Call to Action!
This Thursday April 17th @ 2:50pm
Smith Student Union Mezzanine
Portland State University
we will be marching to the Mexican Consulate to demand that a thorough investigation of the ambush and murder of two women in Oaxaca take place in Mexico. The Article describing the event is below. The two women were on their way to the State Forum for the Defense of the Rights of the People of Oaxaca being held at the Section 22 Teacher's Union in Oaxaca. They were community radio advocates. They were ambushed and gunned down by paramilitaries. Although there is no direct evidence at this time, it is a common strategy of the Oaxacan state to use terror and other forms of oppression to suppress an active participatory and democratic movement. This act is a clear human rights violation and an attack on democracy and the right to be an activist. The event is particularly disturbing in light of the U.S. governments decision to radically increase military aid to Mexico (the 1.2 billion dollar Plan Mexico) to "restore order" in Southern Mexico and the border region. A full investigation must take place to ensure that U.S. military aid isn't supporting paramilitary or state-sponsored violations of human rights.
Come to the MECHA office in the Smith Bldg Mezzanine if you want to help make signs before!
In Solidarity,
PSU M.e.ch.a, North American Solidarity, and Cascadia Root Force
-<
from: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/04/08/index.php?section=estados&article=035n2est
Matan a dos locutoras de radioemisora comunitaria Octavio Vélez Ascencio (Corresponsal) Oaxaca, Oax., 7 de abril. Dos indígenas triquis de la radioemisora comunitaria La Voz que Rompe el Silencio, del ayuntamiento popular de San Juan Copala, región de la Mixteca, fueron asesinadas a balazos cuando se dirigían a esta ciudad a participar en el Encuentro Estatal por la Defensa de los Derechos de los Pueblos de Oaxaca. Hubo tres heridos.
Las víctimas son Teresa Bautista Merino, de 24 años, y Felícitas Martínez Sánchez, de 20, informó el procurador general de Justicia del estado, Evencio Nicolás Martínez Ramírez. Además resultaron heridos Francisco Vásquez Martínez, de 30 años de edad; su esposa, Cristina Martínez Flores, de 22 años, y su hijo Jaciel Vásquez Martínez, de tres años.
De acuerdo con los primeros informes, las mujeres habían salido alrededor de las 13 horas de la estación afiliada a la Red de Radios Comunitarias Indígenas del Sureste, y abordaron una camioneta para trasladarse a esta capital, pero en las inmediaciones del paraje Llano Juárez fueron emboscadas. En un comunicado, el Centro de Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando Unidos (Cactus) condenó los hechos y exigió a las autoridades estatales investigar y castigar a los responsables del crimen. Las dos locutoras iban a coordinar la mesa Comunicación comunitaria y alternativa: radios comunitarias, video, prensa e Internet, en el Encuentro Estatal por la Defensa de los Derechos de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, que se iniciará el próximo miércoles en el hotel del magisterio de la sección 22 del Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE). El procurador de Justicia dijo que en el lugar del atentado se encontraron 20 casquillos percutidos calibre 7.62, utilizados, entre otras armas, en rifles de asalto AK-47 o cuerno de chivo. Un agente del Ministerio Público con sede en Putla de Guerrero y peritos realizaron las primeras diligencias de la averiguación previa 105/2008.
from: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/04/374451.shtml
Community Radio Activists Murdered in Oaxaca
April 7th, 2008. Oaxaca, Mexico.
Two indigenous triqui women who worked at the community radio station La Voz que Rompe el Silencio (The Voice that Breaks the Silence), in the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala (Mixteca region), were shot and murdered while on their way to Oaxaca city to participate in the State Forum for the Defense of the Rights of the Peoples of Oaxaca. Three other people were injured.
According to the State Attorney General, the victims are Teresa Bautista Merino (24 years old) and Felícitas Martínez Sánchez (20 years old). Francisco Vásquez Martínez (30 years old), his wife Cristina Martínez Flores (22 years old), and their son Jaciel Vásquez Martínez (three years old) were also injured in the attack.
According to prelimary reports, the women had left the station, which is part of the Network of Indigenous Community Radio Stations of the Southeast (Red de Radios Comunitarias Indígenas del Sureste), around 1:00 PM. They were travelling in a truck on their way to Oaxaca city, but were ambushed on the outskirts of the community Llano Juarez.
The two community radio activists were supposed to coordinate the working group for Community and Alternative Communication: Community Radio, Video, Press, and Internet, at the State Forum for the Defense of the Rights of the People of Oaxaca, which was to begin the today (Wednesday) in the auditorium of Seccion 22 of the teachers union in Oaxaca.
The Center for Community Support Working Together (CACTUS as the spanish acronym) released a communique denouncing the murders and demanding that the state authorities investigate and punish those responsible for the crime.
The state attorney general said that 20 bullet shells, caliber 7.62, were found at the site of the murders, along with other arms including an AK-47.
People are encouraged to contact their local embassies and consulates (or to organize demonstrations at their local embassies and consulates) to express their condemnation of this paramilitary repression of indigenous women and community media projects.
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