Fwd: Oaxaca Under Siege

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

> > From: David Riker <riker@igc.org (forwarded through Monty Neil)
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > I'm writing about the situation in Oaxaca. As I write, the capital city 
> > is under siege. At approximately 5AM this morning the state police 
> > attacked the teachers occupation of the city center. Though reports are 
> > sketchy, it seems that three teachers have been killed, as well as a 
> > young girl. The teachers have taken three or four police hostage. A 
> > raging battle is underway to control the zocalo, the center of life in 
> > Oaxaca, and the heart of the teacher's encampment. In the dawn raid the 
> > teachers were forced out, but the local paper, Noticias de Oaxaca, has 
> > reported that at 9:30AM local time the teachers, armed with rocks and 
> > sticks, re-took the main square. Police are firing tear gas from 
> > helicopters right now. Thousands (tens of thousands) of people are 
> > involved in running battles in the streets. And there is the fear that 
> > upwards of 3500 federal riot police -- deployed to Oaxaca in the last two 
> > weeks by Vicente Fox -- are about to enter the city.
> >
> > I've just gotten off the phone with friends in the center. They described 
> > the scene on the streets this morning at about 7:30AM. Hundreds of people 
> > crying from the mix of tear gas, smoke bombs and some other 
> > pepper  spray. The men forming groups to launch the assault to retake the 
> > zocalo. Mothers telling their boys to take care of themselves as they 
> > fell into line. From the rooftops of the single story houses you can 
> > watch the helicopters flying overhead shelling tear gas canisters into 
> > the crowds. There is a heavy fear, but also, I was tol,  you could hear 
> > the sound of people marching and singing.
> >
> > As a brief background, you might want to 
> > read: 
> > <http://www.narconews.com/Issue41/article1874.html>http://www.narconews.com/Issue41/article1874.html
> >
> > The teachers occupation of the city, known in Spanish as a 'planton' 
> > began 23 days ago. More than 80,000 teachers from every municipality in 
> > the state had converged on the capital to press a list of demands for 
> > more resources for education. They have had two mass marches, the most 
> > recent bringing more than 120,000 people out, the largest demonstration 
> > in the city's history. The planton has become an annual event since more 
> > than a decade, and I will never forget last year's planton which happened 
> > while I was still living there. For about ten days the teachers occupied 
> > the entire center of town, sleeping on the streets under tarpaulins 
> > stretched overhead. They were extremely well organized and the city 
> > center was never more alive. The teachers and their families would cook 
> > large meals on open fires, play guitar and sing, rest on folded cardboard 
> > in the shade. They set up their radio station "Radio Planton" and played 
> > music on loud speakers. There were first aid tents, propaganda tents, 
> > mass meetings on every corner.
> >
> > This year, many have remarked that the planton, and the teachers' 
> > mobilization generally, has been different. The question is: If the 
> > teachers brought 80,000 to the city, who are the other 40,000? I'm not 
> > close enough to give a good answer, but what I understand is that the 
> > teachers have offered an opening which hundreds of small community groups 
> > and social justice centers from around the state have chosen to follow. 
> > The past two years under the new PRI governor Ulises Ruis has intensified 
> > the level of state repression. Scores of activists in small villages have 
> > been killed, hundreds arrested and still in jail as political prisoners. 
> > The spike in repression was so great that Amnesty International sent a 
> > delegation to Oaxaca in May of 2005 to investigate. It appears that when 
> > the teachers marched on the capital three weeks ago they were joined by 
> > tens of thousands of others from the villages in what is becoming a broad 
> > movement to depose the governor. Ruis has refused to meet with the 
> > teachers, and has managed to pull in his party's promisary notes to about 
> > half of the state's municipal mayors who signed a decree condemning the 
> > teachers action. But there is a palpable sense that the social movements 
> > are converging and that something new is underway.
> >
> > During the past three weeks, the movement has shown a great level of 
> > strength and creativity -- occupying the city's airport, smashing the 
> > newly-installed parking meters throughout the city center, occupying the 
> > toll booths on the main road from Oaxaca to Mexico City -- not to stop 
> > the cars, only to stop the collecting of tolls, and the very fact that 
> > they have occupied the zocalo has great significance as the new governor, 
> > after spending upwards of $100 million to 'beautify' the zocalo, decreed 
> > that it was now off-limits for any demonstrations.
> >
> > Three nights ago, Ruis met with business leaders at a late night 
> > gathering and promised to use the 'mano dura' or hard hand. There were 
> > reports that the first 1500 federal riot police were camped in the nearby 
> > town of Tlacolula. This morning the governor appears to have proven 
> > himself a man of his word. Some reports have said that the tear gas in 
> > the city center is so thick you can't see the hand in front of you.
> >
> > I have not seen any reports in the US media, BBC etc. There is some 
> > information on indymedia's Mexico site, some more on the online version 
> > of Noticias de Oaxaca -- both in Spanish. 
> > (<http://www.noticias-oax.com.mx>http://www.noticias-oax.com.mx/) I know 
> > that the police have shut down the teachers' radio station 'Radio 
> > Planton' but as of 12:00 noon Oaxaca time the students' radio station 
> > 'Radio Universitario' was still broadcasting and "you can hear the 
> > broadcast from every window and door in town." The students themselves 
> > have occupied the university, but the latest reports suggest that the 
> > police are heading there now.
> >
> > I'm writing this in the hope that you can help spread the word, and alert 
> > others in the network of media to turn their attention to the struggle ongoing.
> >
> > In solidarity,
> >
> > David
> > =