Solidarity caravan in Oaxaca attacked by paramilitaries - deaths, injuries, disappeared

UPDATE 2: See new post for new statement on paramilitary attack.

UPDATE: Below are some new developments:

• At a rally Tuesday evening in the city of Oaxaca, the head of the teachers' union, Azael Santiago Chepi, called on the federal government to step in to determine what happened and for the ten people reported disappeared to be released alive. He also placed responsibility for the ambush on the government. Another union leader called for the one confirmed injured person, Mónica Citlalli Santiago Ortiz, to be moved from the hospital near San Juan Copala to a hospital in the city of Oaxaca.  Chepi stated that many things remain unclear and that the union will be meeting to decide a plan of action.


• The news outlet Contralínea, which apparently was the only one to have reporters with the caravan, has stated that as of 2 AM Wednesday, their two journalists remain "disappeared."


• Florentino López Martínez, a member of the APPO and the FPR, told El Universal that there are five injured caravan members in the Juxtlahuaca public hospital, but that the hospital is surrounded by police and they are unable to determine what their condition is. Where Florentino got this information is not clear.


• The state government (which backs the group that attacked the caravan) released a statement "lamenting" the attack, claiming it didn't have "formal knowledge" of the caravan and indirectly placed the blame for the ambush on the caravan for "not taking into account the conditions" in the area which "are not favorable for this type of action."  Those "conditions", created by the government, are exactly what led to the need for a caravan in the first place.


• The paramilitary group supported by the PRI government of Oaxaca that ambushed the caravan, UBISORT, released a bizarre, rambling statement, eventually claiming that MULT-I and the autonomous municipality - who called for the caravan - were actually the ones to attack the caravan and are trying to make themselves look like martyrs.  Needless to say, that is complete nonsense.

Original post:

There is an extremely tragic and urgent situation developing in Oaxaca. On Tuesday afternoon a caravan of between 40 and 100 people was ambushed in an armed attack by paramilitaries.

The solidarity caravan is made up of VOCAL (an anti-authoritarian group), CACTUS (a community radio group), SNTE Section 22 (the Oaxacan teachers union), members of the APPO, and international solidarity activists from Finland, Italy, Belgium and Germany.

They were heading to break the siege of the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala, a Triqui town of around 700 people in western Oaxaca near the border with Guerrero.  During the Oaxaca uprising in 2006, the town declared itself autonomous and has fought to maintain its autonomy ever since.  In response, the Oaxaca state government, ruled by the PRI, has been funding two paramilitary organizations, MULT and UBISORT.  These groups have been carrying out numerous assassinations against  individuals and members of MULT-I (not to be confused with MULT), a group which supports the San Juan Copala's autonomy.

On April 17, after assassinating teacher and activist José Celestino Hernández Cruz, UBISORT installed a blockade around the town and cut off the electricity and water.  The municipality then called for a solidarity caravan to break the siege. That caravan left this morning and was attacked by UBISORT paramilitaries outside of San Juan Copala in the town of La Sabana.

The human rights groups Nodo de Derechos Humanos states that 15 people have been wounded and the director of CACTUS, Alberta Cariño has been disappeared.  The blog Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha states that reliable sources have told them that one woman brought to the hospital to be treated says there were two bodies brought with her.

Nodo de Derechos Humanos also said that UBISORT was preventing the evacuation of the wounded and that the state police refused to intervene because they had not been ordered to by the governor.  Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha now states press reports claim that the police have been sent to the area.

I will try to keep this updated, but also check out El Enemigo Común and My Word is My Weapon, where much of this information comes from.  If you speak Spanish, Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha is updating frequently.