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Originally uploaded by carieellen.
10.30.2006
Photos from Today
Bear with me. Blogger Beta doesn't allow me to post groups of photos. So these will all come individually.
Venturing Out
Got up today to check out the news about last night. I was exhausted and went to bed around 7pm. When I woke up at 1am, I could still hear the helicopters. Last night, the protestors were battling the police, trying to keep them from advancing, so we stayed in the hotel for the night. This morning's news, an excerpt below, describes the events of last night. Some guests from the hotel went out this morning and bought a paper, walked down to the police lines. We all huddled around in the courtyard, reading the news, looking online to get a grip on the situation. Wasn't sure what to expect today. Tamara, my friend I made here at the hotel, is taking classes at the same place where I took classes in December...Amigos del Sol. I waited for her to return from morning classes, and we set out to the city. Finding anything open was a chore, but somehow I did manage to get us to a nearby mercado, and she was able to get food for cena at the hotel. Staying in a hotel with a common kitchen area is excellent. My room has a kitchenette, so I was able to cook up some tortillas, quesillo and vegetables last night. But Tamara had nothing. So we were quite pleased, well, ecstatic, really, that I remembered how to get us there. While there, I asked the vegetable vendor if he knew of any open mezcalarias. Can't be holed up in a hotel at night without Mezcal. He said his wife makes it, and if we wait, she will run to their home to get it. So she did, we bought it, and we are now very happy. :) The cool thing about all this....I managed to have this entire conversation, make this entire purchase, in spanish! I'm actually using my spanish a lot, and am feeling quite competent. The downside is that I think I'm at the point where people understand me, so if I make a mistake, they don't correct me. But I'm doing well and feeling really empowered. Thanks Eva!!!!
After that, we went to my favorite cafe, Cafe los Cuiles. They have the best tlayudas and wireless internet. When we arrived, all the doors were locked and closed. After knocking on the window, we finally got in. Service was abnormally slow...the owner said that most workers can't get to the cafe and they are running out of food because many of the highways are closed off. After tlayudas sola (large tortillas with vegetables and quesillo)and cervezas, we headed out again. We decided to be adventurous and head down to the police lines. The police have overtaken the zocalo and at each street they were present. Think of the zocalo as a square with many streets leading to it. At each point of entrance, a line of police stood. Protestors were burning tires right in front of them to irritate them. They were also yelling insults. We stood and watched for a while, but had to take off running when the police had had enough and fired something. I don't know what it was. It wasn't bullets, it wasn't tear gas or the water cannons, but a loud explosive noise. After that, we skirted the area once more. We walked for hours, really. At many intersections, fires were burning. Tires, garbage, what have you. Burning buses and cars. I'm not really sure what is going to happen. Everything sort of seems at a standstill. I haven't heard anything about future negotiations. Right now, everyone involved is in reaction mode. Not talking mode. For the last few months, you read lots of stories about APPO, and emerging leaders made statements. I've looked at tons of sites, and haven't really seen any statements about this use of force from those people. So I'm not sure what's going on. There have been several daily protests, marches, to speak out against this use of force. The whole thing is strange. In many ways, when I'm walking around the city, amongst everyone else, there's a small sense of normalcy. But when you look around at all the closed shops, you feel the lack of "the feel" of Oaxaca. There's no vendors on the street. There's no parades. Nothing. It's safe really. But it's not. It all depends on where you go. It's hard to explain. In no way, shape or form do I regret this trip. And I definitely still hope to return in the spring for an internship. But whether I will be able to meet with any of the agencies I planned to meet with, and whether I will be able to go on any Dia de Los Muertos excursions is up in the air. Hell, I don't even know if the airport will be open in a week for my return trip to the states. Before the arrival of the police, lots of people were doing nightly sit-ins, etc. I had hoped that I could sit down and chat with them about the situation and learn more about the oppression they are fighting. But, that's not possible now. Too much going on. It's not just a nightly manning of the barricades, business as usual. It's fighting for survival. With these new events, it's not possible for me to engage with people for these discussions. Anyway, it is all hard to explain. I just hope that this situation resolves with few lives ended, that some level of corruption is defeated, and that Oaxaca someday returns to its normal self....actually, I hope Oaxaca returns better....that this sacrifice will be worth it.
Report from NarcoNews
Police Forces Enter Oaxaca with Water Cannons and Gunshots
IMSS Nurse Jorge Alberto López Bernal, Teacher Fidel García, and an Unidentified Minor Die; Eight Are Injured
By Enrique Mendez, Blanche Petrich, Gustavo Castillo and Octavio Velez
La Jornada
October 30, 2006
OAXACA CITY, OCTOBER 9: The Federal Preventive Police (PDP) occupied this capital city and its historic center beginning at 2 in the afternoon, after breaking barricades with armored trucks that shot high-pressure streams of water, firing live bullets, launching dozens of rounds of teargas and clashing for more than two hours with residents of the San Jacinto Amilpas neighborhood and protester “brigades” from the Channel 9 barricade. IMSS nurse Jorge Alberto López Bernal, teacher Fidel García and an unidentified minor of approximately 14 years of age all died during the occupation.
Although the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca abandoned the central city square (the “zocalo”) at 7 p.m. and fell back to the state university campus, after a failed telephone negotiation with the Department of the Interior (which manages such domestic security operations), the persecution of citizens demanding the fall of Governor Ulises Ruiz extended throughout the night to nearby areas like Santa Rosa, Amor Park near Porfirio Díaz Bridge, and Valerio Trujano Street.
After the incursion, police officers raided individual homes and detained some 50 people, who – according to a statement by APPO spokesman Florentino López – were taken to Military Zone #28. Some were apprehended near the university and taken by helicopter to the military facility.
The Wounded
As this edition went to press, there were eight citizens reported injured plus an unknown number of police, although three were confirmed injured by burns from Molotov cocktails and improvised rockets. In the clash at Channel 9, one federal policeman took a direct hit from a Molotov, setting him on fire, and his comrades helped him to put out the flames. The police did not report which hospital their injured were taken to, nor the names of the injured.
In contrast to such clashes, the police units assigned to occupy the downtown area faced little resistance, but also repressed the people who shouted insults as they went in. At 4 p.m., three police squads deployed to two corners of the zocalo: first at Bustamante and Portal de las Flores streets, from where they launched two teargas bombs, while another advanced toward the corner of Porfirio Díaz and Independencia.
At 7 p.m., when the APPO’s security community asked 800 members to retreat to the university campus, the police started to relax, took off their helmets and used their shields as beds. They used the movement’s banners that demand Ulises Ruiz’ resignation as blankets.
In addition to the main plaza, the federal forces retook the mayor’s office, the Department of Finance and the municipal police offices, and are preparing to intervene to take back other town halls occupied by the APPO.
After the incursion, which occurred after four and a half months of failed operations by state authorities, the governor warned tonight that he would not submit his resignation because, he said, his mandate “has never been subject to negotiation.” His aides claimed he had followed the operation from an office in San Felipe del Agua, in the north of the city.
The advance of the four thousand police sent to Oaxaca to “recover” the state capital occurred simultaneously from the airport and from a provisional base on the Mexico-Cuacnopalan highway, near the border with the municipality of Etla.
At one o’clock in the afternoon, a half-hour after 12 soldiers in civilian clothes were handed over to a military commander on Símbolos Patrios street, where they had been held, more than 80 buses full of police left the airport – with two backhoes clearing the way by “sweeping” the barricades – advanced toward the center of the city.
The buses and trucks being used as barricades were practically lifted up in the air by the backhoes, and, to prevent the obstacles from being reinstalled, the PFP deployed themselves in lines 100 meters apart, any attempt at returning being dispersed with their riot shields.
Four federal police and army helicopters supported the advance of the troops, which included special intelligence and tactics groups. Before ordering its officers to advance, the police held eight reconnaissance flights.
On the other side of the valley, in Etla, hundreds of people gathered near the village of San Lorenzo, to which 500 PFP officers deployed armed with assault rifles, grenade launchers and truncheons. The citizens and APPO sympathizers renounced the presence of the federal forces, and four volunteers even symbolically spilled their own blood onto the ground. At nearly 2 p.m., the police were ordered to advance and, faced with resistance, used water cannons to disperse the people.
The police brought the water cannons to Etla on platform trailers. Although the cannons were purchased during the last days of the Carlos Salinas de Gortari administration (1988-1994), it was today, with 31 days left in President Vicente Fox’s term, that they were used for the first time. Tonight, two were destroyed in confrontations with residents.
Just as they did on Símbolos Patrios Street, the people waved banners and signs reading “Leave, and take URO with you!” (“URO” being the governor’s initials).
With the support of the water cannons, the police broke through the first three barricades and reached the San Pablo intersection, where they shot more water at the residents. Their they decided to turn right, to try to enter the city along the banks of Atoyac River, as the APPO supporters had crossed the Viguera, Brenamiel and Santa Rosa neighborhoods with trailer trucks and even an LP gas tank that they threatened to burn if the troops passed by them.
Upon surrounding the barricades, the police unit nevertheless found itself up against two more trailers near the train tracks, forcing it to turn back, look for a way out along the river, and move down a one-way street on the corner of Pinos and Ferrocarril, in the Pilar neighborhood.
Their advance from then on was even more difficult. The residents who opposed their incursion three stones (some even used slings), Molotov cocktails and shot rockets with homemade “bazookas.” The response, again and again, was the launching of teargas.
The federal forces were forced to pull back on two occasions and in that repeating advance and retreat they reached the bridge leading to the Technical University, where one of the fiercest clashes of the day occurred.
A few blocks from there, where the local Pepsi office is located, a teacher died whose identity is still unknown. Neighbors later recovered bullet shell-casings there. A minor was also killed in the brawl near the Tech bridge, whose name could not be confirmed, either.
Once the police passed the bridge, one column moved toward the south of the city, and another to the center. The first contingent headed toward Amor Park, on Valerio Trujano Bridge, where another confrontation occurred. Some accounts of this event claim that the citizenry took two police hostage, and that another had died. Radio Educación reported, just before 11 p.m., that a man identified as Isidro Ramírez and his son José Manuel were arrested in that park.
The other column reached the barricade at the Channel 9 state television station, where APPO members resisted for nearly two hours with rocks, rockets and Molotov cocktails. One of the latter set a policeman on fire, while during the teargas attack, one gas grenade hit nurse López Bernal full in the chest, and he died from the impact. A wake was held for him that night at the barricade.
Teacher Fidel García was stabbed to death in the Elsa area, although the state government claims he was murdered “in a quarrel.”
At four in the afternoon, the third unit on its way downtown retook the mayor’s office – located in the Plaza de la Danza, in front of La Soledad church – and installed itself in three of the access streets to the zócalo. Six buses burnt on Símbolos Patrios were still burning and, by 6 p.m., three more urban transport vehicles used for transporting police were burned with gasoline.
Due to daylight savings time it was getting dark by 6 p.m., and at that hour the APPO march that had left from the Juárez monument – near the highway leading town to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec – arrived downtown. Flavio Sosa, member of the APPO provisional leadership, asked the people to wait 10 minutes for the Interior Department to answer a request for dialog. “Don’t clash with the PFP. We are going to wait for a response, and if not we will take certain actions,” he said.
The ten minutes went by without a positive response and, at 7 p.m., a truck from the security committee passed by the zocalo to ask protesters to regroup at the state university campus.
At 11 p.m., finally, the trucks and water cannons reached the main plaza of Oaxaca City after a long and violent day, and despite the federal government having assured that the occupation of the state would be peaceful, and despite Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal having sworn to God that there would be no repression in the state.
When the trucks arrived in the zocalo a preventive police officer attacked La Joranada photographer Ezequiel Leyva, who the policeman threw to the ground and pinned with a boot on his right leg as he tried to confiscate his camera.
View from Alder's
100_0536
Originally uploaded by carieellen.
Before the events of last evening, I walked up into the hills where Alder and Ryan live. They cooked a great brunch for everyone. Here's a view of the city from their patio.
The PFP
The federal police overtook the zocalo yesterday afternoon using tear gas, force, bulldozers, etc. I'll post pics when get a chance. It's a mess. Oaxaca is burning: buses, tires, encampments. No one is really sure what the state of things are today. I'll be heading out with a friend I met at my hotel, later today. Should be able to figure out the state of things later. What I do know is that the helicopters are flying all day and all night. Hay mucho umo en el centro. There is a lot of smoke in the center. Everything is closed. Bancos, tiendas, ristorantes.... estan todos cerrado. Apparently, three more protest marches will begin at 11am, meeting in the zocalo. We may be starting all over again. I'll be in touch. Keep your fingers crossed for the people of Oaxaca.
10.28.2006
Quiet Oaxaca
I´m here! It is so good to be back in Oaxaca.
Unfortunately, the federal police arrived today too. President Vicente Fox has ordered the federal police into Oaxaca. Today. Apparently, it is because a settlement could not be reached and an American IndyMedia reporter, who wrote for Narco News, was shot and killed last night while covering the protests. The Oaxaca airport was shut to commercial traffic for several hours so the police could land in the city. When we did finally arrive, all of the tourists were huddled into a group, separated from the nationals. Then, the head of the airport warned that the situation here is getting worse and anyone who wanted to get right back on the plane and head back to D.F. could do so for free. All of us decided to stay in Oaxaca, except for one couple from Australia. Travelling for six weeks, they decided to just switch up their itenarary. The next hurdle was getting a shuttle to el centro. Each taxi and shuttle approached said ¨no way, we´re not going into the city.¨ Myself and a couple from San Francisco pooled our resources together and finally made it to the main road, hauling all of our luggage, where we were able to flag down a ride. Driving thru the city was strange. It is deserted and there are barricades everywhere. It looks nothing like it used to. However, I am happy, although wary, to be here and hope that this conflict ends peacefully. By the looks of things outside, Oaxaquenos have their doubts. Alder, her boyfriend, Ryan, and I had dinner at Los Cuiles, my favorite cafe. Normally open until 11pm, they closed their doors at 6pm. Everyone is going home. The city is quiet, save for random fireworks and barking, and everyone is staying off the streets to avoid conflict with the police. This normally bustling city is eerily still. The nightlife is nowhere to be seen. Even Alder and Ryan had to rush off to get home before dark, when the barricades go back up. I´m going to stay inside, watch movies and cross my fingers that the night passes without any conflict.
10.26.2006
Hostel en la calle de Independencia
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Originally uploaded by carieellen.
okay....I'm totally in denial about this packing thing....
For comparison, this is a pic of the view outside my room at the hostel I stayed at in May/June. See that open door? That's the tiny bathroom. This was taken during a rare time when there wasn't a line of twenty other women waiting to get in and use the two bathroom stalls and three showers that ran five minutes cold, two minutes hot. In the entreprenurial, or, depending on how you look at it, exploitive spirit, the owner saw opportunity in the encampments and was charging the striking teachers 2 pesos for a few sheets of toilet paper, 5 pesos for the usage of the bathroom/shower, and I don't know how much for tlayudas each night. As a guest, I was outnumbered when it came to usage of the facilities. Despite the frustration of not being able to use the facilities when you wanted, and the cold concrete floor, the hosts were muy agradable. But....oh, how I am looking forward to a private shower at Las Mariposas!
Las Mariposas, evening
Las Mariposas, evening
Originally uploaded by yaxchibonam.
As an amateur graphic designer....did i spell that right? anyway....as a wanna-be graphic designer, I find it really frustrating I have no time to change the template of this site. Çause it is not living up to my standards! Blogger: get some better templates! that's all. Must pack! Oh! ....and this is a pic (credit to flickr contact yaxchibonam) of the courtyard of Las Mariposas (the butterflies, en espanol). For $40 U.S. dollars a night, I have a studio with a kitchenette. Can't wait to settle in!
10.25.2006
GLOBALIZE
Cultivate virtue in yourself, and virtue will be real.
Cultivate virtue in the family, and virtue will flourish.
Cultivate virtue in the village, and virtue will spread.
Cultivate virtue in the nation, and virtue will be abundant.
Cultivate virtue in the world, and virtue will triumph everywhere
-LAO TSU
10.24.2006
Pics to Come!
Still figuring out how to post pictures. In the meantime, check out:
www.narconews.com
www.flickr.com/search/?q=oaxaca&w=all
www.mexicotoday.blogspot.com/2006/10/news-summary-for-october-20th.html
APPO: Work Stoppage
Today APPO(La Asemblea de Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca)called for the resignation of Governor Ruiz within 72 hours. In addition, there has been an announced work stoppage for Friday, the 27th. Usually, work stoppages cover everything from stores to taxis to hotels. APPO would like this to be international, as a sign of solidarity, but whether others join remains to be seen. I arrive on the afternoon of the 28th. My understanding is that the airport will be remain operational. But, getting a taxi or shuttle to the hotel will likely not occur if the stoppage happens. This is really unknown. I'll find out when I arrive. During the last work stoppage, some businesses did not participate....mainly, they told reporters, because they have already lost so much money due to the downturn in tourism since the popular struggle began. This, in my mind, is a hard one. It's a double-edged sword, I guess. Is it fair to ask people to continue to lose money for this struggle to continue? Are people getting hurt by this struggle? Is it worth the sacrifice, in order to achieve hopeful future prosperity? These questions are what Oaxaquenos are struggling with. They want a better future, but in the here and now, they are barely able to support their families. Many state this is why they are splintering off from the popular struggle. Mind you, this is what I gleam from non-mainstream news sites, local Oaxaquenos' blogs, and from my friends that live in Oaxaca. I hope that while I'm there I can learn even more the people's thoughts on this struggle. That's the news for today. Buenos noches!
10.21.2006
O, OAXACA
Hey there! My foremost reason for starting this blog is to share my upcoming travels to Oaxaca, Oaxaca, MX with you, my friends and loved ones. As you know, my first experience with Oaxaca was through a field-study with my university. On that trip, my eyes were opened to one of the most fascinating cities I've ever been. A mix of old and new, Oaxaca is a bustling, tourist destination, where tourists drop loads of money to buy carved Katrina dolls or hand-woven Zapotecan rugs....but it also hosts the highest population of indigenous persons(i.e., a rich culture that is ridiculously poor and oppressed) in Mexico. When I left Oaxaca in June, the teachers, los maestros, were in the midst of an annual teacher's strike. A twenty-or-so-odd, annual peaceful strike (well, more a protest, since it's during the summer months), that turned deadly when the federal police were ordered to enact a desalojo, an evacuation, of the teachers and their families by using tear gas and other weapons to clear out their encampments. Because of this action, the entire community has banded together to protest against the government, and, specifically, oust the governor, Ulises Ruiz. Whether more military action will occur is up in the air....the situation changes daily. But several people have lost their lives during this struggle to see fair wages, a better, stable economy....and to rid the government of whom they view as corrupt persons. The Oaxaca I knew from my last two trips this year is no longer. The peaceful, serene streets are now host to barricades and burning tires. The beautiful colonial buildings are now covered in graffiti and slogans. The busy markets and street-side shops are now struggling to keep their doors open. At the heart of this struggle is the desire to have freedom of will, to achieve a living wage, and to be treated humanely. I hope during this trip to do many things: see the Dia de Los Muertos fiestas, travel with my friend Alder into the indigenous communities while she does research, and spend time talking with protestors, learning more about their struggle, and learning more about what I can do to expand my passion, migrant rights. I leave for Oaxaca in 6 days. I hope to be able to share, through words and pictures, the struggle of the people of Oaxaca. Until then, Buenos noches, Amigos!
HOLA!
Ok, folks. Here's my new blog. I call it "new"because I have horrible follow-through, and I've started several of these, with lackluster results. Lackluster being a pretty word, I think, to describe my multiple sign-ups, multiple templates, and zero posts. But this time, I really am gonna try to get on board the blogging-thing. (all my friends sigh with relief that they will no longer receive rambling emails detailing all my daily thoughts in their IN Boxes) :) So, without further ado, TA-DA....Elena's Adventures!!!!
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