Witness for Peace Mexico

Witness for Peace Partner Organization Threatened in Midst of Escalating Tensions

On Monday, November 27, Citizen Radio, a radio station said to be operated by supporters of the governor, called on people to take over and burn the offices of the Oaxaca non-profit organization Servicios para una Educación Alternativa (EDUCA), which has been a close partner organization to Witness for Peace. The radio accused EDUCA of using its office to manufacture Molotov cocktails for the APPO, and they specifically announced the name of their director as the person responsible for it all. EDUCA maintains strong relationships with prominent organizations on a local, national, and international level, all of whom know the organization´s work and know these accusations are false. The non-profit was founded in 1994 and grew out of the Youth Ministry of the Archdiocese of Oaxaca, and is focused on working with the most marginalized sectors of the Oaxacan population—indigenous peoples, small farmers, and women. Their work includes promoting citizens´ rights (including political, economic, and social rights), autonomy in indigenous communities (including a school which promotes the training of local indigenous authorities), and community economies, which promote local markets and networks which benefit Oaxaca communities (for more information about EDUCA, see www.educaoaxaca.org). The false accusations about EDUCA on the radio is one more example of the current climate of tension and psychological warfare which has clearly intensified in the last week.

On Saturday, November 25th the seventh APPO mega march, consisting of a stream of people 8 kilometers long, culminated in the city center in an attempt to create a human fence for 48 hours around the Federal Preventative Police (FPP). At about 5 pm the battle began. The FPP attempted to break up the human barricades and released teargas and threw rocks at the protesters. A five hour confrontation followed: protestors were teargassed, rocks were thrown by both sides, cars and buses burned (reports of up to 40), and government offices torched. The FPP set fire to the APPO encampment near Santo Domingo church, and armed gunmen in civilian clothes fired shots from the ethno botanical gardens in Santo Domingo. More than 140 people were injured, with reports of up to 150 people detained, 39 people disappeared, and three deaths, although the deaths have yet to be confirmed.

On Monday, November 27th, 141 detainees from Saturday’s confrontation were transferred from a prison outside of Oaxaca City to a medium level security prison in the far away state of Nayarit. The federal government has said that it considers all detainees to be very dangerous. The head of the FPP has announced that there will be no more tolerance for protest and that people involved will be punished. In addition, he announced that FPP will begin to implement over 300 outstanding arrest warrants and search for APPO members. Patrols by the local and state police and the FPP continue each night (and day), searching for presumed movement members. Police have also set up check points on main roads in the city and are searching public transportation with lists in hand of presumably guilty parties. The Oaxaca Network on Human Rights has denounced arbitrary detentions and is stating that the situation in the center of Oaxaca City is one of extreme violence. The APPO decided not to rebuild their encampment outside of Santo Domingo church, for fear of another violent encounter with the FPP. Tensions are expected to increase as December 1st nears and president-elect Felipe Calderón takes office amidst intense political division in Mexico.

EDUCA has closed their offices for the week, as a precaution against possible attacks, and human rights organizations are demanding the respect of the physical and psychological integrity of the director of EDUCA, as well as its entire staff. How can such a well respected, well established, effective organization such as EDUCA be victim of such unfounded criticism and violent threats? What effect does a threat to an organization fighting for the rights of the most marginalized people in the region have on civil society as a whole? Witness for Peace has had the honor of working with EDUCA for over 5 years, and are inspired by their dedication to continue in the struggle for justice for all peoples. A threat to our community of organizations working towards a more just world is a threat to all.

New U.S. Warnings, Renewed APPO Strategies, and Reinvented State Rhetoric on the Death of Brad Will

On November 15, the U.S. State Department reissued a travel warning for Mexico (effective until January 18, 2007) speaking not only of escalating violence in Oaxaca, but of chances of danger in any part of the country, with new emphasis on Mexico City due in part to the bombings on November 5th (see our blog entry on the bombings below). However general and sweepingly devastating it may be for Mexican tourism, the warning nevertheless recognizes the concurrent political unrest of both the Oaxaca situation and the political actions intended by many citizens, led by lawmakers and activists, to impede president-elect Felipe Calderón’s inauguration on December 1st.

How the federal government and its armed forces will respond to the increasingly nationalized political pressure and social tension remains unknown. The state government of Oaxaca, however, continues its line of self-legitimization and anti-APPO rhetoric. Oaxaca Attorney General Lizbeth Caña recently argued that U.S. reporter Bradley Will (killed October 27) may have been shot at pointblank range by persons at the barricades who were participating in a premeditated plot that was intended to internationalize attention on the popular movement. Caña’s claim comes despite the existence of clear video footage of armed gunmen, some of whom have been identified as plainclothes municipal authorities, firing in Will’s general direction.

Yesterday in Oaxaca, ongoing tensions were manifest as a large march of APPO supporters once again faced off with the Federal Preventative Police (FPP) in the city center. The FPP, confronted by protest chants demanding their departure, began to hurl stones at the crowd; when the protesters responded in kind, the police stones turned to tear gas canisters. The number of injured persons is unknown.

At the same time, in order to show that the government has been rendered ineffective, thousands of APPO supporters and members of the Section-22 teachers’ union attempted to impede governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz’s annual ceremonial delivery of his state report to the legislature. Protestors used the context of the event to demand both the governor’s resignation and the federal government’s removal of the FPP. Ruiz did not deliver the document or its corresponding address in person.

These protests and altercations come directly after the completion of the APPO’s statewide congress, in which the leadership decided not to reinitiate the thus far failed negotiations with the federal government and instead to reestablish barricades and “moving brigades” to take control of and shut down state buildings and offices. A major component of the strategy in the coming days includes the creation of a “human fence” around the city center to isolate the FPP, with the intended result being their forced de-occupation of the city.

Las Abejas Arrive in Oaxaca Fasting and Praying for “Peace with Justice”

Las Abejas, renown for their nonviolent struggle for indigenous rights in Chiapas and their suffering as targets in the 1997 Acteal massacre, were the first to demonstrate in the militarized city center of Oaxaca on November 11th.  As the principal members of the Chiapas Caravan for Peace and Solidarity with Oaxaca, nearly 250 members of the Abejas community arrived after having trekked for days from Chiapas, packed tightly into the beds of pickup trucks and enduring several mechanical problems along the way.  The Abejas-led caravan arrived to express that they have fasted and prayed that “peace with justice may arrive here in Oaxaca.”

Upon first contact, the Federal Preventative Police (FPP) refused passage into the Zócalo for the Acteal visitors, in response to which representatives of the Abejas group declared that they would perform their ceremony for peace in the street directly in front of one of the main FPP barricades.  Officials finally let them pass, and the police stood vigilant in tight ranks as the pilgrims proceeded to the portico of the Oaxaca cathedral, where they lit candles, played music, danced, and sang for peace and “sufficient political will” on the part of state and federal governments to solve the crisis.  The colors, rhythms, and melodies of the Abejas contrasted starkly with the sea of grey police uniforms and the unnatural wave of silence that has flooded the city center since the end of October.

(Members of the Abejas community in the Zocalo on Saturday, November 11. Pictures courtesy of Rochelle; click to see more from her Oaxaca collection.)

Although a small number of townspeople venture into the Zócalo to enjoy its recently “de-graffitied” coffee shops and restaurants, the streets immediately beyond the FPP barricades are ghostly and vacant, and turning the corner from any one of them toward the city center feels a bit like suddenly skydiving into a statically charged thunderhead.  The number of police elements in the Zócalo is staggering to behold: 5,000 according to one of the agents.  Some news sources report that there are even more.  Then there are the tanks and high-powered cannons of water and teargas, poised and manned, that confront anyone who steps toward the Zócalo past the high and guarded barricades.

(Agents of the Federal Preventative Police. Photo by Robert Saper.)

The police agent I spoke with seemed to believe their occupation would last for two months at least.  From the conversation, it also became clear that the agents are not free to venture outside the central occupied zone, which—while lessening chances of confrontation in the streets—makes it impossible for these men to see members of the APPO as anything but enemies.  In fact, as the agent beat his fist against his bulletproof vest, he assured me: “They’ll shoot you.”

Then he asked me, “Do you feel safer now that we have arrived?”  Shocked by the sudden difficulty of the question, I began to consider the current state of “political will” spoken of by the Abejas: the FPP has been convinced by their commanders that the APPO is violent and willing to shoot; the occupation will likely last for months to come without contributing to an ease of daily tension; the state governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, has shown no signs of compromise nor of leaving his post as the movement has requested—and even as federal Interior Minister Carlos Abascal has suggested; and the Attorney General of Oaxaca, Lizbeth Caña Cadeza, has delivered the official state line that the APPO is a terrorist organization (an argument based on their having seized property as part of their movement).

While still pondering how I would respond to the agent’s question, I realized that the Zócalo, in its occupied silence, was a deafening place for thought.  Then a new noise came echoing up the cobblestone street as several files of police agents marched in formation to change the guard.  Clearly the one I was speaking to had to attend to his duties, and so we parted with a handshake and an unclear response.  Though in my words I declared that I did not know if I felt safer, had he any capacity to see into my heart he would have heard my real answer: “No, in fact, things seem likely to get worse.”

This morning APPO leaders emerged from a three-day congress determining their direction in the upcoming weeks.  Their negotiating body has been reorganized to amplify the strength and input of statewide leadership and there is renewed commitment to building barricades and reinstituting traveling brigades (intended in part to take control of state government offices and further their demand that Ulises Ruiz Ortiz step down).  Negotiations between the APPO and the federal government have, for the moment, provided for a lull in street confrontation between protesters and federal police, but with political will as it is and such strong rhetoric coming from the state government, it would appear that “peace with justice” may not arrive for quite some time in Oaxaca.

Amnesty International Concerned as Detentions Continue in Oaxaca

International human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) issued a press release last Tuesday concerned about the state of the people detained since the federal forces entered Oaxaca City on October 29th. “The lack of official information about the detained, their physical condition, and what exactly they are charged with could mean that not only are they unable to communicate with anyone, but also that they are subject to mistreatment, which would constitute serious human rights violations,”AI stated.

Even as the Federal Preventative Police (FPP) have temporarily suspended their activities with hopes of negotiations between the APPO and the federal government, detentions continue. The Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights (Limeddh by their initials in Spanish) reports that between Tuesday and Wednesday alone 19 people were detained by municipal police, all APPO sympathizers, bringing the overall list of people apprehended to over 100, although 52 thus far have been released. According to the Limeddh, many of the released show signs of mistreatment. They highlighted the case of the lawyer Gerardo Jimenez Vazquez, who suffered two broken ribs, as one of the worst. On top of this, many think that the federal forces are moving into phase III of the operation as last Tuesday orders to apprehend 9 of the 200 with arrest warrants went into effect. Up to this point agents of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) have been unsuccessful in arresting any of these nine people. Four leaders of the APPO on this list asked for and were granted refuge by the archdiocese of Oaxaca in a local church. Alternative Nobel Peace Prize winner Paraguyan Martin Almada said there were similarities between the police actions in Oaxaca and the “horrors of Operacion Condor” in South America where opposition was kidnapped, tortured, and assassinated during the 1970s. In this context, negotiations between the APPO and the federal government continue to stall.

At the same time since the clash between the FPP and the APPO on November 2nd, there have been no helicopter over flights, no attempts to remove any more barricades, and very little patrolling on the city streets by police. Many city busses are running, most shops are opening, even the Oaxaca city orchestra gave a small concert in a public park, El Llano, giving creed to federal government official Arturo Chavez’s statement that things are returning to normal. “You could even see last weekend that many young kids were going to the discotheques,” Chavez told reporters. If you were to ignore the Zocalo, where now FPP agents are searching through people’s bags when they enter, or other parts of the city where the FPP is concentrated, you could feasibly convince yourself this was true.

Maybe emblematic of this intense duality of both incredibly heightened and no police presence was that a Death Metal band was able to set up amplifiers and blast out an impromptu concert in front of several swanky restaurants on the tourist pedestrian walkway Macedonia Alcala, a mere block from the police lines. Outside FPP lines there is an absence of visible uniformed law enforcement (although allegedly plain clothed undercover police roam everywhere in the city), as has been the case in Oaxaca since last June 14th, when neighborhoods started to make crime watch committees. Five months ago the Death Metal band would have been removed within seconds.

Bombings in Mexico City Could Affect Situation in Oaxaca

“The whole conflict affects you psychologically,” says Genaro, who owns a small balloon shop in the historic center of Oaxaca City. “I went to the Mixteca this weekend and kids were setting off firecrackers, which are usually normal, but it made me nervous, I had to keep looking around.” The Mixteca region, where the state of Oaxaca borders the neighboring states of Puebla and Guerrero, is one of the most eroded places on the face of the earth. Thousands and thousands of small farmers, affected adversely by drops in the price of corn and loss of governmental support, migrate to the United States. A huge concentration of Mixteca farmers are now concentrated in the California’s central valleys, occupying primarily agricultural jobs. Some Mixteca communities contain so many abandoned homes, they are like ghost towns in an eerie, almost beautiful moonscape that doesn’t hide the desolate poverty. The Mixteca, known as the region with the highest rate of migration in the state, gives testimony to the economic crisis in Oaxaca that is one of the vast and complicated root causes behind the social conflict. “When I was coming back to Oaxaca City there were a lot of check-points, both military and the Federal Preventative Police (FPP). They checked my truck, but all they found were a couple deflated balloons. Right now everything makes me nervous,” Genaro said

The FPP have maintained their posts in the Zocalo, the Parque del Amor, and the airport, though after Thursday’s battle at the University City, two thousand additional troops discreetly entered the city. Officials from the federal forces say their operation of “the re-establishment of order and peace in Oaxaca” remains temporarily suspended while negotiations continue between the APPO and the Federal government. These negotiations however, have not yet actually officially begun and just as there was optimism that they might, three bombs exploded in Mexico City.

A front of five guerilla groups took responsibility for the bombings at the national office of the PRI (the Institutional Revolutionary Party), the Federal Electoral Tribunal, and a bank. Their demands included—among many others—the resignation of Oaxacan governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz and the withdrawal of the FPP from Oaxaca City. The guerilla front says that if their demands are not met they will turn their actions toward the 40 largest national and transnational companies in Mexico. An Associated Press article published in the US irresponsibly reported that the guerilla groups were from Oaxaca, though only one of the 5, the TDR (Tendencia Democratica Revolucionaria), had a proven presence here. The Mexican army recognizes that this group is also in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and the valley of Mexico. Little is known about the other groups. Mexican President Vicente Fox says that the federal government “strongly rejects this criminal act” and that they would “work hard to investigate to find the perpetrators of the crime.” Miguel Angel Vasquez of the non-governmental organization EDUCA (Servicios para una Educacion Alternativa) told Witness for Peace that “the truth is that there is very little clarity [about the guerilla groups], there is very little clarity about their message, nor who these groups are, and some doubt that they even exist at all.” The APPO indicated that they have no relation with the guerilla front, that their struggle is peaceful and democratic, and that they condemn the attacks. Vasquez says that “the government could use the bombings as a justification for more federal government intervention in Oaxaca. They could feasibly harden their position. In fact, the Oaxacan government just requested more money for ‘security’, meaning more anti-riot tanks, more guns, and more police.”

While condemning the bombings, Carlos Abascal, Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior, also rejected APPO’s plea to negotiate directly with President Vicente Fox, saying that the negotiations are the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and it has “offered solutions [to the conflict], and has been actively resolving the problem.” The APPO disagrees saying that failed negotiations with Abascal have not resolved the conflict, and they are still hoping for direct dialogue with Fox no later than Thursday. Abascal also asked Oaxacan governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz to either resign or actively pursue a social pact with his opposition in the state.

This morning Oaxaca City awoke to another bomb blast at a Burger King in the Plaza del Valle. The manager, looking at a blown out window with shards of glass all around, said “we have no idea who did this.” Nobody, as of yet, has taken responsibility for the attack.

Genaro was right, the collective psychology of the city has changed. Walking around, even innocent curved wrought iron bars protecting a grassy area in front of a church look like they have sharp barbs in the dim night light. Any small noise has groups of people jumping up to investigate its origin. Suspicion of other people trumps hospitality. Even if nothing has happened in the city in the last few days the psychology of militarization, slowly but surely, is settling in.

Massive Peaceful March by the APPO in Oaxaca City

“They are going to take the Zocalo!” a man exclaimed, pointing at the never-ending river of people that covered what seemed to be the entirety of the street Independencia in the historic center of Oaxaca City. From that vantage point it seemed possible, watching tens of thousands of people march to demand the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz and in protest of the presence of Federal Preventative Police (FPP) in the city. There was already tension in the air as earlier that morning armed gunmen (allegedly paramilitaries) broke into the university and opened fire, injuring one student. The FPP was ready for any attempts by protestors to advance into areas now under police control; barbed wire, sometimes in rolls and sometimes strung like Christmas lights through burned out busses and dumpsters, sealed all access points into the heart of the city. Any protestor daring to cut through the barbed wire would be met with rows of federal forces, spanning at least a block and carrying shields, black helmets, gas masks, Billy clubs, and guns. Two armored tanks could be seen and snipers manned the rooftops in case of any commotion. It was clear that a confrontation was exactly what the press was waiting for, as many could be seen protecting themselves with hard helmets and bulletproof vests; however, it was exactly what did not happen. The march, convened by the APPO, veered left two blocks before reaching the police line and ended in a massive rally at Santo Domingo church. The APPO, having made a small side agreement with the Federal Government guaranteeing a peaceful beginning and end to the march, asked small groups of protestors that broke away from the rally to not taunt the police in order to avoid confrontation, though some threw apples and oranges. One woman tossed the deep orange cempasuchil flowers (traditional to Oaxaca during the Day of the Dead festivities) at the federal forces, pleading them to leave for the peace of the city.

Unlike during other marches since the federal incursion into Oaxaca City over a week ago, there were no helicopter fly-overs. Officials from the FPP announced last Friday that they were going into a period of de-intensification to let the smoke clear after Thursday’s violent clash with the APPO at the autonomous university campus. They did stress, though, that clearing all barricades from the streets of Oaxaca was the clear objective of phase II of their operation, so they would be back. In the meantime, the APPO has recuperated and constructed what only can be described as mega-barricades in intersections all around the university. Rows and rows of city busses and even trucks supported by built-up wood planks, rocks, and barbed wire make it impassable for traffic, and perhaps even for the FPP’s armored tanks and bulldozers if they try to dismantle these barricades again. University Avenue remains a graveyard of Thursday’s clash, with the carcasses of overturned burned out busses and cars still giving testimony on the ash-black asphalt to a battle that the APPO says they won when they successfully repelled federal forces. Tension remains thick on this avenue as few shops dare to open and only a trickle of pedestrians walk the streets. The probability of another police attack is very high. On Saturday, people guarding the barricades detained two army officials who were said to be in the area on an intelligence mission.

The human rights organization Centro Pro Juarez reports that since the federal police incursion, there have been 84 detentions--59 of which are people still unaccounted for, or “disappeared.” According to the report, many people with no political affiliation at all have been detained on their way to work or just passing through for various reasons. One person detained during Thursday’s FPP operation reportedly told police: “I’m just the neighborhood drunk. I’m just looking for my shot of mescal.” The Red Oaxaquena de Derechos Humanos (the Oaxacan Human Rights Network) reported that most detentions have been “violent, and some of the testimonies [of the detained] reveal torture.” FPP and Army checkpoints remain up throughout the state of Oaxaca and at all access points to the city. Luis Arturo Macías of the Centro Pro Juarez told Witness for Peace that “Oaxaca is a microcosm for what is happening all across the country.” Macias said that in Oaxaca “after 12 years of NAFTA there is more poverty, less jobs, and more environmental deterioration; the most affected by these agreements are always the indigenous, small farmers, and women.”

Federal government official Arturo Chavez from the Ministry of the Interior was in Oaxaca City over the weekend under orders to begin the dialogue process with the social movement in Oaxaca. The APPO has called for direct dialogue with President Vicente Fox Quesada (citing other failed dialogue attempts) to begin no later than Tuesday in the library behind Santo Domingo church. Meanwhile, the movement will maintain pressure for the forced resignation of Oaxaca’s governor through road blockades and possible attempts to take over municipal governments all around the state. Chavez stated that the federal attorney general’s office will begin an investigation into the connections between paramilitary groups in Oaxaca and the state government.

Throughout the whole weekend a thick cloud cover let a misty rain fall over the city of Oaxaca. When discussing what was going to happen today a neighbor told me “Oaxaca will never be the same, no matter what happens.” Her eyes reflected the dramatic uncertainty of every day, the constant shift in dynamics, but moreover the trauma the city has lived and continues to live through. In a state that has suffered years of economic violence that leaves the grand majority living in poverty, one wonders if there was ever really peace here. Maybe as Archbishop Samuel Ruiz said a couple weeks ago, “in Oaxaca, a new world is struggling to be born.”

FPP Attacks APPO at their University Stronghold; 72 Injured

“Are busses running today?” an older woman asked, looking up at the sky as a helicopter ripped through the air low and fast towards the south of Oaxaca City. Everybody looked down the road only to see a trickle of cars and the occasional cab. “Probably not,” she said, “I’m trying to go to the cemetery to see my husband, but it looks like you can’t because of Cinco Señores.” Cinco Señores is a crucial intersection where five avenues meet a mere block and a half from the autonomous university campus, which is where APPO sympathizers were concentrating in a massive barricade to protect Radio Universidad, the broadcast voice of the movement. At 8 am, over 1000 Federal troops were deployed in the area, beginning what would become an eight hour siege. Yes, it was going to be a difficult day to go to the cemetery.

Whatever normalcy that was felt on November 1 had evaporated into thin air. From anywhere in the city distant thuds and explosions could be heard, and helicopters circled the scene so much that, at a distance, they looked like large mechanical vultures circling a carcass.

Radio Universidad, whose broadcast came out of homes everywhere in the city, gave a dramatic play-by-play of the battle, constantly calling on people in surrounding neighborhoods to reinforce the barricades around the campus and to concentrate massively in the university to protect the station. Thousands responded, as neighbors and students filled the streets. The Federal Preventative Police (FPP) advanced with armored tanks shooting highly pressurized water at the protestors. FPP helicopters shot down tear gas from above, creating a smoky chemical mix that made it hard to breath. People defended the campus by throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails, and firecrackers.

I stopped at a small store where neighbors gathered to hear the action. Energetic voices gave on-the-ground reports about the advance of the police, the tear gas, and how they thought the police were going into the university. When there was interference in the transmission, a man wondered, “When will the radio station be cut off? When won’t we be able to hear?” When they saw I was from the U.S. they asked if I thought it was the death of a U.S. citizen (Indymedia reporter and photographer Brad Will) last week that prompted the intervention of the Federal troops. They reminded me of the intense rumor circulating around the city that George W. Bush made a call to Mexican President Vicente Fox last weekend asking him to resolve the conflict.

A little after mid-day, the federal government issued a communiqué stating that the FPP was under strict orders not to enter the autonomous campus. Later in the afternoon the Federal forces pulled back, reportedly by orders of the Fox administration, after a three hour battle. After the smoke cleared from the most violent confrontation since the FPP entered Oaxaca city, 40 protestors were injured along with 22 bystanders and 10 police. The FPP detained 30 people, including a 14 year old boy. According to the Mexico City daily La Jornada, state police dressed in civilian clothing were also part of the operation. The paper also reported that people associated with the Oaxacan state government tried to provoke the FPP to enter and take over the university by shooting firecrackers at them.

The APPO responded to the confrontation by calling for a three-point general offensive. First, they will reinstall barricades all over the city of Oaxaca. Second, marches will begin from all seven regions of the state, arriving into Oaxaca City on Sunday for a massive mega-march protesting the FPP presence and Oaxacan governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Third, they have asked people to remain disciplined, to show the world that Oaxacans are a respectful people, even when in resistance. Also, it was announced that the Archbishop of Oaxaca, José Luis Chávez Botello, has offered the Carmen Alto church as a place for peace negotiations to happen. A representative from the APPO said that they would only negotiate with the Federal government, and, “At the very least this may be a way to de-intensify the situation.”

Day of the Dead

This is the Day of the Dead (a Mexican celebration of All Saints and All Souls Days) in the city of Oaxaca. Not even a federal police incursion and occupation of the heart of the city and a social conflict of the magnitude no one has ever seen before are going to stop deeply cherished traditions honoring dead loved ones. Today the streets filled with people carrying large bouquets of deep orange and red flowers that will lace the wreathes around altars put up all over town. It would seem as though the conflict has been put on hold for at least one day. Even the police loosened up their human wall guarding access points to the Zócalo. Inside civilians and vendors pockmarked the sea of grey uniformed young men, many of whom joined this police force after serving time in the army. Like tourists, some of the federal police photographed themselves in front of the massive cathedral as stone-faced saints looked down onto a sad and strange situation. Any semblance of the popular protest that occupied this city square for five months has been erased, including the graffiti on building walls.

Even with this visceral sensation of normality, the Federal Preventative Police (the FPP) entered phase II of their operation. Now they will actively patrol city streets with the primary objective of tearing down any barricade put up by the APPO and recuperating the rest of the city. Their first operation was to take back the state television station, Channel 9, that had been in the APPO’s hands since early last August, when a march of women arrived banging pots and pans (a Latin American tradition) and asking for an interview.  When the interview was not granted, they took over the station.

There were no injuries reported in the police takeover of the station; however, as of the moment of this writing, there are reports of tear gas, water cannons, and injuries near the University City (campus of the autonomous university), where a massive concentration of people has amassed to resist a FPP incursion. The autonomous university is where Radio Universidad, the last remaining broadcast voice of the movement, is located (more on this to be reported tomorrow).

Phase III of the FPP operation, which has not yet been put into action, is to carry out the apprehension of over 200 people with arrest warrants, mainly leaders from the APPO. Officials from the FPP say they will stay “however long it is necessary, and that could be for several months.”

Of note is that the FPP has received training conducted by FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) or former FBI agents in the past. In 1999 when the FPP was formed, then President Bill Clinton sanctioned their training, stating that it was a positive step Mexico was taking to fight drug trafficking. According to the online magazine Frontera NorteSur, this type of training has continued at least until the year 2004. 

The APPO has vowed to peacefully resist any attempt by the federal police to take down their barricades. According to their plan of action, when the police leave they will simply put them back up. On Friday they plan to begin regaining all lost barricades since the police operation started. With the FPP doing patrols in the streets, this could possibly lead to direct confrontation and conflict.

Today, though, the APPO is not erecting barricades; they are only putting up altars. All along the pedestrian street Macedonia Alcala, from the federal police lines to the historic Santo Domingo church, are altars with photographs of the faces of all the people killed since the conflict began. Pumpkins, pan de muerto (puffy round yolk bread traditional to this time of year), apples, oranges, and sometimes even beer or Oaxaca’s famous liquor Mezcal, sprinkled with the orange campesuchil flowers, are offered to these dead. One altar is dedicated to Brad Will, the U.S. Indymedia reporter who was killed last Friday. Under his photo it says “I gave my blood to tell the truth about a people.” Around the altar tall white candles flicker offering both immense sadness and some sort of spiritual hope.

At a food stand in the streets, a torta vendor warned: “After finishing your sandwich you better go home, so you don’t have to worry about what’s going on outside.”  When asked what he thought would happen, his completely exasperated face reflected the boiling dynamic at work in the city, making the façade of normalcy dissipate.  Many elements continue to loom and remain unchanging: the governor still has not left; the APPO still has encampments and barricades around town; the Federal Police are everywhere. Perhaps, in addition to these matters, the vendor was even thinking about an economic system that creates and maintains poverty, sending so many Oaxacans packing northward every year.  “I don't know,” he finally admitted.