In this clip, Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno shares with us words of hope upon recently being release from prison. He was imprisoned for over 16 months for being wrongfully accused for the murder of Bradley Will, Indymedia journalist, who was documenting...
La Otra in Oaxaca
By Lilia López
This month, la Otra Campaña is making its way through the state of Oaxaca. Subcomandante Marcos continues his dialogue with various civil society groups in this southern state plagued with increasing violence and repression in recent months.
On February 5, la Otra visited the town of Tehuantepec drawing a crowd of thousands comprising peoples of the Zapoteco, Mixteco, Chatino, Chinanteco and other indignous groups. Subcomandate Marcos, or Delegado Zero, (the title he has adopted for use during the Otra Campaña campaign) spoke to the diverse crowd on a range of issues. A central point of his speech was the plan of one of the three Mexican presidential candidates for an immense transportation project with the state. Marcos warned of the dangers such a project could bring to the area in the form of factories, tourist areas, prostitution, changes that would result in the plundering of land and biodiversity currently controlled by indigenous communities.
Just prior to the stop in Tehuantepec, the delegation visited the towns of Boca del Monte and San Juan Guichicovi. In Boca del Monte, Marcos addressed the women in the crowd calling them the girdle of the country and also emphasizing the destruction the transit project could have in Oaxaca. While he admitted it was not Plan Puebla Panama, it said would nevertheless translate into the “sale of the region,” inviting international investors and companies to buy up much of the state to construct highways and roads that will facilitate the movement of commerce in and out of the region.
The following day, la Otra traveled to the municipality of San Blas Atempa, the citizens of which have received much repression and violence after declaring themselves an autonomous municipality in January 2005. Here, Marcos visited five community members currently being held in jail as political prisoners. The men shared their story with him, recounting the violence they suffered at the hands of gunmen allegedly contracted by local political official Augustena Acevedo. Acevedo is a member of the state ruling party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.
Before leaving, Marcos told the crowd, “Here in Oaxaca, the government imprisons the people who act justly. Here in Mexico, the government does not persecute criminals, the government is the criminal.”
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