Now that I have the attention of the anti-Chavezistas, could they spare some concern for a real Latin American human rights issue? And you there, folks who want to dance of Pinochet's ashes, debate Allende, and remember Victor Jara, could you spare a minute to look at Oaxaca?
It's not over. Not by a long shot. Yes, the barricades are gone. Yes, the graffiti have been whitewashed. True, the police stand around the zocalo with the automatic weapons. But I'm not alone in wondering what had happened to the 8 people who were killed, and to the hundreds who were injured, and arrested or disappeared during almost six months of protest in Oaxaca. To the contrary, APPO and the rest of the movement in Oaxaca is keeping the flame of resistance alive, and we should be supporting them. More below the fold.
There was a huge mega march in Oaxaca this past Sunday. These photos tell it all. Please look carefully at these photos. They tell us that those like Flavio Sosa, who are imprisoned hundred of miles from Oaxaca are not forgotten. They tell us that there need to be answers about those who have been disappeared or injured or killed. In sum, they tell us that despite all that has happened, the resistance remains alive in Oaxaca.
In fact, the news seems to say that support for APPO is growing:
A leader of Mexico's largest leftist party led thousands of protesters in a march to the center of this historic city on Sunday, demanding the resignation of the state governor and the withdrawal of thousands of federal police. <snip>
Leonel Cota, president of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party or PRD, marched at the front of the demonstration alongside his party's lawmakers and Oaxacan protest leaders.
The PRD has become increasingly involved in the Oaxaca conflict after keeping its distance for months. Last week party leaders took up the cause of protest leader Flavio Sosa, who was arrested in Mexico City, calling him the first political prisoner of recently sworn-in President Felipe Calderon
The PRD claims Calderon's victory over its candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in July was fraudulent and refuses to recognize him as president.
The movement in Oaxaca needs and deserves out support and attention. My hope remains that we'll give it, beginning with continuing to follow the story.