Three workers from the Mexican oil monopoly Pemex were killed by inhaling toxic fumes when the gas pipeline they were working on suffered a leak Oct. 8. The workers were repairing the Potrero del Llano-Naranjos pipeline in Alamo Temapache, Veracruz, which had ruptured Sept. 26. Pemex said there was "no risk to the population." Veracruz state authorities complained that the workers had not been outfitted with proper safety equipment. (EFE, Milenio, Oct. 8)

Mexico's underground Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) issued a communique Oct. 3 to the leadership of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), expressing solidarity and pledging to "avoid to the maximum" any action which could affect them or compromise their security. The document, addressed to the EZLN's general command, the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee, and to Subcommander Marcos, stated that the EPR has a presence in Chiapas and that its campaign of "harassment" against the state will continue if the government does not return alive its "disappeared" militants. It recognized that the EZLN "continues to be harassed and in many cases assassinated, in spite of everything it has done to maintain a praiseworthy resistance in the face if these injustices"—an implicit acknowledgment of the EZLN's strategy of civil struggle. (La Jornada, Oct. 3)

The National Front of Struggle for Socialism (FNLS) in the western Mexican state of Michoacán issued a statement demanding the "presentation with life" of Francisco Paredes Ruiz, a comunero (communal farmer) from Zirahuén and former member of the Armed Revolutionary Movement (MAR), a guerilla group from the '70s, who "disappeared" Sept. 26 in the city of Morelia. Two days after his disappearance, Paredes' car was found abandoned on a Morelia street. "The last to speak with him were his daughters on the day of his disappearance," said FNLS spokesman Leonel Calderón Villegas.

Mexican officials say the US has committed to giving their administration $1 billion over the next two years to fight drug trafficking. Carlos Rico, Mexico's undersecretary for North American affairs, said the "Joint Strategy to Combat Organized Crime"—which would have to be approved by the US Congress—would be similar in scope to the multi-year, multi-billion-dollar Plan Colombia. US lawmakers say that President Bush is expected to call for an emergency appropriation to get the funding approved this fall. "We are going to have some hurdles in Congress," said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). "But at the end of the day, this will get done." US Drug Czar John P. Walters also said an announcement is forthcoming, but the White House has not publicly released details.

Four clandestine armed groups in Mexico issued a communique Sept. 27 calling for a "common front" to "recuperate the fatherland," which they say has been hijacked by a "rightist usurping minority." The statement also called for the reappearance alive of the two "disappeared" presumed followers of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez and Edmundo Reyes Amaya. The statement was jointly issued by the Democratic Revolutionary Tendency-Army of the People (TDR-EP), the Lucio Cabañas Barrientos Revolutionary Movement (MR-LCB), the May 1 Insurgent Organization (OI-1M) and the December 2 Execution Brigade (BA-2D). Among the presumed authors of the statement is Comandante José Arturo, one of the founders of the EPR.

A Mexican federal court in Oaxaca has ordered President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA), the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) and other government entities to present alive Edmundo Reyes Amaya, one of the apparent followers of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) who have been "disappeared" since May 25. The order came in a case brought by the Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights (LIMEDDH) on behalf of Reyes Amaya's family. (La Jornada, Sept. 25)

State authorities in Chiapas have requested that federal army troops be deployed to assure security in the upcoming elections in the conflicted southern Mexican state. Elections are to be held in two weeks for local authorities in 118 municipalities and for 40 state deputies. The state government says ten municipalities are "zones of alert" due to a "climate of tension." (Mirada Sur, Chiapas, Sept. 24) In response, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) issued a communique Sept. 22 charging that the state government, under the control of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), is "attacking the poor and needy, and courting and benefiting the rich and powerful." (Mirada Sur, Sept. 25) The EZLN denied rumors that it is supporting candidates from any party in the elections. (Heraldo de Chiapas, Sept. 19) However, the rebels pledged not to interfere with the elections in their zones of control. (Cuarto Poder, Chiapas, Sept. 23)

On Sept. 21 the Mexican government's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) urged President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa to start "the gradual withdrawal" of the military from a high-profile anti-crime campaign he launched at the beginning of the year. The CNDH based its recommendations on its finding that 78 soldiers, including a colonel and a general, had been involved in human rights violations during the campaign; the abuses included rape, torture, arbitrary detention and murder.