Leftist rebel attacks hit heart of Mexico economy

By Jason Lange

PUEBLA, Mexico, Sept 20 (Reuters) - When Marxist saboteurs blew up natural gas pipelines in Mexico last week, the only factory in the world to make the Volkswagen New Beetle shuddered to a halt that lasted for seven days.

The Sept. 10 bombings by the Popular Revolutionary Army, or EPR, hit so hard that they will dent figures for Mexico's crucial industrial sector this month.

That is more bad news for an economy already stunted by the U.S. slowdown. President Felipe Calderon's government is worried by the ability of a small group of guerrillas to hit at the heart of the economy of a major U.S. trading partner.

The blasts cut energy supplies to dozens of major export companies, costing them thousands of hours of production.

At the Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) plant in the city of Puebla, workers in blue jumpsuits were hauling caldrons of molten steel toward engine part molds when bombs ripped apart six ducts in central and eastern Mexico. The pipelines move about quarter of Mexico's natural gas.

"We noticed gas pressure was falling quickly and so we had to shut off the furnaces right away," said Coheto Ladino, who helps operate several giant kilns fired by natural gas.

Within hours, the entire 740-acre (300 hectare) factory, which sends two-thirds of its output to the United States and Europe, was paralyzed. Production did not resume again until last Sunday.

"All the manager types are nervous about reaching their production goals," said Volkswagen engineer Carlos Varela.