New rebel group issues warning in northern Mexico

A group calling itself the Armed Movement of the North has apparently begun issuing communiqués threatening subversive action against the Mexican government and foreign-owned companies in drug violence-wracked northern Mexico: In the communiqués, issued Jan. 1 and 24, the group claims to have members in five northern states: Durango, Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua and Coahuila. ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

A group calling itself the Armed Movement of the North has apparently begun issuing communiqués threatening subversive action against the Mexican government and foreign-owned companies in drug violence-wracked northern Mexico:

A group calling itself the Armed Movement of the North has apparently begun issuing communiqués threatening subversive action against the Mexican government and foreign-owned companies in drug violence-wracked northern Mexico:

In the communiqués, issued Jan. 1 and 24, the group claims to have members in five northern states: Durango, Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua and Coahuila. The latter two border Texas….

The communiqué added that the group is made up of students, professionals and workers, mostly from urban areas, with the goal of "defending the sovereignty of the Mexican people over the aggressions of foreign capital, imperialism and the abuse and injustices of the current government."

The communiqué said that the group will not launch an armed uprising against the government but instead will focus on forming small independent "cell groups" that would be "infiltrated into the institutions of the state."

Mexican authorities are downplaying the risk saying that the groups claims about itself are unverifiable. Given what Mexico has on its plate right now, let’s hope it stays that way.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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