On Dec. 10 some 400 police broke up a demonstration by the unemployed in Mexico's southern state of Tabasco. Some 300 people were blocking an avenue in Villahermosa to demand benefits that PRI governor Andres Granier Melo had promised to those who lost their jobs because of severe flooding in the state in October and November. Payments had started on Nov. 30, but they were suspended on Dec. 9 and 10, supposedly for technical reasons. Five people were reportedly arrested in the incident, which Gov. Granier Melo blamed on "agitators who are trying to disturb the peace." (LJ, Dec. 11)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Dec. 16

See our last posts on Mexico and Tabasco.