<nettime> New Electronic Blockade Of Mexican Continues as Army Attacks Oaxaca

[lotu5@resist.ca]

The virtual sit-in in solidarity with oaxaca has moved because the
original site hit its bandwidth limit. Please join this virtual action and
pass it on.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [artandd] New Electronic Blockade Of Mexican Continues as Army
Attacks Oaxaca From:    "Ricardo Dominguez" <rdom@thing.net>
Date:    Mon, October 30, 2006 7:06 am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


PLEASE PASS FORWARD

Electronic Blockade of Mexican Goverment that was started by "Reclaim The
Commons" on Sun, October 29, 2006 continues on the Electronic Disturbance
Theater site - due back end problems at mountainreble.net.

SO PLEASE JOIN US IN PROTEST AGAINST THE MEXICAN GOVERMENT FOR THE ATTACKS
ON THE TEACHERS OF OAXACA

ORIGINAL CALL

Electronic Blockade of Mexican Embassy and Consulate Websites In response
to a call to action to remember Brad, show solidarity with the teachers
and protesters of Oaxaca, and attempt to interrupt the invasion of Oaxaca
that Fox is beginning, join this electronic blockade of the websites for
all of the Mexican embassies and consulates in the United States and
Canada.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN
http://www.thing.net/~rdom/ecd/oaxaca/Start.html

Thank you Electronic Disturbance Theater

<<<UPDATES>>>>

Police Storm Oaxaca to Suppress Protest

By Mark Stevenson
Associated Press
Monday, October 30, 2006; A14

OAXACA, Mexico, Oct. 29 -- On the order of President Vicente Fox,
federal police backed by armored vehicles and water cannons tore down
barricades and stormed embattled Oaxaca on Sunday, seizing control of
the city center from protesters who had held it for five months.

A 15-year-old boy guarding one barricade was killed by a tear gas
canister, said Jesica Sanchez, a human rights worker.

The conflict has pitted the governor of the state of Oaxaca against
a coalition of citizen groups and striking teachers demanding his
ouster.

With helicopters roaring overhead, police earlier entered the city,
normally a picturesque tourist destination, from several sides. They
marched up to a final metal barrier blocking the center, but pulled
back as protesters armed with sticks attacked them from behind,
hurling burning tires. The air filled with black smoke and tear gas.

Some demonstrators used syringes to pierce their arms and legs, then
painted signs in their own blood decrying the police.

As night fell, however, protesters abandoned the center and regrouped
at a local university. They pledged to continue their battle to
persuade Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz to resign, even as police tore down
the banners and tents in the center that had served as demonstration
headquarters.

At least eight people have died in the unrest since August, including
Brad Will, an American and volunteer correspondent for the Web
site Indymedia.org who was shot dead Friday along with two Mexican
protesters. Fox, who leaves office Dec. 1, had for months resisted
repeated calls to send federal forces to quell the protests.

In Oaxaca, the teachers protest is an annual rite that began 26 years
ago. The protests are usually peaceful and generally last a week or
two, but this year the teachers became infuriated when Ruiz sent
police to forcefully remove demonstrators from the city's idyllic
squares.

Last week, teachers tentatively ratified an agreement that would
allow them to return to classes at an unspecified date and receive
30 percent raises spread over six years. Their unmet central demand,
Ruiz's resignation, threatened to undermine the fragile pact.

CR 2006 The Washington Post Company

<<<MORE>>


http://laluchita.blogspot.com/2006/10/oaxaca-burns-pfp-invasion-right-now.html

Saturday, October 28, 2006 Oaxaca Burns: PFP invasion right now What
began as an article about the murders of Oaxacan protesters and a New
York journalist changed as La Jornada is reporting that the invasion
of Oaxaca by Mexican Federal Preventative Police (PFP) is happening
RIGHT NOW. According to Radio Universidad, (reporting live over the
internet) PFP have advanced to area around the Oaxaca City center and
PFP elements wearing balaclavas over their faces are invading private
houses and arresting protest leaders.

At 3:53 Oaxaca time, La Jornada reported that PFP elements have
reached the Historic Center of Oaxaca City, while all day Oaxacans
have been reporting confrontations with police and "gangs loyal to
(Vicente Fox)."

At 4:10, Radio Universidad was asking for people in Central Oaxaca to
report whether the town center was occupied by Federal Police. They
were also asking people at the barricades not to fall into violent
provocations, and to move any non-strategic barricades around Radio
Universidad to "defend the voice of the people."

They also said that, anyone who is willing to risk it, could put sugar
in the gas tank of the PFP tanks taking down the barricades. They also
said that the tires cuold be slashed on the cars carrying people,
whether uniformed or not, who come to attack barricades and protest
centers.

    UPDATE: Radio University is saying that armed groups dressed as
civilians are heading towards the "University City" neighbhorhood
where the Radio his to attack the radio station. An announcer
responded "We are ready to die here... fighting for our children...
in defense of our autonomy... in defense of liberty and justice."
They also report that around forty people are being detained where
a PFP helicopter landed to arrest them. Others have reportedly been
kidnapped by people who have not clearly identified themselves whether
they are police or not. Radio Universidad is warning Oaxacans not
to move around Oaxaca alone, but in organized groups. The wife of
one disappeared man says that a truck with the Televisa logo were
in communication with the kidnappers, though it wasn't clear to her
whether they had been police.

    At 6:25 Eastern Daylight Savings Time, Radio Universidad is
reporting the the Canal 9 television station, currently run by
protesters, is under attack.

    At 6:36 EDST, Radio Universidad is reporting that protesters in
some places have reported live rounds fired by PFP elements.

    At 6:46 they are announcing that an ambulence has been seen
transporting PFP forces.



A time line for the events in Oaxaca are available on Oaxaca Indymedia.

RESPONSES

As the PFP marched on the Oaxaca town center, a march was organizing
in "University City" neighborhood to reinforce the defenses of Radio
Universidad and march toward the town center to defend it. At 4:55
police were heard attacking the march, causing a panicked cry to ring
out on live on Radio Universidad, where announcers asked people not to
physically touch the PFP to avoid violent physical confrontations.

Protesters have organized a demonstration at the Mexican Embassy (1911
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,Washington, DC) on Monday, October 30, 5:00
PM. In New York City protests are being held continualy at the Mexican
Consulate.

Oaxacans are calling people who can make it to come to Oaxaca, a march
is organized in Mexico City, and people around the world are called
to protest in front of Mexican Embassies and Consulates at 6:00 PM
on Monday, October 30. Zapatistas have also issued a call urging
solidarity with the movement in Oaxaca.

    UPDATE: Radio Universidad is reminding listeners that people at
the barricades need water, food, and blankets to remain in "peaceful
popular resistance." They are also asking for diesel fuel for their
ambulance that is running out of case with a injured reporter from the
newspaper Excelsior inside.

    Mountain Rebel is also announcing an "electronic blockade" of
Mexican Consulates and Embassies.



BEFORE THE PFP INVASION


Friday October 27th was the bloodiest day in the ongoing uprising in the
Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Nancy Davies writes for NarcoNews

    The dead have now been identified as Emilio Alonso Fabia'n,
Bradley Will and Eudocia Olivera Di'az. The fourth reported death, of
Esteban Zurita Lo'pez, is at the center of accusations by both sides
of the conflict, with each blaming the other.

Brad Will was a filmmaker from New York Indymedia killed while his
camera recorded by "police or paramilitaries according to locals."
Diego Enrique Osorno, writing for Narco News, identifies Emilio
Alonso Fabia'n as a teacher from the Los Loxicha region and Esteban
Lo'pez Zurita a resident of Santa Maria Coyotepec where one of the
paramilitary attacks occurred.

Update: These murders occured as part of a massive coordinated attack
by armed, often masked, individuals reportedly working for state
political parties. Calling themselves "neighbors" they "acted with
impunity" attacking protesters with firearms. Mexican Press has
identified as active participants in the murder of Brad Will, the
cheif of police (Seguridad Publica) of Santa Lucia del Camino, Avel
(sic) Santiago Za'rate, the chief of personel of the PRI affiliated
City Council, Manuel Aguilar, and a local elected Delegate of the PRI,
David Aguilar Robles.

Mexican Press is also reporting that planes full of Federal
Preventative Police (PFP) are being sent from Mexico City, supposedly
to quell this violence. However, the whole time that the violence
against the protesters built up into "low-intensity warfare," the
federal government threatened to send forces, which locals interpreted
as a way to repress the Oaxacan people as the PFP had done in Atecno
(where the Federal Preventative Police killed two young people, beat
many others, deported foreigners, raped female prisoners, and hold
more than 30 political prisoners to this date).

The PFP had not come until now for several reasons. One has to do
with the fact that Oaxacan Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz is from the
Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) and President Vicente Fox is from
the National Action Party (PAN). Fox and the PAN were unwilling to
dirty their hands on behalf of an opposing political party, especially
before elections or while Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Party for
Democratic Revolution (PRD) contested the victory of PAN candidate
Felipe Calderon. The accusations that Calderon won the election
fraudulently also explain why the federal government and the PAN will
not pressure Ulises to step down. If Ulises, whose election victory
has been contested as fraudulent, is thrown out of power by a popular
uprising, then a dangerous precedent has been set for all of Mexican
society as far as the political parties are concerned.

Al Giordano of Narco News also points out that the mathematics of
a police repression in Oaxaca are different than Atenco. While the
PFP sent about 3,000 agents into Atenco, a town of several hundred,
the city of Oaxaca is inhabited by half of a million people, several
thousand of which appear to be ready to fight at the barricades. The
only thing worse than not sending in federal forces would be sending
the forces in only to see them get chased out.

ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT


This all started as a routine labor strike by Section 22 of the
Mexican teachers union (often referred to in Spanish language press as
"el magisterio") escalated into a state-wide revolt after state police
tried to violently evict the encampment of striking teachers on June
14.

The teachers union and the newly formed Popular Assembly of the
Peoples of Oaxaca made the ouster of unpopular governor Ulises Ruiz
Ortiz, widely considered to have won the election by fraud, their
primary demand. As violence by police, paramilitaries and mercenaries
escalated, the protesters began barracading their neighborhoods in
self-defense. For example, after the Radio Universidad radio station
used by the teachers union was attacked, protesters responded with
a wave of radio station takeovers. But the protesters also began
organizing to put their demand into action, declaring Gov. Ulises
"banned" from Oaxaca, seizing government buildings and chasing out
politicians from the local and state governments.

Violent attacks had for months been escalating against protesters, in
what protesters said was part of Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz's repressive
Operation Iron ("Plan Hierro"). Brad Will himself documented this with
an article a week ago called "Death in Oaxaca". With the murder of the
indigenous teacher Panfilo Hernandez, the death toll was at 9 for the
protesters. Meanwhile, political parties and the commerical Mexican
media were reporting that the protesters were killing people, often
without saying the name of the supposed victim or the time and place
of the supposed killing. The killing of dissident teacher Jaime Rene'
Calvo Arago'n, (who argued for the teachers to return to classes)
was blamed by the government on protesters, while protesters blamed
the government or paramilitary mercenaries of the PRI of killing the
teacher as a pretext to repress the protestors, as reported by La
Jornada.

Reporting on this situation has been non-existent on BBC and CNN,
though BBC ran a story on the killing of Brad Will, mis-identifying
him as William Bradley. Now that the repression has arrived, the
question remains how Oaxacans, Mexicans and people of the world will
respond, with apathy or action.

    UPDATE: Since 7:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time, I have been
unable to access Radio Universidad over the internet.



AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you are bilingual (in any two languages) please help get
this information out. Go to NarcoNews and volunteer to translate news and
information for those less blessed linguistically.
_________________
Simon Fitzgerald just returned from Mexico where he reported on The Other
Campaign for NarcoNews. He also writes the blog La Luchita

# posted by Simon Fitzgerald : 4:49 PM
Comments:
Fantastic write up. I've fixed the formatting of the piece on nyc imc as
best I could, and posted a link for people to come here for the perfectly
formatted version.

Thanks for sharing it.

Chris Anderson
NYC IMC
# posted by Anonymous : 6:02 PM

Hello.

I'm a oaxacan, i've lived in Oaxaca my whole life and i've seen this
confclit since the start. Let me tell you that you and narconews are the
only reliable source of english news i've found regarding this conflict.
I'm no journalist, but i've set up a tiny blog where i translate and rely
info from various sources (la jornada and APPO radio mainly) for all
english readers to learn what's woing on and spread the word of this
conflict.

el_oaxaco.livejournal.com

I'm not as brave as those that are outside right now, resisting and
fighting for a better life, but at least i can tell the world what is
going on. Please, don't stop telling everybody the way our "government"
tries to shut us up.

thanks








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