A bomb went off early Sept. 16 at a shopping mall in Buenos Aires, causing extensive damage to American Airlines and Alitalia ticket offices but causing no casualties. Leaflets found at the scene bore the name of a Chilean anarchist cell "Vandálica Teodoro Suarez," and included demands for the release of "political prisoners" and autonomy for the Mapuches, an indigenous people who straddle the Chile-Argentina border.

The "political prisoners" referred to are thought to be 15 Chilean anarchists accused of carrying out 23 bombings in Santiago and other cities. Chilean anarchists have claimed responsibility for a series of recent bombings in Buenos Aires.

The attack came a day after Argentina's Supreme Court approved the extradition to Chile of Galvarino Apablaza Guerra, former leader of the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (FPMR), a guerrilla group that assassinated right-wing Chilean Sen. Jaime Guzman in 1991. Argentine President Cristina Fernández could block the extradition if she decides to grant Apablaza asylum as a political refugee. (La Nación, Buenos Aires, Sept. 18; AFP, EFE, Sept. 16)

See our last posts on Argentina, Chile and the global anarchist scare.

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