felipe Calderon’s government.

The Fight Continues
The federal government of Mexico and the state government of Oaxaca continue to deny taking the two men, and says they were perhaps killed in a feud between gorilla leaders, many of whom come from three overlapping families who have led guerrilla groups in southern Mexico for decades. The EPR maintains the two men are in clandestine military custody and in one communiqué accuses General Oropeza Garnica of having ordered kidnapping.

The EPR has vowed that their campaign of “politico-military harassment” will continue until the government releases Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez. This treat was first made during the first attacks back in July. So far, those were not hollow threats.

On July 28, an EPR commando attacked the site of a prison in construction in Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. The guerrillas captured the three guards and locked them in a guard booth. They painted slogans on the walls that read “They were taken alive, we want them back alive,” “EPR will win,” “Long live the EPR” and “Freedom for political prisoners.” No injuries were reported in the incident. On Aug 31, over 10,000 people were evacuated from Torre Mayor, Mexico City’s tallest tower, after an attempted car bombing, which ERP took credit.

The attacks come at a time of considerable unrest in Mexico, where it has become clear that the wounds of last year’s the technical coup d’etat still have not healed. While come like to think Andrés Manuel López Obrador is infective should think again. It seems López Obrador’s political party, PRD, is still creating problems for the illegitimate right-wing President Felipe Calderón.

Earlier this month, PRD Congressional members who also do not regard Mr. Calderón’s as the legitimate president were able to use parliamentary rules to keep him from giving his annual address to Congress, and then boycotted the ceremony which he delivered his address in writing.

In addition, they are pushing forward legislation that would strictly control campaign advertising and limit negative ads and would force, Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of the Federal Election Institute, out of office for being part of the technical coup d’etat that helped put Calderón into power.

Meanwhile, tonight, Mexico’s legitimate President, López Obrador, and his followers have promised to invade Mexico City’s historic zócalo to stop Calderón from giving the annual grito to mark the start of Mexico’s revolution against Spain.

¡VIVA MÉXICO!

¡Hasta Victoria Siempre!

Vitro SAB, a Mexican company that makes glass containers, said the shutdown of two plants would cost it about $800,000 a day. Vitro said in a statement that it was increasing production at other plants in Mexico to minimize effects on customers.

It is being reported that Honda Motor Co, Kellogg Co’s, The Hershey Co, Nissan Motor Co, and Grupo Modelo SA were forced to suspend or scale back operations because of the lack of natural gas. Service was suspended on the 36-inch (91-centimeter) pipeline that runs between Mexico City and the industry-rich city of Guadalajara, capital of the western state of Jalisco. Service are also suspended in the industrial city of Leon, in the central state of Guanajuato and the central states of Queretaro and Aguascalientes. Pemex told reporters that the gas would probably not be restored until Friday at the earliest, but was working to provide alternate means of delivery.

TIME Magazine reports that the association representing the Mexican industry said it was looking into the extent of the explosions’ financial impact.

There seems to be another communique issued late Tuesday by the EPR said it was waging a “prolonged people’s war.”

“We have started a national campaign of harassment against the economic interests of the oligarchy and the anti-people government, and declare those interests as legitimate military targets,”

The group said it would continue its attacks until the government released Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Raymundo Rivera Bravo, and others it described as political prisoners in the southern state of Oaxaca. The question that is begged to be asked who is Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Raymundo Rivera Bravo? And why is the EPR referencing two people who the government is claiming they haven’t been detained in a statement about blowing things up for institutional change? It is a pretty severe accusation to include them in a statement that is claiming responsibility for the attack.

The news media are trying to pass them off as “sympathizers of the leftist rebel group,” but after investigating this a little further, it seems there is more to this. According to Edmundo Reyes Amaya’s daughter, Nadín Reyes Maldonado, Reyes Amaya disappeared on May 23, 2007.

Mi padre, salió de mi casa el día miércoles 23 de mayo por la noche en autobús, como de costumbre ya que viajaba cada mes o tres meses a Oaxaca para visitar a su mamá. El día en que el salió iba vestido de playera de algodón manga larga de color negra con rayitas blancas, gorra azul y pantalón de mezclilla. Como en otras ocasiones mi padre sale este día de la ciudad de México con dirección a la ciudad de Oaxaca.

El domingo 03 de junio nuevamente lo llamé y la llamada no entró nuevamente, me decía que su celular estaba fuera del área de servicio.

Ante esta situación nuestra angustia creció y la preocupación también por lo que empiezo a indagar en los periódicos para informarme sobre la situación de allá, pues por la televisión había visto que la situación en Oaxaca estaba muy dura. Y Es entonces cuando por medio del periódico La Jornada me entero de la detención – desaparición de mi papá el día lunes 4 de junio a través de La Jornada. Cuando leí la noticia, acudo a Internet para saber más sobre lo que estaba pasando y veo entonces con mayor información que el Partido Democrático Popular Revolucionario, Ejercito Popular Revolucionario, lo reconocía como su integrante. En ese momento todo fue turbio y confuso para mi familia y para mi, pues nos angustiamos demasiado cuando vimos que este grupo lo reivindicaba y reconocía como uno de sus miembros, junto con otras dos personas, lo cual nos lleno de miedo, quedándonos como en estado de shock, sin saber que hacer. En ese momento me preocupe mucho por mi mamá ya que esta mal de salud, padece de hipertensión y presentó crisis nerviosas, entre otras cosas. Por lo que me ocupe en ese momento de ella y me bloqueé sobre el asunto de mi padre. Pues tampoco sabia a donde buscar ni a donde dirigirme.

El día jueves 07 de junio me comunico con la familia en Oaxaca para preguntarles si sabían algo, diciéndome que mi abuelita lo esperaba para el 28 de mayo, que había preparado comida y que él no llegó por lo que se preocuparon y que un tío escuchó su nombre en el radio y fue cuando empezaron a buscar en el periódico y vieron que estaba como desaparecido. Desde entonces nuestra desesperación por saber de él aumentó día con día, por lo que hemos buscado por todos los medio posibles saber sobre su estado recurriendo a la lectura de la prensa escrita y de Internet para encontrar apoyo en las organizaciones de Derechos Humanos que tratan temas de desaparición.

Loosely translated, her father left to visit his mother in Oaxaca. He told his family he would return the following Wednesday. The began to worry when he did not call to let them know he made it to his mother’s house. His daughter tried calling his cell phone, but did not have any luck. On June 7, the day we was to return, he never showed up, which was very unusual since he is very punctual. When his daughter called her grandmother, she told her, he never made it to her house. That is when the family began to fear the worse. It was not until his daughter read the paper that he was kidnapped.

The only information I can find about Raymundo Rivera Bravo is that is believed he is a member of the EPR, according to Rafael García Ramos. However, what is known, back in June, the non-governmental Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights (LIMEDDHH) made an urgent request to the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) to intervene on behalf of Raymundo Rivera Bravo y Edmundo Reyes Amaya.

La Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Limeddh), solicitó de manera urgente a la Organización Mundial contra la Tortura cuyas siglas son (OMCT), su intervención sobre la detención e incomunicación, presunta desaparición y riesgo de tortura contra los señores Raymundo Rivera Bravo y Edmundo Reyes Amaya, militantes del Partido Democrático Popular Revolucionario (PDPR) en hechos ocurridos en la ciudad de Oaxaca.

— Denuncia la Limeddh posible tortura a dos integrantes del PDPR, Olor a mi tierra, June 12, 2007

OMCT is considered to be the “main coalition of international non-governmental organizations (NGO) fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and all other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” In a released appeal denouncing the “harassment against members of the Committee Cerezo,” OMCT believes that the two incidents are related. Alejandro Cerezo Contreras, a member of the human rights organization Comité Cerezo, had been receiving a series of death treats that not only threatening to end his life but also members of his family as well. An email was sent to Comité Cerezo on June 26 which not only contained threats to the lives of the Contreras family, but it also made a reference about people being detained in La Palma penitentiary.

Asi son las cosas de la vida otra vez en pedos la family, ni modos los tenemos bien cercas a ustedes tres, a los de la palma y a tu querida familia, y a tu tiito cara de culito y a su amiguito habladorcito que no para y el otro tambièn habla y habla, pero a lo mejor ya no hablan ya se quedan calladitos o ya les cargo la verga. Solo diosito sabe, y tambien marxito y leninito culito.

OMCT thinks that the “los palma” was in reference to Raymundo Rivera Bravo and Edmundo Reyes Amaya who are believed to held there. OMCT feels that the Mexican government is behind Alejandro Cerezo harassment because on June 20, Alejandro Cerezo received a voice message on a government issued cell phone. The Interior Ministry has issued Alejandro Cerezo with a cell phone along with a private number after the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights made a request in behalf of Alejandro Cerezo to the Mexican government to provide him and his family protection back in October 2006. The message was a recorded conversation between Alejandro Cerezo and his sister Emiliana and to this day, they still do not know how the conversation was recorded.

Jorge Lofredo, director of the Center for the Documentation of Armed Movements (Cedema) and an authority on Mexican guerillas – website that originally post the communique – argues that events that occurred prior to the attacks by the EPR is part of a camplaign led by the Mexican government so that the EPR can come out of hiding. On July 4, Lofredo stated that the disappearance of Raymundo Rivera Bravo and Edmundo Reyes Amaya who are also member of the EPR in Oaxaca, the death threats Cerezo received – who is rumored to be the son of the supposed leader of the guerrilla group – and the attack in Oaxaca that occurred last year are a part of the campaign.

Los recientes desaparecidos de Oaxaca, se asegura en la más reciente amenaza, tendrían vínculos familiares con la dirigencia del EPR, lo que llevaría a la conclusión de que se trataría, nuevamente, de que el objetivo de mantener en calidad de desaparecidos a Raymundo Rivera Bravo o Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez y Edmundo Reyes Amaya tiene por objetivo obligar a actuar a la dirigencia del EPR, que estaría integrada según el CISEN y las distintas corporaciones de seguridad por el padre de los hermanos Cerezo Contreras. Ello desembocaría, nuevamente, en la estrategia de “presos por consigna”, o como ha dado en llamar el propio Comité Cerezo, “rehenes del Estado Mexicano”.

Jorge Lofredo, CEDEMA.org, July 4, 2007

While it is easy to assume that the recent attack could be manufactured “terrorist” acts as Richard, from The Mex Files, points out, this might not be the case this time around. For example, if we were to take the word of the mainstream media, one might thing this was planned by al Qaeda. Nezua provided insight on how the mainstream media is trying to spin this story as being part of an al Qaeda plot. As Nez pointed out, it is hard to know what is exactly is going on, especially when the mainstream media is dedicating itself to the service of lies and not the truth.

It is clear that those who are paying the media for this campaign of lies are not going out to the streets or the factories or the campos, nor the mountains where the people are forced to live under a systematic policy of State Terrorism implemented by Felipe Calderón. It was one year ago, millions of citizens took the streets to protest the technical coup d’etat. However, and their voices were silenced through the mainstream media and subjugated bureaucrats, in payment of the privileges they have been granted. The ballot recount (voto por voto) demanded by a huge segment of society resulted in the instrumentation of the so called “lawful state” which is sold to the public by marketing campaigns full of distortions and slander in favor of the oligarchy.

As long as the government continues to criminalize any type of social movement in favor of big business, the problems underlying the struggle will never be solved.

EPR issued a statement to the national and international mass media and to those who are fighting for human rights.

A QUIEN CORRESPONDA

PRESENTE

Por medio de la presente hacemos llegar a los medios de comunicación y a nuestro pueblo el primer comunicado de nuestro partido en el estado de Guanajuato, en donde se expone nuestra posición política sobre las explosiones en los ductos de PEMEX.

De antemano agradecemos la atención prestada para con nosotros y nos despedimos cordialmente.

AL PUEBLO DE MEXICO

AL PUEBLO DE GUANAJUATO

A LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN NACIONALES E INTERNACIONALES

A LOS ORGANISMOS NO GUBERNAMENTALES DEFENSORES DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS

¡HERMANAS, HERMANOS, CAMARADAS!

En el norte del país la naturaleza ha sido muy benevolente con nosotros, en Cadereyta un rayo incendió un depósito de combustible propiedad de PEMEX; aquí en Guanajuato los viejos ductos, su falta de mantenimiento, la ordeña múltiple de éstos y un “pinchazo” para extraer gas generaron una pérdida de presión en la red lo que ocasionó varias explosiones; podría quedarse así, quedarnos callados, guardar silencio y seguir escuchando los absurdos de las autoridades pero el pueblo merece conocer la verdad. Y Esta es nuestra verdad y nuestros motivos:

En cumplimiento de la orden del Comité Central de nuestro partido y de la Comandancia General de nuestro ejército rendimos el siguiente parte militar:

- La orden de iniciar con la campaña nacional de hostigamiento contra los intereses de la oligarquía y de este gobierno ilegítimo ha sido puesta en marcha.

- Tres pelotones mixtos conformados por unidades urbanas y rurales pertenecientes al destacamento “Francisco Javier Mina” y contando con el apoyo de milicias populares de todo el estado han realizado acciones quirúrgicas de hostigamiento, poniendo 8 cargas explosivas en los ductos de PEMEX ubicados en Celaya, Salamanca, Valle de Santiago Guanajuato y en la válvula de seccionamiento de Coroneo, activadas simultáneamente a la 1:00 horas de los días 5 y 10 de julio.

A nuestro pueblo le informamos que las acciones de hostigamiento no pararán hasta que el gobierno de Felipe Calderón y el de Ulises Ruiz presenten con vida a nuestros compañeros Edmundo Reyes Amaya y Raymundo Rivera Bravo o Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez, detenidos-desaparecidos desde el 25 de mayo en Oaxaca.

A nuestro Comité Central y a la Comandancia General informamos que todas las unidades que dependen de esta jefatura siguen concentradas en su puesto de combate y están en máxima alerta dispuestas a esperar órdenes ¡Esperamos órdenes!

¡POR LA PRESENTACION INMEDIATA DE NUESTROS COMPAÑEROS!

¡POR LA PRESENTACION DE TODOS LOS DETENIDOS-DESAPARECIDOS!

¡POR LA LIBERTAD DE TODOS PRESOS POLITICOS Y DE CONCIENCIA DEL PAIS!

¡POR NUESTROS CAMARADAS PROLETARIOS!

¡RESUELTOS A VENCER!

¡POR LA REVOLUCION SOCIALISTA!

¡VENCER O MORIR!

¡CON LA GUERRA POPULAR!

¡EL EPR TRIUNFARA!

COMITÉ ESTATAL DEL PARTIDO DEMOCRATICO POPULAR REVOLUCIONARIO (PDPR)

COMANDANCIA MILITAR DE ZONA DEL EJERCITO POPULAR REVOLUCIONARIO (EPR)

Año 43

Estado de Guanajuato, a 10 de julio de 2007.

The group said it will continue to carry out “surgical harassment actions” until President Felipe Calderon and the governor of the state of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz, release two of its members who were arrested back in May.

President Felipe Calderón has ordered a reinforcement of security measures in strategically important oil fields and other areas.

What makes EPR statement interesting, they said the bombings were the signal of the beginning of its campaign against the interests of “the oligarchy and of this illegitimate government.” The word “illegitimate” echoes presidential contender Andres Manuel López Obrador, who lost the 2006 election to Calderon by less than 0.6 percentage point, and uses the same term for the current administration. After leading two months of post-election street protests culminating in a self- inauguration, López Obrador continues his claim to be the rightful head of state.

Earlier this month, more than 300,000 people filled the giant Zocalo plaza in downtown Mexico City for the third National Democratic Convention (CND) called by López Obrador. Richard from The Mex Files notes that part of the AMLO’s speech focused on “rejection of any privatization of Pemex.”

It would be wise to keep an eye on the activities happening in Mexico because it sure does look like the natives are getting restless down there. And it would be wise not to count López Obrador, as Richard said “AMLO is certain not down… nor out.”

Gunmen shot dead a local leader of Mexico’s largest leftist party in the southern state of Oaxaca where at least nine people were killed in political violence last year, police said today.

Democratic Revolution Party official Fructuoso Pedro Garcia was shot with nine bullets in the main square of Santo Domingo Morelos, a seaside town about 150 miles south of Oaxaca’s colonial state capital, said state police commander Alberto Guzman.

The killing occurred last Wednesday, three days after Garcia announced he would run for mayor of Santo Domingo Morelos.

Guzman said the killing appeared to be for personal rather than political motives but would not give more details.

However, Raymundo Carmona president of Democratic Revolution’s party council in Oaxaca said it had all the signs of a political killing, although he did not point the figure at any party.

In other news, 29 are reported to be have died as their bus plunge into a ravine. This is the second bus crash this month. – The Courier-Mail

The bus, carrying more than the 40 passengers it was built for, was on its way to Mexico City from the town of Huautla de Jimenez in Oaxaca state when the driver lost control.

It careened off the road and down a ravine dozens of metres deep, said local transport chief Ruben Castillo.

It was the second serious bus crash this month in the largely indigenous state of Oaxaca.

The Federal Preventive Police pull out of Oaxaca – Prensa Latina

Agents from the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) in the Mexican state of Oaxaca were withdrawn to join an anti-drug operation, started Wednesday in the country’s western zone.

During an almost three-month stay, the PFP had had several clashes with the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO).

The most violent was on October 29, when they detained 200 people, some of them still imprisoned.

APPO spokesman Florentino Lopez Martinez stated that the PFP has left the region with a trail of repression and blood.

Not only illegal and arbitrary detentions were made, but also torture, rape and murder, said the official.

But Fox left office Friday at one second after midnight under a cloud of disappointment, leaving behind a country that is currently facing street protests over his successor’s paper-thin election, a southern state engulfed in a crisis, and a worsening war between the drug cartels.

In a live broadcast, Calderon called on Mexicans to leave behind the divisions that have dogged him and the country since the July 2 election. Calderón also swore in some of his staff and said he would not be prevented from taking the official oath of office before Congress later Friday.

On Tuesday, lawmakers of [tag]Andrés Manuel López Obrador[/tag]’s (AMLO) – Calderón’s rival in the disputed presidential election, [tag]Party of the Democratic Revolution[/tag] ([tag]PRD[/tag]) literally fought with the ruling party for control of the speaker’s podium, the area where the swearing-in is to take place before Congress. They later staked out their territory by camping out with blankets and pillows for three days, in an attempt to block the ceremony. According to the Houston Chronicle, the fight has continued an hour before incoming President Felipe Calderón was to take the oath of office.

To make matters interesting, PAN lawmakers were able to seize the speaker’s platform where the oath of office is supposed to take place; however, PRD lawmakers were able to block most of the chamber’s doors. The brutal clash was shown on live television across Mexico. However, in the end, Calderón was able to take the oath of office as Mexico’s president.

Physically protected by ruling party lawmakers and flanked by outgoing President Vicente Fox, Calderon quickly swore to uphold the constitution. The national anthem was then played, momentarily stilling the cat-calls and shouting. Calderon quickly left the chamber as Congress adjourned.

AMLO and the PRD have been a thorn on Fox, Calderón, and PAN’s side. In September, lawmakers of the PRD managed to block Fox from giving his state-of-the-nation speech in Congress, which marked the first time in Mexican history this ever happened to a standing president. Later that month, President Fox was forced to change site of the annual Mexican Independence Day grito that traditionally took place in Mexico City’s central plaza.

On Thursday, legislators from the PRD and the Labor Party voted against a motion to hold Friday morning’s joint legislative session, leaving little hope for PAN’s Party leaders in resolving the crisis. The standoff in Congress has forced Calderón to take unusual steps to avoid clashes in order to keep visiting heads of state from the viewing the chaos that is about to plague his presidency, such as having the transfer of power ceremony take place at Los Pinos. Although legal experts agree that Calderón became Mexico official President one second after midnight on Dec. 1, however, there is only one problem, Calderón still has to take official oath of office oath before Congress. Experts on Mexico’s constitution are left trying to figure out whether Mexico has a president or not some constitutional experts say Calderón must first be sworn in.

Prior to taking the oath of office, Calderón has done his best to ask for unity and reconciliation since the nation’s highest electoral court proclaimed him the winner in September. He has said that his top priorities will be fighting poverty and crime and has pledged to reorganize Mexico’s fractured and ineffective police forces to take on organized crime. However, on November 20, López Obrador declared himself “the legitimate president” of Mexico and has already set up his shadow government. AMLO has already promised to call for more mass protests on any of Calderón’s policies that the PRD does not agree with.

Calderón has already named four people for cabinet positions, which does give insight what Mexico can expect from a Calderón Administration. He has picked Francisco Ramírez Acuña to be his all-important interior minister, the agency in charge of Mexico’s domestic politics and policy. This would suggest that Calderón will be taking a hard line against civil disobedience that has disrupted Mexico for months. Acuña was governor of the western state of Jalisco, where he gained notoriety for brutally quashing leftist protesters in May 2004 and has also been accused of human rights violations.

As Jalisco governor, Ramírez Acuña allegedly authorized the use of excessive force against anti-globalization protesters during a summit of Latin American and European leaders in Guadalajara in 2004. Both national and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, denounced what they said were arbitrary detentions and even torture of suspects.

“The blatant and prolonged nature of the alleged police abuses strongly suggests that they were carried out with the approval of some level of command within the security forces,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch´s Americas Division after a probe into the incidents.

Calderón has also selected a former high-ranking official of the International Monetary Fund, Agustín Carstens, to finance minister, sending a signal that Calderón intends to pursue a tight monetary policy, keep inflation low and avoid overspending on public programs.

Calderón has also named a team of US-educated economists to his Cabinet, which is a clear signal that Mexico’s government will be run by business.

He has appointed little-known Georgina Kessel of the central bank to be his energy minister. She will be Mexico’s first female to head that department. Kessel is an economist educated at Columbia University and has vowed to modernize the country’s energy sector.

Among the team of US-educated economist that Calderón has named to his Cabinet, two of them were once top members of Mexico’s PRI, the previous ruling party. They are Javier Lozano and Luis Tellez and will take up the positions of labor minister and communications and transport minister.

Mexico’s new labor secretary will be lawyer Javier Lozan, who promised to respect the country’s powerful unions while working with Congress on reforms to make Mexico more business friendly. Lozano severed as deputy secretary of transportation and communications under former President Ernesto Zedillo.

Luis Tellez will run the Communications and Transportation Department. Tellez has a doctorate in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1997 to 2000, Tellez also served under former President Ernesto Zedillo as Mexico’s Secretary of Energy. According to a press release from Sempra Energy, Tellez is credited for restructuring the Mexican electricity sector, by allowing broader private involvement in generating, distributing and transmitting electricity. Up until his appointment, Tellez was managing director for George Bush Senior’s Carlyle Group investment firm. Prior to joining Carlyle, Tellez served as executive vice president of DESC, S.A. de C.V., one of the largest companies in Mexico.

Now that Felipe Calderón is President, Mexico is just another casualty to the US imperialistic empire – a country soon filled with the very poor, living in wretched slums and working for pennies, while the country is infested with greedy modern day hacienda owners benefiting from Mexico’s new business-friendly government.

How appropriate the saying by former Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz: ¡Pobre México, tan lejos de Dios, tan cerca de los Estados Unidos! (So Far from God; So Close to the United States)

On October 27, 2006 Indymedia journalist and videoblogger Brad Will was the killed while covering the teacher’s strike in Oaxaca. He was known to have supported the protesters and their cause New York City Independent Media Center reported that Will was shot Friday in the stomach while he was documenting the assault on the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) at the barricade by armed paramilitary forces. He died on his way to the hospital.

shooting occurred today in Oaxaca City, Mexico, leaving New York City Indymedia journalist Bradley Will dead after being shot in the chest by paramilitaries. He died before reaching the hospital, according to La Jornada.

Milenio Diario reported that one of their photographers, Oswaldo Ramírez, who was standing near Will, was also shot and injured. Oaxaca’s state prosecutor’s office officially reported that there were two others, including a protesting teacher, were shot to death and several people were wounded during the shootings.

Illustration: D.R. Latuff

Reporting for Narco News, Diego Enrique Osorno reported that the Mayor of Santa Lucia, Jaime Martínez Feria, confirmed that the armed men who were dressed in civilian clothes were “police acting in legitimate defense against the threat of an occupation of City Hall.” According to Osorno, the murders were a coordinated by armed individuals reportedly working for the state political parties, calling themselves “neighbors.” Although it has been reported in the US media that the identified murderers were from the local police, what is being excluded is who is behind the assaults. El Universal recently revealed who took part in the murder of Brad will. According to El Universal, those involved in the murder of Brad Will were the chief of police (Seguridad Publica) of Santa Lucia del Camino, Avel Santiago Zárate, the chief of personnel of the PRI affiliated City Council, Manuel Aguilar, and a local elected Delegate of the PRI, David Aguilar Robles.

Before the slaying of Will, John Dickie, a British filmmaker based in Oaxaca, reported that he had heard an anonymous person on Oaxaca’s clandestine radio station, Citizen’s Radio (Radio Ciudadania: 99.1 FM), tell their listeners that Brad “was an armed terrorist, and there is more to this than meets the eye” and “Indymedia is a branch of the APPO.” As to why the government would make such a claim.

This is a critical time for President Vicente Fox as he has one month left in office before he turns it over to his successor Felipe Calderon. It is nor hard to connect some dots as what has transpired over the weekend. For those who have not been following the situation in Oaxaca, the two significant events that have took place in the past few days. The first was the killing of Brad Will and the two innocent souls. The other, over the weekend thousands of police armed with automatic rifles, riot shields, tear gas, armored vehicles, and helicopters invaded Oaxaca and pushed back protesters through sheer force.

After the violent take over of Oaxaca, La Jornada reported there were three casualties, Jorge Alberto López, Fidel García, and an unidentified 14-year-old.

It is interesting, that after five months of complete apathy, Fox finally decided to act to “restore peace.” Did Fox finally find his excuse to in federal police? The situation that is currently taking place is very reminiscent of an event that happened over ten years ago.

Back in 1994, when the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) launched its campaign to fight for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Chiapas, the Mexican government had utilized an array of tactics to discredit the movement in the press, to torture, rape, imprisonment and outright murder. In Feb 1995, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo deployed 70,000 troops into the jungles of Chiapas also to restore government control, what was widely known as “low intensity warfare.”

Narco News has published Will’s final moments captured on his camera.

Brad Will (1970-2006): Final Report

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati : APPO, Brad Will, Felipe Calderon, Felipe Calderón, Mexico, Oaxaca, President Vicente Fox
Del.icio.us : APPO, Brad Will, Felipe Calderon, Felipe Calderón, Mexico, Oaxaca, President Vicente Fox, Vicente Fox
Ice Rocket : APPO, Brad Will, Felipe Calderon, Felipe Calderón, Mexico, Oaxaca, President Vicente Fox, Vicente Fox

According to La Jornada, gunfire erupted as a band of roving strikers – known as the APPO’s “mobile brigade” – tried symbolically seize the public safety agency. The same building they seized weeks ago. As they tried to enter, they were met with a hail of gunfire.

A las 16:12 de este miércoles, cuando casi concluían una larga jornada de toma simbólica y desocupación de oficinas gubernamentales, y cuando ya se retiraban de la Secretaría de Protección Ciudadana (Seproci), que dirige Lino Celaya, policías y un grupo de respaldo dispararon contra los manifestantes, cuando ya se hallaban en los tres autobuses en los que habían hecho el recorrido por las dependencias.

The whole incident lasted for 10 minutes and about 60 to 80 shots being fired at the protesters. It was reported that two demonstrators were grazed by bullets.

Earlier in the day, leaders of the movement asked demonstrators over the radio station to step up disruptive activities to prove to the visiting senators that the rule of law had broken down in Oaxaca. The Senate commission was expected to arrive in Oaxaca today to determine whether the state government has effectively ceases to function, but the trip has now been called off.

News reports said a group of senators who planned to visit the city on a fact-finding mission had called off the trip.

Meanwhile, thousands of Oaxaca’s teachers marched over 300 miles from their embattled city into the capital on Monday demanding the resignation of Ulises Ruiz.

Now that this sad event occurred, the teachers will not even consider the proposal that would have allowed police to re-enter under federal command and any attempts to ease off on the demand for Ruiz’s resignation is gone.

In other news, Felipe Calderón and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is on schedule in aiding the American empire. With less than two months until Calderón takes over, the IMF is already advising Mexico. If Mexico is hoping to tackle their “ambitious structural reforms” they should consider privatizing the state owned oil company, PEMEX, and they should also modify their current tax structure.

A menos de dos meses del cambio de gobierno, el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) recomendó a la siguiente administración federal emprender “reformas estructurales ambiciosas”, entre ellas la posibilidad de que el sector privado participe en las inversiones que realiza Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) y modificar el actual esquema tributario.

También planteó modificar la estructura de gobierno de la petrolera estatal, debido a que, según el organismo, en su forma actual representa una limitación para mejorar su desempeño.

Everything is falling into place – profits are to be privatized, but cost and risk socialized.

Instead of posting Rebeca Barroso’s article in Border Hotline in full because they aren’t publishing under a creative commons license, I will only do some of the article under Fair Use. (If you want to pay for a subscription to Border Hotline, you can read it here.)

Mexico continues to suffer violent public demonstrations from perceived ‘fraudulent’ elections – The problem in Oaxaca
Rebeca Barroso 02.OCT.06
(borderhotline.com)

The conflict has roots in what was allegedly a fraudulent election, when Ulises Ruiz, the candidate for the PRI party, was named victorious over Gabino Cué, the candidate for the Coalición Todos Somos Oaxaca party.

Apparently, the previous governor José Murat, was set on having Ulises Ruiz, his personal friend, succeed him to the office of governor of Oaxaca. Murat, being a personal friend of the president of the PRI and presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo, was able to afford all the necessary support to give Ulises Ruiz a win in Oaxaca. Ruiz was sworn to office amid public protests.

…

In short, Oaxaca is experiencing nonconformities via three different groups of people: all those trampled by the fraud at the election process; the heads of the social organizations in charge of keeping the peace who used to live off the public monies now denied to them; and the teachers who are requesting an increase in their salaries.

In June, the teachers in section 22 from the National Syndicate of Education Workers and led by Enrique Rueda Pacheco demanded a salary increase and camped out in tents as a protest in the center of Oaxaca City. Hundreds of police attempted to clear them out with tear gas and rubber bullets, while the teachers fought back with sticks and stones, forcing the police to retreat. Protests sparked statewide and nationwide at the prompt use of force and apparent complete disregard for dialogue.

A negotiation commission was formed, but it failed and disintegrated at the lack of accords. Shortly afterwards, the teachers’ movement was radicalized and they added the governor’s resignation to their list of demands.

The government implemented censorship on the local newspaper Noticias de Oaxaca and its offices were raided by members of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Farmers (CROC for its acronym in Spanish), an organization with ties to the government.

…

The APPO not only took over government buildings, but has left the public schools with no classes for a long time, has closed roads and highways, taken tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and other establishments in Oaxaca City, but they also threatened to march into Mexico City in protest, promising to camp outside the Senate and several embassies, and advising they will bring children to discourage police action against them.

The government of Mexico City said they will respect all peaceful demonstrations, but urged the federal government and the state of Oaxaca’s government to resolve the conflict that has already spread to the nation’s capital, along with all the undesirable consequences it brings. There is a palpable fear that public forces will be used to impose order, which could be dangerous. The use of force was precisely the issue that exacerbated the initial problem to begin with, which started out as a salary rise request, should have been solved in less than 30 days of negotiations.

…

The government of Oaxaca officially requested the use of federal public force to restore order. According to people close to Mexican President Vicente Fox, he will do everything possible to resolve the crisis in Oaxaca via dialogue, negotiation and political accords. However, if in a reasonable amount of time there is no other option, he will consider the possibility of implementing force. What Fox wants is for Calderón to start his presidency with a clean slate and to leave him without problems. If there are any political costs involved in imposing the peace, Fox wants to bear the brunt of those, not pass them on to Calderón.

Fox insists the government will not depose Ulises Ruiz, regardless of the fact that he’s responsible for the crisis in Oaxaca, because he would be assisting a coup. To deliver the head of Ulises Ruiz would be to recognize that Mexican democracy is going in reverse.

…

In the meantime, the PRI is analyzing how to negotiate a resignation from Ulises Ruiz. If he should renounce, the office of governor of Oaxaca could go to Gabino Cué, the senator who lost to Ulises Ruiz in the elections.

If you want to read the entire article in its entirety, you can find it over at fellow blogger and friend, The Unapologetic Mexican. A special hat tip to mine and Nezua’s “Deep Throat” for the heads up.

DKos diariest, la urracca has also reported there have been sightings of miltary helicoptors overheard since last night, and word is that military have surrounded the city. La urracca report is very similar to what what Narco News reported.

Two MI-17 helicopters and one CASA C212 Navy airplane with registration number AMP-118 flew over the streets of the city – where opponents of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz have maintained several encampments over the past 130 days – for about 40 minutes.

The zocalo, or central city square, the Oro and La Ley radio stations, the state government building, the Brenamiel and El Rosario radio antennas, as well as the Department of Finance building – all places where the rebels have installed protest camps – were reconnoitered by low-level flights of military aircraft.

Dan Feder of Narco News also confirms the sightings of military aircraft flying above the City of Oaxaca.

The Mexican news agency Notimex reports:

OAXACA: A Mexican Navy helicpter again flew over both the outskirts and center of the state capital, provoking uneasiness among the members of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO in its Spanish initials) and teachers who have occupied parts of the city since May.

Just after 10:30 a.m., an aircraft could be heard in the cloudy Oaxacan sky that was later confirmed to be one of the two that flew by the night before, but on this occasion its flight was slower and higher in altitude.

People who have participated in the barricades and on the APPO’s Security and Vigilance Committee launched rockets, just as they had the night before, but did not manage even to slow the aircraft.

Just after noon, a Mexican Navy airplane also passed over the city. The radio station 710 AM, “The Law of the People,” occupied by the APPO since August 21, broadcast messages requesting that people not make rash decision: “Let us not fall into making decisions out of desperation; let remain calm.”

What is happening is a legitmate popular uprising caused by the abuses of a corrupt and repressive Goveror who won his election by fraud. The same kind of fraud that handed Felipe Calderon his victory.

The diaries La Urracca also posted that they have have recieved emails and calls out of Oaxaca, asking people to call our embassies, Amnesty International, and even Amy Goodman to report about this matter. If anybody with press connections, please get this story out as soon as possible before thousands of lives perish by the hands of the Mexican military. Here is a video of what is going on now.

A web site, El Enemigo Común (in English and Spanish), that has more on what is happening.

Here is a list of Mexican Consulates in the US and Canada.

The time to help is now! Viva Mexico!

Update: A friend of mine posted an email they received from somebody inside Oaxaca City –

Oaxaca, Saturday 30 September 2006

Friends,
I do not know whether this is only another of the many threats or whether the government has become so desperate that it is about to begin a bloody assault in an attempt to terrorize the people of Mexico into submission. The message that follows, from [Name], is not the first urgent note from him. A few nights ago he reported receiving word from important people in Mexico City that the police were set to clear the Oaxaca City center (meaning to drive out all the protestors camping there) in the early hours of the following morning. That did not happen. However, what he reports below I also witnessed. Two military helicopters repeatedly circled the city. I took pictures but have not yet downloaded them to my computer.

Two days ago I talked with a woman teacher at an encampment set up to protect one of the radio stations that the movement controls. At that planton (guard camp), she told me, all the campers were teachers, all were indigenous of two groups, Zapotecs from the Sierra Juarez (in the northern Sierra), where she was from, and Mixtecas from the Mixteca Alta region to the northwest of Oaxaca City. I told her I was worried that the government might launch an attack, to which she replied that if it came to that, she and her companeros would all die. I assure you they want a peaceful resolution, and that it is the government that is trying to provoke violence. I hope we can spread the word outside of Mexico sufficiently to help deter the government from following such a bloody course. The psychological attacks are bad enough, but if they start heavy-duty shooting it’ll be a terrible bloodbath.

G.

[attached message]
Subject: Inminent attack from the Mexican Federal Goverment to civil organizations

Please dear Sirs.
It is very important to send mails to all your contacts saying that at exactly at 4:50 minutes Saturday afternoon , September the 30th, helicopters from the Mexican Marine Corps and the PFP (Federal Preventive Police), started overflying downtown Oaxaca, Mexico, trying to intimidate its citizens revolting against its corrupt Government. On the Oaxacan Peoples Popular Assembly (APPO) radio, it was asked to all citizens to remain calm, not to start violence and to send phone, mail and voice messages to all authorities and people who could act as witnesses to this attack. So please, do it!