Urgent message from teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico

At the Pierce County Central Labor Council, one of the delegates brought the situation of our fellow workers down in Oaxaca to our attention. The military and the government down there are very close to declaring all-out war on the striking teachers and their supporters, so it's up to us to put the pressure on. Please send cards, letters, phone calls and emails to your representatives in Washington, to urge them to stop this senseless violence, and to call for a peaceful end to this strike.

While you're on the phone, you can also call officials and media people in Mexico. They'd love to hear from you. Arthur Miller of Tacoma IWW and the Tacoma Leonard Peltier Support Group has this urgent update:

Greetings friends, 10.18.06


There has been a turn for the worse today, following a relative calm that followed the surge in attention on Oaxaca two weeks ago. The teacher's union, Seccion 22 and the coalition of popular support, APPO, have barricaded the city with renewed intensity in the face of another murder of a movement leader tonight, and the killing 4 days ago of a young man manning a barricade. The local PRI members in support of Ruiz have distributed machetes to hired thugs to clear the barricades.

CONTACT HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS- We are asking that you contact Human Rights organizations at this crucial moment to stop the ongoing murder of movement members and in response to the renewed threat of military intervention in Oaxaca. Contacting NPR and Democracy Now has been effective, also the Washington Post. CNN did show up.

SENATE DECIDES AGAINST THE PEOPLE- After sending 3 senators to Oaxaca to "judge governability" the Mexican senate has now declared it cannot legally decide for or against the elected official, Ulises Ruiz, the governor the people oppose.

HUNGER STRIKE- Some of the Oaxacan teachers who walked 19 days to demonstrate in front of the Senate in Mexico City have started a hunger strike. The original 5000 have been joined by another 3000. There has been enthusiastic support for the caravan the entire route, and the group swelled to 30,000 enthusiastic supporters the time the teachers reached the Senate building.

ONGOING MURDERS- Another movement leader was shot and killed tonight, a young man quarding one of the barricades was shot 4 nights ago. ID of a federal policeman was found at the scene, with military shells. 9 unarmed members of the movement have been killed since June 14.

PRISON REMODELING- The Tlacoluca prison in Oaxaca valley has been "remodeled" to double its capacity. The work project is nearly complete.

MOVEMENT SPREADING- Guerrero, Michoacan, and the state of Mexico now have active people's movements of their own, and in Los Angeles, CA there is an APPO in solidarity, and growing international support as information gets out.

A PIVOTAL MOMENT occurred last week when 16 representatives from the 16 Indigenous Communities of Oaxaca, accompanied by the artist Francisco Toledo who is Zapotec, appeared at negotiations with the government. With 70% of the population of Oaxaca Indigenous, specifically Indigenous issues are increasingly surfacing.

The CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE of DIALOGUE for PEACE, DEMOCRACY, and JUSTICE in OAXACA- Citizens are actively defining Oaxaca's future post-Ulises: 1. New Democracy and Governability in Oaxaca, 2. Social Economics and Solidarity, 3. New Educational System in Oaxaca, 4. Harmony, Justice and Social Equity, 5 Historical, Cultural and Natural Heritage, 6. Media at the service of the community.

Thank you to everyone who has rallied in support of Oaxaca. There was a tremendous and effective response to the last threat of imminant military intervention. We are facing another one now. This chess game is on; you can see that for every move there is a counter-move. The people continue to be amazingly resilient and creative in their responses, but they are also angry and frustrated. The government, both state and federal have their backs against the wall. There is such a reality gap between government and the people that real negotiation is not occurring. Irratic violence is increasing alongside the renewed and open threat of organized military intervention. Please keep us in your prayers.

Thank you,
Ann Miller Frances

Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org/contact.html.
www.amnesty.org
www.washingtonpost
mail@democracynow.org
http://www.refdesk.com lists direct contacts for mainstream media on
their front page under NEWS SOURCES (BBC, NPR, CNN, AP, etc.). They each have a "contact us" somewhere on their main page.
NYTnews@nytimes.com
editor@wiredmag.com
themail@newyorker.com
editor@utne.com
letters@thenation.com
letters@harpers.com

There was a cyber blitz on these gentlemen, but you may be able to get through now:
Secretary of Government: Carlos Abascal:
SECRETARIO DE GOBERNACIÓN
FAX + 55 50 93 34 14,
cabascal@segob.gov.mx
President Elect Felipe Calderon Hinojosa:
felipe@felipe.org.mx

DR. JOSÉ LUIS SOBERANES
President of the National Comnission on Human Rights/
Presidente de la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos
FAX + 55 56 81 71 99,
correo@cndh.gob.mx

DANIEL CABEZA DE VACA
PROCURADOR GENERAL DE LA REPÚBLICA
FAX: +55 53460908,
ofproc@pgr.gob.mx
Lic. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
Governor of the State of Oaxaxa/Gobernador del Estado de Oaxaca
Fax: 011 52 951 5020530
gobernador@oaxaca.gob.mx

Vicente Fox Quesada
(Presidencia, Los Pinos)
Telephone:
011 52 (55) 2789 1100
011 52 (55) 18 7501 Atencion Ciudadana
Fax: (55) 52 77 23 76
vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx
There is a list of Mexican consulates in the US and Canada at http://elenemigocomun.net/128 though i've heard from several people that the consulates have been unresponsive:
Portland- 503 274 1442
San Francisco- 415 354 1700

Reliable current and background information:

-APPO
www.asambleapopulardeoaxaca.com
-La Jornada
www.jornada.unam.mx
articles daily in Spanish
-Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org
Oct 4 article: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/04/1428217
-Progressive Independent
www.progressiveindependent.com
Oct 4 article: http://www.progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=44834&mesg_id=44834
-Moviemiento Socialismo
www.movimientoalsocialismo.com
-Amnesty International
amnesty.org
Aug 26 http://www.amnestyusa.org/regions/americas/document.do?id=ENGAMR410422006
-Upside Down World
upsidedownworld.org
Sept 11 article: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/426/1/
-Narco Newswww.narconews.com
-Radio APPO: Radio en Linea: http://elenemigocomun.net/133, http://elenemigocomun.net
-Oaxaca solidarity list: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/oaxaca
-Oaxaca Facing Imminent Attack: http://elenemigocomun.net/127
-Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com
-Contra G8
http://contrag8.revolt.org
-Google
Google Alerts
-Organization Indigenous For Human Rights in Oaxaca/
Organizaciones Indias Por Los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca- OIDHO -
Capulines #4B Prolongación Buenavista
Col. Forestal
Santa María Atzompa, Oaxaca, México
C.P. 71 220
tel.: 951 54 91916
e-mail: oidho@yahoo. com.mx

Categories: Revolution, Organized Labor, World News, Workers' Rights