Update from Oaxaca pt 4 : AZ IMC

The PFP are still in control of the Zocalo here in Oaxaca City. No signs remain in the central plaza of the APPO's months-long struggle. Instead, the PFP have set up their own little camp, complete with first aid tent and a kitchen area, where a single table is to be found, elegantly set with tablecloth, napkins folded inside stemmed water glasses, and cushioned chairs. Meanwhile, the rank and file PFP eat sitting on the ground or low stone benches, and stand around talking to each other and smoking cigarettes. They’re still dressed in riot gear, and are still standing in formation behind armored mini-tanks blocking all entrances to the Zocalo, although pedestrian traffic is allowed through.

Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO) has returned to the Oaxaca City mayor’s office, which was yesterday taken from protestors by the PFP, who shot rounds from their automatic rifles during the confrontation. The PFP has set up checkpoints at all entrances to the city, and are making people get off of busses for questioning. Remarks are being made in the street about a low state of siege. There are still apprehensions happening. Protestors involved in confrontations with the Federal forces are being shot by water cannons on top of the mini-tanks. The water, along with pepper spray and tear gas, also contains a dye which remains on skin for up to 40 days, making it easy to identify and apprehend those unlucky enough to get sprayed.

Despite all of this, resistance remains strong. Head a few blocks north from the Zocalo, past a burnt-out bus, and you’ll arrive at Santo Domingo, the large cathedral and plaza where the APPO has started a new protest camp. Hundreds of people are milling about in the streets, eating, conversing, organizing, and strategizing. Day of the Dead altars are being built with chrysanthemums and paper skeletons in honor of the movement’s fallen. A sign says “I spilled my blood for the truth,” and candles have been lit and placed in the shape of a cross on the sidewalk in front of the altar. Yesterday, APPO spokesperson Florentino Lopez Martinez climbed up on the hood of one of the mini-tanks in the Zocalo and addressed the the thousands of people assembled there from the three marches, saying “This struggle does not end with police intervention. We want to say to you that we have overthrown the politics of El Yunque [a secretive ultraright Catholic organization to which many powerful politicians and businessmen, including Fox and Calderon, belong] and fascism. And even if they’ve got the Zocalo today, the roads are taken over by our people. Our struggle for a democratic government will not be given up.”

The APPO is still in complete control of University City, and Radio Universidad continues to function as a vital part of the communication system between APPO members across the city. Nerves are frayed at the University, however, with rumors flying yesterday about possible PFP and PRI assassin attacks. At each rumor, an alert was sent out on the radio to fortify the University blockades. Students, teachers, and even housewives from the neighborhood would immediately respond. Luckily, all the rumors were just that, and there have been no major confrontations there as of yet.

APPO’s negotiation teams have added three demands to the principal demand that URO step down as governor. In order to continue dialogue, they are demanding the immediate exit of the PFP from Oaxaca, freedom for all political prisoners, and guarantees of safety for the negotiators themselves. Although three prisoners were freed tearly this morning, two teachers and a biologist, many still remain in prison, and some have been moved to Mexico City. Mexican newspaper La Jornada reports that at least 7 SNTE members and various university students were taken prisoner yesterday, and reports continue to go out on Radio Universidad of other APPO members being apprehended.

In the political world, things are a mess. The senate has voted approval for a document asking URO to step down “in order to contribute to the reestablishment of governability, order, and peace.” URO, however, says that the document is a partisan ploy, doesn’t take into account what’s actually happening in the city, and refuses to even consider leaving. Fox, who according to Radio Universidad is living in a fictitious country called Foxland, continued his bald-faced lies to the world by saying that “the implementation of order and respect for the law can be attributed to the democratic dialogue and search for solutions that took place.” President-elect Calderon, despite the 3 protestors murdered and many wounded by the PFP, says that the operation was carried out “with care,” as should be done in this type of situation. And AMLO has said that PFP presence in Oaxaca has made the crisis worse and is contributing to the ungovernability.

The response to this lunacy has been strong. APPO members said during a protest in Mexico City that “they’ve signed Felipe Calderon’s death sentence,” referring to the fact that the movement has vowed not to let the president-elect assume office if URO doesn’t step down. Although this is a bold statement, the amount of national and international solidarity makes it seem achievable. The SNTE section 18 of Michoacan is sending 3,000 teachers to Oaxaca to aid in the struggle, and are planning an indefinite closure of schools. Other states are also planning school closures, and statements of support and protests are pouring forth from all sectors of civil society, most notably students and unions.

The EZLN has put forth one of the strongest statements of solidarity, saying that on the 1st of November, all roads going through EZLN territory in Chiapas will be closed, and that preparations are being made for a national work stoppage the 20th of November. Subcomandante Marcos has called for road blockages everywhere, from all adherents to the Other Campaign, especially along the US/Mexico border (did you hear that, Tucson?).