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<font size=3><a href="http://elenemigocomun.net/3444/x/en#more-3444">
http://elenemigocomun.net/3444/x/en#more-3444</a><br><br>
<br>
</font><h2><b><a href="http://elenemigocomun.net/3444/x/en/">Paramilitary
Attack Leaves Two Dead and Three
Disappeared</a></u></b></h2><font size=3><b>To the news media<br>
To the peoples of Mexico<br>
To the peoples of the world<br>
To the peoples of Oaxaca<br><br>
Armed attack on the Support and Solidarity Caravan to the Autonomous
Municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca<br><br>
CONTEXT:<br><br>
</b>Yesterday, an announcement was sent to the news media about the
Caravan headed for the Triqui Region in our state of Oaxaca. Caravan
participants include members of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of
Oaxaca (APPO), Section 22 of the teachers’ union, Oaxacan Voices
Constructing Autonomy and Freedom (VOCAL), CACTUS, members of MULT-I
(Independent Triqui Movement of Unification and Struggle), as well as
international observers. <br><br>
As announced, the caravan left the city of Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, at
11:00 a.m. on April 27, 2010, with the aim of breaking the siege around
the Autonomous Triqui Community, a manifestation of state and
paramilitary repression on the process of autonomy being built in this
community. The violent paramilitary attacks have occurred at different
times in San Juan Copala’s autonomous process and have been led by the
paramilitary UBISORT organization (Social Welfare Union of the Triqui
Region), now presided over by Rufino Juárez Hernández and MULT (Triqui
Movement of Unification and Struggle).<br><br>
Before the caravan left, the autonomous president of San Juan Copala,
Jesús Martínez Flores held the following people responsible for any
aggression whatsoever against it: Oaxaca State Attorney General Evencio
Nicolás Martínez, Oaxaca Minister of the Interior Jorge Franco Vargas,
”el Chuky”, and PRI party legislative candidate Carlos Martínez. He also
demanded that UBISORT and MULT behave responsibly and take the Triqui
people’s peace talks seriously. <br><br>
<b>THE FACTS:<br><br>
</b>About 100 Km. from the entrance to La Sabana, the road was blocked
with stones, and that’s where the cowardly attack began with firearms
whose caliber is as of yet undetermined. The attack was perpetrated by
around 15 paramilitaries at the service of the government of the killer
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, destroying the vehicles, wounding one comrade, and
killing two others, according to initial reports. <br><br>
During the attack, some comrades escaped, running into the mountains.
Their location is unknown and it is feared that they have been captured
by paramilitaries. The disappeared comrades are NOE BAUTISTA JIMENEZ,
DAVID VENEGAS REYES, and DANIEL ARELLANO CHAVEZ, all members of
VOCAL.<br><br>
We have just received information about the two comrades who lost their
lives in this attack. They are CACTUS member BEATRÌZ ALBERTA CARIÑO
TRUJILLO, and an international observer from Finland, JYRI ANTERO
JAAKKOLA. Both were shot dead.<br><br>
During the attack, our comrade MONICA CITLALI SANTIAGO ORTIZ was shot in
the back and has received medical attention at Juxtlahuaca.<br><br>
Other people at the scene of the shooting were forced out of the vehicles
and taken down the mountain to be interrogated. Some received death
threats before being released on the highway. VOCAL member RUBÈN VALENCIA
NUÑEZ was detained by paramilitaries who took his voter registration card
and cell phone and threatened him with death before turning him loose.
<br><br>
An ambulance arrived at the scene to give medical attention to the
wounded, but it was also fired upon in a cowardly paramilitary attack,
causing it to leave. As it was leaving, the medics came to the aid of a
wounded comrade, who confirmed the deaths of the two previously mentioned
comrades. <br><br>
Due to confusion and uncertainty regarding the events, it has been
impossible to ascertain the whereabouts or the physical and psychological
situation of the previously mentioned comrades.<br><br>
<b>WE EMPHATICALLY DENOUNCE</b> the fact that this armed attack is the
product of the conditions of institutional violence and impunity enjoyed
by paramilitary groups in this region of our state and directed against
different expressions of the social struggle in Oaxaca, specifically the
construction of autonomous processes.<br><br>
This aggression takes place in the circumstances of isolation and the
state of siege imposed on the municipality of San Juan Copala, where
children have been deprived of their classes since January. Furthermore,
the lights have been turned off and the community has no access to
drinking water or medical personnel. It is subjected to permanent
harassment from military troops that have set up a roadblock just outside
the town. <br><br>
<b>WE DEMAND:<br><br>
</b>– that the government of the killer Ulises Ruiz put an end to all
paramilitary attacks in the Triqui Region, and to the financing,
provision of arms, and impunity enjoyed by these paramilitary groups in
our state;<br><br>
– and assure the immediate presentation of our disappeared comrades.
<br><br>
<b>WE CALL ON:<br><br>
</b>the people of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the international community and
different social organizations, collectives and groups to make a visible
show of solidarity and support, demanding the live presentation of our
disappeared brothers and punishment of the responsible people. We also
ask that you demand an end to the conditions of violence imposed on the
Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala.<br><br>
<b>Live presentation of our disappeared comrades! <br>
Punishment for the murders of our comrades!<br>
An end to the attacks against the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan
Copala!<br>
An end to the paramilitary blockade around this autonomous Triqui
community!<br><br>
</b>Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom<br><br>
<b>(VOCAL)<br>
****************************************************<br>
</font><font size=4>Rights activists killed in Mexico <br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/201042812413686521.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/201042812413686521.html<br>
</a><b>By Andrew Wander<br>
</b>Wednesday, April 28, 2010 <br><br>
Two human rights activists have been killed in a paramilitary attack on
an aid convoy travelling to a breakaway region of southern Mexico, the
convoy's organisers have said.<br><br>
Gunmen opened fire on the convoy as it was carrying food and water to a
blockaded indigenous community in Oaxaca state. <br><br>
At least three others were injured in the attack, which took place
outside the town of La Sabana en route to the San Juan Copala
municipality,which has declared itself autonomous, the convoy's
organisers told Al Jazeera. <br><br>
VOCAL, a human rights group involved in organising the convoy, released a
statement stating that two activists had been shot dead by gunmen who
oppose the declaration.<br><br></font>
<dl>
<dd><font size=2 color="#008080"><b><i>FROM A BACKGROUND ARTICLE WHICH
FOLLOWS
<dd>The formation of Voices of Women from Oaxaca Building Autonomy and
Freedom (VOCAL), a space formed not only by individuals and anarchist
collectives but also by many others since the beginning of the
mobilizations that were fought from inside and outside the APPO. U. An
area that affects autonomy as a basis for socio-political order and
refuses to leave the reins of political destiny in the hands of political
parties.<br>
<dd>VOCAL has already been subjected to harassment and repression and not
only by the State. The imprisonment on April 13th of one of its members,
David Venegas Reyes, a member of the State Board of APPO from where they
fought against the positions of electioneering to those he defined as
traitors to the movement (and who have identified and even accused of
being a infiltration) is the clearest example of this.<br><br>
<dd>Currently Oaxaca is living in a state of selective repression and
harassment against all groups who continue to advocate the need for the
disappearance of the state and the formal democracy that underpins it and
this is helped by groups, such as the RPF, that criminalize all those who
are standing in way of the claims of institutional power. Surely the
media will give support to some of the processes that sooner or later
will erupt and lead to situations worthy of a good photograph on the
front page. Until that time, we must not forget and as often is said
these lands, "Zapata lives, the struggle continues." <br>
<br><br></i></b></font>
</dl><font size=3>"Regrettably, as information is coming in, we know
that two comrades lost their lives in this paramilitary attack," the
statement said. "This armed attack is a product of the conditions of
institutional violence and impunity that paramilitary groups enjoy in
this region." <br><br>
"This attack occurred in the context of the isolation and state of
siege that the municipality of San Juan Copala lives under, where since
January the children have not had classes, where the community does not
have electricity, water, doctors, and lives under permanent paramilitary
harassment as a result of the blockade they have established
there."<br><br>
The organisation said one of the dead was a Finnish national who was
travelling with the convoy as an international observer.<br><br>
Finland's foreign ministry was unable to verify the death, but said it
had received "unconfirmed reports" that a Finn had been killed
in the incident.<br><br>
"There has been no confirmation yet of what occurred in this
attack," an official from the ministry's Latin America department
told Al Jazeera. <br><br>
Cactus, an indigenous rights organisation also involved in organising the
convoy, told Al Jazeera that it was attacked shortly after setting off on
Tuesday, and that 12 of the 24 members of the group remain unnaccounted
for.<br><br>
"12 escaped and are ok, but 12 are still missing in Copala. Five
have been injured, some seriously," a Cactus official said.<br><br>
<b>Series of attacks<br><br>
</b>San Juan Copala is populated by members of the Trique indigenous
people, and declared itself autonomous from the Oaxaca state government
in 2007 in protest at what it says is a policy of discrimination and
harrassment against its people.<br><br>
The declaration of autonomy has been dismissed by authorities, and the
municipality has been subjected to a blockade by local paramilitaries
loyal to the state government. <br>
<br>
The latest attack is being blamed on a local paramilitary group known as
Ubisort, which had warned earlier this week that it would prevent the
convoy from reaching its destination.<br><br>
Convoy organisers were so worried by the threat that they issued a joint
press release hours before the attack warning that they could be the
target of "aggression" en route to San Juan Copala.<br><br>
"Given the circumstances, we hold the government of Ulises Ruiz
[Oaxaca state governor] responsible for any aggression any member of the
media or human rights observer could face," the statement said.
<br><br>
The Trique people say they face a range of abuses from government-backed
paramilitaries who oppose their attempts at self-rule.<br><br>
Previous convoys have been blocked from reaching the municipality, and
Trique community buildings have been attacked by armed gangs, resulting
in several deaths. <br><br>
In 2008, two young Trique women who worked at a community radio station
were shot dead on their way to Oaxaca City in what Trique leaders said
was a targeted attack against members of the community. <br>
*****************************************************<br><br>
</font><h1><b>Anarchism and libertarian currents in the Oaxaca
insurrectionary
movement</b></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://libcom.org/library/anarchism-libertarian-currents-the-oaxaca-insurrectionary-movement" eudora="autourl">
http://libcom.org/library/anarchism-libertarian-currents-the-oaxaca-insurrectionary-movement<br>
<br>
</a>Article examining the influence of libertarian ideas in the recent
uprisings in Oaxaca, Mexico. <br><br>
SERGIO DE CASTRO SANCHEZ<br>
Originally published in Spanish on oaxacalibre.org and in Rojo Y Negro,
newspaper of the CGT<br>
Translated by a comrade of Capital Terminus Collective<br><br>
Between June and November of 2006, the Mexican state of Oaxaca lived
through a popular revolt that both astonished and shocked the world.
While the mass media took its characteristic perspective on the conflict,
the people of Oaxaca rejected Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO), of the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and took the capital city
demanding his ouster as the starting point for the creation of a new
political and economic order to wipe out the huge social inequalities
that submerge the mostly indigenous state.<br><br>
To talk about the historical background that led to this uprising can be
misleading. And it is because our discussion is imparted with an
essential difference between that which occurred before and that which
occurred after June 14th. In reality, the struggle in Oaxaca, Mexico and
Latin America is a continuum in which only the limits of our thinking and
of our language that impose dates and events with special historical
interest, while ignoring the "silent" processes and
"marginal of history "(at least media-wise) that occur within
the society, as well as the struggles and the repression exerted upon
them. Knowing this, however, we do advise that the fight in Oaxaca goes
back to the arrival of the Spaniards, here we will just focus on the
recent past.<br><br>
A brief history<br>
On June 14th 2006, 3,000 troops from different bodies of the Mexican
State Police tried to enter the main city plaza or Zocalo with the
intention to evict the annual encamped "sit-in" that the
Mexican National Educational Workers Union (SNTE) union had established
at the Zócalo for the past 25 years as a means of pressure for a series
of demands. The people of Oaxaca joined together under this movement and
went to the streets forcing the police to retreat. From that moment on
and despite the authoritarian and repressive policies of Ulises Ruiz
Ortiz (URO), the ouster of the governor became the unanimous demand of
the people. A few days later, several organizations joined with the
teachers in the creation of the famous People's Assembly of the People of
Oaxaca (APPO), which in its first instance would be led by thirty members
who comprised the "Interim Committee" and of various groups who
saw only a opportunity by which some would seek to use the revolt to fill
their lust for power.<br><br>
From that moment began the repression: arbitrary arrests, torture and
killings become the norm in Oaxaca while the popular movement would meet
in mega-marches of up to 800,000 people and developed actions that the
APPO's direction could not control. June 14th provides one of the first
examples of such popular effervescence that builds upon itself and takes
the decision to confront the police. There are many more examples of this
type. On August 1st, a "cacerolada" (pot and pan banging
brigade) composed exclusively of women decided to take the state
television station in a peaceful manner. For weeks all programming was in
charge of these women until they were violently evicted by vigilante
groups. But that same night it was decided to sieze all the commercial
radio stations in the city. Days later, an attack by the "convoy of
death" upon Radio La Ley resulted in a casualty and this leads the
people take another decision: thousands of barricades were installed as a
defense against the paramilitary and vigilante attacks. For weeks, and
every night, the town jumps to the streets to defend the city until
October 28th, one day after 5 people were killed, when the Federal
Preventive Police (PFP) managed to enter the main plaza or Zocalo of the
city. Then a few days later, on November 2nd, the police attempt to evict
Radio University in violation of university's autonomy. As the leaders of
the APPO offered support to the members of the barricades that protected
the voice of the movement to the left ?, the people went back out into
the streets forcing the PFP to withdraw. The APPO secured a
victory.<br><br>
On November 25th, following a mega-march that was intended to besiege the
PFP in the Zocalo and before the police assault, clashes were unleashed
leading to a night of brutal repression that would only be the prelude to
torture, illegal arrests and while others negotiate with the government
to end the movement. The outcome of the whole process: 26 dead, dozens of
detainees and an undetermined number of missing.<br><br>
When the repression continued and at same there was debate on the
participation of certain groups of APPO in the forthcoming elections to
State Congress that was threatening to break the fragile unity of the
APPO, provides an ideal time to review how the anarchist groups
participated in the movement outside of the electioneering perspective
and the criticism of some groups such as the Revolutionary People's Front
(RPF) that is effectively Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist and which showed its
true face in trying to eliminate all opponents participating in the
election game.<br><br>
The APPO is not the Oaxaca Movement<br>
During the months-long conflict, the media (including a majority of
"independent" outlets) only gave voice to the leaders of the
APPO under the sloganistic and well-intentioned principle "We are
all APPO" to which were attributed all achievements by the people.
From the beginning, voices who criticized the actions of these
"leaders" were silenced, and on behalf of unity, the proposals
outside the structure of the APPO were completely unknown.<br><br>
Among those highlighted the voices of some anarchist groups who saw the
APPO not as a radical alternative to the system, but as a way to find and
administer power far too close to the existing structures.<br><br>
Of the spaces that that tried to form and put into practice these other
proposals was the Intercultural Occupation en Resistance. Chucho, a
member of the collective "We are all Prisoners" (Tod@s Somos
Pres@s) and who participated in the experience, speaks of an autonomous
space on the margin of the structure of the APPO. The APPO made a call to
organize and direct people. We made a call to self-organize and work in
an autonomous manner, understanding that autonomy reflected this
coordination space from all the spaces that expressed a desire for
liberty.<br><br>
The Okupa, located a few blocks from the Zocalo, was not formed as an
space for exclusively anarchist groups, but was open for Oaxacan society
from which it received its support. Located in a former headquarters of
the Preventive Police, it was restored with the support of the population
who both participated in the project and in the decisions through the
assemblies that were held in the Okupa. Accordingly Chucho reports,
"both the power of the state as well as the APPO prevented the
development of such initiatives, we are proposing ... why break with
these two structures and to promote the creation of autonomous spaces
either colonies or communities or small spaces such as the Okupación.
" A proposal closer to the principles that were supposed defended
the APPO leadership and to the demands of the people oaxaqueño: "The
same people are aware that there is a need for government and they
realize if we really wanted to topple Ulises and install another. In
assemblies it was questioned whether the APPO would assign a person who
was going to govern Oaxaca. "It was that "the people came to
realize that none of these questions of directions and centralism are
really for a change. Our intention was not to run a libertarian movement
as a group outside of the APPO, but these practices are given autonomy
and self-management everywhere based on the needs of each town.
"<br><br>
The barricades<br>
The libertarian groups were also an essential part and parcel of the
struggle and the direct resistance against different police forces, both
paramilitary and vigilantes and were in the barricades before and after
the entrance of the PFP on October 29th. There within crystallized two
trends. While the first was focused on direct action and in defense
against institutional attacks, the second sought to establish ties with
neighborhoods and their residents with the aim of strengthening the
popular resistance. Now a part of the Oaxacan collective imagination, the
barricades were erected as a symbol of the popular struggle and those who
were individuals of all kinds: anarkopunks, but also people of more
orthodox dress and customs banners of the struggle against URO. Groups
that although currently are even criminalized by a certain sector of the
APPO, the players were not only on the daily resistance, but also of
several clashes against PFP.<br><br>
But in addition, the organizational experience of the barricades was very
close to what is libertarian. As commented Noah, a student who
participated in the fight from an undefined ideological positions.
"the barricades were an experience of equality in that absolutely
everyone was equally involved in decision-making."<br><br>
Anarchists in the APPO<br>
But not all groups of libertarian groups chose the same path. The
Committee of Indigenous Peoples Oaxaca-Ricardo Flores Magón (CIPO-RFM)
chose to join the initiative of the APPO at its own discretion and in a
clearly critical manner. Dolores Villalobos, one of its members, says,
"We thought that was an area that needed to be built. Now we know
that not all people are honest and that we have different paths as some
you are betting on what election or to armed struggle. But our duty is to
propose to the other which is why we participated in the APPO. We will be
in all movements for which there is a possibility of building something.
When we see that our place is no longer there, then we will leave. "
For that same reason there will be many individuals and groups
participating in the State Council of 260 members which was established
in the Constituent Assembly held on November 11th and 12th, 2006 in the
hope that they could make that body a true representative of the people's
demands.<br><br>
So when from the domes of the State Council and through groups interested
in achieving institutional power sought to impose the participation of
APPO in the elections, groups like the libertarian CIPO and also others
such as those belonging to the Alliance Zapatista-Magonista like OIDHO
and CODEDI, were among those who managed to stop the initiative. The
consensus reached at the State Assembly in early February was that the
APPO would not "enter" the elections as such, but that groups
could do what they wanted on their own behalf. While the unity was
preserved, the actions of mafia-like organizations such as the RPF (which
was harshly criticized by groups such as the Socialist Labor Party
Socialist) have led to what currently exists in the APPO, great internal
division and a complete removal of the State Council with respect to the
people of Oaxaca.<br><br>
Anarchism, Magonismo and Indian commonality<br>
To talk about libertarian currents in Mexico is to talk of Ricardo Flores
Magón and Magonismo, which emerged at the beginning of the 20th century
and was pushed into the background as compared to reformism at the end of
the Mexican Revolution, and is intimately linked to the mindset of
indigenous peoples, in which Flores Magón found more than inspiration for
his proposals.<br><br>
Since the formation of the APPO, it was defined as a heterogeneous group
composed of the most diverse ideological trends. Its assembly character
allegedly tried to show the APPO as structured on the basis of horizontal
political decision modes, while groups with strong vertical hiarchical
posts are more visible in the media and appointed theirselves in Oaxaca
as spokespersons of the people.<br><br>
However it must be made clear that libertarian currents like Magonismo
are the only ones that really have built their political discourse based
on these practices that are formed with the "manners and
customs" of these people. Concepts such as autonomy, self-management
or assembly are examples of the way in which both indigenous and
libertarians agree on as key points of the vision of political and social
relations.<br><br>
Faced with the defense of "regional autonomy" by Marxist
theorists like Hector Díaz-Polanco, the concept of "communal
autonomy" built by the indigenous anthropology in Oaxaca was much
more about the cultural principles governing indigenous worldviews. The
Zapotec anthropologist Jaime Martinez Luna states, "we must affirm
that we also have our own laws. Logic built by centuries of thought, ways
to understand the very life that have brought us to solve a host of
internal problems. But that right and that knowledge are undone to impose
the engraved reasoning and what was developed in areas other than our
own, to experiences that are not our reality. " One example is
"always reasoning in terms of individual rights, never thinking of
the community rights, ie always argue in terms of the interests of an
individual and it is understood that the whole attitude becomes an
individual interest, never he joins the ability to understand that the
attitude is the result of a social act or even more so, a communal one,
therefore warrants different treatment. "<br><br>
Benjamin Maldonado, author of books such as "The Utopia of Ricardo
Flores Magón or Autonomy and Indian Commonality", advocates "an
anarchist world is a world community, if we rely on the definition of
Ricardo Flores Magón of anarchy and order based on mutual aid . I
understand that many of the libertarians have tried to create and build a
world community similar to the structure of the communities in Oaxaca,
with mutual support, where they are willing to donate huge amounts of
work for others for the construction and reconstruction of the community,
with a power structure in the assembly rather than their representatives,
within a territorial space where power can be effected, with a system of
shared government that was not corrupt, with a distribution system that
allowed some margin of regional food self-sufficiency and especially with
the and ed to be community and celebrate each time and waste of
resources. "<br><br>
For Maldonado, "commonality, the backbone of being Indian, consists
of four core elements: the communal territory (use and defense and
collective space), communal labor (interfamiliar through mutual aid and
community through tequio, it is free for job works benefit of the
people), the communal power (participation in the assembly and the
performance of various civic and religious positions that form their
system of government) and the communal happiness (through participation
in the celebrations and sponsorship). " <br><br>
All this is based on a principle which was built from their own communal
identity, autonomy, "since its formation, the idea of commonality
has been linked to the idea of self-determination, that the actual
language is autonomy. It is precisely the commonality which was and is
able to create (recreate) the necessary conditions for autonomy. In this
sense, "the abolition of state authority and oppression is
understood as the exercise of the autonomous community's organizational
will." And the experience of native peoples that are thus
constituted "shows that it is historically possible to live in
collectivist anti-autoritarian collectives."<br><br>
This anti-authoritarian nature of the communities' political organization
is based on their own conception of power as a service to the people and
the assembly as a means of political decision making. For Martinez Luna,
"the significance of power in an indigenous community in contrast to
what is depicted in both the rural and urban mestizo world is very
different. In our communities, power is a service, namely it is the
implementation of guidelines for an community assembly. In another words,
it means exercising the decisions of the authority that has been elected
through electoral mechanisms with little supervision by society. A
community authority that is in effect, an employee at the service of all,
an employee who is not paid, who is not allowed to design, and when this
occurs, design can be achieved only if there is consultation. In
contrast, political power in rural and urban mestizo communities is to
the contrary, it is the opportunity to run their own ideas and satisfy
their personal interests, there is no consultation. "The assembly is
the highest authority in the community, it is the meeting of all heads of
households and which also includes women. Both the silent and the
speakers participate in this. The field workers along with artisans and
professionals. The assembly always works by consensus, but in many cases
and with practical issues by using majority vote. "The election of
the authorities does not reflect any intent or partisan guideline and is
based on prestige and in the work. " A conception of power that
makes "our immediate obstacles would be the political
parties."<br><br>
From this point of view, and perhaps as a result, the socio-political
proposals of the indigenous peoples have been as denostadas own people
outside the development and progress embodied in the Western political
and economic systems, when in fact pose a real alternative ( not merely
utopian) to existing structures. For Chucho, "the indigenous
struggle is the one that is going to force real change. The practices of
community life are the ones that really could truly confront the state
", establishing an intimate relationship between the practices of
both indigenous and urban groups of libertarians.<br><br>
Some libertarian principles are intimately linked to the indigenous and
that, if we can talk about it in a testimonial manner, have made almost
all of these groups and organizations join the initiative of the
Zapatista Other Campaign.<br><br>
Did an anarchist state live in Oaxaca?<br>
As a fast food seller at the Pochote Market said, "in Oaxaca, we
miss those days that we lived in anarchy." Certainly his claim would
not be very orthodox in regards to a formal and comprehensive definition
of what is a "state of anarchy", but since his participation in
the barricades, a sentiment shows that, while not widespread, it is
present in many people and in many of those involved in the movement. The
absence of the repressive institutions (at least in an official capacity)
in the city, the actions of the people who developed resistance without
any organizational leadership, the solidarity and mutual aid amongst
those who filled the streets in resistance and the very organization at
the barricades ... This is certainly the basis of this
sentiment.<br><br>
For Dolores Villalobos, "it's something that nobody will be able to
forget. Everyone was in the streets and everything was a real brotherhood
... There was a form of organization, solidarity and mutual support,
people were concerned about the other person. So I think that today the
resistance continues, because people have taken that step. That is the
important thing: as it began to generate a different type of relationship
between human beings. " and she adds, só a los que creían que podían
tener al movimiento controlado. She adds, "people broke those who
believed they could have controlled the movement. It is also why there
was a lot of repression, because the government saw that it could not
control it because none of those who went to the negotiating table could
halt it nor could say, 'this shall done', but rather it was in those
camps and in the barricades where the direction of the movement was
decided."<br><br>
For as Chucho explains rather "ways to react to the direct attack of
the state" are not exactly anarchy, but there was an attitude of
"disobedience" both regarding the state as well as to
APPO.<br><br>
Benjamin Maldonado is more pessimistic: "I think that we lived a
situation of chaos, not anarchy. I saw a lot of creativity but lack of
clarity, but it lacks a lot of energy project, a lot of enthusiasm but
lack of vision, a lot of confluence without seeing the impossibilities of
continuity. "<br><br>
The current situation<br><br>
Despite the repression and issues with internal groups, the movement has
left behind the principles that were born. The struggle in Oaxaca that is
inspired by a structural change in the ways of life of native peoples is
not over. One example is the recent formation of Voices of Women from
Oaxaca Building Autonomy and Freedom (VOCAL), a space formed not only by
individuals and anarchist collectives but also by many others since the
beginning of the mobilizations that were fought from inside and outside
the APPO. U. An area that affects autonomy as a basis for socio-political
order and refuses to leave the reins of political destiny in the hands of
political parties.<br><br>
VOCAL has already been subjected to harassment and repression and not
only by the State. The imprisonment on April 13th of one of its members,
David Venegas Reyes, a member of the State Board of APPO from where they
fought against the positions of electioneering to those he defined as
traitors to the movement (and who have identified and even accused of
being a infiltration) is the clearest example of this.<br><br>
Currently Oaxaca is living in a state of selective repression and
harassment against all groups who continue to advocate the need for the
disappearance of the state and the formal democracy that underpins it and
this is helped by groups, such as the RPF, that criminalize all those who
are standing in way of the claims of institutional power. Surely the
media will give support to some of the processes that sooner or later
will erupt and lead to situations worthy of a good photograph on the
front page. Until that time, we must not forget and as often is said
these lands, "Zapata lives, the struggle continues." <br><br>
<br><br>
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