The Battle of Oaxaca

The Battle of Oaxaca

Written by Gustavo Esteva
Friday, 24 June 2016 08:38

This is not just another of the many Oaxacan wars. It is part of a much more profound and extensive war that is by no means contained within the national territory itself. But the battle being waged in Oaxaca has a special meaning in that war, in the larger war.

It is a battle long overdue. In Oaxaca people knew that many aspects of the ongoing confrontation were being postponed due to the elections. It was evident that after the elections, the attacks, provocations, and the final assault would intensify. Everywhere, preparations began.

All of Oaxaca was remembering the 14th of June. It was memory versus forgetting: today’s scenario seemed like a faithful mirror of 10 years ago. We watched the same movie: the teacher mobilizations, the encampment in the central plaza, the marches, the demands of the teachers, a fierce media campaign ... And the authorities were betting again on the erosion of Section XXII, on the growing irritation of the citizens, betting on people’s fear of violence and the loss of jobs and income...

The march that arrived at the central plaza of Oaxaca on June 14th exemplified the experience. Over the course of almost ten hours, beside the teachers camping out in the square, very diverse sectors of society creatively expressed the ways in which memory inspires action today.

The Civil Space is a new manifestation of collectives, organizations and groups of very diverse characteristics that reclaim the experience of 2006 to give it new forms. Their pronouncement, “10 years constructing new paths,” was formulated in the context of government violence “for the purpose of imposing the misnamed educational reform” and also in the context of an exemplary teachers’ and popular resistance in the face of imminent risk that the repressive black night of repression that we lived on November 25, 2006 would be repeated.

More:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/5652-the-battle-of-oaxaca