Oaxaca, Mexico Teachers' Strike

Report at Vancouver World Peace Forum:
Oaxaca Teachers' Strike

Report at World Peace Forum on police repression of the teachers' strike in Oaxaca Mexico. Governor Ulises Ruis has refused to negotiate with Oaxaca's Teachers' Union. Instead, on June 14, 2006 he sent riot police to smash their protest, attacking sleeping teachers, who had been occuping the z�calo or historic centre of the city at 4:30 in the morning. The attack injured more than 200 teachers and caused two, as yet unconfirmed deaths.

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June 24, 2006 Vancouver: Oaxacan teacher and Local 22 union rep Antonio Garcia reports on strike to Trade Union Strategies meeting at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver (subtitled) RT: 6:18

Local 22 activist Antonio Garcia, in Vancouver

June 14, 2006 Oaxaca, Mexico: Union video of police attack on union protest (subtitled) RT: 12:53

Police shoot teargas directly at teachers from helicopter

�No Truce; Not One Step Back�

Oaxaca Popular Assembly Holds its Fifth Meeting, Refuses To Recognize The State Government and Vows to Install a Popular Government on July 5

By Nancy Davies
Commentary from Oaxaca

July 1, 2006
OAXACA CITY:
The federal election will take place on time in Oaxaca. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI in its Spanish initials) government of the state will be put aside on July 5.

The fifth popular assembly (Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca, known as APPO) took place Friday morning, June 30 in the city of Oaxaca. The consensus of the assembly was first that the effort to oust Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO) will not be abandoned. The removal of the governor unites everyone, and is the first goal of the statewide social movement which has now grown well beyond any teachers� strike.

During the weekend and during the July 2 presidential election, the strike is in a holding pattern � literally holding the zocalo and surrounding streets. The first concern is that the election not be declared illegal, giving the federal government an excuse to discount the votes of Oaxaque�os. The voters are told to be careful marking their ballots, the poll watchers careful to avoid any illegality. more

Thousands of Police Surround the City Center as Strikers Hold Their Ground

By Geoffrey Harman
The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign in Oaxaca

June 14, 2006

OAXACA CITY: In a scene that is starting to look all too familiar in Mexico, the police attempted to disrupt the Oaxacateachers strike in downtown Oaxaca City this morning. At roughly 3 a.m. a police helicopter flew low over the tent city where the teachers have been camped for the past 23 days and shot canisters of tear gas. Meanwhile, 3,000 state police armed with riot shields and clubs entered the chaos and tore apart the roughshod shelters where the teachers had been staying. During the course of the six-hour police intervention three people were reported to have been killed (this is unconfirmed), two women and one child.

Radio Plant�n (the teachers� pirate radio station, which had been broadcasting from the Z�calo, or central square, since the strike started and had been the main source of information for the striking teachers) was dismantled and has been off the air since the first police attack. (Four journalists from the station were among the first to be arrested: Arcelio Ruiz Villanueva, Ociel Mart�nez Mart�nez, Eduardo Castellanos Morales and Roberto Gazga.) The teachers are now broadcasting on the college radio station 89.7 FM and 113.95 AM. At roughly 10 am the police retreated and the teachers re-took the Z�calo. During the course of the struggle unconfirmed reports have said four people were arrested (three of which were from Radio Plant�n), 20 people hospitalized and three police taken hostage. more

In Oaxaca Mega-March, 400,000 Send A Firm No to the Repression by Governor Ort�z

Blockades and Occupations Throughout the State; San Blas Atempa Takes Back its Autonomous City Hall

By Nancy Davies
The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign in Oaxaca

June 17, 2006

OAXACA CITY, June 16: The third teachers� mega-march in Oaxaca on June 16 brought out all sectors of civil society in a vast repudiation of the repressive policies of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ort�z (universally known as �URO�). The march was the direct response to the brutal police attack on the encampment of striking teachers in the center of the city at dawn on June 14 � a straw that broke the camel�s back.

First estimates of the number of marchers are 400,000. A smaller march took place on Thursday, June 15.

The first marchers arrived at Llano Park at twilight in the rain; the end of the march arrived around 10:00 p.m. Along the route, supporters on the sidewalks held up signs and handed the chanting marchers food and water. No signs were about salaries, education or classrooms � the entire march, every shout, chant and banner, repeated the same theme: Ulises out.

Oaxaca united in a very disciplined and focused show of strength against the governor. more

Historic center of Oaxaca and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The z�calo, the historic centre of the city, is the site of frequent political rallies and protests. Visitors should achieve an awareness of any current event since there may be strong feelings, even a possibility of danger, associated with these protests.

McDonalds wanted to add its arches to those of the z�calo by establishing one of its fast-food restaurants here. This topic divided the community between those who felt the presence of the fast food chain would compromise the preservation of the historic square and those who felt that the admission of a foreign business would strengthen the Oaxacan economy and provide jobs for its citizens. In December 2002, the city decided to prohibit McDonalds from adding its arches to the z�calo.

Click on the links below for webcasts. Please be patient. Some files require time to download.