Mexico Hear The Voices of the Exterior

Dear brothers and sisters in USA, Canada and other countries,
Respected journalists and reporters,
Dear friends,

Several activities have been carried out by the National Democratic Convention, an ample social movement that includes people from several sectors of society here in Mexico and abroad, in the pursuit of a truly democratic state in which equality, social justice and genuine democracy are the foundation of our Nation. Here are some of the most relevant activities:

1. Letter sent to the organizations of Mexicans in USA, who are valiantly struggling to get their rights respected in a country that has been enriched by their hard work:

"Dear brothers and sisters,

We salute with great enthusiasm and respect your permanent and valiant struggle against the despicable treatment you endure as a result of the discriminatory policies from the most retrograde sectors within the government of the United States, a country that has benefited with the hard work, intelligence and creativity of all of you.

We are proud to join our strong protest to yours against the infamous wall the North American government has decided to build allegedly to stop Mexicans to enter their country.

The level of hypocrisy and cynicism exhibited by both, the Mexican and North American politicians currently in power, is simply insufferable and despicable! They know what we know: that the increasing number of brothers and sisters that are forced to leave their homeland and loved ones, is a direct result of the impoverishment caused by the ignominious NAFTA and neoliberalism.

You and us will continue this fight together, united, until the most cherished values like solidarity, empathy, mutual respect, become once more, the foundation of the nation we aspire to have.

Please receive our fraternal regards and may the March of the 14th be memorable,

Commission of International Media and Organizations
National Council of Civic Communicators
National Democratic Convention"


2. The following letter was sent to the Mexican Senate by the National Council of Civic Communicators, in support to APPO and Section 22 of Teachers in Oaxaca:

"TO THE SENATE OF THE MEXICAN REPUBLIC:

The members of the National Council of Civic Communicators, under Articles 6th and 7th of the Constitution of the Mexican United States, with offices at Calle 3 Oriente No. 68, Casa 1, Col. Isidro Fabela, Delegacion Tlalpan, appear before you to express:

That under Fraction V of Article 76 of our Mexican Constitution, this Legislature has the faculty and authority to intervene in the solution of the social conflict currently existing in the State of Oaxaca.

In light of the foregoing, we are requesting your urgent, responsible, respectful and peaceful intervention, under the law and, above all, taking the necessary steps for the solution of the demands, in the best interests of the population of Oaxaca, whose needs and rights have been grievously neglected by the current state government.

We all are aware of the ignominious poverty, abuse and repression that historically have been endured by the people in this region of our country. This situation is a direct result of the corruption and exploitation practices carried out by caciques and scoundrelly "public servants" who driven only by greed and lack of moral principles, have generated the current legitimate protests and opposition by ample impoverished and outraged sectors of the population in Oaxaca. The current crisis began with the demands from the 22nd Section of the National Union of Education Workers, which escalated to the current conflict due to the refusal of governor Ulises Ruiz to solve the justified demands of the teachers of Section 22.

Now, as a result of the disregard and irresponsible neglect by governor Ruiz, other groups have joined them and constituted the POPULAR ASSEMBLY OF THE OAXACA PEOPLES (APPO) that not only support the teachers' just demands but also their very own. However, due to the governor's irresponsible behavior, the social crisis has resulted in the demand of the resignation of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz as governor, as a firm and non negotiable condition to move forward with the conversations between APPO and the federal authorities to solve the situation.

As Senators of the Republic, you must be sensitive to this relevant historic moment and must strive for the solution of this just and reiterated demand in a satisfactory manner for APPO and Mexican society.

We have observed with deep concern the crisis in Oaxaca and we demand from you to act as authentic Senators Elect, for the good of Mexican society. We also demand of you to act as true Representatives of the Nation and, in this specific case, pay attention to the requests of the majority of the population of Oaxaca, who have amply sustained sound reasons for their demand of the resignation of an irresponsible and inefficient governor who does not warrant social peace and economic development of the State of Oaxaca.

This situation of total lack of accountability and inability of governor Ulises Ruiz, has led that region to a climate of total chaos which must be solved but in a sensible manner by all of you, Senators of the Republic , avoiding at all time the repression of the people of Oaxaca, which has always existed but which will seemingly intensify, with the serious repercussions that such undesirable decision would originate precisely at this time when millions of Mexicans are questioning the legality of the institutions.

This is not the moment to apply repressive measures, nor will it ever be. Instead, this is the moment for A SENSITIVE AND RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE FOR AN OPTIMAL SOLUTION OF THE CRISIS.

All Mexican people expect from all of you, the most sensitive and democratic intervention, and also political finesse and understanding of the problems of a population historically abused and exploited that can no longer endure the repression and neglect by a governor that has shown once and again his inability to rule and his profound disdain for the people of Oaxaca.

THIS IS THE TIME TO LEGISLATE BEFORE A SOCIETY THAT HAS EVOLVED NOTABLY AND THAT DEMANDS FROM YOU SENSIBILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY, AS WELL AS EMPATHY TOWARDS THE MISERY AND DISPAIR OF THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA. WE, THE CITIZENS, ARE WATCHING YOU AND WE EXPECT FROM ALL OF YOU FIRM EFFORTS FOR A RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE TO ATTEND THE NEEDS AND DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OAXACA.

Mexican society has changed so we want from you a patriotic and just management of the situation, because we demand it and the Nation deserves it. You are our representatives, so we expect that you honor the SENATE OF THE REPUBLIC.

In virtue of all the foregoing, we respectfully demand of you:

FIRST: Acknowledge receipt of all the above considerations expressed by the National Council of Civic Communicators.

SECOND: To forward these requests to the Legislative Works Commission of the Senate, with copy to every and all senators of the Republic.

THIRD: To proceed with the highest sense of patriotism and political finesse in the solution of the demands of the People of Oaxaca, namely, the resignation of a governor that has clearly exhibited his lack of responsibility and inefficiency to rule his state, which does not guarantee now or in the future, social stability in Oaxaca.

FOURTH: Under Articles 8th and 35th, Fraction V of our Mexican Constitution and all other articles applicable, we expect your prompt and expedite response to the contents and requests of this letter.

Respectfully,


For the National Council of Civic Communicators:


Luis Alfonso Bartilotti Rodríguez
Luis Cisneros Lujan
Ma. de los Ángeles Huerta del Río
Patricia Barba Avila
Manuel Guerrero Ramos
Antonio Salyano Leyva"

3. There are other actions carried out by several Commissions like the screening of videos in parks and public places, about the fraudulent elections, repressive actions by the federal government against protesters and public demonstrations, along with the production of printed materials to inform the truth about the reasons for the National Democratic Convention led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the Coalition, with the support of ample sectors of Mexican society.

4. Actress and political activist Jesusa Rodriguez, who leads the Creative Resistance, headed last Sunday, one of several marches, which ended up in one of the Sanborns Restaurants owned by millionaire entrepreneur Carlos Slim, where we voiced our rejection of the attacks and disparaging statements against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the National Democratic Convention voiced by Mr. Slim in a recent speech.

5. Joint efforts by the National Democratic Convention and the organizations of Mexicans in USA and Canada against electoral fraud, and also the discriminatory and unfair policies by the right-wing and retrograde sectors in the United States, like the upcoming march on October 14.

6. Dozens of letters are being addressed to IFE in support of the request submitted to IFE by Professors John M. Ackerman and Irma Saldoval for a full ballot recount, under the Mexican Law of Transparency, which IFE has repeatedly refused.

7. A series of meetings and political gatherings in several states of Mexico to be organized shortly by the National Council of Civic Communicators, among other things, to promote activities in preparation for November 20th, when our Legitimate President Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will assume the Presidency officially, after he was named the legitimate winner of the past election on July 2.

We will continue sending reports on future actions and will welcome all information you would like for us to broadcast,

Patricia Barba Avila
Commission of International Media and Organizations
National Council of Civic Communicators

Published Oct 13, 2006 10:20 PM
Revolutionary or mass political and social developments in Mexico are perhaps one of the most important signs that imperialism is in crisis. A question always on the minds of the U.S. ruling class is can imperialism detain and control the class struggle there, can it keep it from bursting into revolutionary upheaval that would inevitably spill over the border, forever changing the political landscape in this country.

So it is with great interest that progressives and revolutionaries monitor the events that have been sweeping Mexico in the recent period. A massive upsurge in Mexico City after fraudulent elections and the advent of people’s power in Oaxaca are two indications that Mexico is in the throes of a massive upheaval.

Which way it will go, no one knows. But the unfolding events are generating great optimism and excitement.

People’s power in Oaxaca

Some alternative media are calling the people’s occupation that has been taking place in Oaxaca since May 22 “the Oaxaca Commune.” They point out that the occupation in Oaxaca has lasted more than twice as long as the Paris Commune of 1871.

The movement against oppression and exploitation in this Mexican state has reached the level that some are saying there is now dual power in Oaxaca. The masses have occupied the center of government and are in control of much of the capital. The governor of the state, Ulises Ruíz Ortíz, who is the prime target of the protests, has, in the words of the Financial Times, been “forced to live out of a suitcase.” The Ruíz administration has gone underground.

The Financial Times declares that Oaxaca has been in a state of “anarchy” for several months.

Behind the crisis in Oaxaca

Oaxaca is one of the three poorest states in Mexico. The other two are Chiapas in southern Mexico and Guerrero on the Atlantic side. The population of Oaxaca is about 3.5 million. It has the largest number of people with indigenous ancestry, about two-thirds of the population. Oaxaca is Mexico’s most indigenous state, home to 17 distinct Indian cultures.

According to a Mexican human rights network, the richest 10 percent of households receive 13 times the income of the poorest 10 percent.

The 70,000 teachers who opened up the struggle with their strike are by far not the poorest. In fact, they can be considered part of the so-called middle class. They are members of the National Union of Educational Workers—El Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Educativo (SNTE)—a large and powerful union but very much a company union, entrenched with the capitalist government historically.

But in Oaxaca the teachers are members of Section 22 of SNTE, which has much more of a radical and militant history. Their strike affects 14,000 schools. It was spurred on by Ruíz, who became governor in 2004 in elections that the people charge were fixed. He is accused of corruption and human rights abuses, brutally cracking down on protests, and encouraging the police to form paramilitary groups to squelch dissent and opposition.

The movement charges that Ruíz has ruled with excessively overt terror, carried out kidnappings and jailed people for no reason at all. Charges include torture, killings and impunity for those who carried out these atrocities.

For 25 years, the teachers have gone out on strike every May. But this year was different. The demands of the strikers resonated among a wider section of the population and a movement was sparked.

According to an article by George Salzman, between May 15 and June 17 demonstrations grew from about 50,000 to 400,000. When negotiations between the union and the government stalemated, the strikers and supporters began to occupy the center of the city. (Counterpunch, Aug. 30)

The strikers and their families, including children, along with many supporters, began to camp out. Business as usual was thoroughly disrupted.

The movement gelled to the point of forming a massive, statewide people’s assembly. A convention was organized. Out of it, the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) was born.

Independent news accounts report that protesters, grouped in more than 350 different social organizations, who had been camping out in the parks and on the streets for over four months, are governing through people’s assemblies. They have taken over radio stations and have expelled public officials from local government posts. Many protesters have armed themselves with sticks and slingshots. Local residents stand guard behind barriers of sandbags, rocks, scrap metal and burnt-out buses.

Buses have been commandeered—commercial, police and government vehicles—and are being used to block roads.

“Should federal troops attempt to wrest control of this southern capital from strikers, they’ll face scores of avenues like Calle Almendros, now a gantlet of obstacles designed to slow an advance. Strikers have prepared a 200-yard-long segment by stretching wires across it at neck, ankle and waist height, placing large rocks side-by-side and parking a commandeered school bus sideways to block traffic in both directions. Like many other streets, it has been fortified with small bunkers made of sandbags and stocked with dozens of bottles for Molotov cocktails. Hundreds of smaller rocks were piled up to be thrown or launched by slings.” (San Antonio Express-News, Oct. 4)

In another sign of people’s power, while TV Azteca was interviewing two lawmakers at a hotel, they were hustled out a back door, their departing car pelted with rocks. Unrest has scared most tourists away. Business leaders put losses at more than $300 million.

Crisis for the state

This incredibly untenable situation for the Mexican government takes place amid one of the biggest political scandals in decades. The July presidential elections were tainted with fraud and corruption. All indications are that popular candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador was cheated out of the presidency.

But he did not go back and hide in the corridors of government buildings. Instead, he embraced the mass movement. Since July millions of Mexicans have occupied the Zócalo square in Mexico City and have called for a parallel government headed by López Obrador, the true president of the people.

Militarizing Oaxaca

The situation in Oaxaca is very tense. Every day the possibility that federal troops could be called in to break up the movement becomes more real. APPO refused to attend talks in Mexico City on Oct. 4, called by out-going President Vicente Fox. There have been three failed attempts at talks between APPO and the government in the past few months.

Fox has declared the crisis will be over before a new president is inaugurated on Dec. 1.

On Oct. 1 Prensa Latina began to report a strong concentration of troops and military equipment nearing Oaxaca city. Planes flew over Oaxaca’s capital and at least 10 Puma helicopters and two Mexican Army transportation aircraft were parked at the Salina Cruz naval heliport in the international airport.

According to news broadcasts by local media, an indeterminate number of armored personnel carriers, tank commandos and four-wheel vehicles have been sighted, along with Marines. APPO considers the troop movement a prelude to federal intervention.

The troop movement takes place in a country whose history is filled with bloody repression. The people occupying Oaxaca’s central square know their lives are literally on the line.

“Compañeros, we don’t want anybody to die, but we’re ready to accept casualties if that’s the way the government wants it,” said one of the movement’s spokespersons on La Ley radio, which has been under the control of APPO since June.

On Radio 710 AM, a pleasant voice says keep calm, there are 3,000 people at each barricade, the troops are probably more afraid than we are, we are on our own turf and they are strangers here.

The helicopters are doing military reconnaissance and are certainly trying to terrorize. A press conference at 6:30 in the Zocalo by the APPO said pretty much the same: We’re ready. Keep calm, don’t give in to provocations.

When the helicopters landed, “¡Bienvenidos, cabrones!” “¡Bajen, aquí los esperamos!” were shouted at them by people carrying sticks and pipes. “Welcome, bastards! Come on down, we’re here waiting for you!”

At 9:00 p.m. on Oct. 7, Saturday night, the APPO closed off the historic downtown area, telling people who were caught away from home to pass as rapidly as possible through the barricades. APPO was determined to fight off any attack, asking people to unite in support, and at the same time telling those outside the city and around the state to organize their defense.

On Oct. 3, APPO issued a communiqué on behalf of the Encampment for Dignity and Against Repression in Oaxaca. It read in part: “The undersigned social organizations and Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) members make an urgent call to the people of Oaxaca, of Mexico, and of the world to come and form an ‘Encampment for Dignity and Against Repression in Oaxaca’; to come out and defend the Oaxacan people and avoid bloodshed due to the lack of vision on the part of our politicians.

“We cannot allow repression to be the solution. Let us all participate in the encampment for dignity and against repression dressed in white, as a clear signal that we are in favor of a peaceful movement and of a political and dignified resolution. Let us also go out into the streets with bandanas of different colors, to send the signal that we are a movement of many diverse actors that are willing to protect our compañeras and compañeros.”

Subcomandante Marcos of the Zapatista National Liberation Army stated: “Oaxaca is not just an emergency, it is also an example to follow.”

Leaders of López Obrador’s national movement pledged to mobilize their followers around the issue and go to Oaxaca as “human shields” in the event of a military intervention.

On Oct. 10, thousands of Oaxacans streamed into Mexico City after marching for several days to take their struggle into the capital. They marched about 300 miles but were not deterred. At least five of their compatriots have been killed since the strike.

U.S. on pins and needles

Not a single economic, political or social development occurs in Mexico without Washington not only paying close attention to it but also interfering so that each outcome is to imperialism’s benefit.

And so it must be with great trepidation that the Bush administration and the entire U.S. ruling class monitor the situation in Mexico today.

All history is the history of class struggle. Right now, the Mexican people are writing a page in history that is putting in jeopardy all those complex financial, agricultural, transportation and other capitalist relations that U.S. imperialism has fine-tuned so well in Mexico.

Despite NAFTA and the U.S. ability to manipulate a constant parade of Mexican leaders who “understand the need for friendly relations,” right now the workers’ struggle is taking center stage.

Once again history shows that the imperialists can write up their economic plans to reap super-profits, but when the masses rise up, those agreements can be thrown into the trash can of history where they belong.

All out to support the people of Oaxaca and all of Mexico.

Mexico´s Political Dilemmas

By Fausto F. Ponte

Special to The DFallas Morning News




Editor´s note: Fausto Fernandez Ponte is a higly respected Mexican journalist who was

a Washington correspondent for the Mexico City daily Excelsior.





Mexico has now two Presidents. The Constitutional one -- thus named
President-Elect on Sept. 5th -- is Felipe Calderón, a conservative
lawyer linked to the political elite of moneyed and influential
businessmen and bankers, the Catholic Church, Wall Street, the energy
industry, and other assorted powerful interests. He has also been
linked to a violent rightwing group known as /El Yunque/ (/The Anvil/).

The other President -- the informal one, named Sept. 16 the
/Legitimate President/ by a massive meeting atended by more than a
million people in Mexico City´s main plaza, the historic Zocalo -- is
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, a political scientist whose main
theme is a set of proposals to lay the foundation for new State
institutions that would serve the interest of the 70 million Mexicans
living in poverty.

In spite of the Constitutional mantle, Mr. Calderón, however, does
not have the popular following that Mr. Lopez Obrador commands and
electrifies almost every evening with his colloquial speeches given from
his makeshift headquarters in Mexico City's Plaza of the Constitution.
He is protected by a thick, live wall of his followers. This human
wall is unarmed. And it is impossible to reach him.

But Mr. Calderon is also sorrounded by an even thicker human
fortress made up of Praetorian and well-armed guards known a
/Guardias Presidenciales/ (Presidential Guards). They answer only to
the President and not to the Defense Secretary, nominally the boss of
this elite and handsomely-paid military force in charge of the
President´s security. The Guards have been very busy lately for Mr.
Calderon is constantly accosted by Mr. Lopez Obrador followers every
day.

This dichotomy defines the current political crisis in Mexico and
its ever-increasing abyssal depth. Such a crisis is viewed by a very
large segment of Mexican society as a crisis of the State,
and of the power elite that has controlled it since the Carlos Salinas de
Gortari administration (1988-94). Mr. Salinas is a pragmatic
politician known for his cynicism and high profile as a
behind-the-scenes power or /facilitator,/ as he calls himself.

Mr. Salinas´ policies were epitomized by the North-American Free
Trade Agreement or NAFTA, which since its inception in 1994 has
dramatically increased economic inequality in Mexico as well as
social injustice. Its painful sequel is a
demonstrably spectacular emigration to the USA, fueled by growing
poverty, economic stratification, and lack of employment. Today
Mexican emigration is the main and most-contentious issue in the
bilateral relationship
between Washington and Mexico City. And it has a terrible social cost
in Mexico, mainly through the fracture and disintegration
of families. Children
grow up in a context of "anomia," which is the term used by Mexican
sociologists to describe a lack of correspondence between individuals
and the set of societal norms and rules. The net result is more
maladjusted youngsters and young adults, prone to conmit crimes.

In addition of the prevalent poverty, another clear indication of
the stagnation gripping the Mexican economy and society is the
deepening gulf between the "haves" and the "have nots".
Riches and income are highly concentrated in few people. The
acquisitive reach of income is scandalously low and getting lower.
The explosive and challenging component in this picture is awareness;
Many poor people are now aware of their poverty.

Rightly or not, those poor perceive Mr. Calderon
as the heir of those State policies perpetuating that
poverty. That makes a lot of citizens angry. It intensifies people´s
proclivity to feel resentment, discontent, and rage -- social rage.
These people feel prepared to go to the barricades to
fight for a change of Government and its policies, knowing that
Mexico´s constitutional framework (Article 39) acknowledges that
right.

This is a credible explanation of the current rage and outcry from
the bulk of Mr. Lopez Obrador´s followers and the intense activism of
the social and political organizations that support him. Those
organizations are busily proselytizing and building up a wide net for
logistical support. This way they reap more followers to feed the
massive mobilizations. There is a very fertile ground of anger and
desperation from this widespread awareness of what it is to be poor.

The plight of Mr. Lopez Obrador is based upon such constitutional
precept and thus it is a perfectly legal interstice. Against that, Mr
Calderón, the President-Elect, can do little, except to use force --
illegally, for Mr. Lopez Obrador and their millions of followers have
not broken any law. This stand off -- a proverbial Mexican stand off --
has no clear bifurcations or short cuts. On top of that, Mr. Calderon
has neither political insight nor crafty abilities in politics.

Meanwhile, Mr. Calderon sustains himself by his condition as
President-Elect, the long arm of the Office, and the controversial
and questioned legality of his elevation to Head of State. He romps
with the rich and powerful in Mexico and the USA, and avoids mixing
with the multitudes. It will take him several years of his administration
to create a political thesaurus. Mexico will be back to the old times
of Presidents that were not true leaders of the people.

Many Mexicans expect more domination of Mexico´s economy and energy assets by
USA multinational corporationss (in Mexico they are called transnationals) like
Halliburton, Wal-Mart, Citicorp, and others in the same
league; increased Mexican emigration mainly to California, Texas,
Arizona, New Mexico, but also to the Midwest. In the
aftermath of that it is predictable a reduced number of consumers of USA
goods and services in Mexico.