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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2007 
Mexican Army Denies Existence of Report Allegedly Linking Senator to Guerrilla Group
 Associated Press
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Mexico City - Mexico's Defense Department on Wednesday denied the existence of an alleged intelligence report linking a senator to a guerrilla group that claims to have bombed oil and gas pipelines last month.
The online magazine Reporte Indigo last week published an article alleging that Sen. Rene Arce Islas, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, is a leader of the People's Revolutionary Army, or EPR, and that he is hiding his real name.
The EPR, a small, left-wing guerrilla group, claimed responsibility for the July explosions of a pipeline running between Mexico City and Guadalajara that feeds four industry-rich states in western Mexico.
Arce Islas has denied any connection to the rebel group, although this week he acknowledged he was a member of a guerrilla organization in the 1970s. At that time Mexico was under the authoritarian rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which launched a military-backed "dirty war" to crush leftist opposition.
The author of the Reporte Indigo report, Anabel Hernandez, said she based her story on a confidential military intelligence report that she had access to.
But a Defense Department spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media about the case, said Wednesday the report "does not exist."
Hernandez said she confirmed the article's details Tuesday with high-ranking military officials and maintained that the intelligence report was authentic.
Arce Islas did not respond to repeated calls seeking comment Wednesday.
In a Monday interview with W Radio, he suggested Reporte Indigo is being used by military officials trying to sabotage his career, because of legislation he has proposed that would allow soldiers to be tried in civilian courts. He said he does not agree with the EPR's methods or objectives.
Arce Islas has declined to say whether the name he goes by is a pseudonym. Hernandez claims his real name is Oscar Nahum Cirigo Vazquez.
Arce Islas is president of the Senate's State Reform Commission and secretary of the Public Safety commission. He is also a member of the Bicameral Commission on National Security. |
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