On Saturday 27th two marches converged on the Zocalo to commemorate the murder of US indymedia journalist Brad Will and local teachers. One left Calicanto in the Santo Lucia del Camino district near the scene of Brad's murder, whilst the other started at the Prokuradia (State Attorney's office) about 3 miles from the Zocalo.
Around 5,000 mostly teachers attended the Prokuradia march, the main demand being justice for the victims and an end to the impunity protecting the murderers.
The march on Monday 29th kicked off the new action plan of Section 22 of the teacher's union. Their leaflet vowed to reactivate their struggle against the neoliberal policies imposed by international organisations, causing misery, unemployment, drug addiction, wars and the handover of natural and strategic resources to multinationals.
In particular they oppose new IMSS (social security) legislation which will privatize services such as pensions. This law was first passed in 2005 but an amended version was passed on 31/03/07, which cancels the right to a pension. Section 22 vows legal resistance to the new law and to petrol price rises which wil have a knockon effect on other products.
As well as the usual demands for the release of political prisoners, cancellation of pending arrest warrants and 'recovery' of Section 59 schools, they also call for a General Strike to stop the neoliberal structural reforms.
Marches occured across the state with the one in capital Oaxaca attended by over 10,000 teachers and supporters. They marched the 4 miles from Brenamiel district in the north as this was the site of the murder of IMSS nurse Jorge Alberto Lopez Bernal a year ago when the PFP (Federal Police) also invaded the Zocalo. The megaphone speakers made continued references to socialist principles, mentioning Chavez' resistance to US imperialism.
There was some spraypainting around the Zocalo (the usual mix of anarchist and Marxist), including the bandstand and an out of place wooden march recently erected. This activity was brought to a halt by an overstrict teacher, obviously missing classroom discipline.
Tuesday 30 October 2007
Monday 22 October 2007
Return of the marches in Oaxaca
October is seeing a resurgence in political activity on the streets of Oaxaca. First came the thousands-strong march on October 2 to commemorate the 1968 massacre of students at Mexico City university, naturally with a large student contingent, although the teachers also turned out in force after their two-day strike.
Nobody was the winner of the local elections the following Sunday with over half the electorate not bothering to vote. Fraud on the part of the governing PRI party was widespread, with the governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz caught on tape ordering employees to vote for PRI, which won by suspiciously small margins in many municipalities. In the capital Oaxaca, the 'Convergencia' candidate, supported by elements of APPO (the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) lost by a narrow margin to the PRI candidate.
However, this was all par for the course and there were no large mobilisations the following week. On Wednesday 18th the opposition PRD called a demo in Xoxocotlan, a district of Oaxaca City, and a few hundred marched the 3 or so miles to the Zocalo (central square).
Thursday 18th was the first anniversary of the murder of teacher Panfilo Hernandez Vasquez. He was shot three times in the stomach by undercover police waiting for him outside a meeting. Around 5,000, mostly teachers, from all over the state marched from the Fuente de las 7 Regiones to the Zocalo. Unlike on October 2 there was no redecoration of the colonial architecture en route. Panfilo's widow and the widows of some of the 22 others murdered by the police held wreathes and banners at the front and gave speeches at the Zocalo.
As well as demanding justice for those murdered, none of which have been investigated, the teachers demanded the release of the political prisoners, the cancellation of pending court cases and the return of schools seized by the rival Section 59 of the teacher's union - Section 59 was set up last year with government funds as a rival to the long-established Section 22. As seems normal on marches here, it was self-organised, with traffic being redirected by those at the front. For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12940191@N08/sets/72157602531496886/
Next Saturday will mark the first anniversary of the murder by police of US Indymedia journalist Brad Will and a mass mobilisation has been called for the weekend by APPO. Mexico was recently ranked 136 in a world ranking of press freedom by watchdog 'Reporters without Borders', below such beacons of free speech as Columbia and Morocco.
Mobilisations have also been called by APPO for October 29 to mark the anniversary of the invasion of the Zocalo by Federal Police and November 25.
Nobody was the winner of the local elections the following Sunday with over half the electorate not bothering to vote. Fraud on the part of the governing PRI party was widespread, with the governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz caught on tape ordering employees to vote for PRI, which won by suspiciously small margins in many municipalities. In the capital Oaxaca, the 'Convergencia' candidate, supported by elements of APPO (the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) lost by a narrow margin to the PRI candidate.
However, this was all par for the course and there were no large mobilisations the following week. On Wednesday 18th the opposition PRD called a demo in Xoxocotlan, a district of Oaxaca City, and a few hundred marched the 3 or so miles to the Zocalo (central square).
Thursday 18th was the first anniversary of the murder of teacher Panfilo Hernandez Vasquez. He was shot three times in the stomach by undercover police waiting for him outside a meeting. Around 5,000, mostly teachers, from all over the state marched from the Fuente de las 7 Regiones to the Zocalo. Unlike on October 2 there was no redecoration of the colonial architecture en route. Panfilo's widow and the widows of some of the 22 others murdered by the police held wreathes and banners at the front and gave speeches at the Zocalo.
As well as demanding justice for those murdered, none of which have been investigated, the teachers demanded the release of the political prisoners, the cancellation of pending court cases and the return of schools seized by the rival Section 59 of the teacher's union - Section 59 was set up last year with government funds as a rival to the long-established Section 22. As seems normal on marches here, it was self-organised, with traffic being redirected by those at the front. For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12940191@N08/sets/72157602531496886/
Next Saturday will mark the first anniversary of the murder by police of US Indymedia journalist Brad Will and a mass mobilisation has been called for the weekend by APPO. Mexico was recently ranked 136 in a world ranking of press freedom by watchdog 'Reporters without Borders', below such beacons of free speech as Columbia and Morocco.
Mobilisations have also been called by APPO for October 29 to mark the anniversary of the invasion of the Zocalo by Federal Police and November 25.
Wednesday 3 October 2007
Thousands march in Oaxaca to mark anniversary of 1968 student massacre
On Tuesday 2nd October between 2-3,000 students and members of the local popular resistance APPO ( the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca)marched from the edge of Oaxaca city centre to the Zocalo (central square). Among them were around a hundred masked youth who extensively spray painted walls on the route with slogans to commemorate the 1968 student massacres, condemn the corrupt local governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, call for the release of political prisoners and a boycott of local elections this Sunday.
In 1968 in Mexico City, just before the Olympics 200-300 demonstrating students were massacred by the security forces with the complicity of the CIA.
Before the march some local youth had acquired spray cans from a local shop and 2 were arrested as a consequence according to local media. The march started from the Fuente de las 7 Regiones around 2 miles from the centre with no police or security forces present.
It was made up of several blocks - the masked up and more radical at the front, followed by the communist/Marxist red flag waving contingent, with mainly teachers at the back.
The march progressed with different representatives taking turns on the megaphone whilst the hoodies and balaclava clad liberally adorned the colonial archictecture. Most notably the Justice Ministry and the Governor´s Palace on the Zocalo were redecorated. By the following morning, however, most had disappeared under the brush strokes of the super-efficient clean-up squads whose work can be seen on walls all over the city, blotches of colour designed to obscure the reality of murder, torture, detention and intimidation that Oaxaca has had more than its fair share of recently.
On reaching the Zocalo speeches were given affirming that resistance is very much alive in Oaxaca but the crowd quickly dwindled as the sun went down.
According to local media a further 6 people were arrested leaving the demo.
Schools had been closed all over Oaxaca state as teachers called a two-day strike on Monday and Tuesday.
The only visible presence of the security forces during the march was a helicopter which very quickly circled the Zocalo.
For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12940191@N08/
In 1968 in Mexico City, just before the Olympics 200-300 demonstrating students were massacred by the security forces with the complicity of the CIA.
Before the march some local youth had acquired spray cans from a local shop and 2 were arrested as a consequence according to local media. The march started from the Fuente de las 7 Regiones around 2 miles from the centre with no police or security forces present.
It was made up of several blocks - the masked up and more radical at the front, followed by the communist/Marxist red flag waving contingent, with mainly teachers at the back.
The march progressed with different representatives taking turns on the megaphone whilst the hoodies and balaclava clad liberally adorned the colonial archictecture. Most notably the Justice Ministry and the Governor´s Palace on the Zocalo were redecorated. By the following morning, however, most had disappeared under the brush strokes of the super-efficient clean-up squads whose work can be seen on walls all over the city, blotches of colour designed to obscure the reality of murder, torture, detention and intimidation that Oaxaca has had more than its fair share of recently.
On reaching the Zocalo speeches were given affirming that resistance is very much alive in Oaxaca but the crowd quickly dwindled as the sun went down.
According to local media a further 6 people were arrested leaving the demo.
Schools had been closed all over Oaxaca state as teachers called a two-day strike on Monday and Tuesday.
The only visible presence of the security forces during the march was a helicopter which very quickly circled the Zocalo.
For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12940191@N08/
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