Lagniappe
Dan Perkins: Oaxaca
My friend Peter Kuper is currently living in Oaxaca, and this weekend
he sent a report from the ground on the turmoil there, along with a
couple pages from his sketchbook:
Since
you may have been hearing news on Oaxaca, I figured I send you an update
straight from the caballo’s mouth…
After
almost 6 months of striking it looks like the xit has hit the fan.
Yesterday
undercover police “Poros” (thugs working for the governor
Ulises) attacked the radio station at the university–the last
free radio or TV in Oaxaca) and then in other parts of town started
attacking people on the barricades. As you’ve perhaps heard Brad
Will, an American journalist who was filming a documentary here, was
killed along with a number of other people. A photographer friend of
ours was at the scene (I was supposed to meet up with him and was awaiting
his call to let me know where things were at since Friday was a huge
expanded strike closing the city).
When
he finally called he was holed up in a building with other journalists
who had hightailed it when the shooting started. In a strange twist
(not to be compared with getting shot) I had gone to pick up my daughter
from a playdate around that time and got caught in a storm that turned
into a flash flood. The streets turned into muddy rivers. With new barricades
set up–buses blocking streets–traffic was a snare of confusion
in this flood and it was a small miracle the car didn’t stall
mid-rio. Suffice to say it was a tension inducing afternoon.
So
today(Sat.) the word is Presidente Fox is sending in a police force
to remove the barricades and chase the protesters out. They won’t
leave without a fight(?) so everyone is holding their breath. The only
way Fox can resolve this is to pull the governor Ulises out of power
and negotiate with striking teachers/Appo(?) Without this I’m
afraid it will be a police state with troops on every corner to keep
the disorder in place(?)
As
you can see there are alot of questions.
Since
we’re not in the downtown area (we’re a whole ten minutes
up the hill in San Felipe) we have been safe. Throughout our time here(four
months now) these problems have been hanging over Oaxaca, but we have
nonetheless been having a fantastic experience. Today we actually had
a belated birthday party for my wife. Though many people who would have
to pass barricades cancelled, most came and it was a surreal uplifting
event in this time of crisis. As the saying goes–better to hang
out together then to hang out separately(or something like that.)
The
situation is changing by the hour so it is impossible to know what is
happening at this point. I know that the troops arrived (One of our
friends had to go out to the airport to fetch her Mom and saw the troop
planes). Another reliable source said this will give Ulises the thumbs
up to send his henchmen on a rampage.I also heard from our photographer
friend that Appo will not be fighting and a resolution may be imminent!
Another casualty of war–verifiable information.
Cartoonist
Dan Perkins
(a.k.a. "Tom Tomorrow") is the creator of "This Modern
World," blog (www.thismodernworld.com). Petroleumworld not necessarily
share these views.
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30, 2006 .
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