Oaxacan Update on October 2, 2006

photo by Erika, Oaxaca City, 2005

"No one is truly free when others are repressed"

We fellow travelers have been carefully following the Oaxacan conflict since June 2006, since we decided to move there, where we found a heart connection with this community of highly intellectual and artistic people... who are now in danger. Our move was halted by this conflict; when we learned of the situation we decided to follow the news from all available sources. This week the struggle is now being threatened with obliteration. The people of Oaxaca are facing an immenent attack by the federal government. There are many sides to the story, but clearly the use of force instead of sincere diplomacy will result in people being injured, and worse.


Saying Grace: Eugene appreciating Oaxacan Mole; photo by Erika in 2005

If you are able, take five minutes to send an e-mail or fax to the Mexican government to demand they not harm the
Oaxacan people, who have been engaged in peaceful civil resistance for the past four months.
It seems petty to write an email but it is something we can do. This struggle is a mirror of what is going on not-so-quietly in our own country and elsewhere. We can at least raise our voices and show an awareness, that the world is watching, and that we DO care.
You may copy this letter into your own email:

Vicente Fox Quesada
(Presidencia, Los Pinos)
Telephone:
011 52 (55) 2789 1100
011 52 (55) 18 7501 Atencion Ciudadana
Fax: (55) 52 77 23 76
email: vicente.fox.quesada [at] presidencia.gob.mx

Dear President Vicente Fox,

Please do not authorize the use of Federal force to resolve the current
social and political dispute in Oaxaca.

Sincerely,

...If you use email, you can send copies to:

President Elect Felipe Calderón Hinojosa: felipe [at] felipe.org.mx and

Secretary of Government: Carlos Abascal: segob [at] rtn.net.mx