¡Fuera Ulises! San Cristobal takes action for justice in Oaxaca

Cha-Cha 31 Oct 2006 04:06 GMT

¡Ulises Ya Cayo!
¡Ulises Ya Cayo!

¡Presos politicos, desaparicidos, no se olvidan!
¡Presos politicos, desaparicidos, no se olvidan!

San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas
October 30, 2006, 7:40pm

Over 100 people marched as The Other Campaign through the streets of San Cristobal de Las Casas tonight in solidarity with the Popular Assembly of Communities of Oaxaca (APPO), demanding the immediate resignation of former governor Ulises Ruiz, the immediate withdrawl of paramilitary forces and the federal police (PFP), immediate release of all political prisoners and kidnapped people, and an end to all government sponsored violence against the people of Oaxaca.

Marchers carried candles repudiating the murder of activists and comrades, including Brad Will, a NYC resident and Indymedia reporter who was fatally shot through the stomach by paramilitary soldiers working on behalf Ulises Ruiz. Activists carried banners dedicated to the murdered and the disappeared saying “¡No Estan Muertos!” – They Have Not Died.

The march ended in the central square of San Cristobal, where its ranks swelled considerably. A Oaxacan woman brought us up to the minute, reporting a 15 year old minor and an adult teacher just murdered by paramilitary forces. The police are spraying crowds with water mixed with a skin irritant out of hoses designed for crowd control. The federal police and paramilitaries have invaded the city, kidnapped and disappeared activists, as well as committing murder. She warned that if “this is permitted to occur in Oaxaca unopposed, the same with happen here in Chiapas.” The crowd responded with cries of “¡Ulises, ya cayo!” – Ulises is done!

An activist with The Other Campaign and La Otra Jovel read us communiqués from both the Jovel and the Sexta Commission of the Zapatistas, and implored us to take part in the further actions that will occur throughout Chiapas.

In the center of the gathering, activists began to lay memorial candles. I thought about Brad Will’s courage as a fighter for the democratic power that comes from below, and against the power that dominates from above. I hoped he was somehow able to see the faces of the people gathered here tonight, gathered in New York City, in Tuxtla Gutierrez, in Argentina, around the world, demanding justice for Oaxaca and everyone who has been murdered by the government. We will continue to work for justice.

At the end of the demonstration a cold wind suddenly blew through the gathering, chilling everyone momentarily. The candles in the center shrunk to tiny blue dots against the night, but by the time people began to walk home not a single one had gone out.

LONG LIVE APPO AND THE COMMUNITIES OF OAXACA!

LONG LIVE BRAD WILL!

LONG LIVE EMILIO FABIAN!

END THE OCCUPATION, AND
ENOUGH OFTHE ILLEGITAMITE GOVERNMENT OF ULISES RUIZ!

LIBERTY FOR ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!!!

DOWN WITH BORDERS!

LONG LIVE SOLIDARITY!!!