By Bilgesu After a week of politically intense festivities, thus November 2nd of 2007 came. This was another important turning point for people of Oaxaca and important day that cannot be forgotten by many. This was the day when armed riot police attacked barricades at Cinco Señores, which guarded the university campus and essential communication media, Radio Universidad, but were unable to destroy the radio antennas because of the defense of students, neighbors and movement supporters. It happened just after the day of Oaxaca’s famous Day of the Dead celebrations and couple of days after two Oaxacan teachers and American IndyMedia journalist Brad Will were murdered in other police attacked. So this year, the whole week up to Friday included commemoration vigils and events for the assassinated, an APPO mega march and the Day of Dead festivals. I had been informed that the Cinco Señores barricades would be erected to commemorate the day, but I wasn’t sure exactly what time. I arrived around 10 o’clock at the university campus, but just as I was getting orange juice on the street, I learned that the police had already driven the people out, in a violent attack on those putting up the barricade, and there were around 20-25 people detained. I was upset that I had missed the attempted erection of the barricade, which had begun at dawn, but soon I discovered that the teachers and other organizers were gathering in another part of the city to march back and reclaim Cinco Señores, to reclaim their barricade. We all headed back to city center to the Teachers Union offices to join the march. At the march, I ran into a few of the people I know, one of them an ex-political prisoner. It was my joy to see her safe and sound and immediately asked her what had happened. She told me that she ran away from the police with the others. As we were talking, another person shook my hand but I wasn’t able to recognize who he was because of the snow mask. Just as he revealed his mask, I recognized him- a compañero who had sought refuge a couple of nights ago, after police attacked him and other fellow organizers following the APPO mega march. He told me that his bruises were gone from the police attack a few days ago, and that same morning he had had to hide in a school. He advised me to cover my face with the scarf I was wearing. The march was almost four hours. The reason it took so long was not only due to the distance but were also due the pauses. We stopped twice because the car with speakers, which is supposed to some kind of device to lead people, announced that due to the possibility of a police confrontation, the march was over. For half an hour, after a hot public debate among movement organizers, the march continued. Meanwhile, the anarchist kids took down a grand poster of Ulises. As we neared Cinco Señores, we stopped again. This time I really thought the march was over because the people had started delivering speeches. A colored sand mural to commemorate the fallen comrades was made alongside the road. However, the will to continue the march and to reclaim Cinco Señores had caused more commotion in the crowd. The women came up to front, linking arms. We followed them to the large intersection of five streets the women formed a circle around the intersection, reclaiming Cinco Señores. Another sand mural and another ceremony for teachers and compañeros killed followed, but this ceremony seemed to carry the bitter pride of accomplishment. In each street that leads to the intersection, there were a couple of police trucks with heavily armed police. But they didn’t attack as they had that morning. They just stood there and observed. I guess the tyrants have mysterious ways.

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