After the first Nacional Forum: Weaving Resistances in Defense of Our territories which took place on the 17th and 18th of April 2009 in San Pedro Apostol, Octolan, Oaxaca, organizations from around the state and the country have returned to the table to continue to create spaces for analysis and reflection between different movements and communities in resistance, in order to connect and to create solidarity between them and against the plunder of their lands.

After the first Nacional Forum: Weaving Resistances in Defense of Our territories which took place on the 17th and 18th of April 2009 in San Pedro Apostol, Octolan, Oaxaca, organizations from around the state and the country have returned to the table to continue to create spaces for analysis and reflection between different movements and communities in resistance, in order to connect and to create solidarity between them and against the plunder of their lands.

The “war on drugs” in Mexico is widely publicized in the United States, with newspaper coverage of the almost daily carnage, violence resulting from drug-trafficking and fighting it. However, the issue is more complex than a mere showdown between cartels and the military. Drug trafficking is Mexico’s largest source of income and the illegal activity functions based on a system of corruption in the military, police force, the government, and banks. The Mexican government itself has reported that 60% of police at all levels are under the control of narco-traffickers, and in the military, even those up to the level of general have been arrested and charged with being on cartel payrolls. Mexican cartels depend on a steady demand for drugs in the U.S. as its main supplier of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. The cartels also depend on poverty and limited job opportunities in Mexico.

This past October 11 Felipe Calderon issued a presidential decree to "disappear" the semi-nationalized electricity company "Luz y Fuerza del Centro". The move simultaneously left more the 44 thousand people without work and sought to destroy one of the most progressive and powerful unions in the country, the "Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas". Since then the union has resisted and built popular support to challenge the president´s neoliberal agenda. Actions have been held througout the country, including blockades and marches in Oaxaca, to support them. In Mexico City 11 eleven continue on hunger strike in order to demand a solution from the president.

In Chicomuselo, Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, residents have been fighting the canadian mining firm "Blackwater" for destroying their communities and lands. On November the 27th, Mariano Abara Rolero, a member of the Mexican Netowork of People Affected by Mining, was murdered in front of his house. Witness stay a man on a motorcycle shot Mariano and a campanion, Orlando Vazquez, and rode away.

Around the world, November 25th is recognized as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This date originates from the assassination of the three Mirabel Sisters, women from the Dominican Republic who were assassinated for their political activities against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship. In Oaxaca and elsewhere, the struggle and resistance continue. Click to read various articles about the situation of women in Oaxaca, and their participation in the social movement and in community radios. Also, check out the last article to make a colonial connection with violence against women in Mexico and violence against women of color in the U.S.

"...I dream of freedom. It is the sweeetest word I have ever heard and eah night I dream of it. I dream of a country and a world where the death penalty exists only in our memories, where it is history. I dream of the abscence of bars, the abscence of shackles, and the abscence of the threat of death." –MAJ

Beginning of the 27th of October and continuing through the month of November, CASA Chapulín will be participating in the First Independent Media Film Festival in honor of the life of Brad Will.

After an investigation that lasted a year and a half the Supreme Court announced that it had found Ulises Ruiz Otriz to be responsable of the violation of individual rights during the social conflict that exploded in 2006. Surprisingly the court went against the advice of one of its own judges, Mariana Azuela, who had made a recommendation that the court excuse Ruiz just two days before. The judges refused to lay blame on Vicente Fox, president during 2006, nor Felipe Calderon, the current President, for any of the violations of human rights. At first glance the finding appears to be a victory for the poeple of Oaxaca, but upon reading it more in depth things are not so clear. The justices decided only that URO did not fulfill his obligation to maintain public order and that his omission led to general disorder in the capital city and adjacent areas, essentially blaming Ruiz for not cracking down soon enough.

Let us call together for the reopening of the investigation of the Acteal’s massacre case as a State crime, and let us honour the victims on the Mexican Day of the Dead. Join those individuals and groups who care in the place you live in, in order to organize a vigil for the night of November the 1st, 2009, followed by a demonstration, sit-in or any other peaceful act the following day (the Mexican Day of the Dead).