APPO and PRIistas Clash in Zaachila, Oaxaca

As a follow-up to the Zaachila story, a small march of less than 200 persons entered the city center of Oaxaca on Wednesday June 25, at about 6:30 PM, shouting pro-APPO slogans. In front of the Catedrál David Venegas, the former political prisoner and VOCAL activist, made a speech condemning the PRI and calling for the ouster of Ulises Ruiz. Videographers as well as photographers and reporters were present. The crowd included Zaachila teachers and Appistas There were no red FPR flags. Venegas spoke for less than ten minutes, and very quickly vanished at the speech's close. The crowd who had marched and listened dispersed quickly also.

When I left the Alameda (where the Catedrál is located) I headed north and immediately spotted five vans, each holding five state preventative police (PPE), heavily armed, less than one block outside the Alameda. They were followed by two army-style PPE vans which held about thirty men each. They pulled away behind the vans and all turned the corner onto Independencia where it passes the side of the Alameda.

VOCAL is VOCAL, a grouping of people, without any leader telling the others what to do, many of whom, if not all, are involved directly with a huge amount of dedication to different aspects of resistance within the movement. What it is definitely not is "David (Alebrije) Venegas´s collective.

Further, VOCAL is not the only grouping that presents itself in support of struggles such as this against URO and the system of corrupt governance. There are many other groups and not just that but people themselves, independently who are involved too.

Even more than this, much of the entire youth "movement" is more than anything, a SPACE (Vocal, the Encueñtro de Jovenes as well - all spaces.) Where ppl with their different interests and talents, work on different projects, some joint ones, some where many all have to come together to work on something - an example would be the caravana that Nancy talked about in a previous article. In a way, its about trying to work in a way that "naturally" humans seem to work best. Through independence AND co-operation. Giving individual creativity free rein since thats where the most innovative things come from, but harnessed to something larger - a common enemy perhaps, or by the ideas and the impulses of struggling against a corrupt governance and system, and of regenerating ways of thinking and acting that are more in time with others.