George Salzman: Oaxaca update

OAXACA, Sunday October 29— Friends, Here’s a bit of update and a revealing first-hand report from two Pittsburgh folks who were at the barricade in Santa Lucia del Camino barrio—about four miles east of the city center—where William Bradley Roland (Brad Will), the US Indymedia journalist was shot and killed Friday the 27th.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a very tense day. With president Vicente Fox’s announcement that he was sending a force of Federal Preventive Police (PFP) to restore order, the widespread expectation was that they would act to clear the encampments and the barricades.

Nancy’s theory was that if they came in daylight they would likely surround the Zócalo and give the protestors an opportunity to leave, but if they arrived at night they were coming to apply el mano duro and it would be bloody. After the terrible press the State government got the day before, the first possibility was more likely—a blood-bath would be very bad publicity for the Federal government.

The reports on the radio were that buses were on their way, already between Puebla and Oaxaca, with PFP contingents. Maybe they’d be arriving by early or mid-afternoon. So we went to the Zócalo around noon. The usual vendors were practically all gone. A handful of tourists. A funeral ceremony for one of the victims of the Friday massacre. Not very many people compared to the massive crowds recently to be seen there. People fearful but determined to resist.

The Popular Assembly Movement was not backing down, was waiting, calling for strengthening the barricades. But the day, and the night, seem to have passed relatively quietly. La Jornada‘s late news reported arrest of two of the assassins. We can hope that the federal move is intended to curb Oaxaca Governor Ulises, and that the PRI forces in the state will be deterred sufficiently for a non-bloody exit from the immediate crisis.     

Report from Santa Lucia del Camino: attacks across the city kill at least 4. 

NOTE:  This account is not meant to be a complete account of the day, it is meant to be from the perspectives and experiences of two people in the midst of what can only be described as a battle in the streets of Santa Lucia, in Oaxaca.  We know that other things happened in other neighborhoods, and that other things probably happened in our vicinity.  This is our best effort at capturing the events that we experienced and witnessed.    On Thursday night, Barricade Three in Santa Lucia del Camino set up a little earlier than normal.  Reinforcing the barricades for Friday’s day of action required more trucks and buses than usual.  At times, it was a chaotic scene with camión after camión joining the barricade and people unsure of where they should go.  Eventually things calmed down.  Many more people than usual guarded the barricade and the tranquility of the night had many regulars taking time to lie down, if not sleep. 

As day broke, the barricade took on the feel of a community holiday or small block party with small children running about.  At what felt like an informal pot-luck, people brought tortillas and beans, sandwiches, bread, and arroz con leche.  Most chose to not cover their faces, despite this being a regular practice at the barricades.  Up to this point, the only “contentious” moment was the permitted approached of a chicken truck that surprised several people.   Sudenly, about a dozen people started shouting, donning masks, picking up Molotov cocktails and large bottle rockets typically shot out of PVC pipes the people call “bazookas;” and collecting rocks and sticks.  A small group moved forward to see why a truck that was part of the barricade (about 200 feet away) was moving and investigate a commotion on the other side of that barricade.  After advancing about 100 feet, the group spotted 150 to 200 Príistas (supporters of the authoritarian PRI party that ruled Mexico for 70 years and currently “rule” the state of Oaxaca) marching toward the barricade.  The rockets were fired into the air to warn the Príistas not to approach.  The warning was ignored.    The tiny group of defenders fell back to the barricade and gathered more supplies.  It was a chaotic situation.  Prioritizing in the moment, a split second decision was made to leave our bags, in part because rocks from the Príistas were already falling where our bags lay.  As we sprinted down side streets to the closest barricade, there were shouts for children to go inside their homes to safety. 

At the next barricade, people were banging on poles and railing to sound the alarm and rally the neighborhood to fight the Príista advance.  People came out of their homes and armed themselves with sticks, machetes, metal poles, “bazookas” and rocks.  Once a fairly large crowd had gathered several people started shouting “Vamos, compañeros, vamos!” (Let’s go, comrades) and “Avanza!” (advance). 

People began advancing to the fallen barricade and the Príistas, spreading out along the width of the four-lane highway, its median, and sidewalks.  Both sides fired their “bazookas,” and as we drew nearer rocks started flying from both sides.  We pushed the Príistas back passed the remnants of the now disassembled barricade. There was a lull of about thirty seconds as we populated the area around the barricade before many decided to chase the still-visible Príistas only about 100 feet away from us. 

Though most of them retreated faster than we advanced, one unlucky Príistas was forced to choose his own safety and well-being over that of his fancy SUV.  The look of regret was visible on his face as rocks crashed to the ground around him and he turned and ran.  The SUV, lacking a license plate, briefly became the target instead of the retreating Príistas.  Tires slashed, windows smashed, someone decided to ensure that it was beyond use and set it ablaze.  While some focused their attention on the SUV, some continued to chase the Príistas.  Most Príistas had scattered into nearby homes and businesses, so people re-grouped back at the barricade.  

As we all clustered in the intersection, the two of us looked around and estimated that there were at least 500 people ready to defend their neighborhood. 

We were both amazed by what we were seeing.  Neither of us had ever witnessed such an incredible display of collective self-defense.  We both nearly cried at the inspiring sight of people successfully working together to ward off aggression without centralized leadership.  The barricade reclaimed, sandbags replaced, and the Príistas pushed back, the battle appeared for a few moments, to be over.  

We’re unsure as to the exact reason for the second advance, but we believe that Príistas were again spotted at the next intersection where they had scattered minutes before.  As we cautiously advanced, walking in cover when possible, shots were heard from the intersection and everyone ducked or ran for cover.  Many corporate news outlets, most notably those relying on AP “reporter” Rebeca Romero (widely believed to be on Ulises Ruiz’s payroll), have claimed it was “unclear” as to who shot first. It was the Príistas.  From the ground, on the receiving end of the gunfire, there is no doubt as to who shot first.  There is nothing “unclear” about it. It was the Príistas, shown by El Universal photos and local television to be armed to the teeth, who shot first.   After the shooting stopped, the group moved quickly to the other side of the road and to the corner where the shots had originated from.  The attacking Príistas had retreated back away from the highway and deeper into the neighborhood.  Fifty to 100 people slowly advanced north a block into the neighborhood while 200 people gradually moved up, either by going north, or approaching it from the west by way of the barricade.  Again the group moved north, taking cover by vehicles parked along the street. 

In addition to shooters at the far end of the street, more Príistas were taking cover inside a building along the street.  The building was targeted with Molotovs, rocks, bricks, and cohetes.  Someone kicked the door in before Príistas down the street started shooting again and we had to retreat back to the end of the block.  This gave the Príistas time to close and blockade the door.  A few attempts with similar results gave way to milling about, as we waited for reinforcements.  One block west towards the barricade, about 100 people had gathered to take cover from additional Príistas on that street.  Soon we heard a truck roar to life and a few minutes later, compañeros in a dump truck came to provide shielding for another advance.  In the first such advance, the truck went too far down the road, shooting started again, at which point we fell back to the end of the block.  Most waited there while the truck maneuvered itself horizontally across the street in front of the gate of the targeted building.  Once the truck was ready, another advance began and the truck smashed open the gate.  Another round of shooting began, and again everyone took cover and began to withdraw.   At this point, Brad Will, an Indymedia reporter from New York, was shot in the abdomen as he was filming.  Many people ran to carry him around the block and down the street.  As we waited for a car to arrive to take him to the hospital, efforts were made to keep him conscious and breathing, including CPR. As Brad showed signs of consciousness and movement, the crowd surrounding him cheered. He was carried into a car and driven to the hospital.  Moments later, as people were still taking in what happened, it started to rain. People gathered up the Molotovs and cohetes and got them out of the rain. About a half hour later, people started to gradually head back to the barricade.   When we arrived at the barricade, we learned from a teary-eyed compañero that Brad had died on his way to the hospital. People from APPO such as Flavo Sosa arrived at the scene and were attempting to coordinate with the rest of the city where there had been other attacks.  Hundreds of bottles were being filled and prepared as Molotov cocktails. 

Thanks to the help of several compañeras, we recovered one of our bags; though the other which contained a passport, several forms of id, travelers checks, over 1,000 pesos (most of which was intended to be used for the barricade), a video camera, is gone and was presumably stolen by the Príistas.  Hundreds remained at the barricade for the night. The two of us went to a compañero’s house to rest, write and watch the news.  

As of this writing, the Príistas have set up their own barricades within the neighborhood, APPO has activated the mobile brigades, 4 or 5 people have died, dozens injured, and barricade 3 remains up, reinforced, and alert.  Among the attackers were local municipal police (such as Abel Santiago Zárate and Juan Carlos Soriano Velasco) and politicians/PRI thugs (such Manuel Aguilar and Pedro Carmona, the man identified as Brad Will’s killer), all from the neighborhood.  Though the two of us had slightly differing expectations of how the day would pan out, neither of us expected an attack of this kind or magnitude in broad daylight.  The diversity of people who fought the Príista attackers was astounding.  We saw young kids helping to gather cohetes and Molotovs.  We saw old women armed with rocks making their way to the front.  We saw people wearing circle As, hammer and sickles, and people who didn’t wear their political identity on their sleeves. In the end, it didn’t matter who you were, only what side you stood on.     Our thoughts and prayers also go out to the dead and wounded whose names we do not know and whose fates we did not witness.

Oaxaca: 3,000 Michoacan teachers strike in solidarity; Zapatistas mobilize

Tuesday, Oct 31—See two updates below: 1) 3000 teachers from Michoacan state plan to strike & go to Oaxaca to support APPO 2) Zapatistas mobilizing in solidarity

With all these new developments, I can't help but notice that the bulk of communications we receive relates messages from male leadership, or individually names men as martyrs, focusing on males' actions. But many unnamed women have suffered physical violence in this struggle, too. And women are most of the rank and file teachers; even of not individually recognized, they have played a role in maintaining the barricades all along. Now the conflict is increasingly masculinized. Women as agents and leaders are being cut out of the drama -- what is going on with them?

This has been repeated time and again

for instance, accounts of the MST in Brazil; how women's contributions were cut out of mainstream and even progressive coverage of the Six Nations struggle in Caledonia. That reflects a bias in our left or progressive organizing, as much as what is actually going on there. And I think it's a problem because it creates a bias in what is considered historical, what is acknowledged as struggle -- and it reinforces hierarchy within our movements.

It's not enough to just know in the abstract that they are participating -- the agency of individual women is denied if we do not seek and hear their voices, and consider how adding their voices changes our assumptions about struggle.

-Amee Chew

from "Political Pulse," column in El Universal (Mexico) by Francisco Cárdenas Cruz.]

Three thousand teachers from Michoacán state, Mexio, will go to Oaxaca to support the APPO Marches held in various states denouncing the PFP [Mexican Federal Police] incursion

Pablo Salazar [governor of Chiapas state] warns that he will not allow the rule of law to be violated in Chiapas

Section 18 of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE, a teachers' union) in Michoacán announced the departure of three thousand teachers yesterday headed for the state of Oaxaca, and an indefinite work stoppage at the over ten thousand schools where the union is represented, in support of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO).

Representing the teachers and the members of the Popular Assembly of the People of Michoacán (APPM), José Luis Zarco García declared his non-cooperation with Sunday's incursion into Oaxaca by elements of the PFP.

He pointed out that the entry of state forces into the city was a surprise, since the dialog with the APPO and the Oaxacan teachers had not concluded.

He said that [the SNTE teachers] would not allow the PFP or the Army to stay in Oaxaca, and that "Michoacán is getting organized to add approximately three thousand comrades to the caravan that is leaving the DF (Mexico City) for Oaxaca."

The teachers of Michoacán and the APPM will declare this Tuesday when the work stoppage will begin in the over ten thousand schools of Michoacán, and will march from the offices of the Interior Department to Plaza Melchor Ocampo [a central square in Michoacán adjoining the cathedral]. ...

A Call from the Zapatistas

Oaxaca Is Not Alone— Shut-Down of Roads, Highways and the Media on November 1— General Strike Called for November 20

By the Sixth Commission of the EZLN, The Other Mexico

October 30, 2006

Message from the CLANDESTINE REVOLUTIONARY INDIGENOUS COMMITTEE-GENERAL COMMAND of the ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION MEXICO.

October 30, 2006.

To the people of Mexico: To the people of the world: To the Other Campaign in Mexico and the other side of the Rio Grande: To the entire Sixth International:

Compañeros and compañeras: Brothers and sisters:

It is now known publicly that yesterday, 29th of October 2006, Vicente Fox's federal forces attacked the people of Oaxaca and its most legitimate representative, the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO).

Today, the federal troops have assassinated at least 3 people, among them a minor, leaving dozens of wounded, including many women from Oaxaca. Dozens of detainees were illegally transported to military prisons. All this comes in addition to the existing total of deaths, detainees and missing persons since the beginning of the mobilization demanding that Ulises Ruiz step down as Oaxaca's governor.

The sole objective of the federal attack is to maintain Ulises Ruiz in power and to destroy the popular grassroots organization of the people of Oaxaca.

Oaxaca's people are resisting. Not one single honest person can remain quiet and unmoved while the entire society, of which the majority are indigenous, is murdered, beaten and jailed.

We, the Zapatistas, will not be silent; we will mobilize to support our brothers, sisters and comrades in Oaxaca.

The EZLN's Sixth Commission has already consulted the Zapatista leadership and the following has been decided:

First: During whole day of November 1, 2006, the major and minor roads that cross Zapatistas territories in the southwestern state of Chiapas will be closed.

Consequently, we ask that everyone avoid traveling by these roads in Chiapas on this day and that one make the necessary arrangements in order to do so.

Second: through the Sixth Commission, the EZLN has begun making contact and consulting other political and social organizations, groups, collectives and individuals in the Other Campaign, in order to coordinate joint solidarity actions across Mexico, leading to a nationwide shut-down on the 20th of November, 2006.

Third: the EZLN calls out to the Other Campaign in Mexico and north of the Rio Grande, so that these November 1st mobilizations happen wherever possible, completely, partially, at intervals or symbolically shutting down the major artery roads, streets, toll booths, stations, airports and commercial media.

Fourth: The central message that the Zapatistas send and will continue sending is that the people of Oaxaca are not alone: They are not alone!

Ulises Ruiz out of Oaxaca!

Immediate withdrawal of the occupying federal forces from Oaxaca!

Immediate and unconditional freedom for all detainees!

Cancel all arrest warrants!

Punish the murderers!

Justice! Freedom! Democracy!

From the North of Mexico. For the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. For the EZLN Sixth Commission.

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos