[IPSM] Video and Articles in Eng on the repression in Oaxaca, Mexico

[Antoine]

  Below, a series of videos and articles produced by independent media 
on the repression of the people of Oaxaca by the Federal Preventive 
Police (an unconstitutional police force composed of elite military 
forces) and the Mexican Army.
At this very moment (Thursday, Nov 2) the police are attacking the 
autonomous university of Oaxaca, where Radio Universidad, the radio of 
the movement, transmits. International solidarity is urgently needed.
Please distribute this info!!


*** Video ***

Eyewitness Report: October 29, 2006
Authentic Journalists, Undeterred by State Violence, Record the Invasion 
of Oaxaca by the PFP (23:18 min)
By the Other Media Reporting from Oaxaca
Description: Federal Preventative Police (PFP) advanced on the city of 
Oaxaca yesterday in the hopes of dislodging the Peoples’ Popular 
Assembly of the City of Oaxaca (APPO.) In the face of an impending 
military occupation of their city, determined residents resisted the 
invasion without resorting to violence. This video testimony was shot by 
authentic journalists determined to document the truth about the use of 
state violence. Contrary to official reports, at least two people died, 
including Jorge Alberto López Bernal, a nurse, who appears in this video
Available for download at:
http://salonchingon.com/cinema/oaxaca_o29.php?city=ny
*** Video ***
Last footage of NY indymedia reporter, Brad Will, who was assassinated 
by PRI members on Friday, Oct 27
" Infamy in Oaxaca " - Brad Will video with English subtitles. Taken 
from http://video.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/542.shtml
**Duration*:* 16:32:00
Available at: https://video.indymedia.org/es/2006/10/543.shtml

*** Articles ***
Taken from NarcoNews (http://www.narconews.com/en.html)

In Oaxaca, Fox Opts for the Heavy Hand
Civil Rights Violations Documented; Federal Police Use Cherished Zócalo 
for Toilet Needs
By Nancy Davies
Commentary from Oaxaca
November 2, 2006
The Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO in it’s Spanish 
initials) called for a massive mobilization on Friday, October 27 to try 
to force the resignation of governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO). It didn’t 
work – yet. Instead, the Fox government sent the Federal Preventive 
Police (PFP) to invade Oaxaca. Since the occupation by the PFP and the 
Mexican Army marines, who landed October 28, violations of human rights 
including detentions, deaths, arrests and injuries of both Mexican 
citizens and foreign journalists have occurred.
The constitution states that if Governor Ruiz resigns before December 1, 
a new election must be held –a sure win for the PRD. If URO leaves after 
December 1, his secretary of internal affairs, Heliodoro Díaz Escárraga, 
also deeply involved in the five months of murders and abductions, will 
automatically be appointed in his position, thus leaving the situation 
just as bad, if not worse, than before. On October 30, the national 
senate “suggested” that URO resign. They could have declared a 
disappearance of powers two weeks ago, and did not, causing the present 
disaster. “Disappearance of powers” signifies that the state is not 
governable, and all three branches of government are vacated.
Despite restraint on both the side of the APPO and by the PFP, the mere 
fact of invading the state with the goal of repressing a popular 
movement made certain results inevitable. The people are angrier than 
ever; lawless shooting and abductions on the part of the Institutional 
Revolutionary Party (PRI) hired guns (possibly in coordination with the 
PFP) have increased; growing sections of the nation of Mexico, including 
the states of Chihuahua, Sonora, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Michoacan, 
Veracruz, Guerrero and Chiapas have declared common cause with Oaxaca; 
the Zapatista /Otra Compaña/ issued statements of support; foreign 
nations and cities including France, Venezuela, Canada, Madrid, 
Barcelona, London, Italy, New York and Los Angeles are condemning the 
Mexican government; and the popular assembly movement has gained 
widespread recognition, more so when an American Indymedia reporter was 
killed.
Today, the cherished family holiday, the “Day of the Dead,” has taken on 
overtones of the movement as observances include the assassinated 
teachers, leaders, children, bystanders and the American journalist, 
Bradley Will.
The invasion, which began on October 29, has included ongoing attempts 
to block Radio Universidad, the main voice for the APPO. The station’s 
electricity was cut off, along with the power to the center of the city 
and the neighborhood of Santa Lucia del Camino, where Brad Will was 
killed. The Autonomous University Benito Juarez of Oaxaca (UABJO) issued 
a declaration decrying the federal attempt to interfere with University 
property. The rector of the university, Dr. Felipe Martinez, went on the 
air to praise “the heroic attitude of the people,” and he exhorted them, 
“Don’t give up resisting.” He then referred to the governor as “a 
psychiatric case.” Along with Martinez’ denunciation, the unanimous 
board of 27, plus eight officials wrote to Fox decrying the assault on 
UABJO, which was subjected first to an acid attack by thugs, which put 
the station off the air on August 11. The students managed to raise 
enough money to restore it, and it has been the main communication 
center ever since it came back on the air two weeks ago.
The invasion of Oaxaca by PFP forces was initiated while the leader of 
the teachers union Section 22 was in Mexico, DF negotiating the return 
to classes of the striking teachers. Some reports now indicate that the 
southern region of the state, Juchitan and Tuxtepec, will resume anyway. 
These areas were scheduled to go back first in any case. However, the 
spokesperson for the Section 22 opined that “the conditions are not 
right” for a return, referring to widespread fears that with URO still 
in charge – or any other member of the PRI – the leading teachers will 
be picked off one by one. Nevertheless, the teachers, who spent five 
months in encampment, have been without income for several weeks, along 
with the state health workers who also support the movement. The problem 
is not so much that individuals will starve – they won’t– but that a 
main source of disposable income in the state comes from government 
salaries.
Ironically, tourism is not possible, even if tourists were so inclined, 
because all access roads in and out are blocked in order to prevent the 
entry of APPO supporters. There is no internal bus transportation; 
incoming riders have been dumped off by the roadside at night with no 
idea of how to get into the city. Furthermore, presumably because the 
PFP were sent in with inadequate preparation, the troops sent to hold 
the zocalo after its “cleaning” of APPO banners, slogans tents, and 
people, had to use public areas for their toilet needs. Additionally, 
they sacked the shops in the main kiosk, which prompted shop owners to 
lodge complaints with the government. Their hope of redress is small, 
given that the assassins who were clearly identified as responsible for 
the death of the Indymedia reporter are walking around freely.
In a smaller irony, while the PFP were scrubbing the walls in the 
zocalo, the spray-paint youngsters were adding slogans in other areas, 
including the area outside the zocalo. In the nearby Llano Park, URO 
staged a support march for himself, to which about 2,000 people 
responded. Simultaneously, about 3,000 APPO supporters gathered in front 
of Santo Domingo church, and jeered and hooted at parade participants 
who left the pro-URO rally by that route.
The situation in Oaxaca, as documented by CODEP, the Commission for 
Rights of the People, is reported:
*Sunday the 29th*
In the capital there was the following result of the resistance, 
according to information received by the Oaxaca Human Rights Network 
(Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos):
*Dead: 3*
Jorge Alberto López Bernal, a nurse taking care of the wounded, killed 
by a tear gas bomb which penetrated his thorax, Fidel Sánchez García, 
beaten by PRI loyalists, and a twelve year old boy whose situation has 
not been confirmed.
*The Identified Detained: 22*
Isidro Yescas, José Manuel Ramírez Zarate, Pedro Hernández Aguilar, 
Elizabeth Xola Vásquez, Daniel Luna Méndez, Gerardo Valdez Valdez, 
Daniel Mejía Martínez, Rey Feria Reyes, Isaac Zarate Pérez, Alejandro 
Gutiérrez, Félix López Medina, Abraham Ramírez Jiménez, Said Ordaz 
Pérez, Israel Velasco Pacheco, Juan Martínez López, Gerardo Aguilar 
Chico, Juan Dolores Agustín, Guillermo López, Anastasio Contreras 
Hernández, Jesús Antonio Aquino, Mario Pineda and Pedro Hernández.
*Disappeared: 16*
Antonio Castellanos Hernández, Rosa Anastasia Martínez, Jesús Canseco 
García, Alberto Hernández Calvo, Mauro Arturo Mogozan García, Eusebio 
Mendoza Sabines, Javier Mateo Calderón, Mamerto García Magaña, Abdón 
Aguilar, Cenobio Girón Pablo, Raymundo Gómez Martínez, Juan Manuel Ortiz 
González, Alberto Miguel Guadalupe, Apolinar Noriega, Alejandro 
Alcántara González and Teodoro López Gutiérrez.
*Forceful Entry of Private Homes*
Carried out in Colonia Alemán, in Colonia Jardín and in the small 
village (Agencia) de San Martín Mexicapan.
The detained have probably been taken to the prisons of Ixcotel and 
Miahuatlan in the 28th Military Zone, as is usual in cases of high 
security.
*Monday, 30th*
In the town of Nochixtlán, the PFP prevented the passage of a caravan 
coming from Tlaxiaco, headed for the city of Oaxaca to participate in 
the march to protest the presence of the federal forces and to demand 
the departure of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. The police beat the participants who 
protested the violation of their constitutional right to free transit, 
with the following results:
*Detained: 8*
Sergio Barrios Robles, Miguel Ángel López Pena, Víctor Alejo Plata, 
Pedro Osorio Nicolás, Manuel Villegas Mora, Cuitláhuac Santiago, Omar 
José and Manuel Ojeda García.
The first three are members of CODEP and apparently are being held in 
the prison of Tlacolula.
Not only have the federal forces acted in these operations, but also the 
state ministerial police. They have used strike groups from different 
points where there are barricades, with the intention of provoking 
confrontations.
Up to now the PFP occupies the zocalo, where yesterday they sacked the 
commercial operation of the kiosk and today they “opened” it to the 
public, but they don’t permit access to groups of more than ten people. 
The PFP also occupy Love Park (Parque del Amor), and are not permitting 
any entry at all. The APPO encampment which had been in the zocalo is 
now at Santo Domingo.
In the march organized for the state government in support of URO, the 
marchers basically consisted of families linked to the business 
community, government functionaries and employees. The slogans on their 
placards, ,referred to as “fascist” by CODEP, included congratulations 
to Vicente Fox for the police occupation, in addition to backing URO. 
The only incident reported here was the confrontation with a person who 
was identified as a teacher, but who was fortunately able to enter a 
building where he was rescued. This provocation to violence and lynching 
of teachers and members of the APPO is promoted by “Citizen Radio” 
operating clandestinely and without license under the order of URO.
Tuesday night the PFP was removing barricades and invading homes in 
Santa Lucia del Camino. Faced with the failure to discourage the APPO 
with the weekend’s operations, it seems that “plan B” may be capturing 
the leadership of the movement.
The Day of the Dead observations in honor of the movement’s dead give a 
new meaning to the holiday. The entire pedestrian street approaching the 
zocalo is filled with altars and traditional sand paintings, all while 
the PFP stand at their posts, confronted with fearless and furious 
Oaxaqueños.


PFP Occupation of Oaxaca Reveals Growing Polarization Within the Populace
A “March for Peace” in Support of Embattled Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz 
Exposes the Existence of a Deep Seated Economic and Social Divide

By James Daria
The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign in Oaxaca
November 1, 2006
The city of Oaxaca is no longer filled with the smoke of burning buses 
and tear gas, but instead is burning from the inside as further 
polarization of the community has increased tensions amid a “peace” 
brought about by the forces of law and order. The city, paralyzed for 
the last two days, tried to return to normalcy as many business 
reopened. Overshadowing the this normalcy was the threat of more 
violence among the people due to a march convened in support of the 
Oaxacan state governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO).
Today’s march would not be the first held in support of Ruiz, which was 
held as a response to the many “megamarches” convoked by the striking 
Section 22 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE). Many 
people feared that today’s march would lead to provocations and 
confrontations similar to those that occurred last Friday, where agents 
of local police and municipal governments assassinated three people 
during a civil strike called for by the popular social movement 
coalesced around the popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO).
The march left the “fountain of the seven regions” in the north of the 
city at eleven o’clock in the morning. Labeled as a so-called “march for 
peace,” the protesters, dressed in white, chanted slogans in support of 
the governor and against the magisterial and popular movement. These 
protesters welcomed the entrance of the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) 
as a step in restoring law and order in a city which, according to them, 
has been kidnapped by violent and radical groups.
The march for peace was organized by supporters of the governor and his 
political party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The 
announcement of the event was widely disseminated through Ruiz’s very 
own pirate radio station, Citizen Radio (99.1 FM), an attempt to use the 
opposition movement’s own tactics against them. Many prominent local 
families and politicians loyal to the party could be identified among 
the marchers. The march arrived at El Llano Park and where a meeting was 
held in support of the governor. The crowd chanted slogans very similar 
to those common among the opposition. “Ulises don’t give up, the people 
will rise up” and, “APPO get out” were some common phrases. Support for 
the corporate mass media was also expressed as one protester carried a 
sign that claimed that only TV Azteca tells truth.
One of the most important messages the marchers were trying to express 
was the idea that the APPO does not represent the people, but that the 
people marching today are in fact “the people.” This struggle for 
identity of who exactly is “the people” is an important indicator of the 
polarization of Oaxacan society. Both sides, those in support of and 
those against the governor, claim to represent the interests of the 
people. Two major contrasts were noted, according to this reporter, 
about this march as compared with the marches convoked by the APPO. 
First, the majority of marchers in support of Ulises Ruiz don’t actually 
march. Instead, they drive their nice American and European made cars 
and trucks. Second, the majority of the supporters of the governor have 
on average much lighter skin that those normally marching in support of 
the popular movement against the government. Although running the risk 
of falling into stereotypes, such differences point to deep seated 
economic and racial conflicts underlying the current social unrest.
While the majority of the marchers disbanded at Llano Park, many 
continued on to the Zócalo where the Federal Preventive Police welcomed 
them with opened arms. Until today, the PFP maintained a tight cordon of 
riot police approximately a two block distance from the central plaza. 
Today, however, the police did not wear their protective clothing or 
carry their shields and clubs. The people were free to walk into the 
square and chat freely with the police, seemingly part of a kind of 
public relations campaign on behalf of the police to assure that they 
are in Oaxaca to restore order and cleanliness to the city. They have 
done an impressive job of cleaning up the city center since the 
occupation of the Zócalo by federal forces. The normal graffiti covered 
walls have been cleaned or painted over and the tents and stalls of both 
protest groups and vendors have been torn down and disposed of. On the 
south side of the Zócalo a family of poor street vendors was trying to 
recollect the remnants of their booth which unfortunately was found 
crushed by a burnt out car, a result of when the police dismantled the 
barricades that had surrounded the square.
Although the majority of people in the “March for Peace” seemed to be 
from the middle and upper classes, there were some poor families who 
came out in support of the governor. Walking through the cleaned up 
Zócalo two older women called our attention. They said that 
international reporters should listen to the people because the people 
want a clean city and not a pigsty. They claim APPO does not represent 
Oaxaca, and according to them, the majority of people making up the APPO 
are from Tapachula, Chiapas or from Guatemala. The two women, merchants 
in the Central de Abastos and originally from Juchitán, expressed their 
hatred for the teachers union and the APPO. They claim that union leader 
Enrique Rueda Pacheco is a /muxe/ (a transvestite in Zapoteco) and that 
he has whores waiting for him in his Juchitec neighborhood mansion of La 
Septima, which is actually one of the poorest neighborhoods comprised 
mostly of families of fishermen. They also criticized the leaders of 
both Section 22 of the national teachers union and those of the APPO of 
corruption. The older of the two ladies claimed that the last governor 
of Oaxacan paid APPO leader Flavio Sosa millions of pesos while she had 
to sell products in the market to take care of her invalid son. When 
asked if there was government aid available to invalid people in Oaxaca, 
she responded that she wasn’t aware of any. She also couldn’t respond to 
the question of why the government of Oaxaca supposedly has money to pay 
movement leaders but not help the sick.
One of the most important aspects of the social conflict in Oaxaca is 
the war of ideas and how to disseminate them to the masses. The 
corporate media normally shows a bias in favor of the government and 
business leaders. While radio has become the major means of 
communication for the popular movement, the start of a clandestine radio 
station by the Oaxacan government is a clear example of the current 
battle of information in the city. The printed press is no exception, as 
it is divided into two major daily newspapers. /El Imparcial/ is clearly 
biased towards the PRI and the Oaxacan government, where as /Noticias/ 
is clearly biased towards the center-left Democratic Revolution Party 
(PRD) and the social movements represented by the teachers union and the 
APPO. The war of information is not just about disseminating the truth, 
but also about influencing the hearts and minds of the populace. Hatred 
and distrust is being sowed among the populace and has lead to a 
situation in which no one can trust one another. The role of the media 
in spreading lies, rumors and disinformation on both sides of the 
political spectrum has much to do with this.
While the battle for the streets of Oaxaca quietly simmers and physical 
confrontation is minimized, the struggle for the identity of Oaxacan 
people still remains in this highly stratified society. The existence of 
a widespread popular social movement against a supposedly corrupt and 
brutal political regime can be either demonized or romanticized 
depending on the perspective of the individual. However, the 
polarization and confrontation that exists between the citizens 
themselves cannot be denied. The social conflict in Oaxaca has already 
seen numerous deaths, and the further polarization of Oaxacan, and 
possibly national, society could spill over into a situation similar to 
a civil war if the deep seated problems underlying the conflict are not 
only confronted, but solved. The presence of the Federal Preventive 
Police has brought a semblance of law and order to Oaxaca, but has done 
nothing to address the roots of the social unrest which is still 
simmering, and seems likely to explode all the time.