A report by
Peggy Law
Witness for Peace Delegation to Oaxaca, December 2006
Founding Director, National Media Project

A multimedia presentation on a human rights trip to a region on the edge of revolution

The people of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico have been in open rebellion for several months. On one side of the dispute is the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), which seeks the resignation of Oaxaca’s governor. On the other are the armed sympathizers of that governor, Ulises Ruiz, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for more than seventy years and which still controls Oaxaca.

The trouble started in May, when a teachers’ union went on strike to demand better pay, benefits and working conditions. A few weeks later, Ruiz sent state police into the central square to forcibly remove thousands of educators camping there. That led to the creation of APPO, a loose coalition of leftist groups, including many of the striking teachers, who made Ruiz’s immediate resignation their chief demand. By August, the city was under siege. APPO set up barricades around the city, set fire to passenger buses, siezed government buildings, and took over several radio and TV stations. Armed gangs, said to be working at Ruiz’s behest, responded with beatings and sometimes lethal gunfire.

The Witness for Peace delegation travelled to Oaxaca to observe first-hand the explosive political situation, the human rights crisis and the revolutionary people’s struggle.

$5 to $10 suggested donation. Sponsored by Peninsula Peace and Justice Center.