07/18 - Oaxaca de Luto: La marcha de silencio

The groups began assembling early today, especially VOCAL which drew crowds and photographers as it painted banners and put up its display of photos of Silvia Hernandez (la Chivis), Maria Guadalupe Sibaja (la China), and David Venegas (el Alebrije), the two companeras arrested Monday and the companero who has been in prison since April.  The FPR set up loud speakers and a sound system to make announcements during the day, with Florentino Lopez making the call to head over to the Zocalo at 4:30 fascist time, 3:30 popular time.
My update from the march today:

The groups began assembling early today, especially VOCAL which drew crowds and photographers as it painted banners and put up its display of photos of Silvia Hernandez (la Chivis), Maria Guadalupe Sibaja (la China), and David Venegas (el Alebrije), the two companeras arrested Monday and the companero who has been in prison since April. A informal press conference was held against a wall of the church in the Alameda de Leon, with a number of individuals calling for the freedom of Professor Jorge Luis Martinez. The FPR set up loud speakers and a sound system to make announcements during the day, with Florentino Lopez making the call to head over to the Zocalo at 4:30 fascist time, 3:30 popular time.

The crowd quickly formed in the Llano at 4:00, and the instructions were passed around that this march was to be completely silent, the kids would not spray paint anything, the police would be given no excuse to act violently, and the people would not respond to police provocation.  Two separate occasions the police caravans of death drove by, with a ring of riot shields around the truck beds.  Immediately the crowd began showing the police their favorite fingers and chanting "asesinos" along with the commonstock profanities.  The police merely drove by the two times but called it a night after that, and were never seen along the parade route.  The marchers kept with the plans, and any talking was met by a loud, popular shhhing.  The Shhhing Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca.  Some parts of the march were contained within string running along each side.  The VOCAListas and other kids with them were initially the only ones wearing masks that I saw, but I'm not sure if other student groups were present and/or doing the same.  The green surgical masks were passed around, though, and a larger number was wearing them once the parade got under way.  The graffiteros that are a staple of Oaxaca protests were mysteriously gone, in part because of the request by the APPO, and were replaced by kids taping photos of la Chivis and el Alebrije to street poles and walls, along with the occasional black ribbon.  The FPR was ever visible with their contingent of flag-wavers, but their anarchist arch-rivals probably got much of the press attention, being the only ones with banners today, as seemingly every photographer stopped them to take photos.

The silence was, not quite awkward, but powerful in such a way that walking alongside, I wanted to yell out "Ya cayo" and start the chanting and sloganeering that accompanies any APPO event.  But it sent the clear message that the people feel completely silenced and shut out of the political process here, and any attempt to collectively cry out is met with intense repression.  Luckily the police decided not to interfere this time, I assume that they're starting to realize just how badly they screwed themselves on Monday.  Ulises Ruiz is claiming to want to return to "dialoging", but we'll see what that means in the next week or less.  Rumors are circulating that as much as 50% (or perhaps more now) of reservations for the Guelaguetza and tourist amenities like hotels have been cancelled.  Attacking an unarmed and peaceful march exactly one week before the biggest week of the state's economy, in front of BBC and other international news cameras, I think speaks to some form of psychological illness which either the individual politicians or the political system as a whole suffers from.

Amnesty International issued a call to action this morning.  Will it do any good?  Will the presence of another set of human rights observers change anything?  The CCIODH reports did virtually nothing.  Will the national human rights commission's investigations change anything?  Last time they held APPO just as responsible as Ulises.  Big surprise, since PAN likes neither the PRI nor the APPO, but they can always ignore the PRI's blunders and outright moral and political corruption when they can trade amnesty for votes.  Meanwhile, there is reason to believe that some of the prisoners from Monday, in particular Silvia Hernandez, are being tortured or otherwise abused.  The conditions of the four women are especially critical, given the Mexican police's use of rape in Atenco and countless other conflicts, using it almost as a counter-female-insurgency tactic.  Other prisoners are in critical health conditions, particularly Emeterio Merino Cruz, who was injured by an exploding gas cannister.  Two more students were arrested last night at 8 pm, Herzai Michel Lopez, an UABJO student who was an announcer for Radio Universidad, and Adan Mejia, a student at IPN who works with Revista Militante.  David Venegas Reyes, the Sosa brothers, and a few others remain in prison after several months.  Flavio Sosa is suffering from health problems, and it is unknown if he is receiving sufficient treatment.  As always, we should fear for the safety and well-being of all prisoners, and especially the more high-profile ones, such as organizers, who could be a valuable source of activists' names and addresses for use in future round-up operations.

As the Bolshevik Lenin would say, "What is to be done?" Or the FPR Lenin, "¿Qué hacer?"  Ultimately this must be left to the democratic teachers and the APPO, and I believe this will be decided on come Saturday, or possibly sooner.  The school term ended on Monday, so expect to see the teachers start coming out in full force soon.  The activist in me has several ideas:  1) Hold a Guetza Popular the 23rd and 30th, in Plaza de la Danza.  Much closer to the Zocalo and cheaper hotels, and can draw away the remaining tourists from the official Guetza, without losing the tourist dollars, which the pueblo of the state as well as FALP venders desperately need.  2) All (or at least most) of the prisoners from Monday have been transfered to Tlacolula prison.  Why not march out there Sunday or Tuesday?  If they want to mess around with the tourists, blocking the highway leading out there would shut down the Mitla and Teotitlan route, and Sunday has the market.  3) The tear gas cannisters were manufactured by Combined Tactical Systems, a subsidiary of Combined Systems Inc, based in Jamestown, PA.  (If you want to see some crazy shit, check out their website and look at the "Venom Launcher.")  Gracias a dios that the police here don't have that.  And thanks to the team of IMCistas that published photos of the cannisters.  More of an implicit idea than anything.

Americans and foreigners not in Oaxaca, now is the time to start meeting and planning actions.  No dates have been set by the APPO for international solidarity, but anything is better than nothing, and I know that the networks exist from last year to coordinate across borders.  Calling my family Tuesday to tell them I was alright, my father in his infinite wisdom said, "welcome to life as a student in 1968 Chicago."  (He was only 17 at the time and not active)  After reading forwarded emails and news links, he came back and told me, "I was wrong, it wasn't this bad in Chicago."  I don't quite know what that means, but clearly the situation here in Oaxaca is not good.  Until Ulises steps down, things can only get worse.