[News] SF 10/4: Public Forum - No Troops to Oaxaca!

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Background Article Follows

OWC - Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union
Independence & Democratic Rights, c/o S.F. Labor Council,
1188 Franklin St., #203, San Francisco, CA 94109.
Phone: (415) 641-8616   Fax: (415) 440-9297.
-------------------



PUBLIC FORUM

MEXICO:  EMERGENCY ALERT

* NO FEDERAL TROOPS TO OAXACA!
* MEET THE PEOPLE'S DEMANDS!

Public Forum Featuring José Alejandro Sandoval 
Torres & Juan Manuel López Sarsoza, Indigenous 
Leaders of the Peoples Assembly of Oaxaca  (APPO).

These APPO representatives are currently on an 
Emergency West Coast Tour sponsored by the Frente 
de Mexicanos en el Exterior, Organización de 
Trabajadores Agricolas de California, Union 
Civica Primero de Mayo, Chicano Consortium, 
Sacramento City Teachers Union, and the 
Sacramento chapters of the Labor Council for 
Latin American Advancement and LULAC.

The Fox administration in Mexico is readying to 
send federal troops into the city of Oaxaca to 
crush the strike of more than 70,000 teachers and 
the resistance of an entire people, which has 
organized its own Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO).

Join us to learn from these two representatives 
from the APPO in Oaxaca what is occurring on the 
ground in Oaxaca and what we in the United States 
can do to help them in their struggle to win 
their just and legitimate demands and to force 
the resignation of repressive Governor Ulises 
Ruiz Ortiz, who unleashed the police on the strikers last June 14.

For more background information, see the 
International Solidarity Appeal below.

DATE, TIME AND PLACE

Wednesday, OCTOBER 4 @ 7 p.m.
Center for Political Education, 522 Valencia St., 3rd Fl., San Francisco
(@ 16th Street; one block from 16th St. Mission BART station)
Donation Requested at door; No one Turned Away for lack of funds.

Forum Sponsored by Mexicanos En El Exterior, 
Global Exchange, S.F. LCLAA, Open World Conference, Comité en Defensa Del voto

For more information, call 415-641-8616 or contact <ilcinfo at earthlink.net>

***********


BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL IN SOLIDARITY WITH SECTION 
22 OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION (SNTE-CNTE) AND WITH THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA

The movement of the teachers of Section 22 of the 
National Education Union and the people of Oaxaca 
is facing a terrible situation.

The Secretario de Gobernación (Minister of the 
Interior), with the backing of all the governors 
of the country, has called on President Vicente 
Fox to "act with the strict respect of the law 
against all the destabilizing forces that aim to 
directly prejudice the constitutional order." 
This is an open call to use force against the movement.

The bosses, the representatives of the Church, 
the media and a few mayors of all the parties 
have also called on the government to send a 
military expedition toward the State of Oaxaca.

The strike movement of 70,000 teachers of the 
State of Oaxaca began around the wage issues of 
Section 22 of the SNTE last May. The teachers 
called for all teachers to receive the same wages 
throughout all the districts of the State of Oaxaca.

On June 14, the PRI government headed by Governor 
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz unleashed a brutal attack 
against the strike encampments set up by the 
teachers in the center of the city of Oaxaca. But 
the teachers forced the police forces to retreat 
after five hours of confrontation.

In response, the unions, neighborhood 
organizations, peasants and indigenous groups set 
up a Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca 
(APPO), which organized five huge marches and -- 
with the decisive participation of the teachers 
-- set up barricades that were staffed for 
self-defense purposes throughout the night.

The teachers and the population set up a 
political tribunal to fight for the demand, 
"Governor Ulises Ruiz must go!" The teachers and 
the APPO have occupied the headquarters of the 
executive, judicial, and legislative branches of 
the state, as well as the local private radios 
and the provincial television station.

The governor, incapable of launching a massive 
attack against the teachers and the people, has 
utilized gangster methods, by sending in armed 
individuals with pistols to shoot at people on 
the barricades and at the marches. Four people 
have died in this way, and dozens have been 
injured. Four people have been arrested, among 
them Elangelio Mendoza Gonzalez, the former 
General Secretary of Section 22 of SNTE-CNTE.

Currently, based on the decision of the General 
Assembly of Section 22 of the SNTE and 
representatives of the APPO, 5,000 teachers, 
health workers, and peasants are marching on 
Mexico City to express their resistance in the capital.

They must travel more than 500 km (from the South 
to the North, crossing over the Western Sierra 
Madre mountain chain). They must also face state 
aggression. For its part, the Ministry of the 
Interior has organized a meeting of "all the 
sectors eager to find a solution to the Oaxaca 
problem" for this Wednesday. At the same time, it 
declared that "things have reached their limit in 
Oaxaca" and has threatened to send in 10,000 federal police.

At the very moment we write these lines, several 
Navy helicopters are patrolling the skies of 
Oaxaca. A police assault could result in a 
bloodbath. The teachers and the population are 
ready to resist. They want to live peacefully and 
want to ensure that democracy is respected. And 
they want the will of the majority to be 
respected --that is, for Governor Ulises Ruiz to leave.

That is why we are appealing to the unions of the 
whole world, particularly to the teachers' 
unions, to write to Carlos Abascal Carranza 
(Minister of the Interior) and Vicente Fox (President) to say:

-- No to repression against the teachers and the 
people in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico!

-- Respect the fundamental demand of the 
movement: Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz must step down immediately!

The first signers calling for international solidarity:

Professor Ezequiel Carreño Rosales, 
Organizational Secretary, Section 22 of the 
SNTE-CNTE; Professor Fernando Mendoza Perez, 
Coordinator of the Executive Committee of Section 
22 of the SNTE-CNTE; Augusto Fernando Reyes 
Medina, member of the Executive Committee of 
Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE; Professor Luis 
Vasquez Villalobos, delegate of the Union of the 
Workers of the National Autonomous University of 
Mexico (STUNAM); Javier Brena Alfaro, union 
delegate of the STUNAM; Gustavo Grajales, 
president of the Savings Fund of Section 40 of 
SNTE-CNTE; Misael Palma Lopez, member of Section 
7 of the SNTE (Chiapas); Russel Aguilar Brindis, 
member of the committee of technical secondary 
school struggles, Section 7 of the SNTE 
(Chiapas); Humberto Martinez Brizuela, professor 
of the National Polytechnic Institute; Armando 
Pasos Cabrera, member of the Independent Workers 
Union of the Autonomous Metropolitan University 
(SITUAM); Gema Lopez Limon, professor of the 
National Autonomous University of Baja California.

Send your messages to:
Vicente Fox Quesada, President of the Mexico: 
vicente.fox.quesada at presidencia.gob.mx

and

Carlos Abascal, Ministry of the Interior:
segob at rtn.net.mx

Send a copy to Fernando Mendoza Perez, Member of 
the Executive Committee of Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE:
Alborotador_oax at hotmail.com

Also, please send a copy of your letter to:
Entente Internationale (France):
eit-ilc at fr.oleane.com
<br>
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The Freedom Archives
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(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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