Hernández and Héctor Galindo Gochicua by the court was undoubtedly cynical and symbolic.
It marked the first anniversary of a mass meeting in San Salvador Atenco at which Zapatista leader subcommandante Marcos denounced the brutalisation of Atenco's citizens.
That brutalisation started with clashes on Wednesday May 2006, as police attacked flower sellers from Atenco to prevent them setting up stalls on the building site which is to become a
Wal- Mart shopping mall.
On and 4 May two young boys were killed and 207 people detained by riot police. Most of those arrested were subjected to cruel torture, including 26 justice".
These vicious sentences come in the wake of the fraudulent presidential election last summer when right-wing candidate Felipe Calderon was put into power. The Mexican ruling class (and the US government) had been afraid that the election of opposition PRD candidate Manule Lopez Obrador might have led to Mexico linking up with
and opening a new front of leftwing struggle Latin America.
The sentences also come in a climate of growing repression aimed at the popular movements. Following last year's rebellion in the city of Oaxaca, dozens appear to have been killed, many are missing and many more are being held as political prisoners. The police and military are also stepping up their repression of the Zapatistas' Other Campaign.
The provocation in Atenco in May 2006 was directly linked to the participation of the town in the Zapatistas' Other Campaign and the visit of Marcos. It was also an attempt at revenge for the successful local struggle in 2002 that prevented the local peasants' land being seized for a new