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In late October came the long-expected federal
intervention aiming to crush APPO, the democratic council which has governed
Oaxaca since teachers and their allies drove state forces out of the city
in June. But the Feds have been fought to a standstill in a series of
heroic battles.
October 27
The 27th was to be a statewide strike. The day before an
agreement was reached with the teachers, the core of the uprising, to
return to classes, but was conditioned on guarantees against reprisal
killings by URO—guarantees many union leaders say are meaningless without
his removal.
Thinking the agreement would split APPO,
URO's plainclothes cops and hired thugs unleash a bloody massacre on the
27th. Scores are wounded and three killed, including Brad Will, a
reporter for Indymedia and a New York activist.
Also killed are Oaxacans Emilio Alonso
Fabian (a teacher) and Esteban López Zurita.
From an account at the barricade where Brad Will was
killed: As Priistas [supporters of URO's party] are spotted, people start
shouting, donning masks, picking up Molotov cocktails and cohetes (bottle
rockets shot out of pipes), rocks and sticks. Children are sent inside,
and hundreds come out to defend their neighborhood, pushing back the
Priistas. A block west of the barricade, other protesters advance,
screened by a truck, and draw fire. It is then that Will is shot.
"The diversity [on the barricades]
was astounding ... kids gathering cohetes and Molotovs, old women armed
with rocks." People wore anarchist, communist, or no symbols.
"It didn't matter who you were, only what side you stood on."
October 28
President Vicente Fox uses the murders as a pretext to
send troops from the Federal Preventive Police (PFP). Talks on returning
to classes are cancelled. Instead, Section 22 joins APPO in a call for
mass defense.
APPO's Flavio Sosa declares, "The
more people we have on the line, the higher the political cost" for
Fox. But he urges avoidance of clashes.
Three deadlines issued to APPO—for noon,
8 p.m., and midnight—are ignored. After midnight troops take up new
positions; clearly an assault is imminent. APPO's leadership calls for
people to go home. Sosa announces a tactical retreat: "We will
regroup. This struggle is not over." Events the next day prove the
sincerity of his words.
October 29
Today the people of Oaxaca turn the tables on the
occupiers. APPO calls for peaceful resistance to the troops and tanks
advancing through the city and using water cannons and tear gas. People
lie down in the streets, or distribute flowers and food and sing the
Mexican national hymn to troops stationed just several feet away from them.
Protesters paint their hands white or cut
themselves and let the blood fall to the ground in a symbol of reluctance
to engage in battle. People come out with mirrors to distract helicopter
pilots. Radio Universidad (RU), the movement's organizing voice, directs
listeners to areas needing reinforcement.
Police push into the square and thousands
push back. When the police don't shoot, "a big wave of energy"
goes through the crowd. Roof spotters shout down what the police are
doing. When police try to regroup, youths link arms to block them."
Others use burning tires or buses seized from the cops to block streets.
Calls to remain calm are reissued:
"They can take the zocalo but our courage and dignity are
high." A march headed toward the zócalo goes instead to defend RU.
Thousands display "an amazing
self-restraint." They show their defiance to troops all day, but
rather than retake the zócalo, they retreat to newly fortified positions
around it—in effect surrounding the PFP. "The people still control
the city."
At least four are killed, a nurse, two
teachers and a child of 12 years, and many wounded. Dozens are detained
or disappeared.
The National Democratic Convention (CND),
led by the bourgeois liberal PRD and its presidential candidate, Andrés Manuel
López Obrador, comes out of its one-month slumber to organize a small
support march in Mexico City.
October 30 to November 1
Barricades and plantons elsewhere in the city are
refortified. Protesters continue to peacefully confront troops, mixing
argument and abuse.
The Zapatistas and their Other Campaign
issue a call to block transportation around the country and in the U.S.
on Nov. 1, and do so in Chiapas. Mexico's busiest highway is brought to a
standstill, and bridges at several points on the U.S.-Mexico border are
blocked by activists from both sides.
The Zapatistas also call for an
indefinite national strike to start Nov. 20. Solidarity actions take
place in many Mexican cities and throughout the U.S., Europe, and Latin
America.
An assembly of workers, peasants, and
others in Chiapas, called by militant teachers, proposes a National Front
in Defense of the People of Oaxaca. Teachers in several states go on
strike, and the radical wing of the teachers' union calls for members to
strike on Nov. 9 and 10. Leaders of Section 22 propose the strike involve
all the country's teachers and other unionists.
November 2
Troops try to take over Radio Universidad, which calls
out its defenders. Teachers and senior citizens give speeches to the
troops, evoking the shared exploitation and discrimination against the
troops and Oaxacan workers—who share the same brown skin.
RU calls out: "Organize yourself in
groups before advancing toward the university." When a projectile
bursts into flames at the feet of police, a wave of adrenaline sweeps the
crowd; many run forward and hurl rocks." An old man bowls bigger
rocks at the troops.
Protesters retreat strategically, away
from advancing tanks and gas, but not from the battle. A mother runs
clutching a baby choking from tear gas; a man pushes a stroller
containing two children who are vomiting from it.
RU calls on people to go to the zócalo,
to split PFP forces, asking them to bring their homemade weapons as well
as materials to interfere with the electrical systems and visibility of
water cannons, and bed sheets to ensnare rotors of landing helicopters.
At 2 p.m. a move up several streets by
police appears to split protesters' forces, but turns out to be a cover
for a PFP retreat. APPO asks people to clear a path for water cannons so
they can retreat rather than attack. Then, over RU: "It's official:
“Victory!” Cries of "Sí se puede!" and "Fox has
fallen!" People dance and hug.
A rally is quickly organized by APPO. The
crowd goes wild at the declaration of victory. There is a minute of
silence, then one of applause, for fallen comrades. Speakers thank all
for their bravery but especially students and residents of surrounding
blocks.
APPO calls for rebuilding barricades, and
asks residents throughout the state to reinforce the struggle. A
"Megamarch" is called for Sunday. (As of our press time, it
appears hundreds of thousands have turned out.)
The inspiring battle of the working
people of Oaxaca must call forth renewed and broader solidarity. Once
again we say: Hands Off Oaxaca! Two, three, many
APPOs!
Thanks to narconews.com, the
Oaxaca Study and Action Group, and Alan Benjamin for the accounts quoted
above.
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