Oaxaca, Mexico:Guerrillas raising their ugly heads

Three banks in Colonia Reforma were attacked yesterday morning between 7:00 and 8:30 AM. A group calling itself the Organización Revolucionaria Armada del Pueblo de Oaxaca (ORAPO) has claimed responsibility. The group blew open the front entrances of all 3 banks, carried off anything not nailed down, and left a "manifesto" behind to explain their civil activism.

In the manifesto, the group claimed, among other things:

"We are prepered to fight with weapons, down to our bare hands if necessary, to defend the Oaxacan populace from the constant aggression. This is the first manifesto and the biginning of a series of pending actions to defend Oaxaqueñans from whatever aggressions by police and paramilitary groups."

APPO, of course, immediately denied any responsibility and blamed the state government.

A photo slideshow of the heavily damaged banks.
It would not be beyond the realm of possibility to suspect state government involvement. If anything is going to push president Fox to send in federal troops, it would be the threat of a guerrilla uprising inside the capitol city. However . . .

At the same time, the virulently anti-government local daily "Noticias" was distributing in its morning edition a letter supposedly received from the EPR (Popular Revolutionary Army), a well known and well armed guerrilla group. The EPR threatens to: "initiate a new phase in the class struggle" and bring on a "bloodbath" to the PRI and the PAN political parties. The letter, supposedly from The EPR's "Zonal Military Command", blames the problems in Oaxaca on an unholy alliance of the Catholic Church, the PAN, the PRI, president-elect Felipe Calderón, the television networks Televisa and TV Azteca, "illustrious" analysts and commentators, paramilitary groups, provacateurs, informants, the military-police apparatus, state Congressmen and Senators and judges and magistrates. Whew! Glad they didn't mention Preident Bush.

Again, if anything is going to force Fox's hand, threats from armed guerrilla groups should do the trick.

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TAGS: Oaxaca, Mexico, guerrillas, martial law