There is a call from the Zapatistas for demonstrations of solidarity with the people of Oaxaca on Friday, December 22, 2006:
This is why, the EZLN (Zapatistas) calls on all honest people, in Mexico and the world, to initiate, starting now, continual actions of solidarity and support to the Oaxacan people, with the following demands:
For the living reappearance of the disappeared, for the freedom of the detained, for the exit of Ulises Ruiz and the federal forces from Oaxaca, for the punishment of those guilty of torture, rape and murder.
We call to those in this international campaign to tell, in all forms and in all places possible, what has occurred and what is occurring in Oaxaca, everyone in their way, time and place.
We call for these actions to come together in a worldwide mobilization for Oaxaca on December 22, 2006.
The people of Oaxaca are not alone.
More below the fold...
Solidarity, of course, might mean demonstrations, and there are many of these across the world, or it might mean blogging or something else that feels appropriate.
The challenge here, as brownfeminpower points out, is recognizing the connection between us and events in Oaxaca
In some way, all of us have experienced the violence that Mexico is perpetrating against the people of Oaxaca, whether it be the sexual abuse of female prisoners, extreme poverty of school children, the disappearances of loved ones, random murders of neighbors, extreme neighborhood police presence, anti-Union targeting–we’ve just experienced it at the hands of the U.S. government.
Spread the word–let your readers know that what is happening in Oaxaca is connected to what is happening here in the U.S. And let the people of Oaxaca know that the world is watching, and the world cares.
Can we perceive the connections between the US and Oaxaca? Can we understand them? Can we understand how neo liberal US policy leads to repressive government actions in Mexico, how US policy for decades has buttressed the oppression and poverty of people in Mexico, how it drives them from their homes, how it pushes them into becoming a disenfranchised underclass in the US? Can we understand the role of oil in the history of the US and Mexico? Can we see how US Latin America policy is involved in the events in Oaxaca?
I am not willing to forget events in Oaxaca. I'm not willing to pass them off as isolated events, shrouded by distance and a foreign language, in a remote country in which US influence is attenuated. I'm not willing to ignore what goes on in our neighborhood.
I want to know the details about how 9 people were killed during the Oaxaca demonstrations and who is responsible. I still want the details about those arrested or disappeared and their treatment. I want those incarcerated to be released and those who are disappeared to be returned alive.
There need to be answers about these events, and tomorrow's events might be a simple step toward insuring that there are.
Please do what you can to remember and support the people of Oaxaca!