El Enemigo Común

On October 29th, two Days after the murder of NYC Indymedia Journalist Brad Will, the Mexican Federal Prevention Police (PFP) entered Oaxaca City, Oaxaca to “restore law and order”. It took the PFP an entire month to brutally repress the social movement of the Oaxacan People’s Popular Assembly (APPO). On Novemebr 25th, 2006 the PFP claimed its victory over the social movement.

The mass media and the Oaxacan State government maintain that law and order has been restored in Oaxaca, and that the radical elements of the APPO have been dealt with. They claim that Oaxaca is back to normal, and in peace. “Paz Sin Justicia,” a 41 minute film by the Committee in Defense of the Rights of the People - CODEP, examines what this peace looks like today, and what it really means for Oaxaca to return to normal. Corruption, institutionalized repression, and economic slavery are the standard through which a weak government attempts to hold itself together.

All the while the Oaxacan People’s Popular Assembly (APPO), along with Oaxacans in general, wait for the next moment to practice what they have already begun: self-determination, autonomy, popular power, and the dignity that comes with rising up from below.

August 18th, 2007 - un miembro del comite de bienvenida writes: Everything went well today in NYC. At its peak, 100+ people. No arrests and a lot of noise. The delegates were spotted at a restaurant half a block away from the consulate. Ruiz was not spotted. He may have been in the restaurant, but it remains dubious. There was another mustached latino man about his size, but not him. Regardless of whether he was there, his presence was certainly canceled in anticipation of the protest reception. The entire delegation’s dinner was interrupted, and then taunted for 3 hours until finally the police created a Hollywood style, roped off exit protest cage, brought in more police and had delegates exit the building in front of the crowd. Ridiculous.

Two SUVs, and 3 taxis drove consul officials and delegates to safety. The action began at 3:30PM, the official consulate press conference was set for between 5:00 and 5:30PM, and the delegates were unable to exit the restaurant until 6:30 PM, and then only with police assistance. There was press waiting at the consulate, but there never was a press conference there. Oddly enough, the protest had little to none, mass media presence. Several Mexican intelligence and consular security personal were documented video taping, taking pictures, and posing as protesters.

There were several confrontations with restaurant security and restaurant property (outdoor chairs and tables), as well as scuffles with the police. There were no arrests, and no serious injuries, other than to the face of the CONAGO delegation of Mexican Governors for even thinking about bringing governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz to New York to talk about his immigrants here.

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July 28th, 2007 - san diego indymedia volunteer writes: On Monday, human rights activists responded to brutality in Oaxaca against a people’s celebration of Guelaguetza, a traditional festival, by educating and protesting at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego.

On July 16, state and federal forces in Oaxaca City attacked members of APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca), people participating in the popular celebration and journalists, leaving at least one dead, numerous injuries and over 60 detained or disappeared (en1, en2; es1, es2). The popular Guelaguetza was an alternative to the government-supported celebration, co-opted from the traditional holiday by commercial tourist interests.

Video from the Protest

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July 26th, 2007 - Alive in Mexico writes: On June of 2006 the Government of Oaxaca launched an offensive against striking teachers. This action prompted the formation of a popular movement who made their actions famous around the world facing off against local and federal police and erecting over 2,000 barricades in one night. In the violence that ensued Indymedia reporter Brad Will (from the United States) was murdered by off duty police and a warning was issued by the Embassy to Americans to stay away from the conflict zone.In this second visit to Oaxaca, Alive in Mexico interviews human rights defenders, teachers, and relatives of victims who died in the conflict. A year after the conflict the members of the movement recount their struggle, discuss the current situation that exists, and participate in several planned activities. (en español)

Video: QuickTime | Flash | Online

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(A Little Bit of So Much Truth)

July 2007 - Corrugated Films writes: In the summer of 2006, a broad-based, non-violent, popular uprising exploded in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Some compared it to the Paris Commune, while others called it the first Latin American revolution of the 21st century.

But it was the people’s use of the media that truly made history in Oaxaca.

A Little Bit of So Much Truth captures the unprecedented media phenomenon that emerged when thousands of school teachers, housewives, indigenous communities, health workers, farmers, and students took 14 radio stations and one TV station into their own hands, using them to organize, mobilize, and ultimately defend their grassroots struggle for social, cultural, and economic justice.

From the producer of Granito de Arena and This is What Democracy Looks Like, in collaboration with Oaxacan media collective Mal de Ojo TV, comes this intimate, breathtaking account of the revolution that was televised and that gave new meaning to the phrase “Be the Media.”

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Italians Protest Against Felipe Calderon

13 de Junio de 2007 - el pinche escribe:

Video de la movilizacion y la accion en el encuentro de Calderon con las fuerzas economicas de Milano, Italia.

Descarga el Video (6.9 MB)

Video of the mobilization and action at the meeting of Felipe Calderon with the economic forces of Milan, Italy.

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Kindergarten Kids Confront the Minutemen

8 de mayo de 2007 - escribe por Tiburcio Pérez: Santa Ana, California.

El video ha comenzado a circular con profusa intensidad a través de YouTube para dejar en evidencia el clima antiinmigrante que se vive en Estados Unidos. En la cinta se observa a un grupo de los Minuteman que, el pasado 1 de mayo, decidieron manifestarse a las puertas del Consulado de México en Santa Ana para pedir la deportación de 12 millones de indocumentados que luchan por sus derechos adquiridos y una vía a la legalización.

“El grupo de los Minuteman llegó sin previo aviso y con el fin de provocar a nuestra gente. Yo salí a la calle para pedirle a la gente que se metiera al Consulado y no respondiera a las provocaciones. Fue entonces que un grupo de niños de kinder, que está justo frente a nuestras oficinas, se percataron de la presencia de los Minuteman y les comenzaron a gritar ‘México, México, México’”, aseguró el Cónsul de México en Santa Ana, Luis Miguel Ortiz Haro.

Descarga el Video o mira lo en YouTube

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