Meanwhile, the Federal Army continued its militarization of the affected states, as well as injecting troops into other locales, including Coahuila, Yucatan, Hidalgo and Zacatecas. Police officers from the Attorney Generals office will be coordinating security tasks with the Army. The parties concurred in condemning the violent acts as counterproductive, although each with its own nuances. Lopez Obrador exhorted the parties to consider a negotiated solution to the conflict. The EPR, it appears, is a genuinely revolutionary group with a far more extensive organization than imagined at first.
Many doubts still exist as to the financial backers of the group.
Some assert that the guerrilla army is linked to drug traffickers who wish to debilitate the Federal Army and thus take advantage of newly-opened operational spaces. Others claim that the group finances itself through kidnappings and armed robbery. Upcoming local November elections in the State of Mexico and Guerrero will be severely impacted by a climate of violence, dealing a hars h blow to the country's intended resolution of disputes through institutional measures. Moreover, the Zedillo administration finds itself between the Charybdis of social groups demanding far-reaching answers to pressing difficulties and the Scylla of an Army increasingly avid for power. The country can no longer afford to dismiss the EPR as a gang of mime artists.