{"id":1224,"date":"2007-08-22T10:47:18","date_gmt":"2007-08-22T17:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/1224"},"modified":"2019-12-16T23:47:45","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T07:47:45","slug":"lights-xanica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/2007\/08\/lights-xanica\/","title":{"rendered":"The lights of Xanica"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 22nd, 2007 – Carolina<\/em> writes<\/strong>: The road to Xanica climbs up from Huatulco through a beautiful forest. It\u2019s rough and unpaved, but the driver of our wooden-railed pick-up knows all the ruts and curves, even in the rain. He\u2019s lived there all his life. His name is Isa\u00edas. <\/p>\n

He talks to the two of us, who were lucky enough to be riding up front, about the woods and the deer and possums and armadillos that live there. Then he says, \u201cSee those lights? They\u2019re the lights of Xanica.\u201d On our two-hour ride they look really distant, then closer, then even further away, but there they are, shining clearly through the mist, always visible in this part of the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca. Isa\u00edas answers our questions and tells about the state of siege in his town. <\/p>\n

Only later did I learn that he\u2019s one of eight people from Xanica with warrants out for his arrest.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When we get to the Zapoteco town of Santiago Xanica, the folks from the Committee for the Defense of Indigenous Rights (CODEDI) welcome our caravan with the arc of a sky rocket, a brass band, warm words, hot coffee, bowls full of steaming tamales made with chepil leaves, and a dance. <\/p>\n

CODEDI-Xanica is part of the alliance known as the Popular Anti-neoliberal Oaxacan Magonista Coordinating Body (COMPA), adherent to the Other Campaign, and one of the founders of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). It is also part of the Magonista-Zapotista Alliance (AMZ) together with the Indian Organizations for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO) and the Autonomous Magonista Collective (CAMA)\u2013\u2013the organizers of our caravan of solidarity with this community that has resisted an extremely high level of repression during the last decade. <\/p>\n

Around 45 people, including visitors from Italy and Spain, left Mexico City on August 5 and got back on the 9th. We stayed at the OIDHO center in Atzompa on the way, where we talked for a while with their members about the threat to local autonomy from all the major political parties in the upcoming elections. <\/p>\n

We also stopped at the prison in Pochutla so that ten people could visit Abraham Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez and the brothers Juventino and Noel Garc\u00eda Cruz, the first political prisoners of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz\u2019s regime. They were all shot, then arrested, after the state police opened fire on CODEDI members on January 15, 2005. The three are still in jail on false charges of homicide, attempted homicide, and kidnapping. The eight people with arrest warrants have the same generic charges. <\/p>\n

In Xanica, the doctors of the Salud Autogestiva collective treated patients, the Hormiga Libertaria collective presented handmade books to the community, and we participated in several workshops ranging from theater to sexuality, reproductive health, puppets, children\u2019s games, artwork from recycled paper, and human rights. <\/p>\n

In the human rights workshop and subsequent conversations, Abel Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez (Abraham\u2019s brother) gave us a historical overview of the current crisis, and at least 15 Xanica residents told us of abuses that the government has committed against CODEDI simply because they have defended their indigenous rights and autonomy. <\/p>\n

Abel said: <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have experienced the violation of our indigenous rights both collectively and individually. Your life changes when your rights are violated…. We try to conserve our cultures, but the super-rich force another way of life on us. They impose ideas on us through the mass media that are totally alien to our reality. Then some people are tempted to live like the people on TV live, but it\u2019s not our thing. We\u2019re never going to be like them. They\u2019re inflicting a kind of death on us. They kill what we are and another way of life is born. The government tells us not to worry, that it\u2019s normal, but it\u2019s hurting us….<\/p>\n

…Meanwhile, they\u2019re robbing the water from our rivers like the Copalito. They never asked our permission. We\u2019re the ones who\u2019ve taken care of the forest. They\u2019re doing away with the ecosystem. There are people who are dying because they don\u2019t have water to drink, but the water is for the luxury hotels in Huatulco. The Plan Puebla-Panam\u00e1 opens up the Huatulco tourist corridor, and the money goes to the rich while the rest of the people fall deeper into poverty.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Private property and the market<\/h3>\n

According to Abel, many of today\u2019s problems can be traced back to the 19th century. He says that communal property, \u201cwhich is the most important thing for indigenous people,\u201d was fenced off before 1900. Many people who only spoke the Zapotec language didn\u2019t find out about the laws setting up the new private property regime, and consequently, their lands were stolen from them. They were left with only a small patch of land or no land at all. <\/p>\n

Abel explained that around 1930, many farmers began to grow coffee, and by the 40s and 50s they had stopped growing corn, beans, and chili\u2014just coffee. There were two big plantations near Xanica: Alemania and San Pablo, both of which had company stores that kept the laborers permanently indebted. <\/p>\n

Since then, jobs in the area have mainly depended on the international price of coffee. When the price went down from 1980 to 1990, a lot of plantations were abandoned, which was a heavy blow for people who didn\u2019t have land of their own for growing coffee: they had nowhere to work. Some started growing corn, bean, and chili again. When prices rise, there\u2019s a lot of work in the coffee picking season from November to January, but it\u2019s badly paid. Maybe they\u2019ll pay a farm worker 300 pesos (? $27 USD) to work 15 days cleaning the coffee field.<\/p>\n

In other cases, they may pay as much as 80 pesos (? $7.20 USD) a day, from 7:00 in the morning until 5:00 or 6:00 in the afternoon, depending on the boss. It takes the farm workers two hours to walk to work and two hours to get home and then they have to carry wood. They don\u2019t even have a burro (donkey); they carry it on their backs. <\/p>\n

Since the Free Trade Agreement was signed, coffee prices have gone down even more. Now there\u2019s hardly any work. Ever since the 1990s the emigration from Xanica has been heavy. <\/p>\n

Rebellion in Xanica in the 50s<\/h3>\n

In keeping with the rebelliousness of the Zapotecos against the lords of Monte Alb\u00e1n, their battles under the command of Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Morelos and Vicente Guerrero, their resistance against the French, their enlistment in the ranks of Emiliano Zapata\u2019s army, the town of Xanica rose up in the 1950s. <\/p>\n

Abel tells us that \u201cthere were problems much like the ones we have now.\u201d People came from Miahuatl\u00e1n to sell clothing and bread, and they also set up big butcher shops. They wanted the people of Xanica to work for them, and they also wanted to establish their own local authorities. They refused to respect the community assembly, the council of elders, and the traditional practices and customs for choosing public servants. <\/p>\n

The people of Xanica, unwilling to accept this domination, rose up in arms. The army soon came in and there were deaths on both sides. \u201cSome of the local people went to jail because they killed a soldier. The army was in the area for three months looking for the rebels, who hid in the mountains. The army finally left and people either returned or kept on hiding out.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut we paid a price,\u201d Abel says. \u201cA lot of children died and houses were burned. It was a small war that jeopardized our traditional practices and customs.\u201d <\/p>\n

The current conflict shapes up<\/h3>\n

Gildardo Garc\u00eda tells us that the current conflict in Xanica began ten years ago. \u201cUp until 1998, we chose our town president according to our usos y costumbres, or traditional practices and customs. Whether or not a person was elected depended on his or her record of community service and other requirements for holding office. A potential official would be evaluated by the townspeople.\u201d <\/p>\n

In June of 1998, the method of choosing officials according to traditional practices and customs in a general assembly in indigenous communities, with no interference from the political parties, was legalized in a constitutional reform in the state of Oaxaca. <\/p>\n

Nevertheless, according to one of the coordinators of CODEDI, C\u00e9sar Luis D\u00edaz, this reform coincided with the arrival of all the major political parties, \u201coffering people positions and cash,\u201d which was very attractive to some people. \u201cReally though,\u201d says C\u00e9sar, \u201cthere\u2019s even less respect for indigenous rights in Oaxaca now than there was before.\u201d <\/p>\n

Abel Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez adds that the governor promoted the reform to \u201cclean his dirty conscience.\u201d Really though, says Abel, \u201cthey refuse to let us develop our culture, our language, our collective form of work. This is directly opposed to our way of life, our autonomy. International law doesn\u2019t allow them to disappear an entire people.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1998, the election of Alejandro D\u00edaz Ram\u00edrez by traditional practices and customs in Xanica was contested, and the PRI party\u2019s Juan Cruz L\u00f3pez was imposed as municipal president. In response, the people took over the municipal building and set up a popular government with majority support from the townspeople. Almost instantly, both state police forces and army units arrived to besiege the legitimate town government. <\/p>\n

CODEDI was founded in this situation of extreme tension to fight against indigenous rights violations. Through constant pressure, the organization got Cruz L\u00f3pez to resign, and Alejandro D\u00edaz Ram\u00edrez was elected in the community assembly in 2001. <\/p>\n

For three years, Xanica made advances in self-government. The CODEDI coordinators Abraham Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez, C\u00e9sar Lu\u00eds D\u00edaz, and Froylan Gonz\u00e1lez Cruz initiated projects to open a pharmacy, library, and computer center. They also started a housing project and got funds to build 60 houses. Up to that time, townspeople lived in huts made of reeds or tin. Abel Ram\u00edrez says, \u201cWe tried to reinforce collectivity, working together to build the houses. Everyone unloaded the building materials and went to work. In 2004, we were almost finished.\u201d <\/p>\n

In August of 2004, however, another abuse was committed against us. Sergio Garc\u00eda Cruz violated the system of traditional practices and customs and took over the presidency, supported by the PRI, PAN, PRD and some of the religious leaders. The ministerial police came in to protect him. <\/p>\n

The tension mounted during the first days of 2005. At the first of January, CODEDI made the decision not to participate in the community service projects known as tequio convened by the illegitimate president. On January 2, army trucks arrived, supposedly looking for (non-existent) marihuana and poppy fields. <\/p>\n

January 15, 2005<\/h3>\n

According to the testimony of a number of different people, about 10 o\u2019clock in the morning, 80 men and women, young and old, were engaged in a tequio project convened by CODEDI, unloading bricks from a truck. A patrol truck pulled up about 11 o\u2019clock, and Commander Cipriano Hern\u00e1ndez Garc\u00eda of the state police arrogantly ordered them to get the truck off the road. His tone of voice was threatening. Several people told him that they would only take a few minutes to finish up, but he radioed to another patrol truck that people were blocking the roadway and wouldn\u2019t let him go by. He called for reinforcements, and when he gave the order, they got ready to fire. Abraham Ram\u00edrez stepped forward and tried to talk to the Commander, who put his gun to his stomach. When Abraham pushed the rifle downwards, the officer shot him in the leg. At that point, the police opened fire, wounding two youth, Noel y Juventino Garc\u00eda Cruz. The municipal president Sergio Cruz Garc\u00eda also participated in the attack along with several armed civilians. <\/p>\n

According to Abraham\u2019s mother, \u00c1ngela V\u00e1zquez Garc\u00eda, \u201cThey didn\u2019t think twice about shooting him. Abraham went down immediately. Bullets were flying from all directions. We came running down from our house up on the hill, and when we got to the church, bullets from all sides were falling around our feet. There was crossfire.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Gildardo Garc\u00eda, the townspeople defended themselves with bricks and stones, and after about twenty minutes forced the police to retreat. They then took the wounded men to the clinic, where they were given serum and a few pills. The clinic didn\u2019t have the medicine that Abraham needed for his more serious wound, however. It was impossible to take them to the hospital because by this time the entrance to the town was blocked by the police. <\/p>\n

Carolina Cruz Garc\u00edas says that it was late at night before the three left for the Health Center in Pochutla in a Red Cross ambulance, accompanied by Alejandro D\u00edaz Cruz and escorted by more than twenty patrol trucks. When they got to the R\u00edo Copalito, there were many more policemen, supposedly investigating the death of a policeman. They stopped the ambulance and demanded that the three wounded men get out, but the medic said it was impossible and refused to allow a search. Even so, the police pulled Alejandro D\u00edaz Cruz out of the ambulance and threw him into a patrol truck. They asked him the names of the men in the ambulance and beat him savagely when he refused to reply, prompting the three men to identify themselves. Upon hearing the name Abraham V\u00e1zquez Ram\u00edrez, the commanding officer said, \u201cOh, so you\u2019re the head honcho. Well, you\u2019re really fucked now.\u201d The police accused the three of killing the officer, who, in fact, was killed by \u201cfriendly fire\u201d from his own men during the shooting. The ambulance took a long time to get to Pochutla due to the leisurely pace of the escorts, and, as a result the men received no medical attention for 36 hours. The police took Alejandro D\u00edaz Cruz with them in their patrol truck, interrogating and torturing him on the way. <\/p>\n

In the hospital<\/h3>\n

Abel Ram\u00edrez says that at the Health Center in Pochutla, the doctors intended to cut off Abraham\u2019s leg, saying that there was no remedy for his bullet wound. A call went out, however, and successful mobilizations by the COMPA prevented the amputation. <\/p>\n

Later, the three were transferred to the General Hospital in the city of Oaxaca, Abraham in a small plane and the other two in an ambulance. Upon arrival, 400-500 supportive people were on hand to receive him, as well as several hundred police. Abraham Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez had surgery, and immediately afterwards was chained to his bed. In the hospital he was always under police guard. <\/p>\n

His wife, Graciela Merced Cruz, was forbidden to visit him for three months. The visits of other family members were prohibited at times or permitted only during the daytime with many obstacles. According to Celerino Jaime Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez, \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let us spend the night with him in the General Hospital in Oaxaca. He needed help to get up and go to the bathroom in the night, but there was nobody there to help him.\u201d <\/p>\n

Carolina Cruz says that family members were not permitted to bring badly needed crutches into the hospital. She adds that on another occasion, Abraham Ram\u00edrez borrowed a cell phone from Isa\u00edas Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez and made a call to the National Commission on Human Rights. When the police guards found out, they beat Isa\u00edas vindictively.<\/p>\n

For several weeks, Abraham, Noel and Juventino were chained to their beds and threatened by their police guards. They were then taken to the Santa Maria Ixcotel Prison in the city of Oaxaca. Galdino Castro Hern\u00e1ndez says that \u201cat Ixcotel they didn\u2019t take Abraham in on a stretcher; he had to walk in at gunpoint. He didn\u2019t receive medical attention there and visits were prohibited.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mobilizations<\/h3>\n

The mobilizations called by the COMPA began in the city of Oaxaca, where people camped out to demand justice and freedom for the three men from Xanica. On Friday night, January 21, 2005, three hundred people from the \u201ccaravan of women, girls, and boys against injustice and oblivion\u201d got to the Zocalo in Mexico City, where they stayed for three months. En route, Bert\u00edn Garc\u00eda Cruz was arrested and jailed for two days.<\/p>\n

On February 3, the president of the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) invited COMPA members in the city of Oaxaca to a meeting to discuss the abuses with the new governor Ulises Ruiz, but the meeting became a trap in which Alejandro Cruz L\u00f3pez of the OIDHO was arrested.<\/p>\n

State of siege<\/h3>\n

About two hours after the shooting on January 15, 2005, approximately 300 policemen arrived in Xanica, where they stayed for six months. They searched and interrogated local people and also searched their houses. <\/p>\n

Celerino Jaime Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez reports that \u201cwe were all under surveillance, kidnapped, besieged. There was a cordon around our simple, wooden houses. They not only surrounded the houses, but also followed people around. The dogs barked when the police came right up to the houses. The policemen pointed their guns at us.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to \u00c1ngela V\u00e1zquez Garc\u00eda, \u201cThe police in Xanica told us we couldn\u2019t walk around, but we have the right to do that. We keep on walking around no matter what they said.\u201d <\/p>\n

Angelina Ger\u00f3nimo Garc\u00eda tells us that she was there when they shot Abraham and when people took him to the clinic: <\/p>\n

\u201cI left the door of my house open. When I got back, the police were in my kitchen, cooking. They had used my tablecloth to wipe themselves after using the bathroom. They took several of my pots and placemats and 50 pesos (? $4.50 USD) I had saved. I couldn\u2019t do anything about it. They also went into my daughter\u2019s house. She found one of them asleep on her kitchen table. They cut off her electricity and she hasn\u2019t had light for three years. Some of the women who used to be in our organization joined up with Sergio [Garc\u00eda Cruz], and they all have light. He\u2019s the municipal president and he used to work with us, but he went for the big money. He used to say he was against the police, but now he always goes around with a police escort.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Abel Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez says that the police were digging trenches for 15 days, looking for arms. They wanted to terrorize people. The Special Ops forces known as the UPOE were there, too. Gildardo Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez adds: \u201cThe children couldn\u2019t leave the house without the police pointing their guns at them just like they were animals.\u201d <\/p>\n

For six months, according to Froylan Gonz\u00e1lez Cruz, both police and army patrols held people at gunpoint and searched them when they walked to work between 6 and 8 o\u2019clock in the morning. They knocked their machetes out of their hands and made it impossible for them to work. They asked: Why are you leaving home so early? Why are you walking by here? Why do you get home so late? Who did you go to see? Where? \u201cWe don\u2019t have a fixed schedule,\u201d says Froylan. \u201cOnly people under orders from the government live that way. They asked people for identification but the compa\u00f1eros resisted. They know their rights. There\u2019s strong resistance here.\u201d <\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t so many police units in Xanica now, but there are permanent agents guarding the town hall. On the other hand, there\u2019s an increase in army checkpoints between Xanica and Huatulco. According to Froylan, the soldiers set up their check points every two weeks. They may stay 15 or 20 days, searching and questioning people. \u00c1ngela V\u00e1zquez Garc\u00eda says that the last time she and her grandchildren visited the prisoners in Pochutla, the army searched them. <\/p>\n

Torture, arrests, threats, and harassment<\/h3>\n

Looia Esther Morales Acevedo has this to say: \u201cWhen Marcos was on his way here with the Other Campaign, Sergio Ram\u00edrez Vazquez, C\u00e9sar Luiz D\u00edaz, and Leoncio Cruz went out to put up posters. When the police tried to stop Sergio, he answered, \u2018I live here. I have the right to do it.\u2019 They beat the men on the way to the jail and charged them falsely with hitting a policeman.\u201d Looia says that she saw the police stomping on her husband Sergio and called out, \u201cDon\u2019t you treat him that way!\u201d <\/p>\n

Sergio Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1zquez (Abraham\u2019s brother) says that the police tortured him and tried to hang C\u00e9sar Lu\u00eds D\u00edaz. They held them for several hours and beat them. Sergio says, \u201cThey hung me up with my arms chained to the railing on the church for three hours. Then they took out a club from somewhere and wrote in my file that I had tried to kill a policeman with a club.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sergio affirms that Alejandro D\u00edaz Cruz was tortured with plastic bags placed on his head and that he was falsely charged with the sale of cocaine. <\/p>\n

The police were trying to hang C\u00e9sar Lu\u00eds D\u00edaz; as a matter of fact, they had the rope around his neck, when around 25 women and children rescued him. How did they do it? \u201cThey were furious when they rushed into the jail,\u201d says C\u00e9sar. \u201cThere was a lot of pushing and pulling, and they just grabbed hold of me and pulled me out of the policemen\u2019s hands. There\u2019s nothing weak about the women of Xanica; they\u2019re really courageous.\u201d <\/p>\n

Since then, C\u00e9sar has received anonymous threats in the form of letters tucked under the door of his house. On June 18, 2007, he was arrested and charged with homicide, attempted homicide, resisting arrest, threatening an officer, and possession of arms. He was tortured and a gun was planted on him. The charges of homicide and attempted homicide are in connection with the police killed on January 15, 2005. The more serious charges were dropped, C\u00e9sar believes, due to the support he received from the Oaxacan teachers, the APPO, and people in other parts of Mexico and the world. He is now out on bail for the lesser charges. <\/p>\n

Mar\u00eda Carolina Cruz Garc\u00eda is another person who is extremely vulnerable. She has received several threats by e-mail and has been identified and followed by plainclothes policemen in Huatulco, who called her name, \u201cCaro,\u201d four times. The following day, a member of the OIDHO went to visit someone in the Ixcotel prison, and the police seem to have confused her with Carolina. They said, \u201cYou\u2019re Carolina from Xanica. You like the APPO marches. You went to visit Abraham, Noel, and Juventino. You\u2019re Caro\u201d. She said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone else found a file on the internet with photos of Carolina taken a year ago at the marches in the city of Oaxaca, and others from the encampment, cooking, talking to other people. The file is labeled \u201cthe radical of the APPO. CODEDI\u201d.<\/p>\n

Carolina Cruz says that she was in the room when they arrested Alejandro Cruz L\u00f3pez at gunpoint. She said to the policeman: \u201cDon\u2019t mistreat our compa\u00f1ero\u201d. \u201cYou shut up,\u201d he replied, with his gun to her head. <\/p>\n

There are also arrest warrants out for the following people: Froylan Gonz\u00e1lez Cruz, Gildardo Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, Apolinar Garc\u00eda Cruz, Alejandro D\u00edaz Cruz, Aurora Garc\u00eda Cruz, Sergio Ram\u00edrez V\u00e1squez, Isa\u00edas Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez and Antonio Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez. They all have the same charges stemming from the events of January 15, 2005, even though it is well known that the policeman was killed by his own fellow officers the day of the shooting. It is believed that the charges may be an effort to intimidate and blackmail people so that they will stop their activism, but people are also aware that the danger is real, especially on the eve of the municipal elections of August 26. <\/p>\n

Continued abuse of political prisoners<\/h3>\n

When Abraham Ram\u00edrex V\u00e1zquez, Noel Garc\u00eda Cruz, and Juventino Cruz were in Ixcotel, the guards threatened to lynch them. Tel\u00e9sfora Cruz Crua, the mother of Juventino and Noel, says that the threats and punishments are ongoing at the jail in Pochutla where they are now being held. <\/p>\n

Abraham\u2019s mother, \u00c1ngela V\u00e1zquez Garc\u00eda, says that they punish her son because he always defends his rights and speaks up for the other prisoners. \u201cWhen there\u2019s an abuse, he always denounces it. They shot him and arrested him because he speaks out, and that\u2019s why they\u2019re punishing him now.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Carolina Cruz, the warden is always telling the other prisoners that Abraham, Juventino, and Noel are bad people, that they\u2019re nothing but killers. She says the warden paid another prisoner to beat Abraham up. \u201cAbraham had protested because they were selling cooking oil at 20 pesos (? $1.80 USD) a liter at the prison when the going price is 12 pesos (? $1 USD). A lot of prisoners can\u2019t even cover their basic expenses. Before Abraham began to write up every abuse, the human rights groups had never showed up at the prison. The warden hates him. When a lot of people visit him, they know he\u2019s not alone.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cristobal, Abraham\u2019s 10-year old son, says that the guards recently grabbed his dad in front of him and his younger brothers and took him upstairs. <\/p>\n

Abraham\u2019s wife, Graciela Merced Cruz, adds: <\/p>\n

\u201cThey took Abraham up to the punishment cell. They\u2019ve got 11 people packed into a little room that measures 3 by 3 meters. They didn\u2019t give us any explanation, and they wouldn\u2019t let me see the warden. It was nighttime and I had the children with me. I asked them, \u201cWhere else can we go? I\u2019m staying right here.\u201d They didn\u2019t let me see him until early the next morning. An officer came down and said, \u201cYour husband is really pissed off.\u201d He offered to give me a special place to sleep, but I said no, that I\u2019d stay in the kitchen. They gave Abraham three days of punishment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cristobal had more to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cOn January 15, they threatened my dad. They said, \u201cYou\u2019re a guerrilla and you\u2019re going to die.\u201d They had him in chains in the hospital. We couldn\u2019t take him anything. I felt really sad. He demands people\u2019s rights. They said on the radio that we had AR15s, but they\u2019re lying. It\u2019s a pretext for keeping my dad in jail for the rest of his life.\u201d <\/p>\n

Last year on June 14, I was at the encampment in the city of Oaxaca with my little brother. We had to run. There was a lot of tear gas and some people fell down. We ducked into a school. They hurt C\u00e9sar\u2019s little boy when they forced us to get out of there, pointing guns at our heads and shooting tear gas. They threw us down on the floor and beat us. <\/p>\n

The teachers are afraid to come to Xanica, but we\u2019re going to defend them. We really love our teachers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Saying goodbye<\/h3>\n

In the human rights workshop, we agreed to spread the word about what we had heard there and to encourage human rights organizations to send observers to the municipal elections on August 26 to allay possible fraud and repression. <\/p>\n

After the women of Xanica displayed their brightly colored weaving, there were messages of thanks and commitment. It was time to say goodbye, but the people wouldn\u2019t let us go without giving each person in the caravan a beautiful weaving, painting, or carved object. Their generosity knows no limit, nor does their impressive organization and spirit of struggle. <\/p>\n

And, oh yes, we saw the lights of Xanica up close. The smiles of the children and their voices, lifting our spirits with poems, songs, and chants as we walked to the bus: <\/p>\n

If we get out in the streets \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\n to struggle for the people \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\n we\u2019ll bring about the change \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\n that the people are demanding. \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\nAs the Comandante said \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\n Comandante Che Guevara \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\nand Genaro V\u00e1zquez, too, \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\nEver on towards victory \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!
\nand fuck the government, too. \u00a1Yes, that\u2019s right!<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

More information<\/strong>:
\n» Communiqu\u00e9: \u201cno more injustices against the people\u201d<\/a>
\n» Cesar Luis D\u00edas arrested without warrant in Xanica<\/a>
\n» Video: Santiago Xanica: Six Years of Struggle and Resistance<\/a>
\n» Governor Ulises Ruiz; 6 months of harvesting terror in Oaxaca<\/a>
\n» Oaxacan Activist Released: The Campaign Continues<\/a>
\n» State Repression and Indigenous Resistance in Oaxaca
\n» Alianza Magonista Zapatista (AMZ)
\n» Coordinaci\u00f3n Oaxaca Magonista Popular Antineoliberal (COMPA)<\/a>
\n» Organizaciones Indias por los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca (OIDHO)<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nphoto by Ricardo Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n

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Camino a Xanica<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nfot\u00f3grafo: Ricardo Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n

caravana mujeres y ni\u00f1os ind\u00edgenas<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

ni\u00f1os<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nfot\u00f3grafo: Ricardo Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n

women with their embroidery<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nfot\u00f3grafo: Ricardo Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n

mountains<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nfot\u00f3grafo: Ricardo Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n

ni\u00f1as de Xanica con piedras pintadas<\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nfot\u00f3grafo: Gerardo<\/p>\n

town<\/strong>
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\nfot\u00f3grafo: Ricardo Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People in the Zapotec community of Santiago Xanica in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca continue to struggle for their right to choose their municipal president in an assembly by means of traditional practices and customs and to gain the freedom of the first political prisoners of the Ulises Ruiz regime in the face of threats, harassment, and arrest warrants on the eve of the municipal elections of August 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[322],"tags":[63,53,65,66,55],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/ninos-de-xanica.jpg?fit=640%2C486&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elenemigocomun.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}