The Sixth Intergalactic Commission of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) has announced a "First World Festival of Dignified Rage" (Festival Digna Rabia), to be held in January at San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Participants have been confirmed from some 20 countries around the world. Among the Mexican participants are the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), representatives from maquiladora workers in Baja California and Tamaulipas, and from the Lomas de Poleo land struggle at Ciudad Juárez. International participants include a delegation from the ACIN indigenous alliance in Cauca, Colombia; Spain's anarcho-syndicalist General Workers Confederation (CGT); and representatives from the labor struggle in Iran. Invited writers include Mexico's Adolfo Gilly, Ireland's John Halloway, the USA's Michael Hardt, and India's Arundhati Roy. (La Jornada, Nov. 29)

In an escalation of the land conflict at Lomas de Poleo community on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, on Dec. 4 demolition equipment was brought in—backed up by trucks full of henchmen with clubs, chains and rifles—to destroy the home of resident María Alvidres, who was away across the border in the US caring for an ill son. Resident Silvia Carrillo, who was looking after the house for Alvidres, returned from shopping to find the demolition underway. Residents say the gang was directed by Catarino Del Río, overseer for the brothers Pedro and Jorge Zaragoza Fuentes, local barons who claim the community's lands. Residents called the police, but none ever arrived; when they protested to Del Rio, they were threatened at rifle-point. The residents report they have formally complained to Juárez municipal, Chihuahua state and Mexican federal authorities, but believe the Zaragoza brothers have "total impunity." (Lomas de Poleo statement via Enlace Zapatista, Dec. 5)

Thirteen men were found Dec. 4 shot to death in northern Mexico's Sinaloa state. The bodies—lined up, face down, their hands bound, and mostly with execution-style coup de grace shots to the head—were discovered by local police some 600 meters from Highway 15 between the town of Coyotitlan and the coastal resort Mazatlán, in the pueblo of San Miguel, San Ignacio municipality. Some 80 spent shells were found nearby—and an abandoned truck with license plates indicating "Federal Public Service." The victims were all between 25 and 30, and all had military-type haircuts. Police say they have identified the men; they are from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, and were transfered to Sinaloa in the truck.

The US government released the first $197 million of the $400 million "Plan Mexico" aid package Dec. 3. At a signing ceremony in Mexico City, US Ambassador Tony Garza called the package "the most significant effort ever undertaken" by the US and Mexico to fight drugs. "The governments of the United States and Mexico will continue fighting against the scourge of drugs and drug trafficking, but to be successful we will need support from people on both sides of the border," Garza told reporters. Carlos Rico, Mexico's undersecretary for North American affairs, expressed his confidence that the Barack Obama administration will remain committed to the program, and that any human rights concerns can be resolved.

Tijuana's Public Security Secretary Alberto Capella was ousted Dec. 1 and replaced by his second-in-command, army Lt. Col. Julian Leyzaola, following three days of violence that left 37 people dead in the border city. Another army officer, Capt. Gustavo Huerta, has been appointed the new number two on the city's police force. Mayor Jorge Ramos' office said that putting army officers in charge will help "regain security" in Tijuana. Among the 37 killed over the weekend were two children aged four and 13—and nine headless corpses dumped in a patch of wasteland. More than 200 people have been killed in the past month in Tijuana. (AP, The Guardian, Milenio, Dec. 2)

As protests by teachers continued in several southern and central Mexican states, on Nov. 28 the State Institute of Public Education of Oaxaca (IEEPO) announced plans to work with Section 22 of the National Education Workers Union (SNTE) to produce an alternative to the government's new Alliance for Quality Education (ACE). The alternative program will be carried out "in accordance with the characteristics of the state," IEEPO director Abel Trejo Gonzalez said. This is first time a state government has distanced itself from the ACE, which is promoted by Mexican president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa and SNTE national president Elba Esther Gordillo Morales. Teachers have protested against the ACE since August, calling it an opening to privatization. A strike by Section 22 set off a major uprising in 2006 that paralyzed much of the state for five months. (Mexico Solidarity Network Weekly News and Analysis, Nov. 30; La Jornada, Nov. 29)

Mexican President Felipe Calderón, speaking at last week's APEC summit in Lima, warned US President-elect Barack Obama against following through on his campaign pledge to consider revising the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying it would send more Mexicans across US borders. "If you eliminate the benefits of free trade, you eliminate many of the opportunities for jobs and for growth for both Americans and Mexicans," Calderón told reporters. "If you get rid of the trade and job opportunities, one of the effects, which no-one wants, would be an increase in emigration from Mexico."

Twenty people were killed in apparent narco-violence Nov. 28—mostly in the border cities of Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana. The single bloodiest incident occurred when a group of hooded gunmen opened raided on a party at Juárez seafood restaurant, singling out and killing eight diners. Nov. 25 was one of the most violent days Ciudad Juárez has seen this year, with 17 assassinated in 15 hours, seven of whom were tortured and left just a few meters from a school. Ciudad Juárez is now Mexico's most violent city, accounting for more than 1,000 of the nearly 5,000 drug-related homicides registered nationwide this year. (EFE, Nov. 28; El Diaro, Juárez, Nov. 26)