People of Oaxaca Resist Attack

by Mexican Federal Police by Andy Pollack / November issue of Socialist Action Newspaper

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.