Under PFP ‘protection’, and with PFP participation, the combined level of the dirty war by the Oaxaca PRI contingent of Ulises Ruiz and the PFP mushroomed — so intolerably in fact that the church offered asylum to members of the popular movement because of the threats and the jump in the numbers of dead, arrested, and disappeared. Unfortunately (and predictably), it's not ‘just’ the state agents and allied paramilitaries who are doing the really dirty work.
There are people who were snatched by the PFP who haven’t even been identified, some of them seized at the most active large conflict area — the university campus,[3] where the radio station is located — on helicopters and not accounted for (according to some of the material I've read).[4] Most assuredly the PFP, or at least some of its ‘special forces’, is itself a terrorist organization.
I’m certain the so-called ‘counter terrorism’ operations discussed in the Narco News article by Diego Enrique Osorno [5] are being actively implemented by both Ulises Ruíz’s state and paramilitary agents, and by the highly-trained hit teams of the PFP, the latter undoubtedly led by officers trained at the School of the Americas. Terrorism against popular social movements is serious business for repressive governments, whether in Central America, Mexico, Iraq, Palestine, Colombia, or wherever.
The escalation of terror timetable
Prior to 27 October the rate of deaths among members of Section 22 (the Oaxaca part) of the Education Workers Union and of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO in its initials in Spanish) had been amzingly low, as I emphasized in my earlier reports and commentaries.[6]
It is difficult — probably impossible at this time — to obtain precise figures for the killed, injured, arrested, kidnapped, tortured, and disappeared, but what is quite clear is that the rates have risen sharply within the past several weeks.[7] First 5 months, 15 May to 13 Oct – about 6 known violent deaths (from note [2] link) 13 days, 14 Oct to 26 Oct – 5 violent deaths (from Nancy Davies, ND, and above first 5 months) 3 days, 27 Oct to 29 Oct – 6 violent deaths, 33 wounded (from ND) 29 Oct – 22 arrested, subsequently released, plus 11 arrests reported by telephone but unconfirmed 30 Oct – 12 arrested, subsequently released, plus 6 arrests reported by telephone but unconfirmed 1 Nov – 4 arrested, imprisoned 2 Nov – 46 arrested, imprisoned, plus 25 arrests reported by telephone but unconfirmed 4 Nov – 2 arrested, imprisoned 5 Nov – 1 teacher arrested when he came to attend a meeting with heads of families (parents) 3 students disappeared outside Radio Universidad (from ND, specific date not given) 3 minors were arrested and imprisoned (specific dates not given) 3 arrests reported by telephone but no contacts with the arrestees made (specific dates not given)
The above data provide a conservative view of the extent of terror imposed by the state and federal governments on the people of Oaxaca from 27 Oct to 5 Nov.[8]
There are widespread credible reports of homes being broken into by PFP special troops with neither search warrants nor arrest warrants and people having been arrested and their homes trashed in supposed searches for illegal weapons. Along with these illegal activities of the PFP, the PRI-operatives of Ulises Ruíz also stepped up their paramilitary type operations.
The intensity of this surge of state-imposed terror became so flagrant in the past few days that on Thursday 9 Nov APPO asked the diocese of Oaxaca to grant asylum to its members – particularly its prominent members who are under threat of assassination. The legal officer of the local Catholic hierarchy, speaking officially, responded promptly – the same day – positively, and with a scathing indictment of the lawless state behavior, asserting in part that there exists “state terrorism and a schizophrenic persecution”.[9]
To appreciate the full significance of this indictment by Wilfredo Mayren, the legal officer of the local diocese, it’s important to know that the Antequera-Oaxaca Archbishop, José Luis Chávez Botello, had until then, for almost six months, maintained a disgustingly pseudo-neutral position, repeatedly saying he deplores violence, that he wants peace, without ever before acknowledging that the violence was in fact coming almost exclusively from the power structure. He had white flags flown from the two major Catholic architectural treasures of the city, signifying a desire to end the conflict and return to ‘normal’, the ‘normalcy’ enjoyed by the well-to-do and suffered by the poor majority. His preference was for Oaxaca to return to the usual suffering endured by the impoverished majority of Oaxaqueños, to whom the Church could offer eternal joys in heaven, but hardly a crust of bread on earth, to say nothing of human dignity and human rights. In this light the Church’s belated but welcome condemnation of state terrorism is profoundly significant.
The most recent report I have is from a long-time friend currently in Oaxaca, Amanda Aquino, who prefaces her interview with a human rights worker,[10]
November 9th, 2006 Oaxaca is living a brutal government repression of the social movement, where there are disappearances, torture, detentions, killings, and many injured. Given the situation, it is difficult to know exactly how many people have been affected, but there is no doubt that there are severe violations of human rights. According to the Oaxaca Network for Human Rights (Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos ), from June 14th through November 5th, there were 145 detained, 34 of whom have been freed, 17 dead, and 33 seriously injured, including 5 journalists injured and one killed. Some sources speak of 65 disappeared. There are numerous people who have also received death threats.
This article is also at http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-11-11.htm
George Salzman is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Massachusetts at Boston
Note: Because of the urgent need to get information out as rapidly as possible, I am foregoing my usual effort to provide as complete a list of sources as I would wish. Although I will post this immediately, somewhat incomplete, I will try to fill in the missing references later.
NOTES
[1] (to be added later)
[2] Relatively peaceful struggle, analyzed in the essay “A revolution with an absolute minimum of violence”: It’s not ‘news’ – but it should be”, at http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-10-13.htm .
[3] Campus of the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca. The location of University City, which houses Radio Universidad, is described in the report “Attack on the University Radio”, at http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-11-02.htm .
[4] (to be added later)
[5] Diego Enrique Osorno, “Operation “Clean-Up” in Oaxaca: Following the CIA’s “Psychological Operations” Manual for the Nicaraguan Contras, the State Government Has Unleashed a Bloody Counterinsurgency Strategy to Eliminate the Social Movement”, at http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-11-02.htm .
[6] Amazingly low casualty rate in non-violent revolution. See for example the discussion of fatalities in the essay linked to in note [2] above.
[7] Figures compiled from my paper of 13 Oct (linked to in note [2] above), info from Nancy Davies, and lists prepared by the Oaxaca Human Rights Network, dated 5 Nov 2006. The total of 11 violent deaths for the first 5 months and 13 days agrees with the figure for violent deaths prior to 27 Oct in the Network report. The Network address is Red Oaxaqueña de Derechos Humanos, Crespo 524, Centro, C.P. 68000, Oaxaca, México. Telfax 01-951-514-1634.
[8] I have not atempted to collect data from 5 Nov onward.
[9] Report on asylum, at http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=270483 . It was posted at 1:27 am Friday morning as follows. My translation follows the Spanish.
[10] See Amanda Aquino's Full Report below.
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Note by Wet_Ahuizote,
Just yesterday Mexican newspaper accounted of two persons kidnapped by police forces. They were travelling from Mexico City towards Oaxaca City on November 3rd. In Between they apparently stopped in Huajuapan de Leon, where they changed their mean of transportation from bus to ‘suburban’ a more efficient way of transport that is commonly used in the region.
Prior to entering Nochixtlan the ‘suburban’ was detained for inspection by the police and Blanca Canseco Mendez (teacher) and Jaime Rojas Guzman (Student and activist from UNAM) were illegally arrested. Relatives and colleagues were told that they were taken to a nearby prison located in Yanhuitlan (about 1 hour from Nochixtlan). However they were not there, instead they were at a close military facility.
They were questioned and tortured and further asked to declare themselves to be part of a guerrilla type organisation and that their aim was to overthrown Ulises Ruiz the governor by terrorist means. Their interrogators were policemen, military and marines.
In the end they were sent to Etla prison, were relatives of teacher Blanca achieved that a human rights commission visited them and give account of their physical and health conditions. By November 5th relatives and colleagues were told that both were to be arrested.
Relatives of the teacher are bringing up this case to the courts, however outcome is unclear as prosecutor in Oaxaca, as in every state in Mexico, is appointed by the governor.
Teacher Blanca Canseco
Activist Jaime Rojas
