Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

POPULAR STRUGGLE FRONT • 547but the timing also upstaged the state of the nation speech due to bedelivered on the first day of September by President Ernesto Zedillo,whom the EPR had called upon to resign.The EPR differs from the Zapatista movement in that it seeksa broader change in the Mexican political system rather than seekingmore specific and limited redress of grievances; it is moreheavily armed, better financed, and its members better trained andindoctrinated. Both the leaders of the EPR and the Zapatistas claimthere is no connection between the two groups, and while the EPRcommanders claim that they respect the Zapatista movement, theyalso disagree with its decision to revert to nonviolent means to seekpiecemeal solutions to their demands. Also, whereas the Zapatistasrecruited entire Indian villages but had a very decentralized networkform of organization based on community consensus, the EPR followedthe more classical cellular organization in which about 12men per cell undergo military training and political indoctrination butnever see leaders other than their cell commander.While the last EPR action noted in the RAND terrorism databaseas of 2007 was an attack in 1998, in August 2007 the EPR claimed responsibilityfor two bombings in Oaxaca, one of a Sears departmentstore and another of a bank branch, and later claimed responsibilityfor six bombings on 10 September 2007 of oil and gas pipelines ofPetróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), Mexico’s state-owned oil company,in the states of Veracruz and Tlaxcala.POPULAR STRUGGLE FRONT (PSF). The PSF, also called thePalestine Popular Struggle Front, was a Palestinian terrorist groupthat broke away from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)in 1974 but later rejoined it in 1991. The PSF joined the RejectionFront in 1975 and the National Salvation Front in 1985 to opposean accord reached between the PLO and King Hussein of Jordanregarding a possible future settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Incommon with other members of the Rejection Front, the PSF rejectedany accommodation with Israel in forming a Palestinian homelandout of the occupied territories, vowing instead total destruction ofIsrael and, until recently, opposing the PLO. The PSF is based inDamascus, Syria, with most of its forces in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon,and is believed to be under Syrian state sponsorship while alsoenjoying Libyan support.