Mexico "Anarcho-Bombings" Spark Student Witch Hunt

Self-proclaimed anarchists and animal liberationists claimed responsibility for the bombings via postings on the Internet. The organizations that supposedly carried out the bombings were unknown prior to the bombings, with one exception: the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). The ALF is comprised of individuals or cells who do not know each other, but who use the same name and share the same goal: animal liberation through direct action. Due to its lack of a formal structure, any person (or government agent) can commit property destruction in the name of the ALF.

The timing of the bombings is significant for several reasons. First, Mexico celebrated 199 years of independence from Spain on September 15. On that same date, they also commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Independence Day grenade attacks in Morelia that killed eight people and left over 100 injured.

The bombings also occurred on the eve of two important dates: October 2 and the year 2010. Every October 2, students and young people march in cities all over the country to commemorate the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre in which the Mexican military shot and bayonetted hundreds or thousands of student protesters to death in Mexico City.

2010, on the other hand, is widely predicted to be a volatile year in Mexico. It will mark 200 years since Mexican independence and 100 years since the Mexican revolution. Assuming that since thus far monumental uprisings have occurred every 100 years since the founding of the country, Mexico's activists sport t-shirts and paint graffiti that says, "See you in 2010." Predictably, 2010’s potential volatility has the government on high alert. Due to the timing of the "anarcho-bombings" and these dates' importance to both Mexicans and the government, the bombings have only served to further increase tension in the lead-up to 2010.

If these bombings were indeed carried out by anti-capitalist activists as the Internet communiqués claim, they have failed to achieve their stated goal of inflicting monetary damage against capitalism. The targets were almost certainly insured, nullifying the tens of thousands of pesos in monetary damage the communiqués claim was inflicted against "capital."

The negative consequences of the bombings, however, are becoming painfully apparent. The federal government has seized upon the opportunity to further infringe on the sacred autonomy of Mexico's universities.

Autonomous Universities

Since the founding of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City in 1910, students and the government have engaged in an ongoing battle for students' and university workers' right to run their university as they see fit--without government imposition, infringement, and most importantly, repression. Autonomous universities have the right to manage their own budgets and appoint their own rectors and regents. It is also expressly prohibited that police or the military enter university campuses for any reason without the rector's permission. Likewise, the police and intelligence agencies do not have access to students' academic records or biographical information.

University autonomy has afforded students and the university community a greater degree of freedom to form political organizations on campus than they would normally have off-campus. For example, pirate radio stations operate on autonomous university campuses across the country. From these campus stations, students and non-students alike broadcast music, political opinion, and other free speech without fear that federal agents will raid their booth and seize their equipment. Likewise, students hold on-campus fundraisers for political organizations that they couldn't as easily hold off-campus.

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