Gov. Ulises Ruiz of Oaxaca has called upon Mexican military authorities to investigate a new guerilla group which has announced its existence the in conflicted southern state. In a message posted to the website of the Spain-based Documentation Center for Armed Movements (CDMA), the Popular Revolutionary Brigade of the South (BPRS) announced its existence and support of the demands of Popular People's Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO), a civil coalition demanding the ouster of Gov. Ruiz. The BPRS said that a "decadent political system" is forcing the people to turn to armed struggle, accusing Ruiz of "ignominy and unheard-of barbarity." (ADN Sureste, April 26; Xinhua, Vanguardia, April 25)

A criminal complaint has been filed in the Mexican border city of Matamoros against Luz María González Armenta, leader of Defense and Promotion of Human Rights-Emiliano Zapata (DEPRODHEZAC), weeks after she was detained at a political protest. González was arrested March 30 at a vigil outside the municipal presidency office demanding the return alive of a local youth who has been "disappeared" since late January. She was freed after ten hours, but on April 19 Matamoros Juridical Sub-Director Moisés Araujo Olmos submitted a formal complaint to the Tamaulipas state prosecutor accusing González of making death threats against him and calling for criminal charges. The complaint notes that González is a local organizer of the Zapatista rebels' "Other Campaign" civil initiative and its "Sixth Commission" organizing body, charging that "these groups have contact with arms, death, and are dedicated to any dangerous situation." It further charges that she is involved in "delinquency and drugs." González, for her part, has filed charges accusing Araujo Olmos of abuse of authority. (Special to WW4R)

Rodolfo Chávez Galindo, a campesino leader active in the opposition to La Parota hydro-electric complex, was arrested by state police April 21 in the conflicted southern Mexican state of Guerrero, charged with the illegal detention of an engineer from the Federal Electric Commission (CFE) during a protest against the dam at the village of Oaxaquillas in July 2004. At the time of the protest, two others were arrested for the crime: Marco Antonio Suástegui of the Council of Ejidos and Communities in Opposition to la Parota (CECOP), and his comrade Francisco Hernández. Chávez Galindo protested that the case had been closed, but police said the arrest orders against him were still in effect. Chávez denied involvement in the alleged attack, and said that if the CFE wants to build La Parota, "they are not going to achieve it, much less by attacking the people who are in opposition." (La Jornada, April 22)

Mark Kurlansky writes for the Los Angeles Times, April 26:

Seventy years ago, on April 26, 1937, at 4:40 in the afternoon when the stone-walled, medieval Basque town of Guernica was packed with peasants, shoppers and refugees for its Monday afternoon market along the riverfront, a church bell rang out. The townspeople had heard the warning before. It meant that enemy planes were approaching.

From Amnesty International, April 24:

Amnesty International condemns the harsh sentence handed down today on human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, following an unfair trial that appeared to be politically driven and during which he was not given full access to his lawyers.

Afghanistan's parliament is poised to pass a new media law considerably reducing freedom of the press. The controversial package—proposed by the religious and cultural affairs commission of the parliament, chaired by former warlord Haji Mohammed Mohaqeq and supported by the government—will bring both private and state media under greater government control. Proposed changes include an oversight committee to will scrutinize the press for "un-Islamic" content. Complaints concerning media content will be referred directly to the supreme court, a conservative bastion.

Journalists in Iraq's Kurdistan face arrest and harassment for reporting on government corruption and poor public services, the UN says in a new report on the autonomous region. The report also criticises Kurdish officials for failing to respond to growing cases of "honor killings" and other violence against women, and charges that hundreds of detainees in Kurdish prisons are held without charge.

Defying President Bush's veto threat, the House of Representatives April 25 narrowly approved a war funds bill that sets a timeline for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008. "Tonight, the House of Representatives voted for failure in Iraq and the president will veto its bill," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) said it was "ironic" that Bush will be sent the bill on May 1, the fourth anniversary of the president's speech aboard a US aircraft carrier emblazoned with a banner claiming "mission accomplished" in Iraq. Said House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio: "We can walk out of Iraq, just like we did in Lebanon, just like we did in Vietnam, just like we did in Somalia and we will leave chaos in our wake." (Reuters, April 26) He may be right. But the alternative may be staying—presiding over, and contributing to chaos.