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Against the Poor
Fall
2006
Moms Take Over TV and Radio Station in Oaxaca
The banner reads: "When a woman advances there is no man who stays behind."
OAXACA:
For the Good of All,
the Poor
First
Millions of people in Mexico have taken to the streets in both Mexico City and Oaxaca since the summer. In July the conservative candidate for president, Bush’s friend, Felipe Calderon won with only 36.38% of the vote. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) received 35.34%. He called for a recount. As in the US presidential election, fraud resulted in 3 million votes not being counted.
Unlike in the USA, two million Mexicans took over Mexico City’s Zocalo (downtown plaza). They declared AMLO the duly elected and legitimate president of Mexico. They camped there for seven weeks. They blocked major streets and disrupted business at a cost of $709 million. The outgoing president was unable to give his final address in the Zocalo. He gave it on TV instead.
That same day in the Zocalo one million people held a convention and formed a parallel government. Delegates voted to support a boycott against some of the biggest companies in Mexico, including Wal-Mart, Citigroup and Coca-Cola. They also voted to initiate a "Plan of Civil and Peaceful Resistance" against the electoral fraud. They demand the right to "food, work, health care, education and housing" guaranteed. They will continue their alliance through 2009. Their slogan is "For the Good of All, the Poor First."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Oaxaca , Mexico the National Teachers Union (SNTE) has been striking since June to remove Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Ortiz is anti-labor, corrupt, and violent to the people, especially the Indigenous communities.
Originally the teachers were striking for better pay and conditions. The Governor ordered the police to attack them. Many teachers were injured and hospitalized. After this attack, the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) joined the teachers. Together they have taken over Oaxaca. They blocked government buildings and shut down several major highways. They took over a University. Inside the Radio University has been the backbone of the movement for five months.
The surrounding rural communities joined to demand the return of the land and water that was stolen by the businessmen and hotels. The health care workers joined, calling for sufficient funding for the public hospitals.
Mothers are angry about the poor quality of schools and a recent enrollment fees which violate the Mexican Constitution. They want breakfasts for students, shoes for the students, and improvement of education facilities.
On August 1 over 2000 women (and many children)
held a Pots and Pans march five miles to the downtown Zocalo. They
tapped out the rhythm "ya cayo"’ ("he’s already fallen") and used
pan covers as cymbals. They arrived downtown loudly drumming and
were met by the bells of the ex-government buildings. The activists
attached ropes to the bell towers to control them.
At 1:30 that day 350 women marched into the state TV channel 9. One thousand women and children stood watch outside. At 3:30 the channel went off the air. The women inside notified their allies at Radio Universidad that they had two radio stations working, one AM and one FM, but no TV. They asked listeners for back-up food, water, guards and people who knew how to operate TV cameras.
"We are not afraid," the spokeswoman said. "Whatever happens happens. We are fighting for our children. We women cannot stay home."
At 7 PM Channel 9 went back on the air. APPO women sat in front of a banner that read, "When a woman advances there is no man who stays behind." The women took turns speaking, demanding that Ortiz resign. One woman stated, "Channel 9 never gave us information, only lies. The APPO is the people. In a peaceful way we have taken the channel which is the public channel."
After the women spoke, they broadcast parts of videos by indigenous community members. The next morning Channel 9 was showing all the videos of the June 14 police attack on striking teachers, interviews with teachers in the hospital, the marches, and meetings. These events had never been shown on any TV station.
The women broadcast until Aug 21. That day the police shot at teachers guarding the antennas. And then the politicians shot the transmitters at the base of the antennas. The women continued to occupy the offices for meetings and kitchen use. They are keeping state TV workers from returning and broadcasting government lies about them. (The women maintained control of the stations until the middle of November when the government escalated it attacks.)
On October 9, a contingent of SNTE and APPO arrived in Mexico City after walking for 19 days covering 500 Kilometers. They hiked there to break their isolation. Hundreds of supporters in Mexico City returned to Oaxaca with them.
On October 28, the government ordered troops to attack the protesters. They killed three men, including an Indymedia reporter from NY. They have detained and disappeared hundreds. Three men were running in the streets waving guns—as well as hundreds of armed and shielded cops. The men were the mayor, municipal director and another government employee.
On Nov 2 the government tried to retake the University and Radio APPO (other activists had taken over the university station and named it APPO). The APPO continued to broadcast during the siege. A woman’s voice reported, "Our eyes are burning with tear gas, but we’re not budging. Now we can see the government for what it really is."
Mexico’s Secretary of Interior and Congress have asked Ortiz to resign, but he refuses. On Nov. 5 tens of thousand of protestors marched through Oaxaca. Supporters around the world have been protesting at Mexican embassies. This is an easy action that most folks in cities with Mexican consulates can organize.
Information from:
narconews.com;
brownfemipower.com
and Foreign Policy in Focus (fpif.org)