A coalition of five leftist guerrilla groups that support protesters in the southern state of Oaxaca claimed responsibility for homemade bombs that exploded at Mexico's top electoral court, a bank and the headquarters of the political party that governs Oaxaca.
The bombings across Mexico City early on Monday caused no injuries but rattled nerves in a country wracked by protests since the polarizing July 2 presidential elections.
President Vicente Fox called the attacks "criminal acts aimed at frightening the population."
Leftist protesters have battled federal police for control of Oaxaca City since last week, and the guerrilla groups pledged to continue "military" actions until Oaxaca state Governor Ulises Ruiz steps down.
Protesters accuse Ruiz, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of rigging the elections that brought him to power in 2004 and oppressing dissent, but have so far failed in their attempts to oust him.
"We take full responsibility for these actions," the groups said in a statement e-mailed to the news media. "Our political-military action is a response to our determination to reply with revolutionary violence to the violence unleashed by the lords of power and money."
The five groups are known to Mexican authorities and have claimed responsibility for bombings in the past, said Jose Luis Manjarrez, spokesman for Mexico's Attorney General's Office. But he said there is "nothing at this point to be able to confirm the veracity of the statement."
The groups identified themselves as the Lucio Cabanas Barrientos Revolutionary Movement, the Democratic Revolutionary Tendency-People's Army, the Insurgent Organization-May 1, the Dec. 2 Execution Brigade and the Popular Liberation Brigades.
The rebels said they would continue such actions as long as "repressive federal and local forces continue to repress the people," an apparent reference to the federal police raid of Oaxaca a week ago that pushed the protesters out of the city's main central plaza, which they had occupied since May.
About a dozen rebels claiming to represent the five groups appeared in a rural area of Oaxaca state in late August wearing masks, military-style uniforms and carrying assault rifles. At the time, they distributed leaflets supporting the cause of the Oaxaca protesters.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese