Correo a la Comisión Europea para Derechos Humanos

Estimados Amigos,

Con la celebración de la Guelaguetza llego mas represión para los Oaxaqueños. Estoy incluyendo un e-mail que envié a la Comision Europea para Derechos Humanos.

Por favor sientanse en libertad de distribuirlo.

Dear Friends,

Along with the Guelaguetza came yet more repression to Oaxacans, I am including an e-mail sent to the European Commission for Human Rights,

Please feel free to distribute as you wish.

________________________

Appeal to stop Human Rights abuses in Oaxaca Mexico

Dear Sirs and Madams of the Council of Europe for Human Rights

I date to write you on behalf of the people of the Mexican State of Oaxaca, which within the next few hours, we feel will live another episode of Human Rights abuse.

As you may be aware, violence against people and Human Rights abuses in Oaxaca started on May-June of 2006, when the governor Ulises Ruiz sent anti-riot police to dissolve a peaceful demonstration the teachers had at the time in the city square.

At that moment, many civil organisations, unions, and ordinary people joined the teachers and created the popular assembly of the people of Oaxaca (APPO), which only demand was the resignation of the governor Ulises Ruiz. The official answer was yet more violence and repression where several people resulted dead or injured, and many others were jailed without trial.

Now the time has come for one of the most important indigenous celebrations: the Guelaguetza. It is a Zapotec word that means 'sharing'. It is the time after harvest when people from all Oaxacan regions come together and share whatever they had with their fellows from the other regions. It is the biggest brotherhood party.

The problem is that since some years age a non-written deal exits in which people carry on with their celebration, the government promotes those activities to tourists and in the end everybody seems to gain from it.

With governor repression, people did not wanted to continue with that agreement, instead they wanted to do the celebration without the commercial aspect the government is only keen on. On the other hand, the government is planning to undertake such celebration whether the people do it or not.

Such situation has generated more violence, as last Monday people wanted to start with the celebrations but the government sent the police and more repression arose, about 40 people were arrested and many other injured, apparently one person died that day.

This Monday the 23rd, is the official starting of the Guelaguetza that would last for about a week. Now with the intervention of federal police and the army, there is very little room for optimism as City entrances have been blocked and selective arrests have begun.

In addition to that, Mexican media has launched a propaganda campaign against APPO, attempting to criminalise their struggle and linking to guerrilla groups. Such strategy is not new, it started about a year ago mainly aiming at discrediting the teachers strike. In a bigger scale, last presidential elections in Mexico account for the utilisation of black propaganda by the government and groups closer to the president to justify almost whatever means to keep the power.

Mexican people appeal to the international community as their only hope to avoid more assassinations.