CCIDD ALERT:  SEPT. 27, 2006       

EXPLOSIVE SITUATIONS IN MEXICO

By Raymond Plankey

CCIDD wishes to update its friends and alumni on the growing tensions building within Mexico due primarily to three major events:  the July presidential election and its aftermath, the longstanding indigenous Zapatista revolution in Chiapas and the hottest and most explosive people's struggle of the moment in the State of Oaxaca.  Each is somewhat independent of the others although there are some interesting inter-relationships.

THE PRESIDENTAL ELECTION AND ITS AFTERMATH

The presidential election took place July 2 after very intense and polemical campaigns carried out by the two major contenders: leftist, PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and rightist, PAN candidate Felipe Calderon.

American political strategist Dick Morris, a well known "bad guy" in U.S. politics, was the major force behind designing a brutal negative campaign against Lopez Obrador that all recognize turned the electoral tide.  The vote was extremely close and both candidates declared victory.  The Federal Electoral Institute soon declared Calderon the winner but the AMLO camp rejected this decision and demanded that the Federal Electoral Court, final legal authority, call a recount of all the votes to clarify the real winner since many irregularities were alleged regarding the campaign and election.  AMLO pledged to accept the results of the recount but insisted, to protect the Mexican democratic process given so many doubts about the validity of the election, a recount was imperative.  A massive movement pressured in the streets for this recount and the most important avenue in Mexico City, Reforma as well as the main square, was filled with tents of hundreds of thousands of AMLO supporters.   

However, the Federal Electoral Court ruled on September 6 that although many of the allegations were true regarding the campaign and the election day irregularities, it could not be determined that they actually changed the final result of the election thus declaring Calderon the legal president-elect of Mexico with a winning margin of 0.56 per cent of the vote. 

The AMLO forces immediately rejected this decision and continued their opposition and civil disobedience throughout the country while having called a National Democratic Convention for Sept. 16 (national independance day) in the main square of Mexico City.  More than one million people participated in this convention and publicly declared AMLO the legitimate president of Mexico to be inaugurated on Nov. 20 (day of the Mexican revolution).  They also pledged to disrupt the legal inauguration ceremony of Calderon on Dec. 1.  The National Progressive Alliance was also created as a mass movement throughout the country to impede or pressure the Calderon government as to its policies.  AMLO, as legitimate president, will be based in Mexico City but will travel throughout the country supporting the people and their struggles wherever they might be.

THE ZAPATISTA MOVEMENT

The Zapatistas had declared some months before the July 2 presidential election what they called the "other campaign".  Their position was that Mexico's problems would not be solved by formal elections and they wanted nothing to do with the politicians and the electoral process.  It was "down with all your houses" and they attacked AMLO the strongest among the three presidential candidates considering him a "false" leftist.  Sub-comandante Marcos and other zapatistas traveled to many parts of the country meeting with grass-root groups to hear their complaints and opinions as to what needed to be done in an effort to build a grass-root movement for change over the long-run.  I was at the meeting held here in Cuernavaca earlier this year.  Thus, the Zapatistas have had low key activity during the past months and did not directly relate with the electoral process.  Although they did not directly call for abstention, there is no doubt that they cost votes for AMLO.

OAXACA: THE PRESENT HOTSPOT

OAXACA is a large mountainous state in the south whose population is 62% indigenous and one of the poorest in Mexico.  It ranks last regarding education and other categories.  Its capital city, also named Oaxaca, is a tourist magnet because of its indigenous culture and artisan ware.  It was a quaint, sleepy-like and tranquil target for tourists coming to Mexico.

Not any more!  Today, the city has been taken over by a people's movement called the Assembly of People's Power of Oaxaca (APPO).  The government has been seriously impeded from its normal functioning.  The police force no longer patrols the streets which are guarded by units of the APPO who control 1,500 barricades in order to defend themselves from any army invasion.  Some consider there is a full-fledged rebellion or revolution emerging.  The U.S. Embassy has already issued two warnings that Americans should not visit the city. 

This situation was triggered by a strike of the Oaxaca Teacher's Union that began on May 22 when the teachers took the city square in protest.  When this protest was violently attacked by the governor's security agents, many different people's groups and organizations also joined the struggle from which emerged the APPO.  The common demand is the ouster of the governor who has created many enemies because of the dubious manner through which he became governor (many parallels with the present presidential situation) and the hard line government he has implemented.  APPO is unwilling to negotiate with the governor and demands his removal or resignation to resolve the impasse.

Mexican law does contemplate that in situations where the state government is unable to govern, the federal government can declare a "vacancy of powers" and reestablish a new government.  Or it can also decide to send the federal police and army to forcibly restore order.  Meetings this past week in Mexico City seem to indicate the latter but this is a situation that the federal government cannot take lightly since it may result in a bloodbath beyond imaginable proportions and perhaps even unleash a greater crisis.  On the other hand, if the people are successful in ousting the governor, this could be seen as a dangerous precedent for the ongoing struggle of AMLO to oust Calderon and the PAN from the presidency. 

It is truly a Tale of Two Cities of Dickens….It was the best of times, it was the worse of times.  In any case, it is truly a very critical time for Mexico.

You can keep abreast of events in your local news media

or better yet through the webpage www.mexiconews.com.mx or www.mexicosolidarity.org

For those of you who would like to know more of this struggle from the "underside", I strongly recommend reading the following interview of Dolores Villalobos Cuamatzi, General Coordinator of the People's Indigenous Council of Oaxaca, that was made by Raul Calvo Trenado of a European news agency on August 28, 2006.

INTERVIEW:  THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN OAXACA

R:  Oaxaca is undergoing a very difficult situation.  What is it like now in the streets?

D:  Well, there is a lot of tension.  The death squads, paramilitary, provocateurs and those of the PRI party are active at all hours so that we have to be very careful all the time while on the street.

R:  It all began with the teachers strike.  Why did the teachers begin their protest?

D:  The teachers' union initiated on May 22 their sit down strike in the main square of the city of Oaxaca.  Their demands were economic since life here is quite expensive and so they were asking for a readjustment of the category level of wages for this zone and better support for the schools and school breakfast programs.

Then, URO (Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, governor of Oaxaca) began harassing them and initiated a campaign to discredit the teachers' movement thru radio, television and newspapers.  He pressured the 570 municipal mayors to issue an ultimatum to the teachers to return to the schools or suffer the consequences.  URO ordered the repression of June 14 with some congressional backing and from that day, the people and their organizations were galvanized in support of the teachers' struggle.  The people were indignant about the bloody repression unleashed by the governor which acted like a detonator for all of their suppressed frustrations and united them in just one demand: the resignation of URO.

R:  There were several rumors of the teachers being displaced during their sit down strike.  Did you ever think that the repression would be so forceful?

D:  The government of URO had already characterized itself as being hawkish.  The people could not organize marches or protests because there would always be repression so we always thought the government would try to use force to move them out of the main square but never imagined the magnitude of the attack.  Besides, before, the government always announced such a move to allow for negotiations or give time for the people to leave so that there would not be injuries.  However, this time the surprise was a land and air attack of a size never seen before in Oaxaca.

And even more, against a 70,000 member strong teachers' union, so everyone thought, if this is how they treat the teachers, how would they treat ordinary common people like us?

R:  URO has always been rather savage but why do you believe he became so aggressive?

D:  Because until this time, he had always been able to stop the protests through repression, imprisonment and assassination.  He was crazed with power and thought that no one could touch him.  And remember, there is a big economic project called Plan Puebla Panama with which the government is very committed although it goes against the good of the people.

R:  A little bit after this attack, the APPO (Assembly of People's Power of Oaxaca) was born.  Could you tell us how and why it came about?

D:  There have always been efforts at unity and this may be the one that flourishes.  All of the teachers, other unions, municipalities, poor neighborhoods, organizations know that in order to unseat the tyrant, we need to unite.  So many organizations came together and invited even more people to form the APPO with the purpose of unseating the governor.  The founding meeting occurred in the city of Oaxaca with about 360 organizations present.

R:  Meanwhile, Mexico was in full presidential electoral campaign.  A companion of yours indicated her dismay that some of the PRD within APPO were trying to get votes for Lopez Obrador which worried her.

D:  Your right, the APPO emerged during the presidential campaign and many PRD members arrived to the assembly.  That tendency was present.  And the teachers' state assembly agreed to a vote of punishment for the PRI and PAN and the teachers went to their communities to influence their people so that the PRD did win in Oaxaca State and this was a defeat for URO.

And this remains the only key influence of the PRD since although the PRD continues to try to influence. What is true is that the movement has gone far beyond any one group since the masses of people continue participating in marches, blockades, takeovers, etc for one common purpose: the ousting of URO.

Although the movement of Lopez Obrador in Mexico City and its call to come to the Democratic National Convention is discussed within the APPO, the consensus of all is that the APPO does not have political parties and is a wide-based movement of the people although some wish to link us to the PRD party as a way of discrediting us.

R:  Towards the end of the presidential campaign, there seems to have been a relative calm in Oaxaca.  Did the campaign influence in this?  Were the governor and the APPO waiting to see what happened?

D:  Of course.  Actually, after the repression and the response of the people, URO wanted to negotiate with the teachers.  However, the teachers did not want to and ratified the only demand: the resignation of the governor.  Within APPO, the discussion was whether to support or not the decision of the teachers for a vote against PRI and PAN and this was finally approved as a vote for unity.  But some of us did not vote for any party since we were supporting the "other campaign" of the Zapatistas.

R:  And what happened afterward?  Why was the dialogue broken?

D:  When the only demand is the ouster of the governor, the solution goes beyond the state to the federal since we no longer recognize the governor and demand the nullification of state powers due to a situation of the state being unable to govern.  The APPO is attempting to take all of the three powers of state: the judicial, legislature, the executive and take over the municipalities governed by PRI as well as calling for civil disobedience.

What the federal government did was send a relatively minor commission to initiate dialogue but since the only demand is the exit of URO and since this commission did not have power of decision in this, in reality there does not exist dialogue.

Only recently has the Secretary of Government (federal) publicly convoked a dialogue between himself, the teachers, APPO and the government of URO.

R:  I don't believe that enough effort has been given in reporting on the struggle for the control of the communication media in Oaxaca.  The official sources minimize it while the alternative media like us have little influence.

D:  This struggle is unique and has clearly shown how important the communication media is.  Radio Planton, the radio of the teachers' union, was what united the demands of the people and the teachers.  Actions were coordinated through this radio and it was the tribunal through which the solidarity and support of the people strengthened the teachers' struggle.

For this, URO on June 14 decided to destroy it and entered the installations, stealing the transmitter and damaging the other equipment.  It was clear that each day more people were listening to this radio and hearing about the "other Oaxaca" and the bad actions of the government which caused the groundswell to grow.

That same day, the students took University Radio and the movement continued to be coordinated via this radio.  The government attempted to block its signal since it realized how key it was to the movement.  On August 1, we women took over the state radio and television station.  It was impressive to see the women and men speaking about their struggle on the television, something unique never seen before.

Now the people had both television and radio at their disposal.  We were becoming "dangerous". The people became indignant on August 21 when gunmen of URO attacked and destroyed the relaying antennas but were not complacent and took over 12 commercial radio stations that same day.

We are all sure that the media, especially radio, is fundamental in the life of a people's movement and so we try to care for them very much.

R:  Let's talk a little more about the taking of Channel 9 TV on August 21.

D.  There was a march by the women on August 1 called the march of the pots and pans.  In the meeting at its end, there was a lot of talk about how the television station was distorting information so the women agreed to go to talk with the station.  We arrived in buses and requested to speak with the person in charge to ask for a half hour for the women to speak about their movement.  When we were denied this possibility, we took over the station and began to transmit using some of our own people.  The first to speak on TV were the women and this was a beautiful experience. 

R:  On August 21, a little while after the takeover of the TV, six buses were burnt.  Some say it was a just retribution of APPO, others that it was an error to fall to provocation while others say it was agents of the government to make APPO look criminal.  What really happened in your opinion?

D:  That was the day of the attack by URO on our antennas which were damaged which was the reason the movement took the 12 commercial radio stations.

APPO has not burned one bus.  They are useful for our barricades as well as for transportation of our brigades who close government offices.   It was those hired by the government who burned the buses.

Remember that our movement is pacific.  We do not carry out vandalism nor do we wish to destroy but just the opposite.  Our goal is to unseat a fascist government.  It burnt the buses to blame us and have a reason to repress us even further.  URO has tried to provoke our movement into violence so that he can justify calling in the federal police and army.  He has even accused us of urban guerrilla warfare.  However, the people of Oaxaca have not fallen into the trap. 

At night, the barricades are guarded by young women and grandmothers, boys and girls, young men and adults who do not have weapons.  Our weapons are our word, our dignity and our right to decide our own path as a people.

R:  What role can the armed groups play?

D:  Their participation would be dangerous for the movement at this time because they would provide justification for the government of URO and Fox to create an extensive and permanent militarization of this state.  I believe they know this and thus have not become involved.

R.  I wish to follow up on something you said: that the only purpose of APPO is the removal of the governor.  However, it seems like that could be only a beginning.  Oaxaca is developing a people's movement and could perhaps advance much further.

D:  You are right.  The first step would be the removal of URO in order to consolidate the unity among all.  The people, reflecting on their triumph, can attempt other things together like creating justice and a real democracy.

I believe the APPO could become what we have dreamed about:  a place where all voices are heard, a place where the people can take steps to resolve injustices and have good government.

R.  But there are also many internal differences that can arise and break the unity…..

D.  Differences will never go away, it is part of the richness of the movement but up till now the participation of the common people has been so great that the leadership of the teachers union or even that of the APPO provisional leadership has not been able to overly control the movement.

The people have not allowed themselves to be channeled or manipulated.  Thus the movement has not diminished but grown.  It is said there are more than 1,500 barricades just in the city of Oaxaca alone and there are roads closed through the state.

What is developing is the direct participation of the people and especially, the indigenous people, who have a long experience in sharing together forms of governing where the assembly is the maximum decision making body.

R:  Lastly, what can we do to help?

D:  The people's movement that is emerging in Oaxaca has no precedent and we call upon the national and international community to protect it.  How?  Make people aware of it.  Doing what you can to stop the violence, repression, imprisonment and killing of its participants.  Helping with food and money to continue the struggle since the atmosphere of vacuum of a functioning government and aggression makes it more difficult each day for the common people to edge out a living.  Don't leave us alone.  Oaxaca is a hope for the future.