IndyMedia Journalist Brad Will: Last Dispatch From Oaxaca

http://narconews.com/Issue43/article2223.html
http://indybay.org//newsitems/2006/10/27/18323886.php
http://indybay.org//newsitems/2006/10/27/18323885.php
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas

...........

Subject: friend and companero brad was killed

Our friend, brother, and companero, Brad Will was killed today by
paramilitaries in Oxaca Mexico.

Brad has been an inspiring and passionate militant, joining struggles all
over the world, from land occupations in the Pacific North West of the US,
to direct actions against global capital, to rebellions in Argentina, land
occupations in Brazil, and anti-privatization struggles in Bolivia. Brad
was always a part of whatever he was in. He was always with people, not
organizing them. He taught me, and so many others so much through example.
He will be missed in so many ways.

Brad was a part of our communities. We should remember him with the love
and affection that he showed, and we feel. We should also carry on
with direct action to stop those that are trying to stop social creation,
in the US, Mexico, Argentina, and the globe.

brad Presente!
brad presente!
brad Presente!

Brad's last email dispatch ...

early dawn, oct16
yesterday i went for a walk with the good people of oaxaca -- was walking
all day really -- in the afternoon they showed me where the bullets hit the
wall -- they numbered the ones they could reach -- it reminded me of the
doorway of amadou diallos home -- but here the grafitti was there
before the
shooting began -- one bullet they didnt number was still in his head -- he
was 41 years old -- alejandro garcia hernandez -- at the neighborhood
barricade every night -- that night he came out to join his wife and sons
to
let an ambulance through -- then a pickup tried to follow -- he took their
bullet when he told them they could not pass -- they never did -- these
military men in civilian dress shot their way out of there

a young man who wanted to only be called marco was with them when the
shooting happened -- a bullet passed through his shoulder -- he was clearly
in shock when we met -- 19 years old -- said he hadnt told his parents yet
-- said he had been at the barricade every night -- said he was going back
as soon as the wound closed -- absolutely

just days before there was a delegation of senators visiting to determine
the ungovernability of the state -- they got a taste -- the call went out
to
shut down the rest of the government -- dozens went walking out of the
zocalo city center with big sticks and a box full of spray paint -- they
took control of 3 city buses and went around the city all morning visiting
local government buildings and informing them that that they were closed --
and we appreciate your voluntary cooperation -- and they filed out
preturbed
but still getting paid -- shut -- as they pulled away from the last stop 3
gunmen came out and started shooting -- 2 buses had already pulled away --
mayhem -- 10 minute battle with stones and slingshots and screaming -- one
headwound -- another through the leg -- made their way to the hospital
while
the fighting continued -- shout out on the radio and people came from all
parts -- the gunmen were around the side of the building -- they got away
--
they were inside -- no one sure -- watchful -- undercover police were
reported lurking around the hospital and folks went running to stand watch
over the wounded

what can you say about this movement -- this revolutionary moment -- you
know it is building, growing, shaping -- you can feel it -- trying
desperately for a direct democracy -- in november appo will have a state
wide conference for the formation of a state wide assemblea estatal del
pueblo de oaxaca (aepo) -- now there are 11 of 33 states in mexico that
have
declared formation of assemblea populares like appo -- and on la otra lado
in the usa a few -- the marines have returned to sea even though the
federal
police who ravaged atenco remain close by -- the new encampment in mexico
has begun a hunger strike -- the senate can expell URO -- whats next
nobodies sure -- it is a point of light pressed through glass -- ready to
burn or show the way -- it is clear that this is more than a strike, more
than expulsion of a governor, more than a blockade, more than a coalition
of
fragments -- it is a genuine peoples revolt -- and after decades of pri
rule
by bribe, fraud, and bullet the people are tired -- they call him the
tyrant
-- they talk of destroying this authoritarianism -- you cannot mistake the
whisper of the lancandon jungle in the streets -- in every street corner
deciding together to hold -- you see it their faces -- indigenous, women,
children -- so brave -- watchful at night -- proud and resolute

went walking back from alejandros barricade with a group of supporters who
came from an outlying district a half hour away -- went walking with angry
folk on their way to the morgue -- went inside and saw him -- havent seen
too many bodies in my life -- eats you up -- a stack of nameless corpes in
the corner -- about the number who had died -- no refrigeration -- the
smell
-- they had to open his skull to pull the bullet out -- walked back with
him
and his people

and now alejandro waits in the zocalo -- like the others at their plantones
-- hes waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out,
a solution -- waiting for the earth to shift and open -- waiting for
november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and
share food and drink and a song -- waiting for the plaza to turn itself
over
to him and burst -- he will only wait until morning but tonight he is
waiting for the governor and his lot to never come back -- one more death
--
one more martyr in a dirty war -- one more time to cry and hurt -- one more
time to know power and its ugly head -- one more bullet cracks the night --
one more night at the barricades -- some keep the fires -- others curl up
and sleep -- but all of them are with him as he rests one last night at his
watch

uro= Ulises Ruiz Ortiz "governor" of the state of oaxaca
planton= sit in, vigil, encampment
zocalo= central plaza

more info:
http://narconews.com/Issue43/article2180.html
http://mexico.indymedia.org/tiki-index.php?page=DesalojoOaxaca
http://www.oaxacalibre.org/libertad/
http://elenemigocomun.net/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaxacastudyactiongroup/messages

Thank you, Brad Will.

:(