My final Oaxaca Update

We asked ourselves, 'Will you go to the soul of the country, Oaxaca, finally?' As we see tourists start to write new stories of their recent trips to Oaxaca, celebrating over the internet that the' graffiti has been painted over', and that hotels are open and 'ready for business', I want to post this view. There are shells of houses there, for not everyone is ready to return. Local children have the right to go to school safely, their parents, the right to continue their work, and for all the right to make money, to put food on the table. These are the rights that people should always have, everywhere. But this is an non-victory for human beings who wanted to live freely, to express themselves honestly, and who wanted the right to have a voice and be heard by their government. This was a picture of repression. And while we might dare to visit the pretty city of Oaxaca again, someday, we will not forget what happened when we ventured out last fall to this city we love so.
Instead I read about Oaxaca, daily in spanish, but also I read more than the news. I can recommend the "Oaxaca Journal" by author and neurologist Oliver Sacks, of which I read all. I wanted to quote from the book, instead I will just say that I was inspired by it, and found appreciation in it, since I had intended to study the medicinal herbs of Oaxaca as well explore my own interest in the uses of plants in culture in general...as Dr. Sacks explored his interest in pre-historic ferns growing in Oaxaca. I could appreciate that desire to spend one's time in that aspect of history and culture having had that desire myself to be in a small traditional community that would have that connection with the Earth. Instead I amused myself with the cacti here in San Miguel, the Air Plants and dry arid chapparal. I substituted experiences that I had sought for in Oaxaca with other things. Photography, writing, seeking out teachers, the herbalist-rancher in Baja, the healing waters of Zihuatanejo and the wonders of the Virgin of Guadalupe, meeting practioners in San Miguel, and of course practicing spanish. I reclaimed a political interest that I was not able to stomach six months ago.
Perhaps this is a last Oaxaca Update for us in 2007, and our thoughts will focus towards moving forward in our personal lives in the sweet heart of the country, San Miguel de Allende, for the winter.

The Worker's Liberty Journal writes:
"The struggle in Oaxaca was one of high points of workers struggle anywhere in the world last year. Now the movement of teachers and others in APPO is facing savage repression. We need to tell the story of the Oaxacan commune and make practical solidarity with workers under attack.

The latest Mexican Labor News and Analysis contains a report on the situation, based on a visit by trade unionized and lawyers 17-21 December.

The report says that the Mexican National Commission for Human Rights issued its preliminary report on December 18, in which it concluded that 20 people had been killed, 370 injured and 349 imprisoned since June 2, 2006. The delegation were told that many others have disappeared or are in hiding. The Commission reported that it had received 1,211 complaints regarding alleged violations of human rights due to the “improper use of the police forces, arbitrary detentions, people held incommunicado, disappearances, damage, injuries, threats and illegal raids,” concluding: "The parties [to the conflict] and the Federal Preventive Police, which intervened for the purpose of restoring public order, have used violence repeatedly and excessively. As a consequence, the institutional, social and cultural life of the state has been damaged."