The Connecticut labor press., 1919-07-26
Rebels Now Rule
 Half of Mexico

l today at its maximum strength. It is
 an army poorly organized and poorly equipped. Of this army a large pro- 1 portion is held in or near Mexico City, leaving the remainder, numbering less
 than full division, according to the
 American organization, to guard and
 maintain supremacy in the states of Nuevo Leon, eastern Coahuila, south
 ern Durango, Hildago, San Luis Potosi, l Guanajuato, Queretaro, Michoacan,
 Jalisco, Topic, Zacatecas, Guerrero, Col1ma, Chiapas, Campeachy, Yucatan,
 Tabasco, Quintana Roo, and the east
 ern or Atlantic edge of the state of Vera Cruz, which territory on paper re-
 mains under federal control
 The big transcontinental stretch of
 rebel-controlled territory, which aver | ages more than 100 miles in width, and which forms an unbroken barrier from l ocean to ocean, completely separates the federal-controlled states of the | seuth-Chiapas, Campeachy, Yucatan, Tabasco, part of Vera Cruz and. Quin- 1 tana Roo-from the states or parts of states over which Carranza still holds sway in the north.
 Villa Forces Strongest.
 Of the organized opposition groups which are seeking to overthrow Car
 ranza, the most powerful is that which is operating in Chihuahua and neigh boring states under Angeles and Villa. The Villistas, as this force is popu-' larly known, is not the unOrganized, poorly equipped, and undiscfplined force that a great many people in this country think it is. It is, on the other hand, probably the best organized and equipped military organization in Mex ico. It numbers 10000 men command ed by Angeles, the French trained rebel leader, with Villa second in com mand. It is we'll equipped with rifles and is said to have fairly we'll organ fzed artillery arm, and the Vfllistas fire the best ammunition, which, as rule, is American made and is snug gled across the Rio Grande by "gun rgnners." .s .. .4-s-~-
 The Angeles-villa forces are today prac ctically In control of the. entire state of Chihuahua, a large part of Du- rango. the eastern part of Sonora, and the western part of Carranza's own state of Coahuila.
 The one part of Chihuahua that An geles and Villa do not control is the border city of Juarez, opposite Fl Paso, and they would today be in possession of that much-needed border port but for the fact that they brought about American. intervention in their plans by firing over the border into the Texas city. The Americans did not go to Juarez to help Carranza, as some peo- pie think, but solely for the purpose of safeguarding the lives of Americans on tha Texas side of the Rio Grande. r The tnext more important rebel force in Mexico is that under com mand of Manuel Pelaez, who dominates the oil-producing regions of the Tam pico country. Pelaez has under his command 5000 well organized and fair ly well equipped men. The value of the foreign oil interests in the ter ritory in which Pelaez\is operating is estimated at more than $500, ,0O0. PeIaez is said to be broadly in sentf- ment, and to this is due in large part the failure of the Germans and their Carranzista sympathizers to gain con- trol of the oil fields while the Euro pean war was actively under way.
 Allies Like Meixuerio.
 Under Guillermo Meixuerio, in the state of Oaxaca, is another rebel force of several thousand well organized men. Carranza has made desperate but intellectual efforts to dislodge Metx- uerio, who is easily one of his most feared opponents, and whose record is such as to win the sympathetic approv- al of the allies. Meixuerio is full blooded Zapotec, lawyer, and man of fine education.
 Next in importance among the rebel groups Is that commanded by Felix Diaz. Under Diaz, according to off, cial information, there are approd- mateIy 5000 men. The Diaz forces, however, unlike those under Pelaez, Angeles and Meixuerto, are loosely or ganized and are said to be in great