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Reporter's Notebook: Sean Donahue

APPO to Send Delegation to EZLN Encuentro

Posted by Sean Donahue - December 4, 2006 at 10:07 pm
OAXACA -- At a meeting with human rights activists this morning, Orlando Sosa Lopez of the APPO (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca) Press Committee announced that the APPO will be sending a delegation to the EZLN Intergalactic Encuentro which will be held in Chiapas in late December and early January. Responding to this reporter´s question about the APPO´s relationship to the Zapatista movement, Oscar Sosa Lopez said:

´´We have a commission that will be going to the Encuentro with thr Zapatistas.  Also, within the interior membership of the APPO we do have people and groups who identify with the Zapatistas.´´

He added that the APPO and the EZLN share common ground in their opposition to political parties.

The decision to send a delegation to the Intergalactic comes on the heels of a call from the APPO for groups on the Mexican left to form a united front against neoliberalism.

Sosa Lopez commented that:

´´When we are looking at the national level, we are seeing that the left in Mexico has to come together a little bit more and show that the left is in fact the majority.´´

Earlier in the meeting he reiterated that the APPO is fundamentally opposed to neoliberalism and globalization, and that the removal of Gov. Ulisses Ruiz would only be a first step toward justice.

After a brief period of relative silence, the APPO is beginning to make its presence seen more clearly in Oaxaca, with members coming out of hiding to take part in a march for the release of political prisoners this weekend. Some 200 people participated in the march despite the fact that it was only announced by word of mouth.

And while state forces are constantly painting over graffiti, new messages in support of APPO and demanding the resignation of Gov. Ruiz and the removal of the Federal Preventitive Police appear on the walls, often scrawled over several layers of whitewash.

Despite exagerrated reports of its demise, the APPO appears to be entering into a new phase of struggle, one that increasingly places events in Oaxaca in a national and global context.  

Mexico and the world wait to see what will happen as elements of the nation´s left prepare for a deeper dialogue, and perhaps more concerted action.

About Sean Donahue

Personal Website
http://www.seandonahue.org

Biography
Sean Donahue is a poet, healer, activist, and freelance journalist wandering through New England.

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