OAXACA UPDATES
* I: THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATE IN OAXACA
* II: SENATE CALLS FOR GOVERNOR TO STEP DOWN
* III: UNESCO CONDEMNS SHOOTING DEATH OF US CAMERAMAN
* LA OTRA: MARCOS IN JUAREZ DECRIES PROPOSED WALL
* BORDER NEWS: WALL WILL ONLY "DIVIDE, ALIENATE" BISHOP SAYS
Committee of Indigenous Solidarity (CIS). CIS is a Washington, D.C.
based activist group committed to the ongoing struggles of Indigenous
peoples in the Americas. CIS is actively supporting the struggles
of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico while simultaneously combating
related structures of oppression within our own communities.
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"Para Todos, Todo; Para Nosotros Nada"
OAXACA UPDATE I: THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATE IN OAXACA
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through Oaxaca on
Sunday (11/05), demanding the security forces abandon camps they set
up last week to end a five-month protest. Masked police officers
clutching automatic weapons watched the protesters from rooftops as
they marched to a plaza about a block away from the encampments,
yelling, "Get out federal police!" The leaders then formed a human
chain to keep the crowd of 20,000 from confronting police, but about
400 people broke through and attacked the officers with stones and
bottles. Some of the police lobbed rocks back, while officers on
rooftops used sling shots to shoot marbles at those trying to
confront the police.
A radio station at Oaxaca's university, where the leftists had set up
their base earlier this week, reported that gunmen had fired at some
protesters near the university earlier Sunday, injuring a 21-year old
student who was taken to a public hospital. The hospital confirmed a
student had been brought in with a bullet wound. There was no
immediate government reaction to the report.
About 4,000 federal police swooped into the city on Oct. 29 to
restore order following a five-month protest that had rattled
President Vicente Fox 's administration, scared tourists out of
Oaxaca and left at least nine people dead, mostly protesters shot by
armed gangs. After being chased out of the city center, the
demonstrators moved to the university. Police surrounded the campus
last week and battled hundreds of protesters armed with gasoline
bombs, stones and fireworks stuffed with glass and nails, leaving
more than 30 people injured. On Saturday, masked protesters detained
and blindfolded two men near the university, accusing them of being
spies for the federal police.
Mexico's Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday that the men
were soldiers who were tied up, beaten and robbed before being
released. The ministry condemned the action but said it maintains its
"commitment to the Mexican people" in "staying on the sidelines of
the current situation occurring in the capital of the state of
Oaxaca."
The protests began in May when teachers struck for better pay and
conditions in one of Mexico's poorest states. When police violently
broke up one of their demonstrations in June, protesters expanded
their demands to include the ouster of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, whom
they accuse of rigging the 2004 election that brought him to power.
Now the demonstrators also want the federal police to leave. "They
don't guarantee security, to the contrary, they scare us and are
rude," said Jesus Velasco, 60, a businessman who was marching Sunday.
But the Fox administration says the federal troops are there to
restore order. "We do not see them as part of the problem. We see
them as part of the solution," Interior Undersecretary Arturo Chavez
told reporters Saturday. Outside the cathedral on the city's main
plaza, Archbishop Jose Luis Chavez called for an end to the conflict.
"Each person should be committed to bringing about peace," he said
Source: Associated Press: 11/05
====
OAXACA UPDATE II: SENATE CALLS FOR GOVERNOR TO STEP DOWN
Striking teachers and leftist activists have been demanding for
months that the governor of Oaxaca state, Ulises Ruiz, be sacked for
abuse of power. Mexico's federal lawmakers have called on Mr Ruiz to
step down. Senators unanimously approved a resolution calling on him
to "consider resigning from office to help restore law and order" in
Oaxaca. The Senate's motion came hours after a similar measure was
approved by the lower house of the congress.
Calls for Mr Ruiz's resignation have been at the heart of a drawn-out
protest by Mexican teachers and left-wing activists, who accuse him
of crushing dissent. "Murderers! Murderers!" chanted the
demonstrators, as they rallied near the police cordon in the central
square of the state capital. "The mood is very tense. We're standing
with the protesters in front of police barricades and they have lit
bonfire, are tossing fireworks," Mark Stevenson, an Associated Press
reporter, told the BBC.
Source: BBC News: 10/31
====
OAXACA UPDATE III: UNESCO CONDEMNS SHOOTING DEATH OF US CAMERAMAN
Speaking out once more in defense of freedom of the press as a
crucial pillar of democracy, the head of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) deplored
the killing of a United States cameraman in a demonstration in
Oaxaca, Mexico.
Brad Will, 36, was shot in the chest during a police attack on a
demonstration of teachers and Osvaldo Ramirez, a photographer for the
daily newspaper Milenio, was shot in the leg. "Brad Will died on the
line of duty and those responsible must be brought to justice to help
ensure that his tragedy does not repeat itself," UNESCO
Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement. "It is
essential for democracy and rule of law that journalists are able to
report freely on all types of events. I am very concerned about the
violence that has been unleashed on journalists in Oaxaca," he added.
UNESCO has a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press
freedom, and Mr. Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the
murder of journalists around the world.
Source: UN News Center: 11/03
====
LA OTRA: MARCOS IN JUAREZ DECRIES PROPOSED WALL
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) spokesperson Subcomandante
Marcos reached across the border -- if only with words -- calling
Americans "nuestra sangre (our blood)" and criticizing President
Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and the border fence bill. "We
have seen that this wall that the government of Bush is building with
the complicity of the Fox government is intended to kill our people,"
he said. "There was the wall formed by the desert, the wall of the
river and now this wall. Our comrades who go to work, not to do any
harm, but who cross the border to work in the United States are being
treated like terrorists."
Bush last week signed a bill to build 700 miles of double fencing
along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. Critics say the wall will
force immigrants to cross in remote, dangerous areas.
Marcos, who led an armed indigenous revolt against Mexico in the
state of Chiapas in the 1990s, spent Tuesday and Wednesday in
meetings with Juárez and El Paso activists as part of the Zapatistas'
Other Campaign tour of Mexico. The tour began last year to coincide
with the Mexican presidential campaign.
Wednesday, about 2,500 people from both sides of the border watched
him walk to the middle of the Stanton Street Bridge for a symbolic
meeting with a delegation from the Sin Fronteras farm workers center
from South El Paso and other activists. Marcos, in his signature
black ski mask and pipe and surrounded by a protective human chain,
spoke through a loudspeaker. He urged the crowd to support protesters
in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca who are demanding the
resignation of the state's governor, among other things. And he
denounced the unsolved killings of women in Juárez.
But it was a Customs and Border Protection Black Hawk helicopter
suddenly appearing over the bridge, kicking up dirt and drowning his
words, that inspired Marcos' most passionate remarks. "The Other
Campaign considers the other side (of the border) as a part of
Mexico, a part of ourselves, like our blood, and our fight doesn't
recognize neither this helicopter, nor this line, nor this flag that
waves above," he shouted. "Comrades, there is no other side. Those on
the other side are those sitting in this helicopter, in the White
House and in Los Pinos," the Mexican presidential residence. The
crowd cheered and yelled, "Zapata, Vive! Vive!"
Neil Harvey, a government professor at New Mexico State University,
and about 25 New Mexico residents went to see Marcos. "He expresses
the desire for a better world," Harvey said. "Although he is speaking
from a Mexican, a Chiapas perspective, I think it's resonating
everywhere." Teresa Sotelo, a graduate student at the University of
Texas at El Paso, reached over the crowd on the bridge and shook
Marcos' hand. "It's important to come into contact with people that
are struggling for a better world. It's important to share our
stories, our struggles," she said. What makes Marcos special is that
he "represents more than just himself," she said.
On Wednesday, Marcos criticized presidents Bush and Fox. "For the
first time, two people without a brain have found each other --
Mister Bush and Mister Fox," he said. After leaving the bridge in an
old sport utility vehicle adorned with political slogans, Marcos went
to a high school near the Paso del Norte Bridge, where he listened to
about two hours of presentations on immigration, workers displaced by
NAFTA, and other themes from El Paso activists. Outside in the school
yard, Marcos' entourage sold Zapatista books and T-shirts. The
mainstream media were not allowed in the meeting.
Source: El Paso Times: 11/02
====
BORDER NEWS: WALL WILL ONLY "DIVIDE, ALIENATE" BISHOP SAYS
A Mexican bishop has condemned the building of fence along the
U.S.-Mexican border that would total 700 miles. Bishop Renato
Ascencio Leon of Ciudad Juarez said the law signed by U.S. President
George W. Bush Oct. 26 was "a big mistake." "The only thing that
building a wall will do ... is divide and alienate our societies,"
Bishop Ascencio said.
He added that bishops from both sides of the border were to say
Masses in protest of the law Nov. 2. Altars will be set up on both
sides of an already existing stretch of fence that separates New
Mexico from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is
located. The cross-border ceremonies have become tradition in recent
years, as activists have blamed the deaths of thousands of
undocumented migrants over the last decade on stricter security
measures. With heavy surveillance and walls already in place along
most of the border's most populated areas, many migrants resort to
trekking through isolated stretches of desert in their attempt to
enter the United States.
"This is not a solution," Bishop Ascencio said. "The only thing (the
wall) will achieve is making it more difficult for undocumented
migrants. But people will still look for ways to reach their
destination, even if it means risking death."
Source: Catholic News Service: 10/31
====
The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes
which CIS maintains is 'fair use' of copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
end: Mexico Week In Review: 10.30-11.05
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