heaven-storming

Oaxaca: The End of Tolerance November 29, 2006

Posted by raved in Commune, Oaxaca.
1 comment so far

Why is this Repression Carried out Against the Popular Movement? And why Now?

By Luis Hernández Navarro

La Jornada

November 28, 2006

Oaxaca in 2006 is like Sonora in 1902. At the beginning of the 20th Century the government of Portifirio Diaz confronted the rebellion of the yaqui indigenous people and deported the first indigenous prisoners to the Yucatan, Jalisco, Tlaxcala and Veracruz. In the beginning of the 21st century, the administration of Vincente Fox is responding to the uprising in Oaxaca by sending the 141 detained persons to the prison of San Jose del Rincon in Nayarit.

Vincente Fox will end his six years in power with his hands full of blood. “The tolerance has run out” in Oaxaca, says General Ardelio Vargas, chief of the large force of the Federal Preventive Police (PFP), and one of the “heroes”, along with Admiral Wilfrido Robledo, of the repression in Atenco. It is their dogs that are in the street. They throw tear gas, violently beat people, arrest without warrants, invade houses without authorization, destroy property, occupy hospitals and clinics, interfere with the free movement of citizens and sexually violate women.

In the streets the youth are indiscriminately arrested for the sole crime of being young. The prisoners are mistreated, tortured and jailed alongside common criminals. Judicial defense lawyers and family members are not allowed to visit. And, just as with Porfirio Diaz, they are deported.

But the abuses that are carried out against the civilian population by the PFP are not limited to those which are directly committed. Members of the PFP also act as the protectors of the hit men who work in the service of Ulises Ruiz. These gunmen and police, dressed as civilians, travel the streets of Oaxaca City in vehicles with which they kidnap and disappear members of the APPO. These are the caravans of death. These men have been responsible for most of the 20 homicides perpetrated against APPO.

Why is this repression carried out against the popular movement of Oaxaca? And why now? What happened that exhausted the “tolerance” of the federal authorities? Basically there is one reason: in less than a week the Chief Executive will take power in the middle of a huge crisis of legitimacy. Felipe Calderon demanded that Vincent Fox, since he had not resolved the conflict of Oaxaca, at least leave the social movement weakened enough to guarantee a future for negotiation under conditions favorable to the government. With prisoners and persecuted persons, one would imagine that reaching an agreement with the demonstrators would be easier and cheaper. Calderon demanded that it be the outgoing administration and not the incoming one that pays the price of disrepute for the repression of Oaxaca. In summary: that the way would be cleared. In this way, Calderon was able to discourage the massive presence of Oaxacans who would have contested his assumption of power during the coming first days of December.

The overwhelming presence of the PFP in Oaxaca since October 29 did not stop the protests against Ulises Ruiz from keeping up a vibrant presence. It did not break up the popular organization nor stop the revolt. On the contrary, the APPO excitedly continued with the formation of its congress and reaffirmed its internal unity.

Nevertheless, apart from the confrontations like those that occurred on November 2, the conflict at hand was relatively contained. Governability had not been reestablished, nor had the normality of daily life in the city, but points of informal communication existed between the federal government and the directors of the APPO: It was, at that time, a conflict that was relatively administered. This status, however, was inconvenient for the government and so it decided to enter the city and break the situation.

Did the popular movement do something that broke this balance? No, definitely not. The demonstrations of this past Saturday were absolutely peaceful. It was, obviously, a demonstration with much power, but it did not constitute an act of violence. The decision to use violence came from, as has been amply documented, the PFP. It was the members of this institution that threw projectiles and later tear gas at the demonstrators. It was they who began the aggression. And they did it brutality and with rancor. They were there to crush the demonstrators, and to make them pay with a vengeance. The repression was savage: three deaths, more than 100 injured, 221 detained.

And the PFP did all of this alongside the gunmen and the police, dressed as civilians who are in the service of Ulises Ruiz, while protecting them. They fired against and they kidnapped defenseless civilians, attacked those who were in the bus station of ADO (a bus company) waiting for transportation out of the city and did what they had done during the last few months: seed terror.

Simultaneously, Radio Ciudadana, popularly known as “Radio Patito,” the pirate station of state government loyalists, called upon those in Oaxaca to set fire to the homes of well-known members of the popular movement. This was not a joke. On Sunday, November 26, the offices of Flavio Sosa, one of the most well-known voices of the APPO, were burned. Of course, neither the PFP nor the state police prevented it.

“[The situation] is becoming normalized,” Ulises Ruiz said in one more of his involuntary jokes. “There will not be forgiveness,” he warned. As candidate for governor of the state, Ulises introduced himself as “a man of unity (unidad).” Today we know that at that time he was missing three letters from the word: Ruiz is the politician of impunity (impunidad).

The repressive violence in Oaxaca is the gold clasp in which Vicente Fox closes his six years in office, but it is also the card that presents Felipe Calderon. Without recognizing it, they have decreed a state of siege. The rights of the individual have disappeared entirely.

Nonetheless, the measure is not going to solve anything. Those who executed the state of siege have forgotten two small details. First, the enormous capacity for resistance that exists among the people of Oaxaca, and second, that what they have really done in suppressing the people is to further spread the recognition of the state’s crimes, indignation and the desire for revenge on the part of the citizens in many parts of the nation. The tolerance, understand this well, has also run out on the other side.

“All Power to the People” November 22, 2006

Posted by raved in Commune, Oaxaca.
add a comment

CONSTITUTIVE CONGRESS OF THE
POPULAR ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA

GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF THE WORK GROUPS

WORK GROUP ONE:
AN ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNATIONAL,
NATIONAL AND STATE CONTEXT

A. INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

1. A Neoliberal economic model has been initiated at the world level, favoring the interests of big multinational finance capital and harming the welfare of the big social majorities.
2. The characteristics of the above mentioned neoliberal model are the privatization of all natural resources, of biodiversity, and of the national patrimony; the destruction of the cultures of indigenous people, and the unraveling and disintegration of the social fabric; and the dismantling, amongst others, of the institutions that guarantee the economic, social and cultural rights.
3. The said model uses a variety of methods to take over the land and natural resources: such as the destruction of the national legal framework; to interfere in the electoral process of sovereign nations; and the legalization of torture, repression, kidnapping, murder and preemptive war.
4. All over the world multinational capital has developed technology by the overexploitation of labor.
5. United States imperialism endeavors to control its competitors through the appropriation of world oil reserves and other strategic natural resources. For that purpose it has used a policy of war — which is manifested in its intervention in the Middle East and in Latin America through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Plan Puebla-Panama and the economic blockade over Cuba — by promoting big economic investments in strategic places by which it tries to impose its policies on the rest of the world.
6. With globalization, capitalism is promoting more of its contradictions and it’s moving towards the next world war. In this context, the European Union is the result of the internal confrontation within capitalism, giving impulse to the opening of borders and the adoption of a single currency: the euro is a way to face the imperialism coming from the United States.
7. Capitalism promotes a policy of dependence and indebtedness through multilateral finance organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development, amongst others, which has grave consequences in the economic, political, social and cultural areas.
8. In the face of this neoliberal aggression, some people and social sectors have been resisting and are preparing to face the adversity in an organized fashion, and with proposals. So big demonstrations have arisen in different parts of the globe with special attention to the resistance struggles of the people in the Middle East, of immigrants within the developed countries — in particular France and the United States — and the popular uprisings in Latin America.
9. The popular struggle is also reflected in the election processes revealing itself as a form of anti-imperialist struggle. In Latin America we have definite examples in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Nicaragua.

B. NATIONAL CONTEXT

10. The economic policy of the United States and the finance oligarchy have demonstrated the imposition of their ideas and policies on national governments, especially on the Mexican government, which has provoked more and more organized reactions from the population.

11. This policy has been reflected in the dismantling of the main social rights inscribed in the Mexican Constitution, in particular those in articles 3, 27 and 123, which have left the most vulnerable social sectors without protection.

12. The current national context is framed by the arrival in power of the ultra right, specifically the Yunque group [translators note: the Anvil group], permitting higher levels of corruption, and the pillage by national and foreign capital. This has made the workers poorer and has concentrated wealth to a smaller number of families. That is, it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.

13. This policy of entreguismo (the giveaway of the national patrimony) has caused the destruction of the internal market with the signing of NAFTA and other commercial treaties, advancing the introduction of foreign products and causing the ruin of national producers.

14. This aggression has been particularly alarming for the case of traditional agriculture and the growing and harvesting of corn, which have been the material and spiritual base for the indigenous people in Mexico in living together.

15. The contradictory aspect of this policy is that the number of immigrants grows more and more, strengthening the economy of the United States while causing our country to become weaker. This is reflected in low wages and deepening economic inequalities between geographic regions, in particular between the north and south of Mexico.

16. Current governments lack legitimacy and electoral processes have demonstrated that taking part in elections is no guarantee that political parties are at the service of the majority of society.

17. Political parties have accepted the rules of the Mexican State, and electoral fraud at the state and national level has been constant.

18. One feature of the Mexican government in this period has been an increase in repression against all popular and social movements in order to try to stop the advancing social discontent of the Mexican people. We can mention concrete cases, amongst others, the Pasta de Conchos, SICARTSA, Atenco and the open repression towards the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO).

19. The model of the Mexican State, attempts to deliver all natural resources to big consortiums, impoverishing people even more, instead of guaranteeing the protection and custody of those resources to local communities. This has created a more organized and wider response with the popular sectors that oppose this policy.

C. STATE CONTEXT

20. We are living a deep political crisis with the current state of ungovernability, where political, legal, social and religious institutions have been completely bypassed by society.

21. This crisis has aspects that are of great concern to the indigenous population who live with permanent attacks on their political institutions and judicial systems.

22. The most serious and damaging aspect of this crisis is shown by the existance of a State Executive Branch that symbolizes the authoritarian, corrupt and a cacique-like power which, lacking all legitimacy, uses the repressive means within its reach, violates social peace, and worsens conflicts and ungovernability in all aspects and social levels.

23. The Legislative Power has, during recent times, passed legislation behind the back of Oaxacan society, a situation that has been aggravated in the current context of ungovernabilty and violence.

24. Currently, there is a systematic violation of human rights, individual and social rights. This has been aggravated by the State Government carrying out a policy of state terrorism directed, in particular, towards organizations, authorities and social leaders who are opposed to this illegitimate regime.

25. A special mention must be made about the aggression that the independent media has suffered such as the newspaper Noticias, Radio Universidad and different indigenous community radio stations that exist in the state.

26. The public powers that claim to represent us are not doing so. They are exclusive institutions at the service of the political and economic elites, and that are becoming more and more difficult to transform.

27. There is a denial of justice to indigenous populations and, in general, to the poorest and most vulnerable social sectors.

28. The existence and contribution of Black people to the development of life in the state has been denied.

29. It is obvious the discrimination against sexual minorities, in particular the lesbian, gay, transsexual and transgender communities who have been the subject of exclusion, hate and homophobic campaigns.

30. There is total corruption and a lack of transparency in the use of public resources. Also, there is no involvement of the citizens in the design, allocation and follow up process of said resources.

31. The government pushes globalization plans favoring multinational investments that monopolize wealth by making mega-projects, such as: the trans-isthmic train Coatzacoalcos-Salina Cruz, the wind power project in La Venta, the tourist corridor Pinotepa Nacional-Huatulco, and the privatization of mineral resources in the Sierra Sur mountain range.

32. There is a severe destruction of the natural and cultural wealth of the communities and people of Oaxaca. This is worsened by land conflicts that persist in all regions of the State, without the attempts for real solutions through dialogue and reconciliation.

33. As a response to this situation, the people of Oaxaca have mobilized to form the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca that, nowadays, constitutes a new form of struggle. It has extended its experience and similar assemblies have been created in different places: in seven states of the republic and in the Unites States. And this perspective appears to be forming the Popular Assembly of the People of Mexico.

34. The result of this mobilization is that at the state, national and international level there is a correlation of forces in favor of the exit of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO), the withdrawal of the Preventive Federal Police (PFP) from the state, the presentations of those missing and the liberation of political prisoners.

35. APPO has had the capacity to bring together other unifying efforts such as “La Otra Campaña”, the National Democratic Convention (CND), the PUNCN, the National Dialogues, Unions, Social and Indigenous Organizations, Groups and Collectives — giving impetus to increased national unity.

WORK GROUP TWO:
A CRISIS OF THE INSTITUTIONS

The crisis of the institutions is derived from the crisis of capitalism in its most violent expression. In this economic model the institutions only respond to the interests of the class in power. We are therefore facing a crisis at a national and global scale where the economic, political, judicial and social system is being questioned. And since it is based on corruption, lack of legitimacy and anti democracy it can only remain in power through repression.

This crisis of the institutions originates in the fact that they no longer represent the legitimate interests of society, which has made the people stop believing in them. That is why society itself is looking for new organizational and representative ways, building democratic spaces that would permit them to face this severe crisis.

In the case of Oaxaca, the observed crisis is a result of the authoritarian, corrupt, pro-corporate, and cacique-like politics of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz — who represents the end of authoritarian governments using corporativismo and paternalism to control people, and the beginnings of those using open repression. That is why the society of Oaxaca is demanding his ouster because he represents the authoritarian regime. [translators note: a repressive authoritarian regime]

It is in this context that APPO appears: the beginning of a new power that transforms from an organizational model, initially defensive, to an organic proposition with ample capacity to summon people to exercise their popular sovereignty.

APPO should strengthen local processes, that Oaxacan society has been building for quite some time, and processes that have been accomplished during the current period of struggle. This should be done through ways that allow us to build from below a new life project, a new social pact, a new convention to write a new constitution and a new way of social living based on justice, democracy and peace.

In this way, APPO has at the moment three urgent tasks:

1. To construct an organization and a space at the state level at the service of the people of Oaxaca.
2. To transform this popular revolt into a peaceful, democratic and humane revolution.
3. To connect and join the national and international context in the fight against neoliberalism and against any form of injustice against society.

As the repository of sovereign power, APPO has already carried out some governing acts: such as the creation and consolidation of the Oaxaca Teacher’s Police Force (POMO), the creation of the Honorable Corps of Topiles, and practices of the citizen’s impulse for self-defense, among others — which show the need to continue building upon and strengthening this newly born process.

The community assemblies are recognized as a basic unit in the decision making process within APPO, because of the traditional way by which the people establish their representatives. We have demonstrated that using the method of the Assembly is the only way to generate wide discussion, the participation of the community, decisions reached by consensus, as well as the participation of those who, because of their age, have community experience. That is why, faced with state laws which do not represent nor solicit democratic proposals of the participants in the current process, we should be pushing to exercise our own regulatory system.

APPO should be strengthened with the widest and most pluralistic participation striving to integrate those sectors that are not present, while continuing real transformation through peaceful struggle and wide mass mobilization.

Even though the immediate goal of APPO is to fight for the ouster of URO, it is necessary to immediately begin discussions with all sectors, in order to generate a new social pact and the necessary reforms that would allow the transformation of institutions; and to start establishing, as a central part of the struggle, the creation of an assembly to write a new constitution.

As the seed of the new power, tactically, APPO should be proposing the creation of democratic institutions as well as, strategically, the strengthening and building of popular power and towards the creation of an assembly to write a new constitution. This in order to issue a new constitution that contains the basic regulations for political and social cohabitation for all the men and women of Oaxaca.

Some of the proposals that should be immediately set forth in order to carry out the social transformations, in the opinion of this Constituent Congress, are the following:

The political area

• To make the division of the government branches real and effective, we must fight to have judicial power that is really independent in its decisions and resolutions. Collegiate bodies of judges should be established in order to make the judicial system more democratic and open to citizens. In a similar way, we have to work very hard for Legislative power to have real autonomy before Executive power — it must be widely controlled by society through effective, transparent and democratic means.
•  To review the pacto federal, to influence the necessary national legislative changes needed to favor the interests of the people of Oaxaca.
•  Judicial recognition of Popular City Halls that have been created during the current period of mobilization. The members of the overthrown municipal governments must be audited and charges laid for any unlawful activities they may have done against the people.
•  Make the human rights institutions more accessible to citizens and really independent from the powers of the State. This is of great importance because, up to now, the Human Rights State Commission, far from defending the basic rights of the people of Oaxaca, has been attacking the citizens and covering up the actions of bad government.
•  To substantially reform the current County Organic Law (Ley Orgánica Municipal) since it doesn’t recognize the fundamental rights of the population of the counties, agencies and community groups (nucleos comunitarios). We need a new County Law that truly reflects the multiethnic, multicultural and diverse composition of Oaxacan society.
•  To build and strengthen new forms of struggle by retaking experiences based in the community (tequio, community assemblies, a system of roles and collective ownership of the land), by the organization of popular neighborhoods, the barricades, the juntas de buen gobierno which have allowed us to advance in social organization and in the exercise of autonomy.
•  Recognition and respect for free determination and autonomy of indigenous people in all aspects (political, economic, social, educational and cultural) and at all levels (community, county and regional).
•  Elimination of the Government Delegations because they have become controlling and manipulating bodies for the municipal authorities and in all cases they are intermediates between the State Government and County Governments in open contradiction of article 115 of the Federal Constitution.
•  With the purpose of strengthening the autonomy of municipalities and communities, it is suggested to write and consolidate our own regulations such as the Community and County Bylaws.
•  To provide incentives and encourage the participation of women in politics by creating the conditions for it within the assemblies and spaces for citizen decisions.
• Strict respect to the separation of Church and State. No to Church meddling in state and national political life.

In the electoral area

• Abrogation and derogation of the constitutional reforms and of the state laws that have been issued by the current Local Legislature, since they have been made without the participation of society and they go against the basic principles of democracy, peace and justice in Oaxaca.
•  At the same time, it is proposed that the county authorities present before the Supreme Court, the constitutional controversies to annul the electoral reforms made by the Local Congress, in which it extends itself for a period of one more year and this was done without any consultation from the population.
•  To establish new forms of citizen participation and legitimacy in democratic life through the recognition of the referendum, the revocation of mandate, popular consultation, the plebiscite, popular initiative, a second round in elections and the creation of a Council of the People as a body to watch government actions, among others.
•  Recognition of ways and processes of participation and representation of indigenous people at the state and national debating-decision making bodies, based on their conceptions and democratic practices arising from their political and legal systems.
•  Elimination of representatives of plurinominales.
•  To support the participation of citizens in institutions and election processes, as well as initiating an austerity program with the purpose of avoiding the plundering and squandering of the electoral institutions and political parties. The money saved should be used for social programs. The electoral institutions and political parties must serve society in a real and effective way and not serve the political class and its leaders.

Translation: Dean Gibson

Economic aspects

• To establish mechanisms of supply and commercialization where the consumers and the producers have a direct relation and to avoid being victims of intermediaries.
•  To demand and promote cooperatives and other economic mechanisms in which the means of production are in the hands of the workers.
•  Orchestration of regional sustainable development projects. It is proposed that Oaxacan society should promote legislation about sustainability and the environment.
•  We should put a stop to the exorbitant salaries of popular representatives and of public functionaries. Equally, we should promote a law of transparency where all functionaries should produce accounts to the populations, under the principle of leading by obeying. We roundly reject the recent law of transparency approved by the Local Congress.
•  Put the internal treasury office under citizen control and implement a popular fiscal body.
•  Make information respecting the federal and state economic resources destined for society transparent, particularly sections (ramos) 28 and 33 that correspond to the municipalities and establish mechanisms for vigilance in order that they commit those resources adequately and opportunely. Also, we should implement mechanisms for participation in the distribution of those resources, so that agencies and localities of the municipalities decide on their application.
•  Given the social and political crisis in which we are living, we exhort the Federal Chamber of Deputies in order that the budget corresponding to the fiscal year 2007 destined for Oaxaca does not pass through the hands of the governor, but that by means of the regionalization of the state they establish with those resources a trust with equitable funds in order that they are administrated and exercised by the municipal agencies, county, communal and traditional authorities, the associations of municipal authorities and the community and regional organizations by means of works, projects and actions that they freely determine.
•  Judicial, economic and fiscal recognition and valorization of communal labor commonly known as tequio which already constitutes an economic contribution of our communities and municipalities. This proposal should be taken up in the framework of budgetary reform, since currently this law harms the majority of the population and many of their capabilities are not understood by society.
•  Respect the autonomy of indigenous peoples so they maintain the control, use and enjoyment of their lands, territories and natural resources.
•  Implement the necessary legal mechanisms before the International Labor Organizations (ILO) in order to delay the economic mega-projects that they are implementing in diverse regions of Oaxaca, especially Plan Puebla Panama.

Social aspects

• Implement mechanisms that guarantee the health and safety of workers, making effective the quality and freedom of those services. Health and education services should be brought to all corners of the state.
•  People with disabilities also have a right to a dignified life. We propose the implementation of a pension for the differently-abled for their access to medical treatments and the granting of scholarships to study in their particular conditions. Labor opportunities should be open for this sector of the population without discrimination.
•  Concerning the education question, the magisterio, and society in general, plan to implement an emancipatory, critical, scientific, liberating and free education, which respects and promotes inter-culturalism and the values of communitarian ethics.
•  The promotion of a true intercultural, bilingual, indigenous education in all educational spheres and levels. The use of indigenous languages in the schools should be rescued and strengthened.
•  Education should be a patrimony for all. For this it is suggested that there is total economic support for children until they can satisfactorily complete their formative activities, in particular those that do not have the necessary resources for their studies.
•  It is proposed that educational institutions, in all areas and levels, stop charging inscription quotas; have scholarships for students of limited economic means; offer a discount of at least 50% for all students that use the transport system and that they implement programs of civic and political education for all society.
•  We propose the amplification of scholar matriculation and inscription in the Bilingual and Intercultural Normal School of Oaxaca, likewise the creation of the Degree of Preschool Bilingual and Intercultural Education.
•  Create a commission in the Local Committee of Conciliation and Arbitrage, formed by union representatives in order to ensure the exact observance of the Federal Labor Law. Also, we propose that complaints of employer aggression against workers proceed and that there are severe punishments in cases in which they violate the law, including the possibility of the closure of their businesses and prior compensation of the workers. Equally, we suggest that there be a sharing of profits.
•  Promote the establishment of common means of communication and to gain access to the public and private means of communication in order to contribute to spreading the social reality.
•  The Constitutional Congress of the APPO energetically rejects the recent reforms of the Federal Law of Radio and Television and the General Law of Telecommunications, which favor opening the large channels of radio and television to the detriment of the community and social initiatives in matters of information and communication.
•  We propose that the Oaxaca Radio and Television Corporation pass into the hands of Oaxacan society.
•  The diverse religions that exist in the state should strictly respect the forms of life and organization of the indigenous peoples and if necessary contribute to maintaining and strengthening their cultures.
•  The guelagetza is an ancestral festival of the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca. It is a harmonious festival that should bring together Oaxacan society. We should promote and strengthen it from the perspective of being popular and free. This festival should be organized by the Cultural Commission of the APPO.
•  The control and administration archeological zones should be passed to the hands of the indigenous communities and peoples.
•  We demand that the state company PEMEX adopt the policy of ending the contamination of the Mexican Pacific with hydrocarbons. We should stop the continued destruction of fisheries and marine crustaceans in the zone, leaving our fisher people unemployed and lacking the possibility of support, which has obligated them to migrate to other regions of the country and the world.
•  We should legislate and implement governmental policies and programs in agrarian matters in order to resolve the current conflict, privileging dialogue and reconciliation between the involved parties. This legislation should be based on the original letter and spirit of article 27 of the Federal Constitution.
• We reject completely the Certification and Accreditation Program of the Communal and Ejidal Properties promoted by the Agrarian Attorney’s Office that has already manifested an aggression to the collective systems of land tenure and only seeks privatization of ejidal and communal lands.
•  Society should recover the Verde Antequera. For this we should demand the restitution of green stone to the zócalo, the reconstruction of the fountain of the seven regions and the llano, the repair and compensation for the damages to the hill of Fortín. Also, we should halt the construction works on the ADO bus terminal in the neighborhood of Jalatlaco. In all, we should demand an end to the aggression that the city of Oaxaca is suffering on the part of the Municipal and State Governments. It is necessary to organize ourselves for the defense of the natural and cultural patrimony of Oaxaca.

TASKS

• Determine, in the present stage, the objectives that the APPO should set as a resistance movement constructing popular power, applying the agreements and resolutions from the Forum “Constructing Democracy and Governability” and the agreements of the “Citizen Initiative of the Dialogue for Peace, Justice and Democracy in Oaxaca” and the diverse resolutions of the events that we have held.
• Consolidating and constructing the APPO as a force of the bases that are concretized in the communities, municipalities, towns, regions and in the state.
• Exercise the right of information and communication by means of the creation and, in some cases, the appropriation and use of community communications media.
• Organize and spread the proposals emanating from this assembly, in what are referred to as the organizational, legal, tactical and strategic aspects.
• That the agreements that emanate from this Congress are taken through consultation to all of society so that they are improved and complimented, guaranteeing that all feel reflected and represented in the approaches of the APPO. The State Council of the APPO should immediately organize thematic sessions in order to deepen each of the themes’ development in this section.
• That this Congress approves and forms a Citizen Commission that investigates the property holdings that Ulises Ruiz has inside and outside of Oaxaca and that those interests are confiscated and used for the benefit of society.
• With the new acts of violence and ungovernability that have occurred in Oaxaca, caused by the bad government, this Congress energetically solicits the Senate of the Republic to decree the disappearance of powers in the state and a political judgment (juicio) against Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.
• Forming a technical plural commission, that gathers together the popular proposals and gives substance to the political, economic, social, educational, and cultural nature and these proposals.
• Promoting the State Forum of the Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca to be held in the city of Oaxaca on November 28 and 29.
• Promote the realization of the second Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Mexico to be held on November 18 and 19 in the auditorium of SITUAM.

WORKGROUP THREE:
THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY
OF THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA

I. DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES

• COMMUNITY AND AUTONOMY. The APPO will rebuild the communalism and autonomy of the indigenous peoples in order to strengthen their struggle and guarantee its continuance.
• DISCIPLINE AND RESPECT. The members of the APPO should follow and carry out the agreements of the State Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca and the structures of coordination. Likewise, all APPO members will have the obligation of mutual respect in their actions.
• HONESTY AND TRANSPARENCY. These principles will be carried out as norms of conduct for all members.
• REVOCATION OF THE MANDATE. For all the State Council representatives and the other positions in the APPO.
• PLEBISCITES AND REFERENDA. They will be held in order to approve and sanction the fundamental and important decisions of the movement.
• DEMOCRACY. All decisions that are taken by the APPO shall and will be analyzed and discussed in the bases. The Councils and the APPO, in the state, regional, district, and municipal levels, will be integrated in a democratic, honest, inclusive, transparent, and pluralist form.
• NO RE-ELECTION. No member of the State Council may be re-elected.
• EQUALITY AND GENDER EQUITY. All members are equal, with the same rights and obligations, regardless of sex, social condition, or creed.
• EQUALITY AND JUSTICE. All agreements and decisions of the APPO will always seek equality and justice.
• SERVICE. To lead and represent by obeying. To serve to people, without receiving pay for carrying out functions.
• UNITY. All the people, sectors, regions, organizations, communities, municipalities, neighborhoods, colonias, subdivisions, amongst other participants in the APPO, will seek and always prioritize the unity of the movement above all.
• MEMBER AUTONOMY. Each organization, person, community, or collective, will maintain their autonomy without infringing the resolutions of the APPO.
• INDEPENDENCE. The APPO is independent politically, organizationally and ideologically from the state and political parties. There cannot be leaders or members of the PRI and PAN as members of the APPO; this assembly is not a political trampoline.
• INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY. The APPO is in solidarity with the struggles of all the people of the world.
• CONSENSUS. All decisions will be made through consensus. The decisions and positions of the APPO will come exclusively from the Assemblies and collective discussions.
• LIBERTY. We will always respect ideological and religious plurality and freedom, when not violating our other principles.
• CRITICISM AND SELF-CRITICISM. At all times we will practice criticism and self-criticism as methods for internal discussions.
• INCLUSIVITY AND RESPECT OF DIVERSITY. The character of the APPO shall be pluralist, broad, popular, inclusive, democratic, multicultural and respectful of diversity, including sexual diversity.
• ANTIIMPERIALIST, ANTIFASCIST AND ANTICAPITALIST, this economic and social model has already assaulted us, and the APPO should look for a new model of life.
• PEACEFUL SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MOVEMENT. The APPO, in order to achieve its goals, should implement dialogue, conscientization and the permanent political-ideological formation of its members.

II. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

1. The number of members of the Council is important, if it is too large it is less operable. This Council will be composed of 10 representatives of each region, five men and five women. The length can be two years and the Regional Assembly can revoke any member that does not fulfill their duties.
2.  That each region has ten representatives except for the Central Valleys. In the valleys participation will consist of representatives of colonias, barricades, women, communities, municipalities, and organizations. We propose that there be 3-5 representatives per sector and, taking into account the petition of the comrades of the health sector, there should be representation of all sectors, communities and regions.
3.  The council will rotate and have a length of one to two years.
4.  That after the naming of the Council a date is set in order to name regional, district, municipal and local representatives in order to achieve the true structure of the APPO.
5.  There are various organizations that work for the environment and rural development, and they should be included in the structure.
6.  That the election be proportional, according to the number of members from each organization.
7.  The following are included in the composition of the Council: Felipe Martínez Soriano, Mendoza Nube, Felipe Canseco, Dr. Víctor Raúl Martínez, the rector of the University.
8.  For the membership of the Council there be 10 individuals from each region, 20 from Valles Centrales, and five from each sector.
9.  Also, it is suggested that the following commissions are formed: Popular Councils, Colonias and Barricades (or Neighborhood Vigilance), Gender Equity, Defense of Natural Resources, Communication, Indigenous Peoples, Community Development.
10.  That the Commissions are composed of two people, a man and a woman.
11.  Create departments for attention to health, livelihood, education, elderly safety, differently-abled.
12.  Name a draft commission that systematizes the material of the declaration of principles, organizational structure, government bodies, programs, tactics, strategies, etc., and integrates this in a single document and presents the proposed structure of statutes of the APPO, for its approval through our decision-making process.

Internal commissions of the Popular Council of the Peoples of Oaxaca:

1. Commission of Organization and Planning
2. Commission of Liaison and Relations
3. Commission of Press and Propaganda
4. Judicial Commission
5. Safety Commission
6. Finance Commission
7. Education Commission
8. Commission of Culture and Recreation
9. Commission of Comprehensive Health
10. Human Rights Commission
11. Commission of Honor and Justice
12. Commission of Administration and Conflict Resolution
13. Technical and Editorial Commission of APPO documentation
14. Commission of Indigenous Peoples
15. Social Security Commission
16. Commission of Popular Councils
17. Commission of Colonias and Barricades
18. Commission of Gender Equity
19. Commission of Defense and Development of the Territories, Natural Resources and Environment
20. Commission of Communication and Transportation (Radio and Television)
21. Commission of Community and Rural Development
22. Student Commission
23. Commission of Labor and Union Rights

III. PERSPECTIVES

The APPO is the expression of the sovereign power of Oaxaca that concretizes and globalizes the just and dignified struggle of the peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico and of the world. The APPO is a large plural and diverse movement, and the great strength and legitimacy that it represents is the foundation for the construction and exercise of popular and sovereign power.

1. The APPO has to be concerned with democracy, pluralism, transparency, and balance of accounts.
2. The APPO has to also be representative of the indigenous peoples, blacks, women, the young, etc., with legitimate representatives, ensuring the respect of popular wishes and power.
3. It is important that the APPO promotes a popular continental front.
4.  It is important that the APPO includes all the demands of the people of Oaxaca.
5.  The APPO has to be pluralist and democratic, in this sense the participation and activities of women are important.
6.  The APPO should fight for the freedom of expression and defend the respect for community radio and independent media.
7.  Consolidation and promotion of the APPOs in working-class housing, colonias, neighborhoods, communities, municipalities, and regions.
8.  Assume as a body the defense of human rights; demanding a stop to repression, a presentation of the disappeared alive, freedom for all political prisoners and prisoners of conscious in Oaxaca and the whole country, the political exile Raul Gatica, likewise a demand of a trust for the family of the fallen comrades in this stage of struggle.
9.  The APPO will be a promoter of State and National unity under the premise that power should be at the service of the people.
10.  Support the defense of Public Education.
11.  The APPO will support the construction of democracy and governability in a participatory, inclusive, horizontal and plural form.
12.  Maintain as a principal demand the exit of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, at the same time, pushing for a profound and cross-cutting transformation of the authoritarian regime, through promoting a new social pact, a new constitution and political program that emanates from this Congress, under the premise of transparency, balance of accounts, and revocation of the mandate.
13.  Promote an agreement restoring the social fabric, including a punishment for those responsible for the murders, tortures and disappearances in the state.
14.  This congress echoes, from this moment on, the resolutions from the Forum “Constructing Democracy and Governability” and the resolutions and products of the Citizen Initiative of the Dialogue for Peace, Justice and Democracy in Oaxaca.
15. he APPO will promote the construction and strengthening of a popular power and respect for the popular will, linking with the national and international movement.
16.  Begin to exercise acts of governance that strengthen the popular government.

Translation: Chris Halvorsen

I. 6. ACTION PLAN

DATE ACTIVITY PLACE PARTICIPANTS

• 13th November March 10h from the Procuraduria to Santo Domingo General public
• 14th November Student march in defense of UABJO autonomy and to kick out PFP 10h from Radio Universidad to Santo Domingo Students and APPO; Strengthening barricades at Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Lucía and Cinco Señores Ciudad Universitaria, Santa Lucía and Señores. There is a proposal to blockade the Avenue of Patriotic Symbols. Groups of people converging on the basis of particular activity. Establishing blockades of government offices Every public government office Youth propose that they could start this activity.
• 15th November March against the URO report 9h from the Juárez monument (Guelatao exit) to Santo Domingo; 8h rally at the Chamber of Deputies in Jalpan, march to Santo Domingo; 8h rally at the Brenamiel Junction to block the report from being released in the Conventions Centre APPO calls on general public.
• 15th November Meeting to protest against Felipe Calderón 10h in the Federal District, house of compaña de Felipe Calderón Organizations in Mexico City
• 16th November March 16h from the Puente Carrilo Port to the Municipality of Santa Lucía del Camino Barricades at Cinco Señores and Santa Lucía and the general public.
• 17th and 18th November long walk/motor caravan from all the region. Leaving from the regions to arrive on the 20th November in Oaxaca City. March together with the inhabitants of the City and taking over of Palace. Regions and general public.
• 17th November Human Chain in Mexico City 10h at the PFP offices in the Federal District Organizations in Mexico City
• 17th November National Encuentro with APPO: “In Defence of Oaxaca” 10h Club de Periodistas. Filomeno Mata Number 8, Historic Centre, Mexico City. Peoples, organizations and citizens from throughout Mexico.
• 17th and 18th November Attending the CNI event 10h, Mezcala, Jalisco. A delegation from APPO
• 18th November Second Ordinary National Congress of the “Promotion for National Unity Against Neoliberalism” 10h in section 9 of SNTE in Mexico City Various organization.
• 18th November Preparatory Assembly of the 4th National Dialogue in Mexico City Mexico City. In the Alliance of Tram Workers, located in Dr.Lucio No. 29. Near Balderas metro Various organizations
• 18th and 19th November Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Mexico, with participation of APPO. 10h at SITUAM. This activity should be broadly supported by APPO. APPO and other organizations.
• 18th November Mobilization in la Venta La Venta, Istmo Organizations from the regio.
• 19th November Assembly of the Peoples of Zapoteco, Mixe and Chinanteco de la Sierra Norte From 10h onwards, Guelatao de Juárez, Oaxaca, Authorities, organizations and citizens of the Zapoteco, Mixe and Chinanteco Peoples.
• 20th November Commemoration Day of 96 years of the Mexican Revolution, with the arrival of seven motorized marches in the City of Resistance in order to hold a political-cultural meeting. Venustiano Carranza Park Regions and general public.
• 20th November Taking of Government Palace. National civic shutdown Oaxaca and Mexico APPO.
• 21st November Start of a hunger strike at embassies in Mexico City Embassies in Mexico City APPO and national solidarity organizations.
• 25th November Mega-march demanding that URO and PFP leave Oaxaca. Leaving from Santa María Coyotepec to the Zócalo in Oaxaca City. Blockades of the entrances to Mexico City are also envisaged APPO and the general public.
• 28th and 29th November State Forum of the Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca 10h at the Church of the Poor Authorities and organizations of Indigenous Peoples from Oaxaca.
• 30th November Beginning of a day of state, national and international protest and mobilization against Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon. Throughout all the regions of the state, and in Oaxaca City. APPO and the general public.
• 1st December Continuing massive national level mobilizations against Felipe Calderón and Vicente Fox. Occupying federal government offices and toll booths of major roads. Oaxaca City and all the state’s regions. APPO and the general public.

ACTIONS AND GENERAL MEASURES

1. APPO Councilors should be present at the barricades in order to coordinate activities and to avoid confrontation with State forces. It is also suggested that there be a meeting with barricade participants to decide which will be installed.
2.  Organizing coordinated marches throughout the State.
3.  State-wide and national civic shutdown.
4.  Mobilization of different social sectors.
5.  Take over of town halls, government offices and major roads. Regional actions and mobilizations should be carried out in coordination with the actions in Oaxaca City, especially with regard to setting up new barricades in the City.
6. Strengthening the encampments in Santo Domingo and Mexico City. Organizations are asked to strengthen plantones in these places.
7.  Appointing an APPO commission to support the two groups of applicants to the Normal Schools.
8.  Take over all transport in order to analyze the services on offer and their costs.
9. Open a bank account for APPO’s expenses and publicly spread information about how donations can be made.
10.  Destroy all URO propaganda and plaster the city with APPO propaganda instead. Make new graffiti.
11.  Promote within APPM and other national level spaces the need for more solidarity caravans going to Oaxaca.
12.  Campaigns of brigades throughout the country to foster popular unity within every state.
13. Call for a popular and peaceful insurrection at the state and national levels on the 1st December to support the demands of the People of Oaxaca and to protest against electoral fraud and the Bad Government.
14.  Carrying out an intense campaign (at the state, national and international levels) against the repression in Oaxaca. Youth have proposed to join together with other youth, in order to coordinate amongst themselves.
15.  Appoint a Commission to represent APPO in Mexico City. This representation must be appointed by the Council of APPO. The same applies for any other occasion when representation before official bodies is deemed appropriate.
16.  Occupation of the means of communication (radio and television).
17.  A Mega-march and total blockade of the entrances and exits of Oaxaca City at 10 in the morning on the 25th Novemeber. This march will start at the Casa de Gobierno (seat of the state government) located at Santa María Coyotepec and to finish at the zócalo.
18. Formalize the commitment to community radios in order to establish a good channel of communication amongst them and the APPO State Council. It has been proposed that Radio Zaachila and Radio Universidad are turned into APPO’s official communication channels. It is also suggested to give support to Radio Hit.
19. To convene and benefit from national and international solidarity in accordance with the actions outlined in this plan.

Actions for the 15th of November

a. At 8 in the morning there will be a massive rally at the Chamber of Deputies, and people will march from there towards Santo Domingo. The aim is to block the report being issued in the Chamber of Deputies. Section 22 are organizing a massive rally at the Juárez monument, and at 8am the same day, there will also be a massive rally at Brenamiel Junction, whose aim is to block the URO report from being released in the Convention Center.
b. Reactivate the mobile brigades to take over and close down government buildings. Our Youth brigades will shut down public offices on the 15 of November.
c. Setting up barricades in front of all the government offices on the 16th, and grafitiing them up from the 16th onwards.
d. A counter report against the government in Santo Domingo will be broadcast \by Radio Universidad on the same day.
e. Closure of work, tomorrow
f. The compañeros that will participate in the hunger strikes at embassies in Mexico City will leave on the 15th of November, and will include five representatives per organization and two per delegation.
g. On 16th November there will be press conference at the Carrillo Puerto settlement barricade in order to denounce the disappearance of 4 APPO compañeros.

V. PROCLAMATIONS

This Congress resolves and demands

1. The immediate ousting of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, insisting that this demand is neither retractable nor negotiable.
2. Our disappeared friends must be returned alive.
3. Immediate and unconditional freedom for our political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and for those currently facing penal processes, both throughout the state of Oaxaca and the country as a whole.
4. The immediate cancellation of all arrest warrants against APPO members.
5. A halt to the persecution, intimidation and threats against APPO members.
6. A halt to harassment, persecution and arbitrary and illegal detentions of members of barricades.
7. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the federal forces of Oaxaca (PFP, SEDENA, MARINA, AFI).
8. Respect for freedom of expression, including the demand for guarantees and respect for the community radios and independent media to be able to carry out their work.
9. The Attorney General (PGR) begins investigations for the murders committed in this period of the fight againt Ulises Ruiz, Heliodoro Díaz Escarraga, Lizbeth Caña Cadeza, Jorge Franco Vargas, Mario Moreno Rivas, Aristeo López Martínez, Lino Celaya, Elpidio Concha Arellano, Hector Anuar Mafud Mafud, Bulmaro Rito Salinas, Francisco Santiago José, and Alejandro Barrita, as well as the mayors of Santa Cruz Amilpas, Santa Lucia del Camino, Santa Maria Coyotepec, San Antonino Castillo Velasco, among others.
10. That the Federal Government publicly informs the people of Oaxaca as to the location of the “Mobile Court House”, so that those detained illegally and arbitrarily have their right to defense and due process safeguarded.
11. We denounce Plan Juárez and demand respect for Trade Union autonomy, as well as for the University Autonomy.
12. This Congress guarantees and respects the decision of Section XXII to start teaching school courses again, so that the right of girls, boys and teenagers from Oaxaca to receive an education comes into effect, as part of the struggle to kick out Ulises Ruiz. For this purpose, APPO will watch and accompany, step by step, that the safety, physical and psychological integrity of the members of Section XXII is guaranteed, and as such will blame Mr. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz for any violent incidents that may occur.
13. This Congress makes a respectful and cordial invitation to Mr. Raymundo Riva Palacios to familiarize himself with struggles of the people of Oaxaca and gets to know us personally, as we are concerned that he is an apologist for repression.
14. The repeal of the laws approved by the Congress of State during the political and social crisis which the people of Oaxaca are living through.
15. A restructuring of the organs of government of the Oaxacan Health Secretary.
16. An increase in the number of people enrolled in rural schools.
17. Against the construction of “La Parota” hydro-electric project.
18. Punishment for those responsible for violence against, and murder of, women.
19. Charges against and demand punishment for those responsible for the forced sterilization of indigenous women, and recognition that the IMSS Oportunidades program is simply a tool for manipulation and control.
20. No to the privatization of health, water and electricity (CFE), as well as other services.
21. For the rescue of the National Bank of Mexico, Telmex, Mexicana de Aviacion, Mexican National Railways, the Caravana Mining Complex, Immecafe, Fertimex, TV Azteca, among others.
22. APPO denounces and positions itself against the wind energy generation project in La Venta, located on the Istmo de Tehuantepec. We call upon all the citizenry of Oaxaca and of the Isthmus to mobilize against the possible presence of Vicente Fox and Ulises Ruiz at the inauguration of La Venta’s wind park scheduled for the 18th November.
23. Protection and recognition of traditional Indigenous medicine must be promoted.
24. Defense of all Normal Schools (teacher’s training colleges) throughout the country, and the automatic assignment of jobs for those who have graduated from these schools.
25. The Cinco Señores barricade should not be removed until URO falls, the PFF has withdrawn, and our disappeared compañeros have been returned alive.
26. The Federal Government should press ahead with the auditing of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.
27. Recall of deputies belonging to the LIX Local Legislature. We do not recognize them as our representatives, given that they took advantage of the crisis to pass laws which are detrimental to the people of Oaxaca.
28. We hold Apolonio Vasconcelos Terán (Municipal President of Huautla de Jiménez), his Cabinet, the Regional Delegate of the Government Humberto García Estrada, as well as the ex-deputy Elpidio Concha Arellano responsible for what ever might happen to compañeros who participate in APPO in Huautla and throughout the region of Cañada.
29. Condemn the attacks and intimidation against compañera Carmen López Vásquez.
30. Against the construction of the hydro-electric dam “Benito Juárez” de Santa Maria Jalapaya which is part of the privatization agenda of the Plan Puebla Panama.

DECISIONS CONCERNING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE APPO STATE COUNCIL

1. The Congress agrees that in the APPO State Council there must be a minimum representation of 30% women.
2. With regard to the composition of the State Council it is resolved that it must contain representation from all the nucleos, groups, sectors, unions, collectives, communities and peoples of Oaxaca from the state’s 8 geographical regions.
3. With respect to the number of State Councilors, it is suggested to take as a basis the following: there will be 10 members, both men and women, for each of the state’s geographical regions. The exception will be the Valles Centrales which will be represented by 20 members. This concerns the following regions: Cañada, Costa, Istmo, Mixteca, Sierra Norte, Sierra Sur, Tuxtepec y Valles Centrales.
4. It is agreed that there will be a representation of 3 – 5 people per social sector. Amongst others, these sectors include the following: Settlements and neighborhoods, Barricades, Women, Civil Organisms, Indigenous Peoples, Trade Unions, Municipal Authorities, Youth and Students, Peasants and Producers, Religious men and women, Enterprises and Traders, Academics and Intellectuals, Transport Workers, and the Cultural and Artistic Sector.
5. It is agreed that Section 22 will have 40 representatives, 27 of whom are present and have already been approved, and the remaining 13 still need to be selected by the State Assembly of Teachers.
6. Activity within political parties shall always be respected so long as it is fully compatible with APPO’s principles. There shall be no participation in the PRI and the PAN since these parties have dedicated themselves to aggressing the peoples’ movement of Oaxaca.
7. The composition of the APPO Council must be decided on by each region, fulfilling the requirements agreed on in the Plenary, guaranteed that there is a plural and fair representation.
8. The Councilors’ period of office will be for two years.
9. The seat of the State Council will be the ex-palace of the government, located in the historic city center.
10. Honorary ambassadors (both men and women) shall be appointed to spread the voice of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca at the national and international level. The list is open and will consist of everyone who has contributed to and supported the just struggle of the Oaxacan people.
11. The official logo of APPO agreed to in the plenary is:

LIST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL ACCORDING TO THE DECISION TAKEN BY THE REGIONS AND SECTORS WHICH MAKE UP APPO

REGIONS

Cañada
1. Alberto Carrera Marín
2. Rutilio Martínez García
3. Jorge Reyes Simón
4. Enedina Hernández Jiménez
5. Valeria Díaz Contreras
6. Demetrio García Estrada
7. Martiniano Lites Toledo
8. Agustín Sosa Ortega
9. Fausto Enríquez García
10. David García Martínez
11. Prof. José Santiago Luís

Costa
12. Esteban López Damián
13. Palemón Vásquez Cajero
14. Víctor Mendoza
15. Cesar Luís Díaz
16. Guadalupe Mendoza Mendoza
17. María Elena Tapia Vásquez
18. Castulo López Pacheco
19. Antonio Santiago Gonzáles
20. Elías Gonzáles Venegas
21. Mateo Gregorio
22. Felipa Cuevas Hernández
23. Juan Sosa Maldonado

Istmo
24. Delfino Juárez Toledo
25. Rosalía Rodríguez Sosa
26. José Alvarado Salva
27. Roberto Girón Carrasco
28. Rubén Valencia Núñez
29. Nemorio Pérez Núñez
30. Pablo Castillo Gonzáles
31. Justino Velásquez Jiménez
32. Sonia Fuentecilla López
33. José Juan Maldonado Avendaño
34. Erangelio Mendoza González
35. Lesvia Villalobos Sosa
36. Fidelia Valderrama Castillejos
37. Alberto Juan Castillo

Mixteca
38. Gustavo Adolfo López Ortega
39. Irma Vivar Valles
40. Tomás Hernández Monjaraz
41. Soledad Ortiz Vasquez
42. Jorge Albino Ortiz
43. Severo Sánchez Gónzales
44. Jesús López Rodríguez
45. Santiago Ambrosio Hernández
46. Rubén Eleuterio Santillan
47. Francisco Arbola Alfaro
48. Salatiel Mendoza
49. Modesto Riaño Bautista
50. Domingo Cruz Salvador

Sierra Norte
The Councillors in this region will be elected in a Regional Assembly of Indigenous Authories and Organizations, which will take place on the 19th November this year in the Community of Guelatao. Until they are elected, compañeros Aldo Gónzales, Joel Aquino and Adelfo Regino will remain as provisional liaisons.

Sierra Sur
51. Tomás J. Martínez Pinacho
52. Carlos Jiménez García
53. Felipe Fabian Morales
54. Florentino Hernández
55. Flora Gutiérrez Gutiérrez
56. Hortensia Tinajero Camacho
57. Donaciano Valencia
58. Alfredo García García
59. Rogelio Santiago Mendoza
60. Catalino López Carreño
61. Jorge Barrios Pacheco
62. Gabriel Manuel Santiago

Tuxtepec
63. Sandra García Luna
64. Renato Cruz Morales
65. Ruperto Santiago Reyes
66. Eliel Labastida Toro
67. Juan Colorado Padilla
68. Roberto Álvarez López
69. Tania Santillana
70. Eric Castillo Aragón
71. Martín Pérez Hernández
72. Mariano Sevilla Enrique
73. Felipe Canseco Ruiz
74. Eucadio Jerónimo Sánchez
75. Julián Santiago Soriano
76. Andrés Tirado Juárez

Valle Centrales
77. Ulises Reynosa
78. María del Carmen
79. Juan Ramírez
80. Felipa Cruz
81. Isabel Araceli Blas Pacheco
82. Arcadio Hernández Morales
83. Zenen Bravo Castellanos
84. Florentino López Martínez
85. Roberto García Lucero
86. Flavio Sosa Villavicencio
87. Cesar Mateos Benitez
88. Gervasio García Martínez
89. Eduardo Martínez García
90. Jaime Enrique Cabrera
91. Victor Manuel Gómez Ramírez
92. Dolores Cuamatzin
93. Juan Manuel López
94. Antonio Gómez
95. Santiago Santiago Caballero
96. Guadalupe García Leyva
97. Martiniano Galván
98. Irma Valdivieso Suastegui
99. Rafael Rodríguez
100. Casiano Luis Mejía
101. Julio Cesar Audelo
102. Arturo Cruz
103. Rosario Gómez Hernández
104. Bertha Muñoz

SECTORS

Traders
105. Luís Alberto Jiménez Blas

Artesans
106. Cristina Sanchez Merino
107. Natalia Sandoval Barrios

Juridical
108. Gilberto Hernández Santiago
109. Israel Ochoa Lara
110. Fortino Silva Cruz
111. Romeo Gonzalez Playas
112. Moisés Vasquez

Civil Organizations
113. Jessica Sánchez Maya
114. Marcos Leyva Madrid
115. Tzinia Carranza
116. Fernando Melo
117. Aline Castellanos
118. Alma Delia Gómez Soto

Popular Town Halls

119. Esteban Abel Sánchez Campos (San Antonino Castillo Velasco)
120. Manuel Coronel López ( Zaachila)
121. Manuel Eleazar Perez Velasco (Xoxocotlán)
122. Procopio Julian Caballero (San Antonio Huitepec)
123. Jorge Sosa Campos (San Bartola Coyotepec)

Grassroots Eclesiastical Communities
124. Yolanda Bautista Hernández
125. María J. Gaspar Ramírez

Transport Workers
126. Carlos Ruiz Elorza
127. Jaime Cruz Velasco
128. José Hernández Ramírez
129. Toledo Delgado Vargas

Women
130. Alba Cruz
131. Mireya Smith Martínez
132. Daniela Gonzáles
133. Davy Caballero
134. Leila Zenteno

Barricades
135. Fidelia Rodríguez Siguenza
136. Francisco Martínez Sánchez
137. David Venegas Reyes
138. Miguel Cruz Moreno
139. Eduardo Cruz Ruiz
140. Tania Fernández Moreno

Settlements
141. Arturo Reyes
142. Minerva Quiroz Nicolas
143. Erubiel Hernández Garnica
144. Emiliano Gutiérrez Vásquez
145. Neftali Santiago Santiago
146. Dayse Cristina Juárez Cecilio
147. Carlo Ramos
148. Feliciano Santiago Caballero
149. Valente Gómez Duran
150. Luz Adriana Toro Rodríguez
151. Gabriela Cruz Vargas

Trade Unions
152. Marcos Villanueva Coronado
153. Rosario García García
154. María Belem Salas Salazar
155. Patricia Jiménez Alvarado
156. Miguel Juárez Alvarado
157. Miguel Angel Schultz Dávila
158. Jose Luis Velásquez León
159. Jose Antonio Rivera Ramos
160. Marcelino Coache Verano
161. Rosendo Ramírez Sánchez
162. Martimiana Bejarano
163. Heiser Ariel Vasquez Salazar

Section 22 of the Teachers Union
164. Esteban Benitez Reyes
165. Mario Lorenzo I. García
166. Mario Cruz López
167. Lourdes Montaño Martínez
168. María del Carmen López Vásquez
169. Cesar Bolaños
170. Bernardo Osorio Marin
171. Edgardo Martínez Canseco
172. Jose Luis Meraz Pacheco
173. Gervasio Martínez Pérez
174. Pedro Pablo Osorio
175. Alfredo Trinidad Aquino Julian
176. Severino Villegas Aquino
177. Rodrigo Reyes Salgado
178. Zosimo Aquino Bustamante
179. Jorge Villegas
180. José Santiago Luis
181. Nadxeli Santiago López
182. Bernabé Jiménez Ríos
183. Huberto Román Reyes
184. Casiano Hernández
185. Enrique Rojas Espinoza
186. Enrique Velasco Flores
187. Augusto Reyes Medina
188. Juan García Ortega
189. Rogelio Acevedo Jacobo
190. Angelica Garcia Perez
191. Lucas Martinez Hernandez

Youth
192. María Santiago
193. Francisco Antonio
194. Lilia Ruiz
195. Eric Zabaleta
196. Guietzhil López
197. Hitandehui Margarita Pérez Delgado

Students
198. Víctor Jiménez
199. Nancy Figueroa
200. Antonio Cortéz
201. Cuauhtémoc Pérez
202. Noe Bautista

Prisoners, Persecuted and Exiled People
203. German Mendoza Nube
204. Raúl Gatica Bautista
205. Joel Gómez Hernández
206. Samuel Hernández
207. Ramiro Aragón
208. Jacqueline López Almazan
209. Catarino Torres Pereda
210. Alejandro Cruz López
211. Abraham Ramírez Vasquez
212. Josefina Martínez Martínez
213. Felipe Martínez Soriano

Indigenous Peoples from the Valles Centrales region
214. Simitrio Ruiz Martínez
215. Victoria Santiago Velasco
216. Pablo Martínez López
217. Primo Aquino Cruz

The indigenous organizations and authorities present decided to name the corresponding councilors to represent the indigenous peoples at the Popular Council on the 28th and 29th of November this year when the State Forum of the Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca will take place.

DISCUSSION TABLE
Zenén Bravo Castellanos
President

Joel Aquino Maldonado
First Vice-President

Jesús López Rodríguez
Second Vice-President

Felipe Canseco Ruiz
Third Vice-President

Francisco Salud Bautista
Fourth Vice-President

Felipe Castellanos Cruz
Fifth Vice-President

Armando Contreras Castillo
Sixth Vice-President

David Venegas
First Secretary

Adelfo Regino Montes
Second Secretary

Juan Sosa Maldonado
Third Secretary

Severo Sánchez
Fourth Secretary

Mario López
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Delfino Juárez Toledo
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Rutilio Martínez García
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Enrique Rojas Espinoza
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Fidelia Valderrama Castillejos
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Aldo Gonzáles Rojas
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Roberto Álvarez López
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Mario Cruz López
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Gustavo Ponce Gil
Scrutineer/Canvasser

Rubén Eleuterio Santillán
Scrutineer/Canvasser

LONG LIVE THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE! LONG LIVE APPO!
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, City of Resistance the 13th of November 2006

Translation: Kolya Abramsky

A Oaxaca Commune? November 15, 2006

Posted by raved in Commune, Oaxaca.
2 comments

–translated from a supplement to El Internacionalista (8 November), published by the Grupo Internacionalista, Mexican section of the League for the Fourth International. See www.internationalist.org for more articles by the LFI on Oaxaca.

A battle was won, but the war continues. And that outstanding fact about the war for Oaxaca is that, even though today it still takes the form and raises demands characteristic of a democratic struggle, underlying it is the class war. It all began with a teachers strike for rather modest demands (above all for rezonification[1] for Oaxaca teachers). After June 14, their main demand has been for the expulsion of the murderous governor. In principle, none of this goes beyond the capitalist framework. Nevertheless, the struggle not only faces a despotic cacique (political boss), but the whole semi-bonapartist regime of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico uninterruptedly for 70 years and is still intact in Oaxaca. The many thousands of political operatives who ran the single-party PRI-government in the state are still there, but now deathly afraid of losing their sinecures and facing the ire of an irate populace.

In reality, to bring down this regime and defeat its last-ditch defenders will take something approaching a political revolution. Moreover, the struggle takes place in a society characterized by a deep division between a narrow, oligarchic European-derived (Creole) ruling class, and a large mass of working people largely of Indian origin. With this political and social structure, semicolonial in the strictest sense, “those at the bottom” cannot win without going outside the bourgeois-democratic framework and undertaking a social revolution. Changing the governor to get another PRI politician, or even a bourgeois “independent,” in his place would not change much, with the possible exception of the level of repression – and maybe not even that. In order for the workers to win their struggle, the popular rebellion must turn into workers revolution.

Some leftists are acting as if this has already happened. In recent weeks, there has been a spate of articles by “progressive” commentators in the bourgeois press and leftist groups referring to a “Oaxaca Commune.” This was the title of an article by Luis Hernández Navarro in La Jornada (25 July). Another by the Agencia Latinoamericana de Información was titled, “The Oaxaca Commune Rises Up” (ALAI, 29 September). Iván Rincón Espríu wrote about “Tlatelolco and the Oaxaca Commune” in the Oaxacan daily Noticias (5 October). “Mexico: Long Live the Oaxaca Commune!” proclaimed the Trotskyist Faction (FT) in a 6 December declaration, and more recently “Defend the Oaxaca Commune!” The FT’s Mexican group, the Liga de Trabajadores por el Socialismo (LTS – Socialist Workers League), refers to “The Oaxaca Commune on Alert” (La Verdad Obrera, 5 October). “The Oaxaca Commune: APPO,” writes the Militante group (6 November). In Brazil on November 2 there were a number of “actions in solidarity with the Oaxaca Commune.” On Radio APPO as well, announcers often say they are transmitting form the Oaxaca Commune, like Radio Habana signs off with the slogan “transmitting from the first free territory of America.”

Is there a Oaxaca Commune? Let’s take a look at the key point of reference: the Paris Commune of 1871. Following the defeat of the army of emperor Louis Napoléon in the war against Germany and the proclamation of the Republic in September 1870, the French capital continued to be besieged by the Germans. The plebeian population of Paris distrusted the bourgeois government, which was enjoying the pleasures of a golden refuge in the Versailles Palace. This government, for its part, feared the National Guard because of its proletarian composition. When the regime tried to dissolve it on 18 March 1871, the Guard rebelled and the Parisian workers suddenly found themselves in power.

The image of a besieged revolutionary citadel is not totally alien in the present Oaxacan context, particularly today when it is approaching a near-insurrectionary situation. At the same time, it is certainly not a very heartening image, presaging a bloody defeat. The Paris Commune was smashed after 72 days, with a toll of more than 30,000 dead and 50,000 jailed among the communards. This is what Iván Rincón Espríu was referring to in warning of the danger of a repletion of the 1968 massacre in the Plaza de Tlatelolco when the Mexican army massacred perhaps 500 students and leftists. “The troops who will try to smash the Oaxaca Commune and drown the popular discontent in blood and fire (in the process increasing it) have already located their attack points and have taken up their positions,” he wrote in early October.

Hernández Navarro’s starting point is also valid: he writes that the movement begun by the Oaxaca teachers strike is the kind of social struggle that presages others of greater scope, like the strikes in Cananea (miners) and Río Blanco (textile workers) that were precursors to the Mexican Revolution of 1910-17. His conclusion, however, is to add the Oaxaca rebellion to the struggle against “the cochinero [roughly, swinishness] carried out in the July 2 elections” – i.e., the López Obrador mobilizations under the mantle of the bourgeois PRD.

In the case of protests against repression that seek to express enthusiastic support to the heroic Oaxacan fighters, the reference is understandable. But when tendencies which claim to be Marxist and Trotskyist refer to a “Oaxaca Commune,” above all when they do so as praise and glorification, this demonstrates a dangerous theoretical and programmatic light-mindedness: instead of clarifying, it obscure the necessary lessons and measures to win the battle of Oaxaca. It distorts reality by conferring on it a revolutionary content that has yet to be realized, and it reveals that the authors live in a fantasy world. Even worse, in losing confidence in the working class as the vanguard, they look for substitutes: they replace the class struggle with a “democratic” outlook, or rather, “democratizing.” Instead of the dictatorship of the proletariat, they call for “organs of self-determination of the masses” (LTS, Estrategia Obrera, 21 October).

What was the Paris Commune? Among “the multiplicity of interpretations to which the Commune has been subjected, and the multiplicity of interests which construed it in their favor,” Karl Marx wrote in The Civil War in France (May 1871), “Its true secret was this: It was essentially a working class government, the product of the struggle of the producing against the appropriating class, the political form at last discovered under which to work out the economical emancipation of labor.” Later on in the same text he calls the Commune a “workers government.” Engels repeats, in his 1891 introduction to Marx’s work, “Of late, the social-democratic philistine has once more been filled with wholesome terror at the words: Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Well and good, gentlemen, do you want to know what this dictatorship looks like? Look at the Paris Commune. That was the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.”

Those who today refer to a Oaxaca Commune as “real democracy” or the “self-determination of the masses” without class distinction trace their lineage not to the great revolutionary theoreticians but to the great granddaddy of the opportunists, the “social-democratic philistine” par excellence, Karl Kautsky, who in his anti-Soviet screed Terrorism and Communism (1919) distorted Marx’s words in describing the Paris Commune as “the government of the people by the people, that is, democracy.”

The Paris Commune was a workers government, an incarnation of the dictatorship of the proletariat – two synonymous phrases – not because Marx and Engels said so, but because of its own self-conception, its composition and its actions. The proclamation of the Commune, the Declaration of the Central Committee of the National Guard of 18 March 1871, stated: “The proletarians of Paris, amidst the failures and treasons of the ruling classes, have understood that the hour has struck for them to save the situation by taking into their own hands the direction of public affairs…. They have understood that it is their imperious duty, and their absolute right, to render themselves masters of their own destinies, by seizing upon the governmental power.”

Marx immediately added: “But the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes.” The proletariat had to build its own government, in which “the majority of its members were naturally workers, or acknowledged representatives of the working class. The Commune was to be a working, not a parliamentary body, executive and legislative at the same time.” This was the main amendment Marx and Engels made to the Communist Manifesto since it was written in 1848.

So let’s take a look at the Oaxacan situation today. The leading body of the struggle, the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, does not define itself as a government, nor is it one in fact. It is an organ of struggle, whose leadership consists of representatives of different organizations. Until now, the large majority of the delegates have not been elected but rather were named by the leaderships of the groups which make up the APPO. Its backbone is Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE (the teachers union), and it includes various unions of public employees (workers of the secretariat of health, the Social Security Institute, the ISSTE, the University of Oaxaca, airports) belonging to the FSODO (Front of Unions and Democratic Organizations of Oaxaca), of telephone workers and bus drivers, along with semi-labor groups (Associated Women Trade Unionists, retired railroad workers) and leftist groups (Frente Popular Revolucionario, Comité de Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo [Committee for Defense of the Rights of the People], Partido Obrero Socialista [Socialist Workers Party, now rebaptized the Movement for Socialism]). But it also includes a number of organizations of indigenous peoples – the Organization of Indigenous Zapotec Peoples (OPIZ), the Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca (CIPO), the Union of Indigenous Communities of the Northern Isthmus (UCIZONI), Movement of United Triqui Struggle (MULT) – and peasant organizations.

There is no doubt that the APPO has struck root in the Oaxacan masses by having resisted for so long the siege by state and federal governments and the murderous violence of the thugs and paramilitaries. But it is not a nascent workers government. The APPO has a multi-class character, with a petty-bourgeois leadership in which popular-front politics predominate. The decisions of the National Forum on Constructing Democracy and Governability called by the APPO last August 16 and 17, for example, called to “generate alliances with different sectors and political actors premised on our main demand: for the ouster of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.” At the same time, it urged “the installation of a Popular Government Council” and the formation of a “Great National Popular Assembly.” For many in the APPO, these calls are directed at the PRD, whose representatives have had discussions with the APPO in Oaxaca in recent days.

To be sure, the APPO and Section 22 have had to carry out certain governmental functions, constituting the Honorable Body of Topiles (a kind of popular police, derived from indigenous community organizations) and the Oaxaca Teachers Police (POMO) to maintain order in the occupied city, detaining thieves and in some cases submitting them to popular trials. But these are only episodic organs and measures of struggle of the sort that would arise in any general strike that lasted for a time.

It is also true that there are aspects of dual power with the occupation of the capital by the APPO and the installation of popular municipal councils in around 20 municipalities. But this is not dual power of different classes. The APPO has not made any moves against private property whatsoever: it has not taken over hotels, or haciendas, factories or transportation companies. Nor has it seized federal government institutions, like the highways or airport. Above all, with its call for “peaceful” resistance against the onslaught by the forces of Ulises Ruiz and the federal government, it has not called into question the bourgeois state’s monopoly of armed force. In fact, in negotiations with the interior ministry (Gobernación) APPO leaders accepted in principle the incursion of the Federal Preventive Police into Oaxaca.

In December 1905, when Leon Trotsky was jailed as president of the Petersburg Soviet, he wrote a piece titled “35 Years Later: 1871-1906,” in which he stated:

“The Paris Commune of 1871 was not, of course, a socialist commune; its regime was not even a developed regime of socialist revolution. The ‘Commune’ was only a prologue. It established the dictatorship of the proletariat, the necessary premise of the socialist revolution. Paris entered into the regime of the dictatorship of the proletariat not because it proclaimed the republic, but because out of 90 representatives it elected 72 representatives of the workers and stood under the protection of the proletarian guard.”

None of this exists in Oaxaca yet. For now it is Zukunftsmusik, “music of the future” to which we may aspire and for which communists struggle. But to confound our desires with actual reality would be fatal for the future development of revolutionary struggle in Mexico. There is not a proletarian power in Oaxaca, and for it to come into being, the struggle would have to be waged, not in the confines of a predominantly peasant and rural state bur instead by extending the insurgency to the big battalions of the working class in the capital of the country and the industrial centers. To achieve this, it is indispensable to forge a leadership, a party, which fights not for “real” (bourgeois) democracy, but openly for workers revolution. n

 

---

[1] Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE, demanded that Oaxaca teachers’ pay be increased from Zone 3 to Zone 2, citing the high cost of living in this state which is a prime tourist destination. At present, Oaxacan teachers, whose average salary is about US$525, earn less than teachers in Chiapas.