Big protests in Mexico fail to get U.S. interest

By MARY SANCHEZ,

If asked to name the country where a journalist was recently murdered, most people would say Iraq.

Few would guess Mexico. But Mexico is where Brad Will, a 36-year-old from New York, died with his video camera in his hands.

He essentially recorded his own death. He was shot last month as he covered the protests that began in the spring in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Yes, that is right — protests now nearly half a year in duration.

What began as an annual strike by teachers has escalated into a movement pitting citizens against the federal police. Protesters have taken over the university radio station, encamped by the thousands in the town square and stopped traffic coming in and out of the city.

The conflict belies the image of all able-bodied Mexicans running for the border, desperate to take jobs in the United States picking vegetables or chopping chickens and changing sheets in hotels.

A tremendous number of Mexicans are fighting for change in their own country. This has always been the case. And until the country begins to resemble more of a democracy, it will continue to be true.

The efforts are massive compared with anything that has occurred in the United States in recent decades. For perspective, the much-cited 1963 March on Washington had an estimated crowd of 250,000 people.

In Oaxaca, crowds have been put at nearly a million at their peak. In Mexico City this summer, the plaza adjacent to Los Pinos (Mexico’s White House) was filled with up to a million protesters at times, and hundreds of thousands camped out for months in peaceful protest against the outcome of the July presidential elections.

In Oaxaca, the demands are similar. People are demanding the resignation of the governor of the state, believing he is corrupt and not representative of the people. But this level of social activism is not sustained over one issue, one candidate.

Ultimately, what the Mexican people want is a deepening of democracy, fairer elections, a freer press, responsive government, public safety and jobs — all things that would make migration to the United States less necessary.

Photos in Oaxaca show people linked arm in arm, marching through the streets. They have used syringes to draw their own blood, making crude signs for their protests.

Amazingly, protest leaders have been able to corral their followers into remaining relatively calm. Rock throwing has been the height of their violence, so far.

Some images spark memories of Tiananmen Square. One online photo shows a lone protester standing in a calm face-off with a line of police in full riot gear, her face barely a breath away from their plastic riot shields.

This summer, state police were sent into Oaxaca. Protesters wouldn’t disband. In late October, more than 4,000 federal troops came armed with riot gear, tear gas, helicopters and water cannons.

Journalist/activist Brad Will was known for his work with independent media. Many suspect his killers were hired by, or at the very least supported by, the government. A teacher and a demonstrator were also killed that day.

Reports are unconfirmed, but most say at least nine people have been killed in Oaxaca since May. Others have simply disappeared.

Surely, there is more room in the mainstream U.S. media for coverage.

Yet the television continues with replays of Sen. John Kerry making thoughtless remarks about the education levels of our military. Prior to that, coverage was dominated by the white blond woman with the come-hither pose in an attack ad on an African-American Senate candidate.

People do incredibly brave things every day fighting for democracy in Mexico, far from the border where so much of the U.S. media attention is focused.

And sadly, even those attempting to retell the stories sometimes die trying.
To reach Mary Sanchez, call (816) 234-4752 or send e-mail to msanchez@kcstar.com