South of the Border

[zachwolff]

is blowing up, or already blew up, in Oaxaca, southern Mexico. What started as a teachers' strike in May grew into a complete shut-down of the city involving teachers, students, indigenous groups, public employees, and others. The principle demand of the protesters was the resignation of governor Ulises Ruiz, a figure known for corruption - quite

Comments

South of the Border

[anonymous]

I remember the news stories by NPR back in late September about the teachers of Oaxaca demanding better conditions, but I didn't hear that it errupted into a riot demanding all out change in government. I taught a few students from the region; can't say I know a whole lot about their circumstances, just that employment in some regions is so scarce that communities exist solely on the money their relatives send back from the states. Unemployment Sucks!

Phil

Re: South of the Border

[zachwolff]

Yeah, there's no work in the south of Mexico, not in Chiapas or Oaxaca. This has created an interesting dynamic in which significant numbers of the Federal Police invading the city are emigrants from Chiapas and Oaxaca who went to DF looking for work. While there is no quarter in the struggle against the occupation, certain voices in the rebellion in Oaxaca have raised an interesting discourse with regard to the soldiers/officers as fellow oppressed. In the book Full Spectrum Disorder, Stan Goff comments that for a revolucionary movement to be successful its members will have to convince large portions of the police and military to, minimally, not masacre them, and, ideally, join them.