Debunking corporate spin from Oaxaca

In Oaxaca, rumors often abound that the more than 2000 barricades that guard the city will soon come down. But this latest piece of corporate propaganda goes beyond this and declares a split in the movement. We want to try to make it clear that this is not true.

Corporate media is often incapable of separating leaders from rank-and-file, and this article is a perfect example of this. Reuda did announce a return to classes, but this decision was not ratified by the base. The results of the statewide consulta will probably not be known until Saturday or even Sunday. The strike is not over until the teachers themselves say it is over.

Debunking corporate spin from Oaxaca
By an anarchist member of Pittsburgh Organizing Group currently in Oaxaca

In Oaxaca, rumors often abound that the more than 2000 barricades that guard the city will soon come down. But this latest piece of corporate propaganda goes beyond this and declares a split in the movement. We want to try to make it clear that this is not true.

Corporate media is often incapable of separating leaders from rank-and-file, and this article is a perfect example of this. Reuda did announce a return to classes, but this decision was not ratified by the base. The results of the statewide consulta will probably not be known until Saturday or even Sunday. The strike is not over until the teachers themselves say it is over.

Much of the anger over the move is coming from members of the movement who are not in Section 22, but there is also frustration from within the teacher's union over Rueda's unilateral announcement. This is the third "return to classes" that Rueda has announced, although the two previous times he said that it was dependent on the results of a consulta.

As for the end of the barricades, they seem to cite only Ruiz's prediction to back this up. Ruiz has been chased out of town (or underground) by the movement and we are supposed to think that he has any incite into the actions of the APPO? His predictable victory in the Senate has given the ousted-in-all-but-name governor too much confidence. From the ground in Oaxaca, I tell my comrades else this: the people at the barricades have no intension of ending them. The unlikely loss of the teachers would be a blow (and understandable considering what they are going through), but it will not stop the barricades, and it will not stop the movement.

Finally, as an indicator of popular opinion, the corporate press talks to a shop owner who is in business near the occupied zocalo. This man has probably lost a lot of business in the last several months because of the movement's inpact on tourism. Many businesses in the city depend on tourism for much of their income, but the service industry close to the zocalo most of all. Even in the poorest state in Mexico, the corporate press thinks that a middle-class businessman with economic interests in the end of the conflict is the best way to decide what "Oaxaca city residents" think.

In short, don't believe the hype. The APPO (and it's members) and the teachers need support. For more information on how you can support the movement in Oaxaca, you can contact POG at pog@mutualaid.org.