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Life during wartime.. Oaxaca City under siege.

“Be careful my friend, people die all the time.’ came the warning from a passerby outside Oaxaca university this afternoon. In his shorts and t-shirt he strolled off in the opposite direction, looking like he was going to the beach.
In the meantime hundreds of people swarmed through side streets close to the University to challenge the Federal police as they fought street by street to disperse supporters of the popular movement, APPO.

This was the war of the flea as protestors outnumbered police by ten to one but were in turn outgunned by the well-armed and trigger happy troops. Several serious injuries have been reported but so far today, no fatalities.

The battle was uneven to the point of suicidal. And yet the people won.

Radio Universidad, the voice of the People’s Popular Assembly (APPO) sounded the warning early this morning; the federal police were arriving in force to clear barricades outside the university and possibly gain entrance. At stake was the radio station which has coordinated resistance activities around the city and operated as an open Mike for anyone wishing to give testimony of the speedily unraveling events.

For six hours several thousand youths, an even mix between the sexes, fought a brave battle that recalled similar confrontations all over Latin America. Oaxaca is Cochabamba, Atenco and all the corners of the continent where citizen movements challenge military/business hegemony.

The federales wore protective masks and carried guns, sticks and shields. The equipment was purchased in 1994 after the Zapatista rebellion ignited unrest around the country. Above the soldiers two helicopters hovered over rebel barricades and lobbed tear gas grenades at the people below.

At one point a helicopter pilot recognized APPO spokesman Flavio Sosa, dropped swiftly to within 20 metres of him and tossed pepper spray canisters at his feet. ‘This is a sign of their desperation’ he said, ‘we will not be beaten.’

The people were armed as follows; tyres, stones, sticks, metal bars, ‘lanzacohetes’ (firework launchers) shopping trolleys, pallets and debris of all kind. More significantly perhaps, they were armed with their truth; the illegal militarized police occupation of Oaxaca must end before meaningful dialogue can begin.

For now the task was to prevent the troops from clearing roads leading to the University, the last fixed bastion of the popular uprising.

A young law student guided me through the streets but before long we were trapped by lines of troops who launched stinging pepper spray grenades and, according to more experienced observers, an occasional bullet. One youth lost an eye while a journalist with ‘El Universal’ was hospitalized after a gas canister hit him in the chest. As we reeled from the pepper spray, doors opened as if by magic, all along the street.

Buckets of water appeared and women invited us to take refuge inside their homes. ‘dogs’ said Ana Rosa Poblano, ‘they treat us worse than dogs.’ She gave me a taco of mole sauce, handed me a rag soaked in vinegar, took a quick look up and down the street and wished me luck.

As soon as the troops moved to clear another corner, dozens of youths appeared out of nowhere and placed fresh barricades behind them. ‘Prepare to die’ shouted one woman, who barely reached my shoulder in height but stood far taller in terms of bravery. ‘Put down your shields and take off your helmets and I’ll beat the living shit out of you’ she added.

The express barricade was erected with precision; first came the metal girders, stripped from nearby street lamps. They were covered by pallets and then tyres, and when the police appeared, the rebels set the roadblock on fire, sending a noxious cloud of black smoke into the sky. A couple of streets away, on the other side of the police, a similar process occurred.

The battle continued for hours, as police advanced two blocks, then retreated one, all the time harassed by stone throwers in nearby rooftops.

After several hours of cat and mouse antics we found our way into the University and took refuge outside the radio station, which broadcasts a constant stream of commentary and warnings of fresh police maneuvers. The area outside the station is sandbagged while a wall of red bricks offers a second obstacle to potential intruders. One group of students lie in the shade of a tree, catching up on sleep after a 16-hour security shift. Helicopters are observing from overhead while students boil vats of oil as a desperate countermeasure to thwart an anticipated invasion of this autonomous space.

The conservative University rector has sought assurances that the campus will not be occupied but government anger grows as each day passes and the popular movement gathers renewed strength.

At a late night meeting in the Archbishop’s residence, (wednesday) state officials invited APPO leaders to begin dialogue. The events of today however, speak a language of a different kind. The call has gone out for a mega march this Sunday to surround the federales in the Zocalo and perhaps, who knows, to retake the square.

By 3pm today the crossroads outside the University looked like Managua, Nicaragua on July 19th 1979. Thousands of citizens streamed toward the victory point, waving flags, singing rebel songs.

The final tally was a dozen people injured and a fresh injection of hope that peaceful but determined resistance can outwit and outwait the occupying forces of the state.
 
 

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