In solidarity with the Zapatistas’ call for a general strike, there will be a Oaxaca press conference held at the New School on November 20th.
Who: Friends of Brad Will and New School students, including members of Direct Action Networking Collective and others.
What: Students and activists will hold a press conference and will reinact Oaxacan massacres in conjunction with the November 20th General Strike called for by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) to shut down Mexico in solidarity with the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) and in opposition to the repression of students, teachers, and people of Oaxaca, Mexico by the Mexican government.
When: Monday, November 20th, 12 PM.
Where: In front of the New School for Social Research, 65 5th Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, Manhattan.
Why: On November 20th, allies of the EZLN will shut down Mexico in a general strike in protest of repression and recent murders in Oaxaca. For the past six months, the people of Oaxaca have staged an encampment and led a social movement to oust their governor, Ulises Ruiz and have faced arrests, attacks, and killings by paramilitary groups connected to the PRI government of Oaxaca. After the murders on October 27th (including that of New York journalist, Brad Will) federal police moved into Oaxaca and attacked the people’s encampment and the University. Oaxaca students, teachers, and APPO are resisting the police attacks, and on Monday, students and activists are demanding the removal of police forces, the removal of the illegitimate governor Ulises Ruiz, and the recognition of APPO’s right to form their own direct democracy.
Press Conference Speakers will include:
* Harmony Hazard, Friends of Brad Will and Direct Action Networking Collective, New School student. Hazard traveled to Oaxaca this past summer to photodocument human rights abuses and popular resistance in Oaxaca. Hazard will discuss her experience in Oaxaca and the solidarity of US students.
* Simon Sedillo, Austin Independent Media Center, independent human rights observer in Oaxaca, Mexico and creator of El Enemigo Común, a film documenting the struggle of the Oaxacan people against neoliberal economic policies and government repression.
* RJ Maccani, Brooklyn public school science teacher, journalist for Narconews Bulletin. Macani has reported on “The Other Campaign” of the Zapatistas in Oaxaca and New York City. Maccani will provide background on the Zapatistas and their support for the Oaxacan struggle.
* Jacinto Nunez, U.S. General Coordinator for the National Commission for Human Rights of the Dominican Republic, who will address the hemispheric struggle against neoliberal free trade agreements that began with the Zapatista uprising in 1994 and has continued with popular campaigns against the US-Dominican Republic- Central America Free Trade Agreement and Andean free trade agreements.
Contact: Harmony Hazard
(917) 991-2415
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source: http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/11/79607.html
