El Enemigo Común

by VOCAL

On the 4th of December in the community of Jamiltepec, thousands of people from at least 22 communities along the Oaxacan Coast, plus teachers from the Pinotepa sector of the Teacher´s Union (Section 22) participated in a march in order to declare their opposition to the imposition of the “Paso de la Reina Multiple Use Hydraulic and Reservoir Project”.

Dozens of signs expressed total rejection of the megaproject. The march was lead by representatives from each community. Women wore white dresses painted with black slogans that denounced the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the bad government. Hundreds of posters, of all sizes, were carried by men, women, elderly, and children. Each one declared his/her opposition to the project and commitment to defend mother earth and the water, and demanded respect for the people and their communities in a different way.

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Undersigned organizations take a unanimous stand

We, the peoples, communities and organizations gathered together in the community of Tataltepec de Valdés, Juquila, Oaxaca, on September 5, 2009, who have come from different regions of the state of Oaxaca and from other states in the country, including the organizations Sangre Chatina, the Peoples’ Council in Defense of the Land and Territory against the imposition of the Southern Toll Highway, the community of Benito Juárez Chimalapa in defense of its communal territory and property; the Teotiteco de la Cañada Civic Front, Oaxacan Voices Building Autonomy and Freedom (VOCAL), and the Peoples’ Front in Defense of the land of San Salvador Atenco (FPDT), all of whom are suffering the authoritarianism, dispossession, and looting of our natural resources imposed by the projects and mega-projects of the bad government, whether local or federal, which has used its repressive apparatus to harass, persecute and impose repression and death on our peoples because we have dared to defend our land and territories:

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Actions in Oaxaca on August 15 and 22, three years after the death of Lorenzo Sampablo

To the heroic people of Oaxaca
To the peoples of the world
To the news media

Three years ago, during the massacre perpetrated against the people of Oaxaca by the federal and state governments, the most basic human rights and individual guarantees listed in our Constitution were trampled upon, including the free expression of ideas, the right to organize and mobilize, and the right to a person’s physical integrity; all of these were conceived as legal instruments to attain freedom and social justice in our country.

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This Wednesday, June 17, at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon, the encampment set up in the Zocalo of the city of Oaxaca by the Family and Friends of the APPO Political Prisoners was attacked by a group of around 40 hired hoodlums (porros), well-known in the city as a paramilitary force that committed violent actions beginning with the Oaxaca insurrection of 2006.

The attack occurred only minutes after several APPO members, including some of the teachers and VOCAL member David Venegas Reyes, started to give a press conference at the encampment to make their position clear about the accusations against David made by Hugo Jarquín, leader of the “8 Regions” organization.

Several days beforehand Hugo Jarquín accused David Venegas Reyes of being a “mercenary” and an “infiltrated agent” responsible for organizing “acts of vandalism” last June 14. Jarquín stated that he would form “shock groups” to put an end to the “insecurity generated by ‘El Alebrije’ and his followers.” Jarquín’s organization, “8 Regions,” and the FALP had withdrawn from the encampment on June 15 supposedly because of their disagreement with our comrades, but they really left because of the agreement they made with the killer Ulises Ruiz’s state government to destabilize the camp and provoke its removal.

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On May 6, community members who had been blocking the entrance to the mining project Cuzctalán in the municipality of San José del Progreso since March 16, were evicted by the State and Federal Police forces. Social movements and organization of Oaxaca, such as Oaxacan Voices Building Autonomy and Liberty (VOCAL), the Regional Human Rights Center “Bartolomé Carrasco Briseño” A.C. (BARCA-DH), and the Diocesan Commission for Peace and Justice, denounced the excessive use of force against the citizens demanding their right to the land, as well as the abuse and violation of the human rights of the indigenous communities.

Twelve members of the community were detained during the eviction and there was one injured policeman according to various sources. VOCAL stated in their denunciation that “according to information from those in the community, approximately 1,500 police evicted the roadblock which was demanding the definite closure of the mine, 12 people were detained (their names are not known), 4 people have arrest warrants, and 5 communities are surrounded by police at the moment.”

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