By REBECCA ALLRED
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City denied allegations made in newspapers that helicopters used in a skirmish between the Mexican army and leftist rebels were the same ones donated by the United States to combat drug trafficking.
In 1996 the United States donated 20 Huey helicopters to Mexico to help them fight drug trafficking, said reporter Gerardo Cardio in a telephone interview with The Universe. The 20 helicopters were the first batch of 80 that the United States promised to Mexico, he said.
Photos of skirmishes between left-wing rebels and the Mexican army last week indicated the helicopters used by the army were made in the United States. Newspapers in Mexico were quick to make the connection and stories about it appeared on Tuesday, Cardio said.
Victor Vasquez, press officer with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, said that the helicopters identified in the photographs were not Hueys.
'The Mexican army purchased those helicopters directly from Bell,' Vasquez said. 'They were not the ones donated by the United States.'
Guadalupe Ahumada, a reporter with the Sol de Chilpansingo in the state of Guerrero, where the rebels are based, said that rumors have been going around that the United States is trying to interfere in Mexico.
'The helicopter issue was an easy way to accuse the U.S. for such intervention,' Ahumada said.
The Popular Revolutionary Army, the left-wing rebel group based in Mexico's Pacific coast state of Guerrero, has not been involved in any insurgencies since last Wednesday's battle, Ahumada said.
'Apparently they're gearing up for a big rally,' Ahumada said.