The administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderón May 11 authorized the dispatch of federal army and police to the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. "This morning, I spoke with [Veracruz] Gov. Fidel Herrera," Interior Secretary Francisco Ramírez Acuña told a news conference in Mexico City. "We agreed to take steps so federal forces can lend support to state authorities."

Veracruz state prosecutors have concluded that 73-year-old grandmother Ernestina Ascencio* wasn't raped or beaten by Mexican federal army soldiers but died of natural causes, spokesmen said at a news conference in the state capital, Xalapa. Juan Alatriste Gómez, a special prosecutor assigned to review the case, said there were no witnesses to the alleged crime and that an anal tear originally cited as evidence of an assault could have come from any number of "diverse reasons." State prosecutor Emetrio López, who filed the original charges against the soldiers, said he agreed with Alatriste's findings. The original investigators in the case have been suspended temporarily.

Eleven anti-Bush protetsers in the Yucatan city of Merida were released on bail of up to 20,000 pesos ($2,000) May 8. They had been arrested on charges of damaging the Municipal Palace and other violations during protests against George Bush's visit to the city on his Latin America tour March 13. The "altermundalistas" (other-worldists), as they have been dubbed by the Mexican press, signed a document dropping charges that they were tortured and maltreated before the Yucatan State Human Rights Commission as a condition of their release. Eight remain behind bars. (Diario de Yucatan, May 9; La Jornada, May 8)

Letter from Ignacio del Valle, La Palma federal prison, Mexico state, via Narco News, May 7:

Introduction: Brief Synopsis of the Struggles in Atenco
One year after the brutal police attack against the town of San Salvador Atenco in Mexico, sentences of 67 years were handed down to three leaders of the People’s Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), Ignacio Del Valle, Felipe Alvarez, and Hector Galindo in retaliation for the town’s effective resistance to the expropriation of its lands for the purpose of building a regional airport.

Three campesino leaders from San Salvador Atenco were each sentenced to 67 years and six months in prison on charges of kidnapping May 5. The sentences come almost exactly a year after a violent clash between Atenco residents and Mexican state and federal police troops. Ignacio del Valle, Felipe Alvarez and Héctor Galindo, leaders of the People's Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), have five days to appeal the verdict. The charges are related to incidents in February and April 2006, when FPDT members allegedly held State of Mexico officials captive. Although the leaders were arrested in the aftermath of the May 2006 violence, the judge said his decision was based solely upon "the kidnapping and illegal detention of the state officials." (El Universal, May 6)

A group of students from Oaxaca’s autonomous State University allied with the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) occupied Radio Universidad—the University radio station—on April 30. The students said it was a limited take-over to last until 8 PM, May 2. As of 4:45 Oaxaca time on that day, Internet connections for Radio Universidad were down. It was not apparent why. Nor was it known if the station was broadcasting or being jammed.

The Section 22 teachers union in Oaxaca called its one-day work stoppage and direct action campaign a "success" to press demands for a resolution to the crisis in the conflicted southern Mexican state. At least 48 state government offices were blockaded, including four municipal palaces (Oaxaca City, Tlaxiaco, Nochixtlán, Juxtlahuaca and Huajuapam). A group of local workers from the national social security institute, ISSSTE, blocked highways at various points around Oaxaca. (APRO, May 2) Section 7 teachers went on strike in solidarity and blocked roads in Chiapas state. (APRO, May 4) Meanwhile, the Federal Institute of Access to Information (IFAI), in response to a petition by the civil coalition APPO, ordered the Federal Preventative Police to release all records concerning the repression in Oaxaca last October, including the names of those who were in command. (La Jornada, May 3)

One year after the confrontations between inhabitants and Mexico state police at the village of San Salvador Atenco, 174 of the 204 originally detained still face charges, mostly of "attack on the means of communication" (road blocks), and 25 on charges of "kidnapping" (detaining police agents accused of rights violations). None have been sentenced. 28 remain behind bars at the top-security prisons of Altiplano, Santiaguito and Molino de Flores. Another three are fugitives, including América del Valle, daughter the director of the People's Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), Ignacio del Valle. (El Universal, May 3) Amnesty International marked the anniversary by releasing a statement protesting the lack of progress in probes of rights abuses by the state and federal police, saying that impunity remained "rampant." (El Universal, May 3)