Dear Friends,
Save the date, the first weekend in March for the Rouge Forum Conference in Detroit.
The Rouge Forum No Blood for Oil web page is updated.
See also the developing scandal around NCLB’s Reading First program, briefly described on Susan Ohanian’s web page here.
The situation with the Detroit Teachers’ Strike is “on hold.” The tentative agreement may or may not be ratified and, if the district loses what may be 20,000 students, the TA will probably be torn up anyway, and, without a fightback, there will be hundreds, maybe more than one thousand, school worker layoffs. Several opposition groups have formed to oppose the existing DFT leadership, and one of them may succeed.
Our focus this week is on Oaxaca, which is nearly completely blocked out in the mainstream press. While the action urged at the close is little enough, and seems almost like a hollow gesture, it is something. People could get union locals, community groups, etc, to take similar action.
There is a lot to be learned from Oaxaca, which may be the reason why it goes unnoticed in the press.
Thanks to Gil, Phil, Nancy, Amber, Shandra, Sharon A, Dave the Rave, Tommie Lee, Candace, Bob A, Lannie, and Gonzo.
best, r
From Sherry Linkon,
I’m forwarding two messages about the situation in Oaxaca, Mexico, from David Johnson and Bill Templer:
Bill sends this:
Here a message from Oaxaca, George Salzman, who is there, at the teachers’ encampment Bill
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Oaxaca, Saturday 30 September 2006
Friends,
I do not know whether this is only another of the many threats or whether the government has become so desperate that it is about to begin a bloody assault in an attempt to terrorize the people of Mexico into submission. The message that follows below, from Alvaro Ricárdez Scherenberg, is not the first urgent note from him. A few nights ago he reported receiving word from important people in Mexico City that the police were set to clear the Oaxaca City center (meaning to drive out all the protestors camping there) in the early hours of the following morning. That did not happen. However, what he reports below I also witnessed. Two military helicopters repeatedly circled the city. I took pictures but have not yet downloaded them to my computer.
Two days ago I talked with a woman teacher at an encampment set up to protect one of the radio stations that the movement controls. At that planton (guard camp), she told me, all the campers were teachers, all were indigenous of two groups, Zapotecs from the Sierra Juarez (in the northern Sierra), where she was from, and Mixtecas from the Mixteca Alta region to the northwest of Oaxaca City. I told her I was worried that the government might launch an attack, to which she replied that if it came to that, she and her companeros would all die. I assure you they want a peaceful resolution, and that it is the government that is trying to provoke violence. I hope we can spread the word outside of Mexico sufficiently to help deter the government from following such a bloody course. The psychological attacks are bad enough, but if they start heavy-duty shooting it’ll be a terrible bloodbath.
George
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From: Alvaro Ricárdez Scherenberg Sat, 30 Sep 2006
It is very important to send mails to all your contacts saying that at exactly at 4:50 minutes Saturday afternoon , September the 30th, helicopters from the Mexican Marine Corps and the PFP (Federal Preventive Police), started overflying downtown Oaxaca, Mexico, trying to intimidate its citizens revolting against its corrupt Government. On the Oaxacan Peoples Popular Assembly (APPO) radio, it was asked to all citizens to remain calm, not to start violence and to send phone, mail and voice messages to all authorities and people who could act as witnesses to this attack. So please, do it!
David sends this:
URGENT SOLIDARITY CALL FOR OAXACAAt the federal level in Mexico, the current discourse signals an imminent arrival of Federal Police Forces in Oaxaca. The feds claim that, if federal forces are sent to Oaxaca, they will only maintain a presence on the outskirts of the city, to “ensure civilian safety.” However, it is widely known that local PRI-sympathizing groups can be mobilized to provoke a confrontation with the sectors of civil society participating in the popular movement, which would justify the entrance of the federal police.
If the federal police enter Oaxaca, it will be a blood bath…
Please call or send faxes and emails to President Fox and to Secretary of Interior Affairs, Carlos Abascal, demanding the immediate withdrawal of threats to send police forces into Oaxaca, and the immediate resignation of Oaxacan governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Write in Spanish. Write in English. Just write, or call, or both.
Get down to your local Mexican consulate or embassy. Make a lot of noise. Spend the night out front if you have to.
President Vicente Fox:
Email: vicente.fox.quesadda@presidencia.gob.mx
Fax: 011-52-55-52-77-23-76
Phone: 011-52-55-27-89-11-00Sec. of Internal Affairs, Carlos Abascal
Tel: 011-52-55-50-93-34-00
Email: cabascal@segob.gob.mx
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