Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca
The Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca ( APPO ; German: People's Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca ) is a left-wing Mexican organization that has been active in the state of Oaxaca since July 2006 . It is an amalgamation of more than 350 groups, including trade unions , farmers', student and indigenous organizations. At least 26 people were killed in the conflicts between the APPO, the paramilitaries and the police, most of them sympathizers of the APPO.
Emergence
In 2004, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz was elected governor of the state of Oaxaca . He is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000. Ruiz is accused of having come to power through electoral fraud and of corrupting the state. Also because Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in Mexico, where the indigenous people in particular often live in abject poverty, the conflicts intensified and led to numerous protests by indigenous organizations and other social movements . On May 22nd, 2006, the teachers' union ( SNTE ) in Oaxaca started protests to raise wages and better equip schools. Ruiz refused to negotiate and attempted to forcibly break up a teachers' meeting in the main square of Oaxaca de Juárez. During the clashes, protesters and residents fought back the police, who were then unable to enter the capital of Oaxaca for several months. According to the teachers' union, four people (three teachers and one child) were killed in the confrontation. The governor, who was evicted from the government building, then tried to rule the state from Oaxaca International Airport.
Protesters and the population feared violent reactions from the Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP), paramilitaries and the military. That is why social movements, trade unions, peasant and indigenous organizations formed the APPO. How many people were organized in the APPO for their wedding in autumn 2006 and how many supported them is difficult to estimate. As a result of the repression since the bloody crackdown on the blockade of Oaxaca on November 25, 2006, the organization has been weakened, not least due to internal disputes and resignations.
Escalation of the conflict
- Main article: Conflict in Oaxaca
While the police and government withdrew from downtown Oaxaca de Juarez in the summer of 2006, APPO supporters erected hundreds of barricades in order to obtain the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruiz. During that time, several radio stations were occupied to coordinate the protest. The central radio station of APPO is located on the premises of the University of Oaxacas. She was instrumental in coordinating the protest, as the poor people of Oaxaca have hardly any access to cell phones and the Internet.
On October 27, 2006, three people died in clashes between insurgents on the one hand and the police and paramilitaries on the other, including the American indymedia reporter Brad Will . Will, the cameraman documenting the conflict in Oaxaca, was killed by two aimed shots.
President Vicente Fox then ordered the invasion of the Policía Federal Preventiva , which quickly occupied the city's Zócalo , but could not get other parts of Oaxaca de Juarez under control. On November 2, the police advanced to the university campus, where the strategically important APPO radio station is located. Despite the use of helicopters, water cannons and clearing vehicles, she had to withdraw after a street battle lasting several hours due to the massive resistance of the APPO supporters. In addition, the rector of the university expressed his solidarity with the APPO and called on students and APPO to defend the university against the Policía Federal Preventiva. According to Mexican law, the police may only enter the campus with the approval of the rector.
On the night of November 5th to 6th, the conflict reached a new national dimension with three bomb explosions in Mexico City . No people were injured in the attacks on the headquarters of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, on the national electoral authority and a bank branch. In the meantime, five guerrilla groups have confessed to these attacks and have declared that they want to support the resistance against Ruiz. The APPO, however, has distanced itself from such actions.
Meaning in Mexico
The climax of the conflict came at a politically unstable period and was followed closely across Mexico. On July 2, 2006, the left-wing presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador was defeated by the candidate of the ruling Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), Felipe Calderón . López Obrador and his supporters accuse Calderón of electoral fraud. As a result, López Obrador announced the establishment of a counter-government. PAN officials feared that a successful removal of Governor Ruiz could strengthen the Obrador cause. Calderón is also dependent on the votes of Ruiz's PRI party in Congress.
The Mexican mass media are predominantly critical of the APPO, the occupation of the city was criticized as illegal, and economic damage and destruction in the old town is pointed out. On the other hand, she receives active support from the left and left-liberal spectrum, for example from the newspaper La Jornada and now also from the failed presidential candidate Obrador. Right-wing paramilitary forces are blamed for most of the dead . A teacher who was critical of the strike was also killed. While Ruiz blames the APPO for this murder, they deny any responsibility. She explains that the murder is part of an escalation strategy by Ruiz, who seeks military intervention in Oaxaca.
Occasionally, parallels are drawn between the APPO and the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) , which rebelled in the neighboring state of Chiapas in 1994 and has controlled parts of the country since then. Both organizations are largely supported by indigenous peoples who make up an important part of the population in both Oaxaca and Chiapas. In contrast to the EZLN, which is essentially a military organization, the APPO sees itself as a purely non-military movement. Nevertheless, there was cooperation between the two organizations as part of the other campaign with which the Zapatistas have been seeking a nationwide extra-parliamentary opposition since 2006 .
International attention
The international media initially reported the events in Oaxaca only hesitantly, with the comments being mostly neutral to understanding. However, after the murder of the American journalist Bradley Roland Will and the invasion of the Policía Federal Preventiva, media interest increased. However, various sides still complained about insufficient international monitoring.
As the conflict escalated, protests broke out in many cities in Europe and America, including Bern, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. An open letter in support of the APPO and the protests was also published on November 3rd . Signatories include Noam Chomsky , Eduardo Galeano , Michael Hardt , Naomi Klein , Michael Moore , Antonio Negri , Arundhati Roy , Starhawk and Howard Zinn .
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ taz, October 5, 2006 From teachers' strike to broad popular uprising
- ↑ Informe: Los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca-2004-2008 ( Spanish ) Ciudadania Express. October 2, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
- ^ La Jornada, August 12, 2006, Spanish ( Memento of November 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Der Standard, October 13, 2006 Uprising in Oaxaca - report from the south wind .
- ↑ Tagesschau, November 1, 2006 Oaxaca is far from pacified (tagesschau.de archive)
- ↑ El Universal, November 6, 2006 Colocan cuatro artefactos explosivos en el DF - El Universal - DF
- ^ Washington Post, October 7, 2006 Tensions Grow in Besieged Mexican City .
- ^ Indymedia: The "Other Campaign" in San Luis Potosi, November 16, 2006
- ↑ for example the Tagesschau Rebellion in the Mexican province (tagesschau.de-Archiv), the Standard Aufstand in Oaxaca - Südwind-Reportage , the BBC Violence flares in south Mexico or the New York Times Striking Teachers Agree to Tentative Pact to End Unrest in Oaxaca .
- ↑ http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/15940987.htm straight-line | url = http: //www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/15940987.htm | date = 2018-12 | archivebot = 2018-12-01 21:44:10 InternetArchiveBot}} (link not available)
- ↑ LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA ( Memento from July 7, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )