New Popular Army in Mexico

Gerardo Otero (otero@sfu.ca)
Thu, 11 Jul 1996 18:24:12 -0700

At 04:35 11/07/96 -0600, you wrote:
>I can tell all the people interested in mexican policy that don't let you
>to be shaked by the news.
>The EPR seems to be a comedy act, this ~army~ can be supported by
>narcotrafic or by politics groups that want a part of El presupuesto
>(a salary from the goverment for not making troubles).
>Be careful with the armed movements in Mexico, not all (I could say that
>no one, at least at present) is serious. If any one wants make a
>liberation of the poors in Mexico the first thing to do is to be serious
>and not to make Manifestos or poems and make a real war.
>Here in Mexico I'll wait for your comments.
>
You may well try to dismiss the news on the EPR (and all other armed
movements in Mexico), but the fact is that the government does seem to be
taking it seriously. If the EPR is indeed a facade, was it mounted by the
government to launch a witch hunt of social and political leaders? Here's an
information and analysis update by David Crow and Javier Medina of Fronteras
Comunes, citing Mexican newspapers (La Jornada and Reforma):
_______________________________
GUERRERO UPDATE

Hilario Mesina Acosta, leader of the Campesino Organization of the Southern
Sierra (OCSS), was arrested in connection with the appearance of the Popular
Revolutionary Army (PARA) on July 3 by members of the federal Attorney
General (La Jornada, July 4). Mesina has denied that the OCSS is linked to
the rebel group.

According to the OCSS, the military has searched homes in the mountains
surrounding Coyuca de Beni'tez and Atoyac, Guerrero. (La Jornada, July 6)

President Zedillo admitted on July 5, during a tour of Nuevo Le=F3n, that=
the
Executive Branch has no information concerning the origin or ideology of the
PRA. (Reforma, July 10)

Militarization extended to outside the state. This past weekend, troops
from the XIXth Military Zone, with headquarters in Tuxpan, Veracruz,
dispatched troops to the Veracruz-Hidalgo state border, a mountainous region
known as the "Huasteca", long rumored to be a hotbed of armed activity. (El
Financiero, July 10)

The Mexican Army captured four "confessed" members of the Popular
Revolutionary Army last Monday in the sierra of Guerrero, according to
information from the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena). The four, each
caught with a pistol and wearing military gear, will be charged with
violating the Federal Firearms and Explosives Act. Furthermore, arms and
cartridges were confiscated from a cave near the detention site. (El
Financiero, July 10)

ANALYSIS: MILITARIZATION, PERSECUTION OF DISSIDENTS

The lack of information continues to dominate the analytical panorama in
Guerrero. Inhabitants of many municipalities disavow prior knowledge of the
rebel groups, asserting that they come from other regions. However, some
facts stand out: The militarization of the state has spread to other
locales, including Hidalgo, Veracruz and Oaxaca. Increased military
presence, while supported by some citizens in affected towns, is already
leading to persecutions of civil leaders and organizations. In effect,
warnings issued by the PRD and peasant organizations in Guerrero are coming
true: the apparition of the rebel group has unleashed a witch hunt against
political dissidence. =20

David Crow
Javier Medina
Fronteras Comunes
e-mail: frontcomunes@laneta.apc.org =20