People in the Mexican state of Oaxaca continue to struggle for justice in the face of brutal, state-sponsored terrorism.
In early August, more than 20,000 people hit the streets demanding an end to the terror and the release of all political
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The government has used paramilitary groups—mostly off-duty police officers—to terrorize the population. Armed men bearing no identification have been seen driving around the capital city in unmarked pickup trucks.
Just days before the protest, 70 percent of registered voters in Oaxaca abstained from voting in statewide legislative elections. This resulted in a victory for the coalition led by the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which won 23 out of 25 districts.
The large-scale abstention came as a disappointment after the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) and other organizations had campaigned for a “punishment vote” against the PRI and the right-wing National Action Party of current president, Felipe Calderon.
The APPO, a broad coalition of leftist and progressive forces, came into being two days after the corrupt PRI Oaxaca governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, ordered state police to violently attack a striking teachers’ encampment on June 14, 2006. The repression quickly turned the strike into a massive political struggle united around one main demand: the resignation of Ruiz.
In the months that followed, people built barricades, occupied government buildings, and took over several radio stations. The movement was met with organized state violence, which has not subsided.
On July 16, 2007, state police violently attacked people at the first annual Popular Guelaguetza, a festival of Indigenous culture organized by the APPO and the teachers union.
The festival was formed as an alternative to the highly profitable government-sponsored Guelaguetza festival, which was canceled last year due to the popular uprising.
At the festival, riot police blocked the entrance to the public auditorium being used for celebration and attacked peaceful marchers with batons and tear gas.
Over 60 people were injured, 40 were arrested, and one person was killed by an exploding gas canister used by the police. Emeterio Merino Cruz, a teacher and father of four, was detained by the cops and beaten into a coma.
The popular movement in Oaxaca is struggling to overcome the widespread poverty in the state and region. Oaxaca is the second poorest state in Mexico. A majority of its population is Indigenous. The migration rate from Oaxaca to urban areas in Mexico and to the United States is one of the highest in the country.
Despite the violence meted out by Ruiz’s repressive administration and Mexico’s federal government, the people of Oaxaca have demonstrated an unbending determination to fight back and organize.
The future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear—the popular movement led by the APPO will continue the struggle for justice.
¡Oaxaca resiste!
