CASA Statement on the Crisis in Oaxaca

As many of you are aware, political oppression and state violence has been escalating in Oaxaca over the past week. Since Friday, October 27th, at least four people have been killed by paramilitaries and government forces, including American Indymedia journalist Brad Will. The current conflict began on June 14th when Oaxaca's governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz sent in state police to break a teachers' strike that was camped out in the center of Oaxaca City. Gov. Ruiz had already alarmed international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for atrocities committed before the June police violence. The actions on June 14th further ignited people's anger throughout the State who responded by joining the teachers' encampment in Oaxaca City and by forming the People's Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO). The single demand of the APPO has been the resignation of Gov. Ruiz.

In the last five months, at least 12 people have been killed by police and paramilitary forces connected to Gov. Ruiz. Major media outlets, worldwide, have erroneously implied that teachers and members of the APPO are to blame for the violence, including the death of Brad Will. Repeated calls on Mexican television for the restoration of "law and order" are disturbing because they fail to recognize that the recent spate of targeted killings have been traced to the State government, and that the fundamental necessity to restoring peace in the state is the immediate removal of Gov. Ruiz .

The CASA Collectives stand in solidarity with APPO and the people of Oaxaca. We demand the withdrawal of federal forces, the disarmament and prosecution of paramilitary groups, and justice for all of those killed as a result of government repression.

We urge you to take action.

· Contact Mexican President Vicente Fox, the US Embassy in Mexico, and your elected representatives, and demand an end to the violence. Their contact information is listed below.
· Take to the streets. Join with vigils and demonstrations across the country and around the world, to pressure the Mexican Government to negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Below you will find links to more information about the conflict in Oaxaca and the events of the past week, as well as contact information for the Mexican Government and US Embassy.

General Timeline of Events Since the Escalation of Violence and the Entrance of Federal Forces

http://www.casacollective.org/en/node/343

Eyewitness reports from CASA Chapulin in Oaxaca

October 29th http://www.casacollective.org/en/node/336

October 30th http://www.casacollective.org/en/node/341

Up to the minute English language reporting from Oaxaca

www.narconews.org

www.indymedia.org

The CASA Collective has been working to translate and post news and communiqués on our website as soon as they are available to us.

www.CASAcollective.org

Contact Info:

President Vicente Fox:
Email: vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx
Fax: 011-52-55-52-77-23-76
Phone: 011-52-55-27-89-11-00