Oaxaca and the EPR

On Thursday the LA Times ran an informative piece about the Mexican rebel group EPR (Popular Revolutionary Army, in English). I've been out of the loop lately, what with honeymooning and all--and we're not done yet; we leave for Alaska tonight--so this article helps me understand a little more about the coordinated oil pipeline bombings that took place in Mexico earlier this month.

One thing I find very interesting is the relationship portrayed between the EPR and the state of Oaxaca, where the group is now reportedly based.

. . . the rebel group has split several times. It now appears to be rooted in the adjacent state of Oaxaca, whose social inequities and heavy-handed governing style have fed several militant movements.

In August the EPR, blamed for a bombing at a Sears store in Oaxaca, was offered up as a reason for much of the militarization of the city in the run-up to the August 5 election. Many people I spoke with at the time, however, suspected the government of staging the bombing, issuing a statement claiming responsibility by the EPR, and focusing attention on the EPR in order to justify a heavy show of force on election day. Total speculation, of course, but the thing to note is that few people in Oaxaca trust the government or what they read in Mexican papers, which are generally perceived as mouthpieces for one brand of propaganda or another.

I don't have the impression that the EPR is viewed favorably, generally, by Oaxacans. But it sure is convenient for a government prone to demonstrate force to have a shadowy terrorist group lurking about in order to justify a heavy police presence in the state.