NYC Oaxaca Solidarity meeting

Come to the first NYC meeting in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca.

A city-wide meeting for individuals and organizations in NYC to learn about the situation and begin to make plans to coordinate a solidarity campaign in support of the peoples of Oaxaca.

December 14, 2006
7:30pm
Hunter College Room 436 North Building*

* 4th floor enter 69th street between Lexington & Park Avenues

The Mexican Federal government has chosen the path of violence and repression instead of negotiation to resolve the conflict in Oaxaca, Mexico. This conflict began on June 14th when Oaxaca’s governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz sent in state police to break a peaceful teachers’ strike that was camped out in the center of Oaxaca City. Gov. Ruiz had already alarmed international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for atrocities committed before the June 14. The actions on June 14th further ignited people’s anger throughout the State who responded, by forming the People’s Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) who reinforced the teachers’ encampment in Oaxaca City. The single demand of the APPO has been the resignation of Gov. Ruiz.

Since June 14th, the violence against the teachers and the APPO by paramilitary forces and police aligned with Gov. Ruiz has escalated and on October 27th, independent journalist, Brad Will, was brutally murdered at the hands of plainclothes police officers and local government officials in Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca.

Two days later, on October 29th, the Mexican Federal government dispatched several thousand Federal Preventative Police (PFP) troops to remove civilian protesters supporting the APPO from their encampments throughout the city. There were the recorded deaths of at least three civilians as a direct result of the excessive force that the PFP used to dislodge the protesters, despite official comments from the State and Federal governments to the contrary.

On November 2nd, the PFP tried to enter the Benito Juarez Autonomous University in an attempt to shut down the university radio station critical of Governor Ruiz. Mexican law prohibits the incursion of law enforcement onto autonomous universities, unless requested by the university rector. The rector of the Benito Juarez categorically rejected the presence of the PFP in Oaxaca.

Oaxaca City is now living under a state of siege. Since June 14th, at least 20 people have been killed, over 500 people have been imprisoned, more then 100 people have been disappeared and hundreds wounded. Pick-up trucks carrying PFP, State and Municipal Police are now patrolling the city, randomly detaining people without arrest warrants. Most of the people detained are unable to contact family members and are being moved to prisons outside of the state. Teachers are being pulled from their classrooms. Many of the people detained have been tortured. An illegal radio station, Radio Ciudadana, affiliated with Gov. Ruiz is broadcasting the names of APPO members, Human Rights workers and others, giving their addresses and offering a reward for their assassination.

The only way to resolve this conflict is through dignified, peaceful negotiation, and respect for human rights.

Please come to this meeting where we will plan how we can be supportive of the people in Oaxaca, Mexico.

source: http://www.friendsofbradwill.org/

One comment

  1. We have produced a T-shirt Designed to raise funds for the camaping in support of the struggle of the people in mexico.
    We are interested in recruiting people that would be interested in saling them. they will also receice a comission. The idea is to raise funds to sustain the people doing the struggle in Mexico and support here for the activist doing the solidarity in support of the stroggle in Mexico. if you are interested in meeting me I will be at the meeting with a sample.
    you can call me also at 347-6277369 or email me to: RB (at) casadelsol.org
    We have a website ready to sale from there also.
    Check it out: casadelsol.org
    See you

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