As mentioned in the post below, last week saw an uprising in the Texcoco neighborhood of Mexico City, which quickly moved to the nearby town of San Salvador Atenco - a semi-autonomous area with a history of rebellion.
The Mexican government, well-versed in the brutal oppression of social movements, responded with massive and ruthless force, laying siege on the town, invading and trashing homes, raping women, and beating, arresting, or shooting anyone they pleased.
The best piece in English I've seen on these events comes from Global Exchange's John Gibler. In it, he describes one particularly horrific scene:
Hundreds of people sought hiding in houses across the town. In one house, 23 people were packed into a 12-by-12 foot room. Just outside the hiding room, Alexis Benhumea, a 20-year old economy student in Mexico City, laid unconscious for 12 hours. Just after 6:30 AM he was shot in the head, most likely with a gas pellet. The impact broke his skull open in two places, exposing his brain.
Alexis was carried into a house by his father and two friends for hiding. One of the protestors hiding out in the house made an impromptu bandage for the wound to stop the bleeding. The thick bandage was soaked in blood by the afternoon. Alexis's father and those hiding out in the house so feared for their lives, and Alexis' life, that they dared not leave their hiding place. Indeed, just outside the house, state and federal police blocked both ends of the street and constantly patrolled up and down the street.
"I was sure that they would kill him and dump him somewhere if I tried to go out and seek medical help," said Angel Benhumea, Alexis' father. "I didn't think he would make it."
After coordinating by cellular telephones with friends in Mexico City, correspondents with Indymedia Chiapas and Narco News were able to rent a taxi van (which operate in Mexico like public buses rather than individual taxis) and stage a rescue, taking Alexis and his father to a hospital 40 minutes away, on the eastern border of Mexico City. Alexis arrived alive and survived four hours of intensive brain surgery: hemorrhaging had filled 30 percent of his brain. At the time of writing, Alexis' condition is still critical, and the extent of brain damage is unknown.
On Friday the Zapatistas, who have declared a red alert and put their Other Campaign on hold, held a march to Atenco in a show of solidarity. Yesterday, a gathering was held in Atenco's main plaza to decide what steps to take next. According to La Jornada, organizers are calling for a week of action, beginning today.
Actions range from distributing information and raising funds today and Tuesday, to buying flowers on Wednesday from the Texcoco florists who were beat down by police and called for Atenco's help, setting off these protests, to blockading highways across the nation on Thursday, and protesting in front of the President's residence on Friday, demanding freedom for all those arrested. Discussions also included organizing a national general strike.
Unfortunately, yet understandably, it seems the government's barbaric tactics have worked to a degree, as La Jornada's article notes that attendance at the planning session was low and of those who came out, very few were residents of Atenco.
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