By chris thomas

Oaxaca. The name, for many, has only recently emerged from the mountains of southern Mexico after brutal state repression against the striking teachers of Section XXII of the National Educational Workers Union (SNTE , by its spanish initials) on June 14th of this year triggered massive a social mobilization that is testing the social and political fabric of Mexican society. Its capital, Oaxaca City, has been occupied since the strike began on May 22nd, and since the emergence of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO , by its spanish initials) the number of blockades has only increased as strikers currently occupy the nearly 2,000 blockades in the city's streets. But how is it that the APPO - made up of some 400 social organizations, collectives, and individuals - formed so spontaneously in the wake of the repression on June 14th? The answer goes further back than May 22nd of this year, and lays both in the history of the teacher's movement, and the growing contradictions in Oaxacan and Mexican society.
Despite its abundant natural resources, beautiful beaches, and booming tourist industry, Oaxaca is the second poorest state in Mexico - Chiapas being the poorest - with more than 73% of its population living in extreme poverty, unable to cover basic dietary needs. One of the most culturally diverse states in Mexico, Oaxaca is home to 16 different indigenous groups, 38% of its 3.5 million inhabitants identify as native speakers and, as is the case throughout the Americas, the majority of whom are disproportionately burdened with poverty. Far from an anomaly, the antagonisms in Oaxaca are but a microcosm of those lived throughout Mexico, and in understanding the current situation it is imperative that they be addressed.
While poverty continues to increase, Oaxaca remains in the sights of many multinationals and the federal government - its rich natural resources earmarked for exploitation, and the coast for tourism and trade. These contradictions are not new to Oaxaca, and its dismal human rights record reveals they have historically been mediated - and likely exacerbated - by the state government's use of force in fierce repression against social movements. By looking at the history of the teachers' movement and the track record of current governor, Ulises Ruíz (whose resignation is the primary demand of the teachers' movement and APPO alike), these contradictions, along with their damning implications in the national political context, can be better understood.

Section XXII of the SNTE has a reputation of being one of the most combative and politically involved groups within the SNTE, and its history goes back more than a quarter century. In May 1980, the movement officially emerged as the Democratic Teachers' Movement, to contest the concentration of powers on the state and national levels in the hands of the autocratic "Revolutionary Vanguard" that controlled the union for nearly two decades. The union's vertical structure, along with its allegiances to the ruling PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) severely limited the direction of the union's activities and the participation of its bases. As the movement developed, it espoused a platform of 20 demands, including: term-limits for union leaders, freedom of political association, more democratic participation, freedom from state political control, increased autonomy from the national directorate, expanded alliances with farmers’ and workers’ movements, more accountability within the leadership including the right to depose of corrupt or autocratic leaders (this will become important in the present context), among others. Rather than initiatives pushed solely by the national directorate and its representatives in the state chapters, the movement pushed for the democratization of the union's practices and the increased involvement of local and regional coordinators in matters of the State Assembly. More active participation of the bases in the union's activities would ensure that its direction was more consistent with the needs of its members, and posed a threat to the corruption and gangsterism that had previously dominated union leadership and vision.
These initial attempts to unseat the ruling "Revolutionary Vanguard" were met with fierce resistance at both state and federal levels, including refusal to convene the union's State Congress necessary in order to elect the leaders of the Democratic Teacher's Movement. It is important to keep in mind that the implications of this struggle for the democratization of the state union were not lost on government functionaries, who would often benefit both financially and politically from their close ties to union leaders. Despite the popular mobilizations called by the Teachers' Movement, the government continued its support of the "Revolutionary Vanguard", failing to intervene on the Movement's behalf out of its respect of the "autonomy and independence of unions." Nevertheless, the Teachers' Movement, backed on multiple occasions by massive popular support, continued its struggle for the democratization of the union, and contributed greatly to the 1989 fall of the perennial leader Carlos Jongitud Barrios (who was later replaced by PRIista Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, who is currently implicated in this summer's presidential electoral fraud).
Although Section XXII has managed to bring about a more democratic participation in the state-local, it has continued to run up against the union's national leadership, which has seen no such reforms. On the state level, however, the incorporation of its bases into the direction and vision has brought in the vast experiences of its diverse membership - from the middle class urban teachers to the campesino and indigenous teachers and educational promoters - all of whom have important and very distinct experiences in the social struggles of the past half-century. Their petitions have always had a characteristically political nature, in addition to their economic demands, and have gone on strike annually demanding that the needs of one of Mexico's poorest educational systems be met.
There was little surprise, then, when the teachers of Section XXII first took the streets this past May 22nd with a long list of demands for the government. Perhaps more surprising is the degree to which the government failed to take the demands seriously, their offer, which was scarcely 10% of the 1.4 billion pesos demanded (roughly 14 million dollars, although it is said that they would have accepted half that amount), was promptly rejected. Rather than negotiate, the state decided to intervene with a massive state police operative, violently removing the teachers from the occupied historic center of the city with dogs, helicopters, tear gas and firearms. Shortly thereafter, the teachers regrouped and took back the city's center from the police, but not before the violence triggered a massive public outcry out of which the APPO was born. Such use of force has become more characteristic in recent years, and especially so since current governor Ulises Ruíz Ortíz came to power in 2004. Ruíz, who is now at the center of the debate, with both Section XXII and the APPO's primary demands being his resignation, has quickly gained the scorn of most social organizations in Oaxaca with his 'police over politics' approach to their petitions.

As previously mentioned, the state government of Oaxaca has consistently resorted to the repression and criminalization of social movements in order to mediate its growing contradictions, that is the continued exploitation of its resources by the few at the expense of the majority of the population. This repression has become more overt in the past decade since the emergence of the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR , by its spanish initials) in 1996, providing a convenient pretext to come down on any group that can be accused, however falsely, of being linked with the guerilla. Another important aspect of these repressive regimes is their ability to maintain power in spite of a marked lack of popular support - most commonly through electoral fraud, which the PRI is notorious for. In said fashion, Ulises Ruíz Ortiz came to power in 2004 in a highly disputed election that saw an abstention rate approaching 60%, and in which he claimed victory by a margin of 300 votes. Despite this questionable margin, his victory was ratified a mere 15 days later by a Federal Tribunal with no shortage of links to Ruíz's party, the PRI.
Despite his highly questionable rise to power, he wasted no time continuing the legacy of repression left by his predecessor, PRIista José Murat Casab, and even before his official inauguration approved the continued repression of workers from Oaxacan newspaper Noticias which had begun under Murat. Not coincidentally, the paper had refused its allegiance to (read: control by) the dominant PRI party, and isn't alone among Oaxacan journalists that have challenged the PRI's hegemony and suffered subsequent repression. Such control of information has also played a large part in the current conflict with Section XXII and the APPO, whose radio installations, imperative for their organizing, have been repeatedly targeted.
Needless to say, the continued and growing electoral fraud and authoritarian rule, pervasive in localities throughout the state, have not been met without resistance. Social movements throughout the state, standing up to the imposition of corrupt and illegitimate politicians, have taken municipal palaces and set up local governing councils to take their place. Among the most visible of these movements is the civil resistance movement in San Blas Atempa, where government offices have been occupied and run by the People's Council since January 1st, 2005, when the people rose up against the imposition of a mayor hand-picked by Agustina Acevedo Gutierrez (San Blas political boss of more than a decade). The movement, despite repeated and violent confrontations with police and the 72 warrants targeting its leaders, is only one of many throughout the state organizing and agitating for broader popular participation in social and political life. Raúl Gática of the Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca (CIPO , in its spanish initials), currently in exile and one of hundreds of social agitators with arrest warrants hanging over their heads, explains that Ruíz's repression against social movements is well calculated. Since these movements stimulate broader political participation and consciousness, they are specifically targeted for repression in order to break them apart from the inside so that projects such as the PPP (Plan Puebla Panamá) can be implemented without organized resistance from the affected communities. In addition to the hundreds of warrants and political prisoners, the number of political assassinations in Ruíz's 22 months in office has already climbed to almost 40 - in reality this number is likely much higher - supporting claims by social organizations of brutal state repression.

As previously mentioned, the Teachers' Movement has always enjoyed broad popular support through its 26 years of struggle, and May 22nd of this year was no different. Despite a state-sponsored smear campaign against the striking teachers including commercials with children saying, Maestros al salón, no al plantón (teachers to the classroom, not to the blockade), the massive support in the wake of June 14th's repression proved that they maintained widespread support throughout the state and the nation. The ultimate failure of repressive state forces to lift the blockade, rather than breaking apart the movement, poured gasoline on the fire instead, sparking the formation of the APPO and a wave of national support supporting the calls of Section XXII and the APPO for Ruíz's renunciation.
The reasons for such tremendous popular support for Section XXII, and subsequently the APPO, are not hard to see. From the beginning, the Teachers' Movement has struggled for more democratic participation within the union, and demanded that its leaders be accountable to their base - a struggle identical to that of broader social movements seeking new forms of politics and governance. But in Oaxaca, as with most of Mexico, struggle doesn't come without repression and although federal forces have yet to enter the city, there has nevertheless been a steady campaign of violence, infiltration and disinformation. Undercover police and paramilitary groups have been responsible for provoking violence to instill an atmosphere of fear, targeting leaders (more than 70 now have warrants over their heads), communications systems and leading to the murders social actors involved in the movement. The transmitters for Radio Plantón, the main voice of the APPO, were destroyed during the police operation on June 14th. After taking the studios of Radio Universidad (a local university radio station), there have been two more attacks, one a drive-by with masked men wielding AK-47's, and later had its transmitters damaged by a hired civilian, paid 500 pesos to throw corrosive acid on the transmitters. Yet despite the very sudden nature of the APPO's formation and continued government repression, their resistance and increasingly organized structure is sending shock waves throughout the nation.
Each wave of repression has been met by a parallel one of increased resistance and organization. On August 22nd, another police operation (operación de limpieza ) saw nearly 400 elements patrolling the streets trying to provoke violent confrontations at the blockades; the APPO quickly responded by calling for more barricades to be installed to prevent the circulation of these mercenary groups. These have been relatively effective in preventing such continued provocations from escalating, and the number of barricades currently in the city is said to be approaching 2,000. Additional organizing has included the creation of cleaning brigades (for lack of public sanitation services) as well as increased security measures and discussions of how to deal with captured perpetrators. In fact, the only reason that popular jails have not been created is to avoid a pretext for federal military intervention - instead many perpetrators have been assigned to cleaning duties in the city. The APPO has put out a call for popular assemblies to be created in each of the 570 municipalities in Oaxaca, and similar assemblies are springing up in Michoacán, Guerrero, and other states in Mexico. Currently, at least 22 municipal palaces remain occupied in Oaxaca in actions carried out by organized communities identifying with the APPO.
In the midst of this campaign of repression, 13 members of Section XXII and 13 members of the APPO have been at the negotiation table with Carlos Abascal, Secretary of the Interior. These negotiations, however, continue to reach an impasse at Section XXII and APPO's insistence on, and the federal government's refusal to, the removal of Ruíz from power (according to the constitution, the federal government can intervene in such state matters if it deems the state 'ungovernable'). In recent weeks, as feigned negotiations continue, federal police and military have continued arriving in the state, said to have a combined presence of more than 10,000 units. Violence, too, has been escalating with more provocations at the barricades, bombs being thrown at banks, and other such incidents - the APPO has claimed repeatedly that it is not involved in these actions nor does it have links to any armed guerilla groups. These incidents, according to its spokespeople, have been carried out by undercovers and mercenaries to from the APPO and provide a pretext for federal intervention.

Despite continued promises from Section XXII and the APPO that the blockade would be lifted as soon as Ruíz was removed from power, the stalemate continues and tensions continue to rise. Military helicopters circle the city, and the naval ship Usumacinta has recently arrived on the coast of Oaxaca with more soldiers to reinforce the federal forces who have already arrived. It is claimed that new guerilla movements have appeared, one of whom, the Armed Revolutionary Organization of the People of Oaxaca (ORAPO , by its spanish initials) claimed responsibility for recent bomb attacks against 3 banks in Oaxaca City - such claims have been dismissed by APPO spokespeople as further attempts to justify military intervention. Amidst all of the confusion one thing is clear, however, that as long as state repression continues and Ruíz remains in power, tensions will continue to rise and a peaceful solution will become less and less plausible. These growing tensions in Oaxaca are spreading to other parts of Mexico, and seem to beg the question, if Ruíz's renunciation is the only demand, why is his removal not being considered by the federal government?
To begin, Oaxaca's contradictions are Mexico's contradictions. The political elite that have enjoyed free reign in Oaxaca, profiting from tourist and development projects at the expense of the majority of the population, are of the same cut as those few who wield political and economic power in other states and at the federal level. It is in the poorest states that these contradictions are particularly stark, and for that reason more difficult to contain. Oaxaca happens to be the second poorest state in all of Mexico, despite its wealth of culture and natural resources, and so it is of little surprise that these antagonistic forces come to a head here. Keep in mind that the poorest state in Mexico, Chiapas, witnessed the Zapatista uprising in 1994, as well as the continued presence and agitation of the EZLN and many other militant social organizations. It is important to realize, however, that these same antagonisms are playing out on the local, state, and federal level throughout all of Mexico.
The difference between electoral fraud in San Blas Atempa, the state of Oaxaca, and the federal presidential elections, in other words, is merely one of scope. As Norberto Bobbio points out, "a society becomes ungovernable when the demands of civil society continue growing without a parallel rise in the government's ability to address these demands" and that "such ungovernability provokes a crisis of legitimacy." It has been demonstrated clearly that Oaxaca, whose capital has been occupied since May 22nd, along with municipal palaces and radio stations throughout the state, is currently in such a state. The parallel between the movement in Oaxaca and the recent mobilizations and blockades in Mexico City led by the 'officially' defeated presidential candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, from the left-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (or PRD , in its spanish initials) are not lost on government officials. High ranking officials from the National Action Party (PAN , in its spanish initials) - of current president Vicente Fox, and newly 'elected' Felipe Calderón - and Ruíz's PRI have allowed that "if Ruíz is run out of office, Calderón will be next."
Attention is focused on Oaxaca today much as it was in Chiapas 12 years ago, but both cases indicate a crisis that extends far beyond the limits of their state borders. Federal elections have experienced a steady decline in participation, with abstentions climbing from 22% in 1994 to 36% in 2000, and peaking in this summer's elections with 41.5% of the population neglecting to participate in the electoral process. Twelve years after NAFTA , and with pending free-trade acts and development projects such as the FTAA and the PPP , there are now more millionaires in Mexico - yet poverty rates have continued to rise. As faith in the political class continues to plummet, organized opposition to it has steadily gained speed: Section XXII and the APPO in Oaxaca, López Obrador's national movement to name him 'legitimate' president of the republic, the Zapatistas' non-electoral initiative to organize the Mexican left around an anti-capitalist banner, the continued resistance of the people of San Salvador Atenco towards development projects that steal their land out from under them - the list goes on.
Most recently the APPO has decided to hold a meeting in November to determine its political vision and future, and regardless of what comes of the current situation, the seeds of resistance continue to be planted. As military helicopters continue circling the city and federal forces continue to arrive in Oaxaca, it seems only a matter of time before it all comes to a head. Federal repression could spark social uprisings throughout the nation, but if Ruíz is taken from power, a victory for Section XXII and the APPO, it too could provoke similar movements to take power back into the hands of the people.

SNTE, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Educativos
APPO, Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca
PRI, Partido Revolucionario Institucional
EPR, Ejército Popular Revolucionario
Ayuntamiento Popular
CIPO, Consejo Indígena Popular de Oaxaca
Graffiti from Oaxaca City: "Ejérsito (army) out of Oaxaca" (misspelled). Later written underneath, "Young man, ejército (army) is written with a 'C'".
clean-up operation
ORAPO, Organización Revolucionaria Armada del Pueblo de Oaxaca
EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional
PRD, Partido de la Revolución Democrática
PAN, Partido de Acción Nacional
NAFTA, North American Free Trade Agreement
FTAA, Free Trade Area of the Americas
PPP, Plan Puebla Panamá