By Riccardo D'Emidio

The sky is bright blue and a strong sun shines over the city of Oaxaca. It is the 25th of October and music is playing from the colourful colonial square of Santo Domingo, where the second plenary Assembly of the “Citizens’ Initiative for Dialogue towards Peace, Democracy and Justice in Oaxaca” is taking place. The main objective of this assembly is the construction of a new, inclusive social pact with the aim of installing, once again, governance, state of law and a new constitutional order in the state with human rights and authentic representation of the people of Oaxaca as central pillars.

More than 200 civic organizations and associations took part in this initiative together with academics, Section XXII of the SNTE, businesspeople, the church, the APPO, and indigenous communities, authorities and organizations. This initiative started on October 12th by creating six roundtables dealing with different subject matters:
- New democracy and governance
- Economy in solidarity
- Towards a new education
- Harmony, justice and social equity
- Historical, cultural and natural patrimony of Oaxaca
- Media and Communications at the service of the people.

During two weeks these roundtables held meetings open to any citizen, in order to formulate proposals for a structural and political change for the benefit of society as a whole. They worked primarily on key issues with respect to the development of the state and the harmonic coexistence of the people of Oaxaca. Among these issues the assembly focused on a true political and institutional reform, a social economy, an intercultural education, the right to healthcare, the right to free access to water, care for and enrichment of the historical, cultural and natural patrimony, and the use of the media for the people.

The entire area of the square is filled with chairs under the big white tents that provided shelter from the powerful Oaxacan sun. People start arriving at ten AM: small indigenous women, artists, nuns, businessmen, international photographers, old and young chat over the music trumpeting from the brass band.

A woman from GAEM (Grupo de Apoyo a la Educación a la Mujer) steps onto the stage and welcomes the assembly. In front of the huge cultural landmark that Santo Domingo represents, she emphasizes the importance of dialogue in order to build, once again, the torn social fabric of the state of Oaxaca. She invites an older man from the Mixe region, to greet the assembly in Mixe, since, in order to make this dialogue truly worthwhile, it must move beyond the official Spanish language, and embrace the linguistic and cultural diversity of Oaxaca.

After the greetings of Maria del Carmen Lopez Vazquez from the APPO, a Mixteca teacher from the coast thanks the assembly in Mixteco, passing the microphone to an older indigenous man who does the same in Zapoteco. The authentic consideration and inclusion of the diverse languages and cultures continues as women from the Centre of Indigenous Rights Flor y Canto invite the assembly to join them in a prayer to the four winds. Five indigenous women take positions around the altar displayed in front of the stage. Other men and women gather with flutes, seashells and windpipes. As they invoke the gods and goddesses of the North, South, West, East and Centre – the womb of the earth - the entire assembly turns with them, listening to the ancient sound of the seashell and breathing in the smoke that curls out of the chalices of burning herbs. The old women call for light to bathe Oaxaca and instill us with wisdom, invoking Father Sun, Grandmother Moon and Mother Earth. As the bells of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo merge with pre-Hispanic sounds and ancestral words, it is clear that indigenous culture and beliefs are alive all around, not as a show for tourists, but as a central column of the struggle for a democratic and just society. They made their way through centuries of Spanish domination and authoritative governments, kept alive at the margins of society. Indigenous customs have played an integral part in shaping the way this citizen initiative has been organized.

There is a strong capacity among the society of Oaxaca to develop proposals, as a member of EDUCA (Services for an Alternative Education), points out when it’s his turn to speak. The need for plurality in building Oaxacan politics is reflected in this heterogeneous initiative, unlike the Governance Forum, set up by the Secretary of the Interior in Mexico City, far away from Oaxaca and its tangible social, political and economic crisis.

Anabel Lopez Sanchez details the proposals of the first roundtable of New Democracy and Governance in Oaxaca. Her fierce dark eyes show marked determination as she denounces the lack of transparency and legitimacy of the present local government. The general perception of the citizens is that government and laws exist in favour of the politicians and those near to them. The crisis that the State of Oaxaca is presently living is reflected in the absence of the rule of law, in a system exhausted by political parties permeated by corruption. Institutions do not answer to citizens’ needs. The people of Oaxaca demand to be more involved in the decision making processes in order to be able to evaluate the work carried out by public institutions. Emphasis was also placed on the rejection of a neo-liberal model of development, and the right to have a voice in public policy.

The moderator passes the microphone to Alfonso Mesa – spokesperson for the roundtable of Social Economy and Solidarity – who points out the right to a basic food basket and the need for transparency with respect to who the true beneficiaries of public resources are.

While the representative of the third roundtable, Towards a New Education, is speaking, a caravan of women from Mexico City arrives. About 15 women march into the square from Calle Allende. They smile while holding up a banner saying “Feministas en apoyo al Movimiento Popular de Oaxaca: VIVA LA APPO” (Feminists in support of the Popular Movement of Oaxaca: Long live the APPO). The assembly receives them warmly: smiles and whistles mix with the applause, expressing the gratitude they feel for the show of solidarity.

After thanking the feminists with a song played by the brass band, the talk continues with the roundtable of Natural, Historical and Cultural patrimony of Oaxaca. The academics and artists who participated in this roundtable discuss the importance of alternative ecology, indigenous medicine, a boycott of multinational corporations, the suspension of all the construction projects that damage the environment, such as the one in Cerro del Fortin. They talk about how to keep genetically modified seeds and food out of Oaxaca and, ultimately, how to implement the measures agreed to in the Kyoto and Medellin protocol.

The proposals of the sixth roundtable, Media and Communications at the Service of the People, are outlined by Sergio Ventral and Raquel Chavez, who ask for a round of applause for Radio Plantón, Radio Ley, and Radio Universidad, which have been crucial voices for the developing social movement in Oaxaca. They call for media free from censorship, where Mixe, Mixteco and Zapoteco languages and cultures must be present: communication services of the people and for the people.

There is no doubt that the APPO, and the broad social movement built around it, is a unique case in Central and Latin America. For more than 160 days now, this city has been ruling itself, with the main government institutions occupied by APPO militants. “Todo el poder para el pueblo!” (All the power to the people!) is the unanimous cry that concludes the Assembly, the democratic impulse of this open meeting is overwhelming. There is much to learn from this process, calling for democracy and social justice, where citizens become active by taking a participatory role in decision-making. The profound recognition of the link between local and global problems is considered and confronted constructively. The rejection of a neo-liberal development model becomes a necessity for the wellbeing of the whole population of Oaxaca. Perhaps alternatives do not exist in the minds of Fox and Calderón, but for the pueblo oaxaqueño they do. The millenary history of the indigenous people must be a central pillar in the construction of this new Social Pact between state and society. New political, social, cultural and economic spaces must be opened in order to restore and improve the social fabric of the country. It is difficult to find alternative spaces in the tight neoliberal web in which we are all tangled, yet the lucha popular of Oaxaca shows us that no matter how hard, it is possible.

This certainty is what has kept the resistance alive during these days following the entrance of the Preventive Federal Police (PFP). The contrast between the Citizen Initiative of Dialogue, and the brutality of the PFP stomping through the city is striking. Aware and active citizens have experienced severe intimidations by local police during the roundtable meetings; yet they continue thinking, discussing, and refusing to give up their fundamental rights as citizens. As blood is shed throughout the city, and people fall, the cry gets louder and louder: “¡Nunca mas un Mexico sin nosotros!” Never again a Mexico without us!