THE ROAD FROM OAXACA

[Col. Writ. 11/9/06]
Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal

Several weeks ago, a long, dusty trail of thousands winded their way from the southern city of Oaxaca, to the capital of Mexico City, some 800 kilometers (or over 250 miles) to support democracy, and demand the removal of the governor, who got there through a stolen, and deeply corrupt election.

The marchers, a motley crew of teachers, students, farmers, vendors, and the like, made their tortuous way over mountain and valleys, through slashing rains, blistering heat, and numbing cold, marching for 19 days, to take their complaints to the seat of government.

The group, calling itself the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (or APPO, the Spanish acronym for Asemblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca), has rocked Mexico with its strong, principled insistence that elections be truly fair and free of corruption, and that the will of the People be heard.

I've actually been reading about the events in Oaxaca for several weeks, and every time I read about them, I thought of Americans, who quietly accepted the corrupt elections of 2000, and of 2004, like lambs being led to shishkabobs.

For, the stolen elections of 2000 in Florida, and later 2004 in Ohio, have done unprecedented damage to the very notion of democracy, and shattered the faith of millions in the electoral process.

The people of Oaxaca, braving not just the natural elements, but the political ones as well, indeed, the terrorism of the 'instruments of the state' (police and military violence), have proven by their march and protests that true democracy is deeply important to the people.

The APPO, which has sparked resistance throughout Mexico City, and in other parts of the country, has created a political crisis in the nation, by its fervent demand for the removal of Oaxaca governor, Ulises Ruiz, and the restoration of democracy.

The crisis arises from the fact that many of the country's political parties are doing their damnedest to silence, derail, or intimidate the people; for if they are successful (they fear) there will be two, three, a dozen Oaxacas all across the country.

Oaxaca, although the poorest state in Mexico, and one with the largest indigenous population, is inspiring people far and beyond its southern Mexican borders.

The Oaxaca resistance was born in repression, when Governor Ruiz ordered the police assault on the striking Oaxaca teachers' union in June. The teachers fought back, and within days, over 300,000 people gathered in a mass march to support the union. Out of that massive outpouring of support came the APPO, the Popular Assembly. The continuing crisis in Mexico may push social forces to join the radicalizing efforts of the APPO, or may open the door to the threatened terror of the 'instruments of the state.' To be frank, what began in repression may indeed end in more repression; but that will not, nor could truly be the end.

That's because the forces that gave rise to APPO are still rumbling barely beneath the surface, ready to emerge in another state, where workers and the poor are struggling to resist the ravenous forces of globalism.

When the poor are treated poorly, when workers are poorly paid, the conditions for resistance are already present.

And while the temptation of the State to use its brutal 'instruments' may be strong, it's also very possible that it may spark more resistance, deeper and broader.

Oaxaca is spreading like the wind, and the examples of popular and indigenous resistance from Mexico, like the APPO, and the Zapatistas, and various struggles from throughout Latin America, are spreading also.

The people of Oaxaca should be supported, not just with words, but with similar organizing against flawed and corrupt elections, from folks all over the world.

It should begin with the people of the U.S.

Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal


Mumia Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner in the United States on death row. For more information on Mumia's case, check out the following web sites:

Yet Another Witness Comes Forward and Refutes The Frame-Up Of Mumia Abu-Jamal!
http://www.freemumia.com/policecoercion.html

Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
http://www.laboractionmumia.org/

International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
http://www.mumia.org/freedom.now/

Free Mumia Coalition, NYC
http://www.freemumia.com/

Socialist Action Free Mumia Site
http://www.freemumia.org

Chicago Committe To Free Mumia Abu_Jamal
http://www.chicagofreemumia.org/

Liberation News
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news

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Where Murderers Still Stalk the Streets, Protected by the Police

By ROCHELLE GAUSE

Running as fast as I can, surrounded by hundreds of others, I can hear screams behind me. Glancing back, through the darkness of night I can only differentiate between the masses running with me and the federal police by the light reflecting off their shields and face masks. They are still advancing. A hand pushes my left shoulder and I realize there are medics behind me trying to run from the police while carrying a man on a stretcher clasping a bloody cloth to his head. The medics are trying to reach the makeshift clinic that the movement set up in a building just a few feet ahead. I continue to run block after block as more people pour in from side streets. The police are obviously advancing on multiple streets simultaneously. Panic is starting to set in. Rushing through my mind are the stories I have listened too over an over in the past two weeks while interviewing those who have suffered human rights violations at the hands of the federal police; the stories of sexual assault, of beatings, of psychological torture, of death threats. A few men duck in to an alley, I follow unsure if I am escaping the danger or running directly into it. A woman and her daughter, who recognize me from the internet cafe, motion us into their home. Inside I lean against the wall and slide to the floor. Immediately I think of those who were unable to find a place to hide, of those who could not run, people of all ages had been in the streets all day. I hear gunshots.


7th Mega March Turned Confrontation

Saturday, November 25th, had begun with the 7th Megamarch. Thousands had marched from the outskirts of Santa María Coyotepec to the Oaxaca City center. It was yet another incredible showing of support for the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). The march was calling for the removal of both the corrupt governor of Oaxaca, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, and the Federal Preventative Police (PFP) who have been in Oaxaca for almost a month now. The demonstrators were a highly diverse group, including people of all ages, from various indigenous groups, unions, social organizations and rural villages. People gathered along the streets applauding as the march passed. Many handed out tangerines, water and sandwiches to the crowd.

When they arrived in the city the plan was to encircle the center square for 48 hours. This is the square where striking teachers from all over the state of Oaxaca created an encampment which led to the beginning of the movement over 6 months ago. The federal police have occupied it since they entered Oaxaca on October 29th. As the people began the circle, the police in full riot gear, refined their formation at each of the entrances backed by a police officer armed with live ammunition on top of an armoured vehicle. Although APPO had made it clear that the plan was to remain completely non-violent, within half an hour street battles broke out between the movement and the police in at least two of the entrances. Some members of the movement, armed with rocks, Molotov cocktails and fireworks, faced off with the police who used an incredible amount of tear gas, rocks and marbles shot with slingshots. Also, according to LIMEDDH, the Mexican League in Defense of Human Rights, state government backed paramilitaries were seen on the roofs of buildings helping to provoke the confrontations. Earlier in the day the radio station affiliated with Ulises political party (Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI) had called for people to dump boiling water and acid on the demonstrators.


Federal Police Advance

After awhile the police pushed the people north up the hill, at one point taking over the Santo Domingo plaza where the movement has been centered since the police forced them out of the main square. The police continued to fire teargas into the crowd and burnt the tarps and other belongings of the movement and vendors in the Santo Domingo plaza. The report from APPO's most recent Constitutive Congress were scattered all over the ground. During this time plain clothed police were detaining people in the streets. After the police retreated back to the main square, many movement members regrouped in Santo Domingo as night was falling.

Suddenly the police advanced over eight blocks forcing the crowd to continue running north of the main square. Paramilitary groups also arrived on the scene shooting into the crowd as people ran for their lives. Movement members attempted to set up barricades, I witnessed many women scrambling to gather rocks for defense, breaking stones off the fancy plazas were Ulises has squandered the states money. Cars and government buildings were lit on fire. Throughout the next few hours federal police and plain clothed gunmen continued to attack members of the movement who had taken cover in various locations. Three movement members were killed, 39 disappeared, 149 detained, and over 140 injured (20 with live ammunition), not including the hundred people the medics assisted who were overwhelmed by the gas and pepper spray. And this is just on November 25th.

The people of Oaxaca who are facing this fate are guilty of the crime of demanding justice and trying to organize a democratic alternative to the corrupt and repressive leadership that governs their state. The Mexican federal government's response, supposedly to restore order, has instead attempted to maintain the exploitive status quo through further repression and with no regard for the true root causes of this conflict, the extreme poverty and unjust government policies that benefit a few at the cost of the majority. According to Yessica Sanchez of LIMMEDH, "It is clear that the PFP are not interested in instilling peace, what they come to do is intimidate and try to criminalize the social movement in Oaxaca." If the federal police had come to Oaxaca with the true intention of restoring order, those who have committed the violence in the last 6 months of the struggle would be brought to justice. Nowhere are movement members safe from the threat of armed attack. Members of the movement have been killed while handing out coffee to late night barricades, while participating in a march, or while leaving a neighborhood APPO meeting. Their murderers still walk the streets, now with the added protection and assistance of the PFP.


Ulises Claims Victory

On the morning after the mass repression, standing in the very spot where hundreds had run for their lives less than 18 hours before, Governor Ulises claimed victory. It had been months since he had been able to show his face in the city. As helicopters flew overhead, Governor Ulises, surrounded by plain clothed police, explained that now Oaxaca belongs to the true Oaxaqueños. "We who love Oaxaca, its history and its traditions feel profoundly offended and attacked by the vandals' actions on Saturday. The responsible are being arrested and should be held accountable for their actions in the face of justice. Today with the help of the PFP and the state forces we have recuperated the heart of Oaxaca for the Oaxaqueños and for all Mexicans." For hours prior to this press spectacle workers had cleaned up the remains of the police repression, they has picked up the tear gas canisters, the graffiti and stencils had been painted over. A large water truck has sprayed away the dried blood and burnt remains of the movement from the square.

Since November 25th the federal police have surrounded the Santo Domingo plaza and most large parks in the city, they are routinely patrolling the streets of Oaxaca. Reports of people being taken out of their homes or picked up off the streets by armed gunmen are being called in to Radio Universidad regularly. The station has once again called for support in fear that the police will manage to ignore the autonomous nature of the university and destroy the station, the primary means of communication remaining for the movement. Students of the College of Medicine at the Benito Juárez Autonomous University organized a press conference to share their testimonies of witnessing municipal police kill three demonstrators during Saturday's repression, taking their bodies with them. During the press conference armed gunmen fired into the building and took one student. There were 60 more detentions on November 27th. The PRI radio station has called for the burning of EDUCA offices, a well respected social organization that operates throughout the state. The station has also been reading on the air the addresses where suspected movement members and internationals are hiding. Over 140 of the movement members detained by the police have been transported far from their families, out of the state of Oaxaca, to federal prison.

Those in power continue to try to suppress this movement with intimidation, with violence, with murder because change is in motion. According to Cesar Chavez, "once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours." On November 10th-12th, the movement held a Constitutive Congress where they elected 220 representatives from all seven regions, formalizing the popular governance structure of APPO. 3000 people attended the forum further defining their program of struggle and creating a true bottom up alternative to the corrupt political parties that run the state. I still fear for the people, how much suffering they will have to face. On November 20th there were an incredible number of actions worldwide in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca but there needs to be an even larger outcry. Please consider getting involved in solidarity actions. This is not simply to support the people of Oaxaca achieve self determination and social justice. They are providing a model for the rest of Mexico to also stand up in the face of poverty estimated at over 50 percent of the population, of losing their land and resources to foreign corporations, of having to flee to the US illegally to be able to provide for their families.

On the national level, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador held his own swearing in ceremony on November 20th as the "legitimate president" of Mexico in front of hundreds of thousands of supporters. Two days prior he told his supporters "Those neo-fascist reactionaries better not think they'll have room to maneuver, we're going to keep them on a short leash." Massive civil disobedience is planned for December 1st, the date of the inauguration ceremony for Felipe Calderon, who "won" the presidential election by less than one percentage point with clear evidence of fraud. The trend of electing leftist leadership continues in Latin America, confronting the injustice of neoliberal policies and beginning to unravel the exploitive policies that have left the majority of their population in immense poverty. At the same time, President Bush has quietly dropped the ban on training the militaries of Latin America. As our country readies itself to carry on our legacy of genocide to prevent the much needed changes the people are demanding, we must become active. Not only for the people of Oaxaca, or Mexico, or Latin America but for the global struggle that is taking root.

Rochelle Gause lives in Olympia, Washington. She can be reached at rochelle@riseup.net

Mexican police clear final barricade in Oaxaca, protesters turn over radio station

OAXACA, Mexico

Authorities removed the last significant barricade erected by leftist protesters as part of their six-month takeover of Oaxaca City on Wednesday, and activists — some of them weeping — returned a seized radio station to university officials.

The loss of Radio University — which had served as the movement's nerve center, alerting protesters to police movements — and the removal of a barricade made of hijacked, burned-out vehicles just outside the campus' walls, appeared to be a huge setback for the once-powerful protest movement.

For the first time in months, police appeared to control this entire colonial city in southern Mexico, popular among tourists for its picturesque, arch-ringed main square.

A group of about 20 protesters, some of whom wept while others shouted slogans, met with officials of the state's public university to turn the equipment and offices of Radio University back over to academic personnel.

Earlier in the day, about 200 government employees used bulldozers and dump trucks to cart off the burned-out husks of 22 buses and cars from an intersection where supporters of the leftist Oaxaca People's Assembly had piled them up to block traffic.

The barricade had been the scene of confrontations between demonstrators and police in the weeks after federal officers entered the city on Oct. 29 to retake the city's center.

Police control over other areas of the city was tenuous or spotty for much of November, but authorities clamped down after violent demonstrations last weekend that resulted in more than 150 arrests, 43 injuries and the burning of vehicles and buildings.

Protest leaders — including some of the amateur announcers who had used Radio University to issue calls for protests, identify the movement's enemies and broadcast political diatribes — were reportedly holed up at a church to avoid arrest.

The protests began in late May as a strike by teachers seeking higher pay, and quickly exploded into a broad movement. The teachers later accepted pay raises and returned to work, but their leftist allies continued to demand the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, whom they accuse of violence and corruption.

The protests paralyzed the city for six months and scared away tourism, the city's economic lifeblood. Following an attempt by Ruiz's government to dislodge them in June, strikers and protesters seized several private radio and television stations, but later abandoned all but Radio University.

Oaxaca: APPO leaders "disappeared"

by Bill Weinberg
From Agencia Proceso (APRO), Nov. 25 via Chiapas95 (our translation):

OAXACA -- The Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) has announced the "forced disappearance" of the movement's spokesperso, Cesar Mateos Benitez, and of Jorge Sosa, cousin of its principal leader Flavio Sosa.

Florentino Lopez Martinez, member of APPO's Press Commission, placed the responsibility for the disappearances with the government of Ulises Ruiz, and said they would not respond to the provocation.

Before his "forced disappearance," Mateos Benitez had held a press conference in the APPO encampment, where he reiterated that "the conflict in Oaxaca has not ended, and will not end until the fall of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz."

The Popular Assembly spokesman also announced a plan of action for that Saturday Nov. 25, when a mega-march would be held, with the aim of encircling the Federal Preventative Police (PFP).

Among other actions, he announced plans to occupy toll booths on the highway to Mexico City.

The APPO spokesperson said that the president elect, Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, "still has the opportunity to send a message to the nation and the Mexican people: whether he will resolve political conflicts with the PFP, or truly through the political process."

In the case of Oaxaca, he said, it is clear that the solution to the conflict is the exit of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz and of the Federal Preventative Police.

He questioned the position of the President of the Republic and his Secretary of Government, Carlos Abascal Carranza, because with their actions they have only protected the assassins contracted by Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.

Later, the spoksman for the presidency, Ruben Aguilar, contradicted Gov. Ulises Ruiz's statement that the conflict had ended, and affirmed that the PFP will remain in Oaxaca until governability is restored. APPO responded that "this makes it clear that they have come to protect the sicarios [assassins] of Ulises Ruiz."

"It is clear that the PFP have not brought tranquility to Oaxaca and the proof of this is the rape of women in the zocalo [central plaza], the robbery of a bank two blocks from where they are stationed, the ransacking of commerical establishments in the historic center, the homicide of a hotel manager, the raiding of houses, the burning of the APPO camp; they are not bringing security to society, they are only assisting those who attack the popular movement," the APPO spokesperson affirmed.

At the daily press conference in the camp of resistance, APPO repeated its principal demand for the exit of Ulises Ruiz and his paramilitary groups and porros [provocateurs] commanded by Helidoro Diaz Escarraga, Lino Celaya Luria, Jorge Franco, Bulmaro Rito, Manuel Marti'nez and Lizbeth Caña Cadeza.

APPO reiterated its demand the genocide charges be brought against President Vicente Fox, Ulises Ruiz and the commanders of the PFP; and called for the intervention of international organizations, and called on the PGR [federal prosecutor] to clear up the assassinations committed in the six months of the conflict.

Meanwhile, five women of the Coordinadora de Mujeres Oaxaqueñas [Coordinating Body of Oaxacan Women] lifted their hunger strike to participate in the Plan of Action for Saturday Nov. 25.

They announced at on Saturday at 10.00 in the morning, a mega-march would leave for the House of Government, located in Santa Maria Coyotepec, to remember the "massacre in this municipality" on Oct. 27, and would then move to the capital and attempt to encircle the PFP camped in the zocalo.

Although the mobilization would be peaceful, another member of the APPO Press Commission, Marcelino Coache, said that they would not respond to provocations but warned that if they were attacked they would respond in similar manner.

He said that the 260 members of the APPO State Council were in charge of security and order on the march to avoid infiltrators, but if there is aggression by the PFP, they would respond.

DN Headlines

Mexican Lawmakers Scuffle Over Calderon Inauguration
In Mexico, the parliament was the site of a major scuffle Tuesday as rival lawmakers fought over a protest against this week’s inauguration of president-elect Felipe Calderon. Lawmakers threw chairs and exchanged punches when one group aligned with defeated presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tried to take the podium where Calderon is due to be sworn in. Lopez Obrador’s supporters have vowed to prevent Calderon’s inauguration amid allegations he stole Mexico’s elections with massive fraud. Official results show Calderon won the election by less than one percentage point.

Calderon Criticized for Internal Secretary Appointment
Meanwhile, Calderón is coming under intense criticism for his pick to oversee internal security. On Tuesday, Calderon announced the appointment of Francisco Ramírez Acuña as Interior Secretary. Acuna is widely blamed for the detention and mistreatment of scores of protesters two years ago in Jalisco, where he served as state governor. Many analysts say the appointment could signal the Calderon government intends to deal with the Oaxaca uprising with repression. In an interview with the Financial Times, Tamara Taraciuk of Human Rights Watch said: “This appointment sends a terrible signal both to the domestic and international communities.”

Bolivian Senate Approves Land-Reform Bill
In Bolivia, Bolivia's Senate has approved a landmark measure to distribute idle or illegally-held land to the poor. The agrarian reform bill came under heavy opposition from senators tied to wealthy landowners. But the opposition splintered after weeks of protest from landless Indians who marched on the capitol La Paz. Bolivian President Evo Morales addressed them at a rally on Tuesday.

Bolivian President Evo Morales: "The productive farms will be respected, but there is land that is unproductive, there are people that illegally monopolize thousands of hectares of land. In the dictatorships sometimes political powers would take advantage of disadvantaged people. These lands, with the help of the State - will be given back to the people that have no land."

The land reform bill was already approved by Bolivia's lower house earlier this month but needed Senate approval to come into law.

Castro Too Ill for 80th Birthday Celebrations
In Cuba, President Fidel Castro released a statement Tuesday announcing he will not attend celebrations this week for his eightieth birthday. Castro says his doctors told him he is not ready for public events as continues to recover from intestinal surgery.

Urgent Action: Fear of torture or ill-treatment / incommunicado detention

Following a violent confrontation between supporters of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca, APPO) and the Federal Preventive Police (Policia Federal Preventiva, PFP) in the centre of Oaxaca on 25 November, at least 149 people have been detained. Amnesty International believes that they may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment while in custody.

The violence followed a demonstration organized by APPO supporters, to protest against the presence of PFP in the city and to call for the resignation of the Governor of Oaxaca. During the clashes with the police, dozens of people were reportedly injured by stones and intoxicated by teargas. There were also several reports that some people had been shot and wounded. Dozens of cars and buses and several public buildings, including the State Superior Court (Tribunal Superior de Justicia) and a theatre, were set on fire. According to reports, groups of armed men wearing balaclavas, believed to be state police, shot at protesters and buildings and arrested scores of people, several of whom reportedly had no involvement in the demonstrations.

By the end of the day, the authorities published the names of 149 people being held in two state prisons of Tlacolula and Miahuatlan, both outside the city of Oaxaca. All detainees have reportedly been denied access to family and independent legal counsel (suspects are generally forced to rely on inadequate public defenders provided by the authorities). There are also reports that on 27 November, 141 detainees were transferred to a prison in the remote state of Nayarit. Families and human rights organizations have not been informed of the charges faced by those in detention.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
An Amnesty International delegation recently visited the city of Oaxaca and interviewed scores of victims of human rights violations committed during the ongoing crisis in Oaxaca. The organization documented the repeated violations committed by unidentified armed groups, believed to be state and municipal police officers working in plain clothes, who make arrests without identifying themselves or explaining the reasons for arrests. The organization documented in several cases the use of incommunicado detention over several days. The organization also received credible reports that detainees had been tortured and ill-treated, primarily by state and municipal police, but also by members of the PFP.

In May 2006 teachers initiated a strike in Oaxaca state calling for improved pay and conditions, and occupied the main square and surrounding streets. An attempt by state police to forcibly evict teachers on 14 June led to a radicalization of the protest and the formation on of the Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca, APPO (Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca), an umbrella organization of social and political groups in support of the teachers and calling for the resignation of the state governor. As the climate of violence in the city increased, armed police in plain clothes started to arbitrarily detain protesters and were reportedly responsible for several shootings. Protesters established barricades in many neighborhoods in late August and the security situation further declined as unidentified armed men continued to target opposition supporters in marches and on barricades. On 29 October, the PFP entered the city to restore order. The operation resulted in the death of two civilians and the detention and injury of scores of others. Many of those who have been detained during the crisis have been released reportedly as a result of political negotiations, but with no clear idea of whether they may face re-arrest at a future date.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- calling on the authorities to ensure all those detained during protests on 25 November are allowed immediate access to families, adequate medical attention and legal counsel of their choice;

- calling for them to be either charged with a recognizably criminal offence or released immediately;

- calling on the authorities to ensure the physical and mental integrity of those in custody and to carry out immediate and impartial investigations into allegations of torture or ill-treatment;

- reminding the authorities to their duty to maintain public order while protecting the human rights of all people, and ensuring that the use of force is proportionate and necessary to confront the threat faced;

- calling for an immediate and impartial investigation into the use of armed groups, believed to be state and municipal police, operating illegally to attack and detain protesters and passers-by, and for those responsible to be held to account;

- urging the federal and state authorities to ensure that all measures taken to address the crisis in Oaxaca fully respect international human rights law, and calling for them to avoid taking action which may worsen the human rights situation.

APPEALS TO:
Minister of the Interior:
Lic. Carlos Abascal Carranza
Secretario de Gobernacion, Secretaria de Gobernacion
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso
Col. Juarez, Delegacion Cuauhtemoc
Mexico D.F., C.P.06600, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5093 3414
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Estimado Secretario de Gobernacion

Minister of Public Security:
Lic. Eduardo Medina Mora
Secretario de Seguridad Publica, Secretaria de Seguridad Publica
Paseo de la Reforma No.364, piso 16
Colonia Juarez, Delegacion Cuahutemoc
Mexico DF. C.P. 06600, MEXICO
Fax: 01152 55 5241 8393
Salutation: Senor Secretario / Dear Minister

Governor of Oaxaca:
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
Gobernador del Estado de Oaxaca, Carretera Oaxaca - Puerto Angel, Km. 9.5
Santa Maria Coyotopec
C. P. 71254, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 951 511 6879 (if someone answers, say ‘’me da tono de fax, por favor'’)
Salutation: Senor Gobernador / Dear Governor

Interior Minister of Oaxaca:
Lic. Jorge Franco Vargas
Secretario General de Gobierno del Estado de Oaxaca
Constitucion 519
Esq. Martires de Tacubaya, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 951 132 5378
Salutation: Senor Secretario / Dear Secretary

President of the National Human Rights Commission:
Dr. Jose Luis Soberanes Fernandez
Presidente de la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH)
Periferico Sur 3469, 5º piso
Col. San Jeronimo Lidice
Mexico D.F. 10200, MEXICO
Fax: 011 52 55 5681 7199
Salutation: Dear President / Estimado Presidente

COPIES TO:
President of the Oaxaca State Human Rights Commission:
Dr. Jaime Perez Jimenez
Presidente de la Comision Estatal
Calle de los Derechos Humanos no. 210, Colonia America
C.P. 68050, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Mexico
Fax: 011 52 951 503 0220
Salutation: Dear President / Estimado Presidente

Human rights organization in Oaxaca:
Red Oaxaquena de Derechos Humanos
Calle Crespo 524 Interior 4-E, Col. Centro, Oaxaca
Oaxaca, CP. 68000, MEXICO

Ambassador Carlos Alberto De Icaza Gonzalez
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20006
Fax: 1 202 728 1698

Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 9 January 2006.

———————————-
Tip of the Month:
If you have questions, please call, write, fax, or email the AIUSA Urgent Action office. Also, please note our new address in DC (below), and update your records if you have our old Colorado address on file.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566

———————————-
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL

Stockpile in case of Venezuela vote chaos, U.S. says

[Thanks ToniD for the link]

CARACAS, Venezuela

The United States warned people to stockpile food, water and medicine in Venezuela in case a vote on Sunday sparks public disorder as anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez seeks reelection.

In a warning to Americans living in Venezuela, which provides about 12 percent of U.S. oil imports, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday it had no information Venezuela would slip into lawlessness.

But it warned on its Web site (http://caracas.usembassy.gov/wwwh2848.html) that the measures would be a sensible precaution in a polarized nation where politics often stokes violent street protests and strikes.

Chavez says he is running against the United States, which he accuses of trying to destabilize his government.

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The embassy advice, which noted the government's anti-American sentiment, came as many Venezuelans followed their own time-honored safeguard of buying candles, canned food and bottled water in case of any post-vote emergency.

Polls generally show Chavez comfortably winning another six-year term based on huge backing from the poor majority who have benefited from his high social spending.

His rival Manuel Rosales has united the opposition but draws his support mainly from the minority ranks of the upper- and middle-classes.

Chavez has warned the opposition will cry fraud, mobilize street protests and try to foment a military revolt. The opposition denies the charges.

U.S. Embassies worldwide regularly issue warnings to Americans abroad to take precautions before major political events in volatile countries.

Paraguay's president fires military chief

Asuncion, Paraguay

Paraguay's president has unexpectedly fired the country's armed forces chief, and 58 military and police officers, calling it a routine reshuffling of the military high command while dismissing suggestions it was politically motivated.

President Nicanor Duarte did not provide a reason for Sunday's dismissals, aside from saying they were "normal in the institutional life of the military." However, opposition lawmakers had been clamouring for the ouster of the armed forces chief, General Key Kanazawa, for the last year.

Last December, Senators criticised Kanazawa for releasing a signed communique criticising legislators for failing to promote some 300 military officers.

15th Day in Oaxaca

Xochitl writes:
As always, I am here as a witness of the events here in Oaxaca. The real struggle, the real risks, and the real revolution is with the people of Oaxaca.

So overnight I woke up every few hours to listen to the livestream of Radio Universidad, and it continued to transmit. Just before 6 am I woke up to hear the last few bars of “Venceremos” then the Radio stopped transmitting, and there was only the background interminable march music that is broadcasted by Radio enemies to interfere with the signal. I freaked, thinking that the attack had happened, they had played one last song, and it was over. Then I realized they were taking the required several hour break from radio transmissions. Phew.

In the morning people gathered for the march from the University to the Santo Domingo plaza. We weren’t able to go because it seemed unsafe to travel there. Police were traveling around the University neighborhood, searching people, checking their ID, and detaining some. At about 10 am a message came through the radio that 300 people had gathered, and they needed more Oaxaquenos for the march. We hoped to meet the march part-way on their route, and continue on to Santo Domingo. Then we heard that the PFPs had taken over the Santo Domingo plaza, to prevent APPO and other organizations from re-establishing their encampment there, and that there were military and police at the nearby Juarez park, possibly blocking people from creating another planton there. The march was suspended, I suspect for security reasons.

We walked towards Santo Domingo, to see what was going on there.There were PFPs stationed at each of the entrances. The entire plaza had been scoured and cleaned. On the night of November 25, after hours of street battle, the police gathered and burned all the tarps and materials left by movement people in the Santo Domingo planton. Then on the 26th all the garbage was picked up, and all the graffiti painted over. It was as if there never was an emcampment there, which I would guess was the idea.

Throughout the day we heard about more police aggressions and detentions. A truck near the airport was stopped, and the driver shot. Police are taking people from their houses and taking them away. There are persistent rumors of mass graves outside of Oaxaca City, though no one has definite proof.

We also get updates on November 25. According to the latest information there have been 6 confirmed deaths, though we also have heard that PFPs were bragging that they had killed at least 13 and disappeared the bodies. There was a shooting late at night at the Facultad de Medicine (the medical school) where many people had sought refuge. As they left URO-supporters opened fire, killing at least 3 and wounding many.

The situation is very tense. Danger seems to be everywhere — from the federal police, from the AFI (Mexican’s Federal Investigators), from paramilitaries (who may be police in civilian clothes, or PRI party supporters), from the outspoken PRI party supporters. The PRI-istas have a radio station, and they have broadcasted the addresses of movement supporters, most likely to guide their night-time squads. As we sit here, we hear occasional gunshots in the distance.

And tonight there is word that the university attack is again imminent. One US friend who was there was told directly to leave, because it would be too dangerous. This is in direct contrast to other nights, when the barricadistas wanted us to stay.

It is almost impossible for me to hear the Radio Universidad over the internet. The interference is too strong.

In this time, while trying to listen to the radio, I would like to share some of my experiences at the Radio Universidad encampment. And if there are any urgent updates from the radio, as far as I can hear, I will, of course, mention them.

My dear, dear friends at the Radio Universidad. Although I have only known them for 2 weeks, they are in my heart. Quite honestly, I feel unworthy of their esteem and affection. When I saw them on the street late on the night of November 25, after hours of street battlees, they called out “Doctora Elena! Como estas? Donde has estado? Venga con nosotros a la universidad!” (Doctor Elena! How are you? Where have you been? Come with us to the university!).

I wonder, why do they want to fight? For an ideal? A political or social vision? The image of themselves as revolutionaries? For the valor? For the battle scars and stories they could share with friends in the future, if they survive? Because in this society they have nothing else to live for? (reminds me of young people in poor neighborhoods of the US who chose to sell drugs or join gangs because they see no other viable alternative, and because they see no other positive future) Impossible to know, of course, though I suspect in many it is a messy mix of these, and other factors.

While at Radio Universidad I talked a lot with a man I will call Che, who seemed to be one of the most reliable and responsible of the barricadistas there. He is also a self-styled revolutionary fighter. He is enormously charismatic, dependable and a bit crazy. He states, unequivocally, that he is willing to die for this struggle. Is it worth it? Can I stand to see his vibrant, powerful life snuffed out for this struggle? And who the hell am I to ask? He knows what may come, and he continues to organize, and to fight.

I have worked a lot with Che. If you ask him to get something done, from my experience, it gets done. One day one of the first aid station workers asked him to bring more water, because the first aid station was almost out of drinkable water. None appeared for a long time, and I thought he had forgotten. But it turned out there was no drinkable water in the Radio Universidad compound. Che told people at the first aid station, “As soon as there is water, I will bring you some.” They made a call over the Radio for more water from the community, and a bit later there were 10+ large (5 gallon) bottles, and many smaller bottles filled with filtered water. A bit later Che appeared, carrying a 80 pound bottle of water on his shoulder, and within hours there were many more gallons of water at the first aid station.

Che is a complicated mix of self-promotion and genuine commitment. He loves to have photos taken of him, in a face mask, with a bazooka, in front of the graffiti saying “Hasta la victoria siempre” upon his insistence. He wears all black, with a bullet proof vest at times. He strides around the encampment, checking in with different people, and talking about the most recent developments. He seems to have the genuine respect of the other barricadistas at Radio Universidad. How much of this is cult of personality, and how essential is charisma to revolutionary “leaders” (because I think he would disavow the label of leader, if asked)?

I write at length about Che, because he is one of the most obvious organizers at the Radio.

It is impossible not to feel utterly trite and overly romantic about the people in this movement. We tend to romanticize revolutionary workers. But there is some truth in this hyperbole. Many people in the Oaxaca movement have moved beyond their own day-to-day concerns, and fight tirelessly for a greater cause.

La Doctora Berta, for example. She is a grand personality, with one part absolute commitment, one part political insight, one part calm determination, one part intense focus on the struggle at hand, and one part self-abnegation and humor. She has worked tirelessly for this movement, continuing to attend strategy meetings and negotiations, announce in her calm and witty style over the radio, and attend to patients in the first aid station, despite total exhaustion, sickness (a very bad cough after being tear-gassed in the ambulance during the march on November 20, “But it cured my sinusitis!” she said.) and threats to burn her house and kill her and her family.

One day, while I was in the first aid station and she was resting after becoming quite sick from the tear gas. I had just begged her to take more time to rest, to take care of herself. We were listening to the radio. “What are they doing, playing music?” she said. “We must talk about the situation. We must rally the people.” and she jumped from her bed, and went to the radio, to announce for the next hour.

She can also be quite severe, and as a result has alienated some of the barricadistas at the Radio Universidad. How much of her intensity and, at times, authoritarianism, is a result of 6 months of fighting, and how much intrinsic to her personality? I will never know, because I am only here now. But she is one of the absolute essential elements of this movement. She calls the people, and they respond. She is calm in the face of crisis, and helps all of us face whatever is coming (and I must mention that I face literally no danger or repression in comparison to Oaxacan and Mexican citizens) with “a burning heart and a cold mind.”

Right now the radio continues to transmit. We just heard what sounds like a tear gas explosion in the distance.

For now, I will sign off. Please keep the people of Oaxaca, and all those struggling for justice, in your hearts.

source: http://www.oaxacarevolt.org/index.php?sec=article&id=70〈=eng

OAXACA: 150 arrested, dozens injured, by John Gibler

OAXACA CITY

A shaken city took stock of its burned out center on Sunday, a day after an intense clash between demonstrators and federal police more than a hundred arrested and at least dozens injured.

In the morning, city workers were busy painting over protesters´ graffiti and sweeping up broken glass in the colonial center. Three bulldozers were brought in to scoop up all the rocks thrown by protesters.

At the charred remains of the state court building in Oaxaca City, only the statue of former president and state hero Benito Juárez remained standing, framed in smoke and sharp blades of sunlight that cut through the burned out roof.

"Only Juárez is still standing," commented one woman who stood with her two daughters looking through the window, "It´s as if he is saying, ´We are still here, and we aren´t going away.´"

The court building was one of 34 that were damaged by fires started during the clash, according to government news agency Notimex, which also reported that 20 vehicles were burned. The Camino Real and three other hotels, as well as the Teatro Juárez, also had fire damage.

Local press reported that around 50 people were injured in the conflict, while demonstrators said more than 100 were hurt.

Meanwhile, bewildered residents toured the destruction, snapping photographs of burned buildings and broken windows.

"Those people are vandals, the real people of Oaxaca are against this," said one woman standing in the scorched doorway of the state court building. She was referring to the Oaxaca People´s Assembly (APPO), which has directed months of protests against state Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who is accused of fraud, corruption and repression.

Most businesses remained closed on Sunday.

Saturday´s five-hour confrontation began after protesters attempted to encircle the federal police in the city´s main square.

Most of the fighting took place Saturday night on Alcalá Avenue, which leads from the central Zócalo square to the Santo Domingo Cathedral, where the APPO had camped out in recent weeks.

After police forced protesters up Alcalá and out of the city´s center, state and federal police trucks surrounded the protesters. Witnesses said that the police beat and detained dozens. Soon afterwards, gunshots could be heard across town.

State police later used helicopters to transport around 150 people to state prisons outside the city. Family members and representatives of local human rights organizations said they were denied access to the detained.

On Sunday morning, dozens of protesters were hiding out in nearby houses as state and federal police patrolled the city in caravans of cars and trucks.

It was the first time since June 14 that uniformed local and state police officers patrolled the city.

Just before noon, several hundred Ruiz supporters marched through the city center, calling for the arrests of APPO members. Soon afterwards Ruiz briefly toured the Santo Domingo area and spoke to members of the press, saying the demonstrators would be prosecuted for the damage. Two police helicopters flew overhead during his tour.

Meanwhile, at hospitals across the city, family members began looking for missing relatives. Witnesses who asked not to be named said that plainclothes police swept the hospitals the night before. They reported armed men came and went throughout the night looking for wounded APPO members.

Felipe Gama, director of the Dr. Manuel Velasco Suárez Hospital, said that seven armed men with pistols forced their way into his hospital, threatening nurses and hospital employees. He denied, however, that they had taken any patients with them.

On Sunday afternoon, APPO council members met in a closed session to discuss the previous night´s battle and their next steps. They released a document restating demands that Ruiz step down and the federal police withdraw.

"We are reaffirming here that only after the fall of the tyrant Ulises Ruiz will peace and governability return to Oaxaca," said spokesperson Florentino López.

The APPO denounced the burning of buildings and private businesses the night before, but upheld the APPO´s "legitimate right to self-defense to avoid a massacre," referring to the use of rocks, Molotov cocktails and bottle rockets to fight the police.

Oaxaca, Mexico: APPO explains reasons for yesterday's battle; You're really not going to believe this.

APPO spokesman Florentino López Martínez, as yet un-disappeared,

"emphasized that the violence that occurred yesterday when APPO tried to surround the PFP was the product of an offensive against the federal forces as part of a defense of the members and sympathizers of APPO."

After laughter had died down a bit, López had everyone roaring with this one:

Appo used only legitimate force in their own defense using rocks, clubs, rockets, gasoline bombs and other objects they found along the way.

Well, I can always step just outside my door and find a grocery cart full of Molotov cocktails, stumble over ball bats and clubs and I have to be careful where I toss my cigar butts to avoid setting off the casual nail-filled rocket or bomb I find lying hither and yon.

López Martínez also vowed that APPO "would not take one step back" in its fight against Governor Ruiz Ortiz. Well, he's right about that. APPO did not take one step back yesterday, they ran back about 2 miles.

For his part, Flavio "Fat Man" Sosa, in a telephone interview because he's afraid to show his fat ass on the streets, insisted that his innocents were attacked by the PFP and that none of his people were involved in any way with any arson or destruction of property.

A reporter said in a radio interview today that he thinks he witnessed the incident that touched off the street war. He was watching a group of APPO thugs standing some 150 feet away from the PFP line at the green dumpster on Macedonio Alcalá taunting the officers. A masked punk pushing a stolen shopping cart filled with soft drink bottles - the reporter said he could not tell what they were filled with -- decided to show off to his comrades. He pushed the cart down the street right to the PFP line and then turned and continued pushing it all along the line.

The astonished PFP officers looked at one another, then two of them just reached out and snagged the punk as well as his shopping cart. They jerked him through their line and, poof! just like that he was gone. When the laughing mob saw their smart-ass comrade disappear right before their eyes, they went berserk and the fight was on.

Cool.
*
[& This from the MSM...BULLSHIT rom Ruiz]
Governor claims win after clash in Mexico's Oaxaca

Reuters
Sunday, November 26, 2006; 5:04 PM

OAXACA, Mexico (Reuters) - The governor of Mexico's troubled Oaxaca
state claimed victory in a six-month conflict on Sunday, after riot
police fired tear gas and arrested scores of protesters trying to force
him from office the day before.

Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, protected by dozens of police, strolled quiet
downtown streets where hundreds of activists threw gasoline bombs
and rocks at phalanxes of cops in body armor on Saturday.

The city, normally popular with European backpackers, has been in
chaos for the last six months because of protests by striking
teachers, Indian groups and leftists against the governor, who they
say is corrupt and authoritarian.

-snip-

Federal officials said they had arrested more than 150 people on
Saturday, when hundreds of activists, some armed with homemade
wooden shields and fireworks, tried to surround federal police
occupying the city's central square.

Offensive by the Federal Preventive Police Against the People of Oaxaca

by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO)
The Other Oaxaca
Nov 25

A large number of people are reported detained in various parts of the city. Two deaths are the result of the confrontation. (as of 9:33)

The federal police began, around 5pm, to attack the members of the APPO that were peacefully demonstration in the areas around the zocalo. These aggressions caused the conflict that is still continuing between the police and the members of the APPO and its supporters.

The streets of the historic center area battle ground and the federal police began to discharge fire arms against the protesters about an hour ago. The ministerial police of the state of Oaxaca and the federal preventative forces are investigating in order to apprehend in some part of the city, such as in el Llano, Crespo street and the market Central de Abastos as well as in other parts.

Approximately 40 people are reported detained, 20 of them women. There are various injured people, one of whom is gravely hurt.

Up until now we have the information that two compañeros have lost their lives due to the aggressions, although their identities have not been confirmed.

At the moment the offices of exterior relations (immigration) that are located in Pino Suarez and the offices of the police that are located in Juarez Avenue are on fire.

The Federal Preventive Police together with the state police have unleashed an offensive against the social movement of Oaxaca. The confrontations have arrived to the area around ADO (a bus station) and the hospital IMSS which is located in the street Ninos Heroes.

The APPO has information that because of these recent events the Mexican Army is in Maximum Alert.

Santo Domingo, headquarters of the APPO’s planton (camps in the city’s center) has been removed by the federal police after being taken over by them.

Faced with this offensive against the people and in order to avoid more bloodshed the APPO has decided to retreat.

We demand the punishment of Felipe Calderón, Vicente Fox, Ulises Ruiz for this massacre that is being carried out against the people of Oaxaca.

We call to all of the peoples of Mexico and of the World to carry out mobilizations demanding that this aggression ends.

Punish the murders
Freedom to political prisoners
Long live the heroic people of Oaxaca

APPO

Clarification by the CCRI-CG of the EZLN and the Sixth Commission About Recent Events in the State of Chiapas

by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Sixth Commission

The Attacked in Montes Azules “Are Not Zapatista Bases of Support”

November 25, 2006

To the adherents of the Sixth Declaration and the Other Campaign:
To the visitors of this web page:

Compañeras y compañeros:

Greetings. According to what has been reported by our compañero administrators of the Enlace Zapatista page, there have been some commentaries showing unease over the EZLN’s silence regarding the confrontation among indigenous, in recent days, in Viejo Velasco, Chiapas, Mexico, where supposedly Zapatista bases of support had been assassinated. Some ask what happened and others try to attack us and discredit us. For those who question with sincere concern, we make a small clarification here. To the others we say “whatever,” they will have to keep looking for real arguments in order to speak ill of us. Oh well.

First: The indigenous in the confrontation, the dead and wounded WERE NOT EZLN SUPPORT BASES NOR DO THEY BELONG TO ANY ZAPATISTA CIVILIAN OR MILITARY SUPPORT STRUCTURE. When someone from the EZLN is attacked, the EZLN says so clearly and assigns with certainty the blame and cause of the aggression.

Second: They are tendentious journalistic reports and they come from other organizations THAT ARE NOT ZAPATISTAS, or that are anti-Zapatista, those that insist LYING that this is about EZLN support bases. On the same day as the lamentable events occurred, the Sixth Commission with the CCRI (Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee) confirmed that they were not Zapatista compass. Some hours later this was clarified for La Jornada’s special correspondent on the tour of the Sixth Commission in the North of Mexico.

We remained silent because we don’t speak for anyone other than our own dead, at least if we are not asked to speak for other groups, organizations, collectives or families.

Third: Since their foundation, the caracoles and Good Government Councils are the places where one can obtain direct, trustworthy and true information about what happens with our compañeros and compañeras. At times due to sloth, at times with malice (news about the death of an indigenous Zapatista “sells” better than that about one that isn’t), they don’t go to ask questions at the place where the true answer exists. In this case, it would suffice to go to the Good Government Council in the caracol (autonomous municipal seat) of La Garrucha, to be informed as to whether this story is about Zapatista support bases or not.

Fourth: Supposedly the organization Xinich, according to declarations reported by the La Jornada correspondent in Chiapas, said that this story was about EZLN bases of support and not about Xinich. But if there is something that Xinich does not know it is the matter of who is and who is not a Zapatista. We don’t understand why Xinich purports to represent something that it doesn’t even have a distant relationship with.

Fifth: It is common and frequent in Chiapas that groups and organizations call themselves EZLN support bases (without being so) in order to obtain some cover or benefit. We don’t contradict them if there is not an explicit reason to do so. When someone is attacked, and claims to be a Zapatista, although he is not, we don’t contradict him so as not to put him further at risk. That is what has occurred with some towns in Montes Azules. If we now clarify this, it is because of the lies that Xinich and La Jornada spread which have served to plant confusion among some sympathizers and for the malicious ones that slander us.

That is all.

Revolutionary Indigenous Clandestine Committee – General Command of the EZLN
Sixth Commission of the EZLN
Mexico, November of 2006

President Morales escaped aggression from Bolivian students

LA PAZ, Bolivia

Bolivian president Evo Morales, escaped yesterday from public university students aggression in the rebellious tropical province of Santa Cruz.

The event was registered around 18:00 hours local time (22:00 GMT) and was transmitted by television channel ATB, that showed the presidential caravan under harassment of a stone rain thrown by Santa Cruz college students.

The president had gone to the Gabriel René Brown University to sign an agreement with its director, he interrupted his speech after being notified by his security agents of impending threat from a manifestation that was brewing outside the building.

Immediately, Morales left and boarded his vehicle, which took hits of several projectiles, stones and pieces of bricks thrown by students, who question his work in government.

In the escape, television registered the moment when one of the security agents had to use his body to shield the president from flying projectiles.

Tonight (Sunday) attack at the University??

Greetings everyone,

I just left the university area, where all afternoon there have been rumors that the police had been gathering around the area and would be attacking probably at night.

These are rumors, and I will clearly indicate what I know for sure:
- They have arrest warrants for people at Radio Universidad (exactly who, I don't know)
- The people guarding Radio Universidad will fight to protect the radio, and they are preparing for a battle with molotovs, rockets, rocks. As far as I know they do not have any guns.
- According to some reports, people from the the Agencia Federal de Investigaciones (AFI) were coming to Oaxaca to be involved in the arrest of people at the Radio. I have heard that AFI is less accountable and more corrupt in their actions.
- The press conference planned for the Cinco Senores barricade was moved to the Radio Universidad area because of safety concerns (this is for sure)
- As we left Radio Universidad, just as darkness fell, we heard that the police had arrived at Cinco Senores.
- A friend in a taxi saw multiple pickup trucks filled with PFPs 2 blocks from the Cinco Senores barricade, heading in that direction.
- APPO is planning events for tomorrow, the details of which I do not know.

So, tonight there will probably be more fighting, though it seems like one never knows what will actually happen. As one of the folks at Radio Universidad said to me "In the life of politics, one day can be very long."

Take care all,
Eowyn

Ecuador's Correa claims victory

Ecuador's presidential candidate Rafael Correa has claimed victory in Sunday's run-off election.

Rafael Correa has a commanding lead in unofficial exit polls

Three exit polls and an unofficial quick count indicated Mr Correa had gained around 57% of the vote while Alvaro Noboa polled about 43%.

Mr Noboa has said he won the election and if necessary will ask for a recount after official results are announced.

International observers had urged both candidates to be cautious in claiming victory before results were official.

We accept this victory with dignity and humility... We are just instruments of the power of the people Rafael Correa

Ecuador has seen much political turmoil in recent years with seven presidents in the last decade.

The last three elected presidents were overthrown and only three since 1979 have succeeded in serving full terms.

Policy announcements

"Thank God, we have triumphed," Mr Correa told supporters in the capital Quito.

"We accept this victory with dignity and humility... We are just instruments of the power of the people."

Although the official result has not yet been announced, Mr Correa has moved quickly to make policy announcements and appoint ministers.

He said he will try to rejoin the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) which Ecuador left in 1992.

He also named leftist economists Ricardo Patino and Alberto Acosta as his economy and energy ministers, Reuters news agency said.

His rival Alvaro Noboa rejected the exit polls and said he would wait until official results were announced before asking for a recount if necessary.

Alvaro Noboa has said he will ask for a recount if necessary

Before voting, he had gone down on his knees, Bible in hand, and asked God for support.

"Like Christ, all I want is to serve... so that the poor can have housing, health care, education, jobs," Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.

The billionaire banana tycoon, Ecuador's richest man, had campaigned promising to attract foreign investment to Ecuador. He frequently carried a Bible.

He had said he would build 300,000 new homes a year for Ecuador's poor.

Foreign debt promises

An economic aide to Mr Correa said he would not pay some of Ecuador's "illegitimate" foreign debt and would not sign a free trade agreement with the United States, Reuters said.

While campaigning, Mr Correa said he wanted to renegotiate contracts with foreign oil companies.

Mr Correa is close to Venezuela's anti-American President Hugo Chavez and has called US President George W Bush a "dimwit".

He toned down his comparison to Mr Chavez after he lost the first round vote to Mr Noboa.

Both candidates had promised to create jobs and fight poverty and corruption. Both had also promised to double the monthly government payout poor Ecuadorians receive.

Offensive by the Federal Preventive Police Against the People of Oaxaca

By the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO)
The Other Oaxaca
Nov 25

Confrontation Continues Between the Police and the APPO in Different Parts of the City

A large number of people are reported detained in various parts of the city. Two deaths are the result of the confrontation. (as of 9:33)

The federal police began, around 5pm, to attack the members of the APPO that were peacefully demonstration in the areas around the zocalo. These aggressions caused the conflict that is still continuing between the police and the members of the APPO and its supporters.

The streets of the historic center area battle ground and the federal police began to discharge fire arms against the protesters about an hour ago. The ministerial police of the state of Oaxaca and the federal preventative forces are investigating in order to apprehend in some part of the city, such as in el Llano, Crespo street and the market Central de Abastos as well as in other parts.

Approximately 40 people are reported detained, 20 of them women. There are various injured people, one of whom is gravely hurt.

Up until now we have the information that two compañeros have lost their lives due to the aggressions, although their identities have not been confirmed.

At the moment the offices of exterior relations (immigration) that are located in Pino Suarez and the offices of the police that are located in Juarez Avenue are on fire.

The Federal Preventive Police together with the state police have unleashed an offensive against the social movement of Oaxaca. The confrontations have arrived to the area around ADO (a bus station) and the hospital IMSS which is located in the street Ninos Heroes.

The APPO has information that because of these recent events the Mexican Army is in Maximum Alert.

Santo Domingo, headquarters of the APPO’s planton (camps in the city’s center) has been removed by the federal police after being taken over by them.

Faced with this offensive against the people and in order to avoid more bloodshed the APPO has decided to retreat.

We demand the punishment of Felipe Calderón, Vicente Fox, Ulises Ruiz for this massacre that is being carried out against the people of Oaxaca.

We call to all of the peoples of Mexico and of the World to carry out mobilizations demanding that this aggression ends.

Punish the murders
Freedom to political prisoners
Long live the heroic people of Oaxaca

APPO

Huge rally for Chávez opponent

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Caracas yesterday to back opposition presidential candidate Manuel Rosales as he closed his campaign against President Hugo Chávez, who is favoured to win the December 3 vote.

Shouts of ‘‘Dare to change!’’ arose from the crowd that filled the highway, nearby overpasses and streets. Rosales promised democracy for a country that he said is sinking into Cuba-style authoritarianism under Chávez.

‘‘I don’t want to be a president who controls all the branches of government,’’ Rosales shouted to thundering applause. ‘‘Let there be true democracy in Venezuela!’’

He blasted government officials for prohibiting television crews from using helicopters to film the march from the air, saying ‘‘they don’t want the people to see this multitude.’’

A dense crowed spilled for several kilometres along a broad highway beyond the major intersection where Rosales spoke. Some journalists estimated the crowd at roughly 800,000, but there were no official estimates.

Rosales — a state governor who favours free markets over Chávez’s brand of socialism — trailed Chávez by a wide margin in an AP-Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month. Some polls show Chávez ahead by up to 32 points. But Rosales said the vast crowd yesterday was proof he would defeat Chávez. ‘‘It’s Caracas in the streets,’’ he said. ‘‘A great avalanche of votes!’’

Marchers departed from various points in the city of 5 million and converged on the Francisco Fajardo Highway, where they danced to Venezuelan folk music booming from loudspeakers and chanted anti-Chávez slogans.

More than 3,000 police were deployed along the march route to prevent clashes between Rosales supporters and pro-Chávez partisans who gathered on several street corners shouting ‘‘Viva Chávez!’’ as marchers passed. There were no reports of violence.

Rosales lashed out at what Chávez calls his plan for ‘‘21st century socialism,’’ saying it’s nothing more than a plan to be ‘‘president all his life, until he dies like Fidel Castro — indefinite re-election.’’

‘‘It’s Castro communism, the Cubanization of Venezuela,’’ Rosales said. ‘‘This country doesn’t want that. It wants modernity.’’

Chávez, who was first elected in 1998, has said he wants to continue governing Venezuela until 2021 or longer. He said he plans to call a referendum to ask Venezuelans whether they support changing the constitution to allow indefinite re-election. It currently allows two consecutive presidential terms.

Rosales, who temporarily stepped down as governor of the western state of Zulia to run for president, is one of the few opposition politicians to hold on to office as Chávez’s allies have gained solid control of the National Assembly, state offices and the courts.