The blood continues to flow in Oaxaca. This afternoon saw the most violent action to date against the non-violent people's movement. Paramilitaries in civilian clothing, federal police and other government forces opened fire on the barricades in and around Oaxaca City, killing at least three (some sources say four) and wounding thirty. [For background on the situation in Oaxaca, see this post.] One of those killed was Will Bradley Roland (aka Brad Will) a young video journalist working with New York's Independent Media Center.
Some sources on the ground in Oaxaca say that the government is planning to storm the city tonight. Regardless, the Mexican state continues to murder with impunity. But the people of Oaxaca will certainly not be bowed so easily. In its own tragic way, perhaps the murder of a US citizen will bring more attention to the crisis in Oaxaca and the inspiring struggle against a corrupt and brutal regime.
Some of the paramilitaries who fired on APPO members and journalists. (El Universal)
On an email list we were both on, I remember seeing Brad's notes as he prepared to come to Oaxaca and the one dispatch he sent us while he was here, which is pasted below. In his emails you could feel his excitement and his strong sense of solidarity with the people of Oaxaca. Like all of the innocents murdered in Oaxaca, his killing is an immeasurable tragedy. (See this tribute from Al Giordano.)
For now, I urge people to contact the government officials and consulates below. Tell your friends and family about what is happening in Oaxaca. Organize protests and information sessions. Don't let these blood-soaked cowards get away with their crimes!
UPDATE: From videotapes of the shooting, the killer of Brad Will has been identified as "a paramilitary named Pedro Carmona, ex-president of Felipe Carrillo Puerto de Santa Lucia del Camino, a colonia [district/neighborhood] in Oaxaca."
UPDATE 10/28: The mainstream media is spinning this as a shootout. As APPO does not carry weapons, this is impossible. Pro-government goons are the only ones with guns. The other two to be killed yesterday were teacher Emilio Alonso Fabian and community activist Esteban Ruiz. This bring to 14 the number of people killed on the APPO barricades by government forces.
Fox is sending in the PFP (Federal Preventive Police - a paramilitarized police force) and the government is naturally blaming the violence on APPO. There are more attacks going on, people are being disappeared. There is much more analysis and information to impart, but I am not in the space to be able to do it. Right now, it is crucial people mobilize to defend the struggle in Oaxaca. I will try to keep this updated with major events. I have also pasted below an email I received this morning that goes into more detail about the current situation. It can be found after Brad's last email.
UPDATE 10/28: A call has gone out to shut down the Mexican consulates across the US. A list of protests at Mexican consulates wordwide is being compiled here.
Here is a list of Mexican consulates in the US and Canada.
Here are people to email or fax:
VICENTE FOX QUESADA
PRESIDENTE CONSTITUCIONAL DE MÉXICO
FAX. + 55 52
77 23 76, vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx, webadmon@appresidencia.gob.mx, radio@presidencia.gob.mx
LIC. CARLOS ABASCAL CARRANZA
SECRETARIO DE
GOBERNACIÓN
FAX + 55 50 93 34 14, cabascal@segob.gob.mx
DR. JOSÉ LUIS
SOBERANES
PRESIDENTE DE LA COMISIÓN NACIONAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
FAX + 55
56 81 71 99, correo@cndh.gob.mx
DANIEL CABEZA DE
VACA
PROCURADOR GENERAL DE LA REPÚBLICA
FAX: +55 53460908, ofproc@pgr.gob.mx
LIC. ULISES RUIZ
ORTÍZ
GOBERNADOR DEL ESTADO DE OAXACA
Fax: + 951 5020530, gobernador@oaxaca.
Felipe
Sardain
Secretario Particular del gobernador
51-56056/ 51-55726 felipezardain@oaxaca.gob.mx
Secretario
General de Gobierno
sriagral@oaxaca.gob.mx
Procuradora
General de Justicia del Estado de Oaxaca
Tel. ( 951) 51-15174, 51-15121,
51-15120, 51-15020; fax 51-15219
procuraduria7@oaxaca.gob.mx
Brad Will in Oaxaca two days ago. (Hinrich Schultze)
early dawn, oct16
yesterday i went for a walk with the good people of
oaxaca -- was walking all day really -- in the afternoon they showed me where
the bullets hit the wall -- they numbered the ones they could reach -- it
reminded me of the doorway of amadou diallos home -- but here the grafitti
was there
before the shooting began -- one bullet they didnt number was still
in his head -- he was 41 years old -- alejandro garcia hernandez -- at
the neighborhood barricade every night -- that night he came out to join
his wife and sons to let an ambulance through -- then a pickup tried to
follow -- he took their bullet when he told them they could not pass --
they never did -- these military men in civilian dress shot their way out
of there
a young man who wanted to only be called marco was with them when the shooting happened -- a bullet passed through his shoulder -- he was clearly in shock when we met -- 19 years old -- said he hadnt told his parents yet -- said he had been at the barricade every night -- said he was going back as soon as the wound closed -- absolutely
just days before there was a delegation of senators visiting to determine the ungovernability of the state -- they got a taste -- the call went out to shut down the rest of the government -- dozens went walking out of the zocalo city center with big sticks and a box full of spray paint -- they took control of 3 city buses and went around the city all morning visiting local government buildings and informing them that that they were closed -- and we appreciate your voluntary cooperation -- and they filed out preturbed but still getting paid -- shut -- as they pulled away from the last stop 3 gunmen came out and started shooting -- 2 buses had already pulled away -- mayhem -- 10 minute battle with stones and slingshots and screaming -- one headwound -- another through the leg -- made their way to the hospital while the fighting continued -- shout out on the radio and people came from all parts -- the gunmen were around the side of the building -- they got away -- they were inside -- no one sure -- watchful -- undercover police were reported lurking around the hospital and folks went running to stand watch over the wounded
what can you say about this movement -- this revolutionary moment -- you know it is building, growing, shaping -- you can feel it -- trying desperately for a direct democracy -- in november appo will have a state wide conference for the formation of a state wide assemblea estatal del pueblo de oaxaca (aepo) -- now there are 11 of 33 states in mexico that have declared formation of assemblea populares like appo -- and on la otra lado in the usa a few -- the marines have returned to sea even though the federal police who ravaged atenco remain close by -- the new encampment in mexico has begun a hunger strike -- the senate can expell URO -- whats next nobodies sure -- it is a point of light pressed through glass -- ready to burn or show the way -- it is clear that this is more than a strike, more than expulsion of a governor, more than a blockade, more than a coalition of fragments -- it is a genuine peoples revolt -- and after decades of pri rule by bribe, fraud, and bullet the people are tired -- they call him the tyrant -- they talk of destroying this authoritarianism -- you cannot mistake the whisper of the lancandon jungle in the streets -- in every street corner deciding together to hold -- you see it their faces -- indigenous, women, children -- so brave -- watchful at night -- proud and resolute
went walking back from alejandros barricade with a group of supporters who came from an outlying district a half hour away -- went walking with angry folk on their way to the morgue -- went inside and saw him -- havent seen too many bodies in my life -- eats you up -- a stack of nameless corpes in the corner -- about the number who had died -- no refrigeration -- the smell -- they had to open his skull to pull the bullet out -- walked back with him and his people
and now alejandro waits in the zocalo -- like the others at their plantones -- hes waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out, a solution -- waiting for the earth to shift and open -- waiting for november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and share food and drink and a song -- waiting for the plaza to turn itself over to him and burst -- he will only wait until morning but tonight he is waiting for the governor and his lot to never come back -- one more death -- one more martyr in a dirty war -- one more time to cry and hurt -- one more time to know power and its ugly head -- one more bullet cracks the night -- one more night at the barricades -- some keep the fires -- others curl up and sleep -- but all of them are with him as he rests one last night at his watch
uro= Ulises Ruiz Ortiz "governor" of the state of
oaxaca
planton= sit in, vigil, encampment
zocalo= central plaza
------------------------------------------------------
From Alan Benjamin:
>> Dear Supporters of the teachers’ and popular movement
>> in
Oaxaca:
>>
>> Yesterday afternoon (Friday, October 27) I was
at the
>> Planton (encampment) in Mexico City with the 21
hunger
>> strikers and the 400 remaining teachers and
activists
>> from Oaxaca who arrived here October 9 following
their
>> 500-kilometer walk.
>>
>> Just moments
after the riot police (granaderos) charged
>> the encampment to
dislodge us from in front of the
>> Hemiciclio a Juarez building, we
learned that in the city
>> of Oaxaca, armed goons â€" under direct
orders from PRI
>> Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz â€" had charged the
barricades
>> in a major operation to remove all the Section
22
>> teachers and APPO supporters from the downtown section
of
>> the city, which has been occupied by the movement
since
>> June 14.
>>
>> The teachers’ union and
APPO had called on their
>> supporters to join them in a major
mobilization on Friday
>> to demand the immediate resignation of Ruiz
Ortiz.
>>
>> Three people were killed in this assault:
IndyMedia
>> photographer Bradely Roland Will from New York,
Section
>> 22 teacher Emilio Alonso Fabian and community
activist
>> Esteban Ruiz. At least 23 others were seriously
injured,
>> and are currently in the hospital. This brings to 14
the
>> number of people who have been killed on the APPO
>>
barricades.
>>
>> We later learned that in the neighboring
municipality of
>> Santa Maria Coyotepec, 20 striking teachers were
arrested
>> by the police and carted off to jail. Thirteen of
them
>> had gunshot wounds. The teachers and their supporters
had
>> organized a protest and encampment in front of the
>>
Municipal Building to demand the ouster of Ruiz Ortiz.
>>
>>
The Mexican newspaper La Jornada also reports this
>> morning (October
28) that as many 50 teachers who were on
>> picket duty in front of the
office of Ruiz Ortiz in the
>> city of Oaxaca have been disappeared. At
this writing,
>> their whereabouts are still unknown.
>>
>> In a statement issued Friday night, leaders of Section
22
>> and APPO said this operation was masterminded by Ruiz
>>
Ortiz and Elpidio Concha Arellando, state president of
>> the
PRI-controlled CNC peasant federation, and was
>> carried out both by
plain-clothes cops and members of the
>> CNC and PRI. The movement
leaders also said the Friday
>> assault was the first stage of a
two-day effort to
>> destroy the movement. They warned that a major
police
>> operation could take place today in Oaxaca against
the
>> teachers and APPO activists.
>>
>> Both Ruiz
Ortiz and Concha Arellanado had made public
>> statements during the
past 10 days warning that the
>> Section 22-APPO downtown encampment
would no longer be
>> standing after October 28. Concha Arellanado was
the most
>> explicit, stating on October 16 that “we, the
PRI
>> activist, will take matters into our own hands in
the
>> event the federal government fails to put a halt by
next
>> Saturday to the continued occupation and vandalism of
our
>> state by these radical elements; we will carry out
any
>> and all actions necessary to restore order, the rule
of
>> law and social peace.�
>>
>> Indeed, the
federal government had hoped the barricades
>> would be torn down and
the teachers would be back to work
>> by now. Interior Minister Carlos
Abascal Carranza,
>> wielding both a carrot and a stick, had been
pressing the
>> leadership of the teachers’ union over the past 10
days
>> to agree to the negotiated settlement worked out in
>>
common on October 10 in Mexico City.
>>
>> The carrot was the
creation of a Senate Commission to see
>> if there was a basis for
impeaching Ruiz Ortiz and a
>> pledge to address some of the
teachers’ wage and
>> workplace demands. The stick was the deployment
to Oaxaca
>> of more than 3,000 Army and Marine troops poised to
enter
>> the city of Oaxaca on a moment’s notice to smash
the
>> strike and the mass movement that was generated to
>>
support the teachers.
>>
>> Abascal Carranza has had a
willing partner in this effort
>> to ram through the government’s
proposed settlement:
>> Enrique Rueda Pacheco, the general secretary of
Section
>> 22 of the teachers’ union.
>>
>> The
main problem for the government is that Rueda Pacheco
>> has not been
successful to date in getting the teachers
>> to end their strike and
return to the classrooms. The
>> main problem was that the Senate
Commission, as expected,
>> ruled that there was no basis for
impeaching Ruiz Ortiz.
>> A full vote by the Mexican Senate ratified
the
>> Commission’s findings. The teachers â€" like the
rest
>> of the indigenous and community activists in APPO --
are
>> steadfast in their commitment to get rid of Ruiz
Ortiz,
>> who represents the worst of the corrupt and
repressive
>> holdovers of the 70-year PRI regime that ruled
Mexico
>> with an iron fist. They don’t believe it will be
safe
>> for them to return to work as long as Ruiz Ortiz is
>>
governor. They fear individual and collective retaliation
>> by the
governor and his death squads.
>>
>> One week ago, Rueda
Pacheco succeeded in getting his
>> union leadership to send out a
ballot to all the
>> state’s 70,000 teachers that effectively would
have
>> ended the strike. But an angry 10-hour session of
the
>> Section 22 Delegates’ Assembly, the union’s
highest
>> leadership body, on October 21 repudiated this
maneuver
>> by Rueda Pacheco and his clique. The Assembly called
for
>> a new ballot on ending the strike and a new
>>
“consultation� of the members on October 23-24.
>>
>> The
results of that balloting were made public on
>> Thursday, October 27:
The Delegates Assembly, held the
>> previous day, certified that 31,078
teachers voted to
>> return to work this coming week, while 20,387
voted to
>> continue the strike. This vote reflected the
exhaustion
>> and desperate situation facing teachers after a
bitter
>> five-month strike. For the past two months, the
teachers
>> have not received their wages or any funding from
their
>> union. Many have lost their homes and cars.
Countless
>> families have been broken up.
>>
>> The
Delegates Assembly on October 26 took note of this
>> membership
consultation, but it did not vote to return to
>> work on Monday,
October 30 â€" as Abascal Carranza and
>> Ruiz Ortiz had hoped. The
Assembly said the teachers
>> would return to work ONLY if certain
conditions and
>> guarantees were met: the safety of all the teachers
had
>> to be guaranteed, all wages lost during the strike had
to
>> be repaid, all the political prisoners held in the
state
>> of Oaxaca had to be freed, and a government fund had
to
>> be set up to cover the long-term expenses of the
families
>> of the 11 teachers and activists killed during
the
>> strike.
>>
>> And the Delegates Assembly took
another equally important
>> decision. It voted to reject the
government’s demand to
>> end the encampment and tear down the
barricades. The
>> Delegates Assembly stated they would not drop
their
>> commitment to remove Ruiz Ortiz from office, even if
they
>> were compelled to return to work. They said they
remained
>> committed to APPO and would send teachers every day, on
a
>> rotating basis, to staff the barricades and
encampment.
>>
>> This last decision by the Delegates
Assembly infuriated
>> Ruiz Ortiz and his supporters, who expected that
a
>> decision to return to work would be accompanied by an
end
>> to APPO and to the downtown occupation and
encampment.
>>
>> A meeting was scheduled in Mexico City
between the
>> Section 22 leadership and Abascal Carranza for
today
>> (October 28) in which the government was to give
their
>> response to the teachers’ conditions.
>>
>> In the interim, however, the violence instigated by
Ruiz
>> Ortiz on October 27 has disrupted this attempt to
work
>> out the final details of a settlement.
>>
>>
I spoke late last night over the phone with Augusto Reyes
>> Medina, a
member of the Executive Committee of Section
>> 22. He said the union
leadership was holding an emergency
>> Delegates Assembly today
(October 28) to discuss what to
>> do next in light of the new killings
and the fact a
>> climate of peace does not exist for the teachers
to
>> return to work.
>>
>> Reyes Medina told me he
had met earlier in the evening
>> with dozens of general secretaries of
local chapters of
>> the union from across the state. He and these
delegates
>> to the Assembly, he said, had drafted a letter to
the
>> Delegates Assembly and to all the teachers in Oaxaca
in
>> which they state that the conditions for returning to
>>
work stipulated by the October 26 Delegates Assembly do
>> not
exist.
>>
>> “No matter what Abascal Carranza tells our
Section 22
>> delegation about ensuring the safety and protection
of
>> our teachers,� Reyes Medina said, “the fact is
that
>> he does not call the shots in Oaxaca. Nor has
Abascal
>> Carranza lifted a finger thus far to rein in Ruiz
Ortiz,
>> much less get rid of him. As everyone knows, there is
an
>> open alliance between the PAN and the PRI on this
issue
>> today. … As long as the assassins of our 14
teachers
>> and supporters remain unpunished, as long as the No.
1
>> assassin, Ruiz Ortiz, remains at the helm of the
state,
>> we will be gunned down one by one, or in clusters, by
the
>> governor and his goons. Of this we can be sure. This
is
>> how Ruiz Ortiz functions.�
>>
>> Reyes
Medina said he and a large wing of the local
>> leaders of the union
would call on the Delegates Assembly
>> to put the decision to return
to work on hold until the
>> only real guarantee to ensure the safe
return to the
>> classrooms is enacted: the punishment of
those
>> responsible for the killings and the removal from
office
>> of Ruiz Ortiz.
>>
>> I will keep you
posted later today on the decisions of
>> today’s Delegates
Assembly.
>>
>> In the meantime, I believe it is urgent that
all
>> supporters of the teachers’ and popular movement
in
>> Oaxaca organize this coming week emergency protest
>>
actions in front of Mexican embassies and consulates to
>> demand an
end to the repression in Oaxaca and the arrest
>> and punishment of all
those responsible for the violence
>> against the teachers and the APPO
activists. The earlier
>> these emergency protests, the
better.
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> Alan
Benjamin
Comments