"Returning to our program here at Radio Plantón, 92.1 FM." "The Autonomous Resistance Bloc is here with us, and the phone lines are open for anyone who has a question reminding you of our telephone number, so you can call us." "Without further ado, we'll pass the microphones to our compañeras from preschool education." "...and that's the work that the teachers will be carrying out... bringing clear and concise information to the communities..." "A Little Bit of So Much Truth" "May, 2006 Oaxaca, Mexico" "Children, next week we won't have classes." "(Radio Spot)" "But why teacher?" "Oh Anita, don't you see that the chalkboard is crumbling and that the only water we have comes from the gutters?" "We don't even have electricity or school supplies." "You children come to school hungry." "We're going out on strike for a better education for the boys and girls of Oaxaca." "For 26 years, the 70,000 public schoolteachers, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, have participated in a national movement fighting in defense of public education." "The majority of them work in poorly equipped, rural schools with students who come to school hungry." "In May of 2006, those 70,000 schoolteachers, represented by union Local 22, went out on strike, occupying Oaxaca's capital city with an encampment known as a "plantón."" "We're asking for more financial aid for students, more school breakfasts, more textbooks, shoes for the children, all those things." "We are also asking for a cost-of-living adjustment for teachers." "We know that the government can meet those demands, but it throws that money away on other things." "This was the first time in 25 years that the teachers went out on strike with their own radio station..." "Radio Plantón." "Spread the word compañeros... everyone should be gathering in Llano Park for the march." "Today the Cortamortaja collective and M14 are going to talk to us about Alexis Benhumea..." "Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved in the teachers' movement?" "Reminding our listeners that Radio Classes is a program for all the boys and girls who are listening at home." "...demanding a solution to the infrastructure problems in education and the creation of a university in the Mixe region." "Sending special greetings to the special-ed teachers from District 07 who are blocking the road out by Brenamiel." "Unlike previous years, this year the state government refused to negotiate with the teachers and instead threatened to use police force to evict the teachers from their plantón." "Federal Police Recruited to Evict Teachers" "Explosive Situation in Oaxaca" "Oaxaca Asks for Federal Police Intervention" "The teachers aren't just causing traffic jams, economic losses, and acts of vandalism." "They are also violating the right that all Mexicans have to move about freely." "Business owners in the capital city agreed that, far from improving education in the state, this movement only represents huge economic losses for the commercial sector." "How is it possible that education is in the hands of people like them?" "We support the government's actions." "We've asked them to re-establish order in the city." "We're receiving a phone call, and we'd like to thank the caller." "I want to tell the teachers that they shouldn't be afraid." "We will defend them, and there are a lot of us." "They haven't funded education for at least 70 years, and look at the shape it's in!" "They can't come out now with the story that the teachers are to blame." "I want to tell the teachers that they are not alone." "We, the single mothers and housewives, are with them." "For over two weeks," "Radio Plantón had been talking about the risk of police intervention." "And the truth is, the people were in their homes, listening to the radio, day and night, making sure that there wasn't a police attack on the radio station." "The telephone at Radio Plantón started to ring... off the hook." "Look, I'm a housewife calling to support your movement." "It makes us so angry to see our students collapsing like little birds, and then the doctors tell us they can't do anything because it's simply malnutrition." "We feel that the teachers' struggle is also the electrical workers' struggle." "We can't do it anymore." "We can't receive any more telephone calls." "The phone has been ringing for 10 days, 24 hours a day." "I want to congratulate you for all the radio coverage, because it's keeping the parents well informed." "I say that the teachers are right and they should keep it up!" "I would like to tell my teachers that their students can wait for them as long as they need us to." "This situation made the state government completely hysterical." "So much so that, I think, one of the primary objectives of the June 14th repression was the destruction of Radio Plantón." "Dawn June 14th" "At this moment, right now, we are suffering repression at the hands of the state." "They are shooting tear-gas bombs on top of our union building." "We're going to keep transmitting." "That's how the police came in, before four-o-clock in the morning, without any warning." "Lots of people were sleeping when they came in." "That's when they started bombing us... from the helicopter." "The morning of June 14th, the state police attacked the teachers while they were sleeping in the plantón." "More than 90 people were injured." "A projectile came straight at me." "It had been shot from a helicopter." "It scraped my bones, taking my muscles and skin with it." "I work in indigenous education." "This is my first year teaching." "A helicopter was shooting gas canisters." "It exploded right when it hit me, and the impact damaged my lungs." "The cops are getting closer." "They are entering our union building!" "To all the people of Oaxaca, we are calling on you, we're calling on you to come out of your houses." "They are entering our building!" "At five-o-clock in the morning, the police took this building by force." "They came up to the radio station, they took all the equipment, and they arrested those of us who were on the air." "It was the radio that sounded the alert, when the police started to enter." "And the people came out of their homes." "We are going to rise up... all the mothers and students!" "If they want to kill our teachers, then they should kill us all now, because they don't know what we, the people, are capable of." "Teachers, you are not alone!" "We are with you!" "By mid-day, the police had been driven from the city center, and a new plantón was established." "At five-o-clock in the morning, the police tried to drive out the teachers." "At seven-o-clock in the morning, it wasn't just teachers who took back the city center... it was the general population." "It surprised everyone, because the teachers' strike didn't necessarily have that much public support..." "There had been a media campaign against the teachers, saying things like:" ""Be careful, the teachers are coming, hide your children, keep an eye on your belongings, stock up on supplies..."" "But nevertheless, when the teachers were attacked, the people came out in the streets, in huge numbers." "So I think June 14th was actually the straw that broke the camel's back." "Oaxaca..." "Home to 16 different indigenous groups, rich in natural resources, yet one of the poorest states in Mexico." "For over 70 years, the state has endured the corrupt and repressive single-party rule of the Revolutionary Institutional Party, or PRI." "June 14th was an explosive event that really got people engaged." "And it had a lot to do with the long history of injustices that we have suffered, especially as indigenous people." "The lack of water, the pollution of all our natural resources, our lack of food security..." "We've been marginalized, excluded, and subjected to poverty, discrimination and severe racism." "In 2004, it looked as if Oaxaca would have to endure another six years of PRI corruption, when apparent election fraud handed the state governorship to Ulises Ruiz Ortiz." "From the beginning of his campaign, the threats began." "He started by trying to intimidate the teachers and other organizations." "He becomes governor and immediately starts having people detained... more than 120 people detained over the course of six months." "Prior to his attack on the teachers, Ulises Ruiz carried out attacks on several community radio stations and on the state's best-selling newspaper." "He was accused of funneling millions of state dollars into the presidential campaign for PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo and covering up the theft with a series of public works that were criticized for damaging Oaxaca's historic public spaces." "This governor damaged the spaces that people in the city considered untouchable." "He did it all." "So a lot had been accumulating... the long history of injustice, the problems that arose when Ulises Ruiz entered power, and the repression of June 14th." "That Same Morning of June 14th" "Radio Plantón is off the air, because the equipment was destroyed." "Tune in to Radio Universidad." "1400 AM." "As soon as they found out that Radio Plantón had been destroyed, students took over the local university radio station:" "Radio Universidad." "I want to talk about what Ulises Ruiz Ortiz did." "He acts like an animal!" "Hopefully we are going to get rid of this governor, because now is the moment." "I have two sons who have lost their jobs since this governor entered." "We are fed- up with neoliberal politics and corrupt politicians." "After the police attack on the teachers, when they took over Radio Universidad, well, that was..." "We finally had the media in our own hands, which is how it should be." "Society is tired of everything this guy has done." "We don't want anymore PRI." "I don't know what runs in his veins." "Many people hate him now." "Enough already." "No more corruption." "It was a constant and direct attack against the state government." "But it wasn't coming from some radio host giving his opinion." "It was coming from the people, who called in on the telephone or came in to the radio station, saying over and over again..." "This government is corrupt." "This government is repressive." "We are fed-up." "He has to go." "Two days after the police attack on the teachers, over 300,000 people took to the streets in the largest march in Oaxaca's history." ""I Will be a Teacher Too."" "This call goes out to all of them, all of the people close to Ulises." "They should pack their bags and look for some other place where they can get away with all their dirty tricks," "because there's no room for them here." "He already fell, he already fell!" "Ulises already fell!" "For over 80 years, the PRI governments have looted and taken all the resources for themselves." "We don't want to keep carrying this chain that we have had to bear since the Spanish came to this land." "We are students, laborers, farmers, housewives, and we are ready to give our lives so we don't have to spend another 500 years in resistance." "The following day, the teachers joined with over 300 organizations from across the state to form the APPO," "Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca." "They had one, non-negotiable demand:" "The removal of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz from power." "At first, it was called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca." "But one of the first debates was that we aren't just one people in Oaxaca." "We are many peoples." "And even though some people didn't like it, the name was changed to the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca." "The decision to create an assembly was clearly influenced and inspired by the indigenous governance traditions in Oaxaca, which are widely practiced." "Normally, important decisions are made through consensus." "In some communities, an assembly might last for days, because it's important that there be consensus on the final decision, so that it truly represents everyone involved." "Televisa Presents..." "We're on our way!" "With Roberto Madrazo, things will go very well for you." "We're on our way to victory!" "Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador... president of Mexico." "As the political crisis was brewing in Oaxaca, the nation's attention was focused on the upcoming presidential election, and the media spectacle that surrounded it." "Lopez Obrador will put Mexico in debt." "The interest I pay is going to go up, and I won't be able to afford it!" "I'm going to vote for Felipe Calderon." "We're preparing ourselves for an asymmetric war." "Socialism or Death!" "In Mexico, you don't have to die to determine your future..." "You just have to vote." "If we are hoping that investors will come and create the jobs we need, those investors won't come if they think that, in Mexico, there is a climate of confrontation, of hate, and even of violence." "The television duopoly:" "TV Azteca and Televisa, are the ones who truly hold the power in Mexico today, and they use their media outlets to express the ideology of the ruling class." "Especially Televisa, but also TV Azteca, were fundamental in manufacturing consent, so that when the masses went out to vote, they voted against their own interests and in favor of the interests of those in power." "Fraud!" "Fraud!" "Fraud!" "The highly contested presidential election ended in chaos, with results too close to call between right wing PAN candidate, Felipe Calderon and center-left candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador." "We won." "By a narrow margin, yes, but with the data from the electoral institute, which corroborates yesterday's exit polls, we won the presidency." "Anyone not jumping is with the PAN!" "But the actual winner would not be declared for another two months." "Widespread election-day irregularities fueled suspicions of massive electoral fraud, and the nation's capital was paralyzed by protests demanding a complete recount of votes." "It was left to the Federal Electoral Tribune to decide who won the election." "Televisa will make you an idiot!" "TV Azteca will make you a fool!" "July 2nd" "But in Oaxaca, the elections had a different outcome." "The teachers and the APPO had organized a punishment vote against the PRI." "For the first time in history, the PRI lost in the majority of the state, with its congressional candidates losing in 9 out of 11 districts." "Well, July 2nd in Oaxaca was about much more than political parties." "July 2nd in Oaxaca was a plebiscite, and it told the governor that the people of Oaxaca don't want him." "Radio Plantón got back on the air with a small transmitter, and Radio Universidad remained under the control of the movement." "As its strategy for unseating Ulises Ruiz, the APPO decided to use massive, non-violent, civil disobedience to demonstrate to the federal government that Ulises Ruiz was not capable of governing the state." "Thousands of people shut down almost every state government building in the capital, with permanent plantones, including the House of Representatives, the governor's building, the state attorney general's building, and the finances building." "Bring the discontent from the countryside to the city." "That's the work that the teachers will be doing in the different regions and in the different school districts, where they will be trying to create ingovernability." "More than 25 city halls have been taken over..." "The one in Xoxo, the one in Zaachila..." "Nochixtlan..." "Miahuatlan..." "We are announcing that the state health workers are going out on an indefinite strike until the governor falls!" "The APPO taxis formed as part of the support that we were giving the teachers." "We identify ourselves with this red star, and on the back of the car it says APPO." "What had basically been a teachers' struggle becomes a huge, popular movement" "which demonstrates ingovernability by occupying Oaxaca, by taking responsibility for public order, and by occupying public buildings." "The city of Oaxaca is transformed into the beginnings of a new form of popular organization that offers an alternative to the existing institutions and the established form of government." "The people make the decisions." "Those who govern have to obey the people." "And if those who govern don't obey the people, the people can get rid of them." "They're informing us that the regional government of Tehuantepec has been taken over." "In La Venta, approximately 500 teachers are blocking the highway between the Isthmus and Tuxtla." "We need to send more people to the blockades at the House of Representatives and the Attorney General's building, because those blockades are very important." "It's difficult for the assembly structure to function efficiently." "In a way, the radio made it easier." "Through the use of the radio, those who were on the frontlines of the movement could hear what the people wanted." "We're calling for a peaceful insurrection, taking over as many town governments as necessary." "The other buildings that have been blockaded include:" "Transit, Justice, Rent Collection, and the District Attorney's office." "With this information, you can all participate in a blockade." "Well, my idea would be that we take over TVAzteca." "The indigenous people of Oaxaca have been excluded from the political process." "That's why we're interested in creating in a new constitution." "If the other radio stations don't tell the truth, don't listen to them!" "No more commercial radio." "The radio reinforced the protests and the popular actions." "I'd even say that they wouldn't have been the same if we hadn't had these media outlets in our hands." "The people united will never be defeated!" "It's my obligation, as governor of the state, to inform you that the Guelaguetza, the greatest expression of our cultural and ethnic diversity, has been postponed." "We decided to re-schedule the celebration of this great event, to avoid the possibility that radical groups might attack the participants, tourists, or even Oaxacan citizens." "Year after year, the PRI governors make a big show out of the Guelaguetza." "The Guelaguetza has lost its sacred meaning." "It's a celebration that belongs to us, as Oaxacans." "As indigenous people, this celebration belongs to us." "And well..." "Ulises didn't have his Guelaguetza." "We've been receiving phone calls asking if there is going to be a Guelaguetza or not." "Of course there will be a Guelaguetza!" "The alternative Guelaguetza will be next week, next Monday." "It will be the Guelaguetza of the Oaxacan people, the other Guelaguetza." "Not the prostituted, commercialized Guelaguetza..." "It will be the traditional Guelaguetza." "July 24th" "Up with Oaxaca!" "This is the Guelaguetza!" "Here no one will go hungry!" "They aren't going to charge us anything." "It's all free!" "This is the real fiesta, and we haven't done it this way for so long!" "It is very important that we are reclaiming the Guelaguetza, this celebration of the indigenous peoples' traditions," "a celebration that has been held hostage for decades by those who oppress the Oaxacan people." "And well, the place filled up." "The people came and went." "The teachers and the APPO provided security." "It was a huge success!" "Long live Oaxaca!" "Long live the teachers!" "Long live the people's Guelaguetza!" "The leadership of the national teachers union declared that it is against the use of violence and anarchy for getting demands met." "A few isolated groups are trying to take the city of Oaxaca hostage." "...outbreaks of violence by the APPO." "The city of Oaxaca is under siege." "Broadcasting from 1400 AM, XEUBJ," "Radio Universidad, the radio of the truth." "We want to invite all the sisters to join today's women's march and to bring their kitchen pots and their spoons, and to join this protest against URO (Ulises Ruiz Oritz)." "August 1st" "The first thing we did was go to Radio Universidad and invite women to participate in this women's march, and to bring their kitchen pots, their spoons, whatever they could bring." "We marched to the zocalo, where we had a rally." "Televisa and TV Azteca were there, and we are so fed up with them, because they have never told the truth." "And what really made me mad, and gave me strength, was when they said that" ""The teachers' supposed Guelaguetza was a complete failure."" "That really hurt, and I said to myself this can't be." "We are going to... damn them... of course we are going to do it." "We have a very important update." "Channel 9 has just been taken over... the television channel of the state government, the television of Ulises Ruiz." "Channel 9 houses the state-run television and radio stations." "This take- over was completely peaceful if I'm not mistaken." "Of course it was!" "It was very peaceful." "The women just entered the station." "No one was roughed up." "They are all women." "This should make it very clear for TVAzteca and Televisa, where this is headed if they don't change the way they report the news." "So when someone took the initiative and said:" ""Let's go take over Channel 9!"" "I was so happy because I had already been thinking about that." "We got inside and the first person to come out was the manager." "We told her we wanted to go on the air, and she said..." "that won't be possible." "All we wanted was a little bit of time on the air." "A half hour, maybe an hour, and then we were going to leave." "We just wanted to disseminate a little bit of so much truth." "And we told them we would leave!" "But they denied us an hour of airtime, and I think that now they regret not giving us the time we asked for." "And what do you know... at seven-o-clock that night, we went on the air with our first program." "Good evening people of Oaxaca." "I'm a student at Niños Heroes de Chapultepec school, and I'm nine years old." "I would like to thank my teachers and the members of my family who are teachers, for the commitment they have shown the state and the children of Oaxaca." "Thank you." "The slogan that says Channel 9 is "The Oaxacan people's channel"" "is a lie." "And why is it a lie?" "Because the voice and the truth of the people have never been heard on this channel." "The scenario changes and we find ourselves in a moment where the movement now has in its hands..." "Radio Universidad, Radio Plantón, a high-powered radio that they re-named "Radio Kitchen Pot,"" "and a television station." "We invite the people of Oaxaca to tune in to 1400 AM, Radio Universidad," "and also 96.9 FM, where they are also addressing the problem that we are living in Oaxaca." "On Channel 9 we are showing videos that they wouldn't put on the air." "We are airing criticisms." "People are coming from all the different neighborhoods asking for airtime, both on the radio and the TV." "Let's not be afraid." "As long as we are all united, as long as we are all participating, then we will be victorious." "We were approximately 10,000 women." "Tomorrow the press will say we were... 200 women, maybe." "We want to say to the students that they should stay in this struggle, and we support the teachers." "We have the right to information, the right to free speech, and we are asking them to respect that right." "Thanks to the programming on Channel 9, after the women took over," "I realized I had been making myself stupid watching crap like soap operas and other worthless programs, and at my house we don't watch that kind of TV anymore." "There are no leaders here." "All of us, all of the women are the leaders." "We are all responsible for taking care of this space." "It makes me so happy." "It makes me so... emotional." "Because now this really belongs to the Oaxacan people." "Now it's truly the people of Oaxaca who are taking control of this space." "We're here waiting for Mr. Ulises Ruiz." "It doesn't matter what time he comes." "We're waiting for him." "If he wants to kick us out of here, let him do it." "But he has to do it himself, and not just send his minions and his dogs." "Let him come here, himself, if he has the balls to do it." "With Ulises' balls" "I'm going to make a fried egg and feed it to our stupid congressmen!" "Out with Ulises!" "The antennas where the transmitter for Channel 9 is located." "We need people to go the antennas with food and water, or with their presence, because most of the people who are there haven't slept since yesterday's take- over of Channel 9, and it's important that we maintain that broadcast." "This morning, the newspaper Noticias was attacked again." "Yesterday, Radio Universidad also suffered an attack." "That is to say... the Radio Universidad transmitter was destroyed." "On August 9th, three indigenous men were killed on their way to a regional APPO meeting in the mountains." "That same day, plain-clothed gunmen disappeared community activist German Mendoza Nube." "German is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic and diabetic." "Gunmen tried to frighten and disperse the march." "They opened fire on the march, and murdered compañero Jose Jimenez Colmenares, who died instantly from a bullet wound to the heart." "Just two weeks earlier, Jose Jimenez Colmenares was filmed enjoying the Guelaguetza Popular with his children." "In the weeks that followed, state violence against the movement increased dramatically." "More and more people were detained, and those lucky enough to be released, had been brutally tortured." "A new website called "Oaxaca In Peace"" "published the names, photos, and addresses of APPO members, with an X through those who had been killed." "Local 22 and the APPO continued to dialogue with the federal government, but were told repeatedly that the removal of Ulises Ruiz from power was not an option." "I think the moment has arrived for us to wake up and say "enough" to the repression," ""enough" to so many lies," ""enough" to having a repressive, fascist governor who only uses the media to serve his own interests." "Last night this station received a lot of threats, directed at the women here." "Supposedly we have a democratic government." "But I think that now we can really say that we have a military dictator." "Dawn." "August 21st." "Three weeks after the take-over of Channel 9." "We were told that they are hiding in the trees." "We don't know where." "All we have are rocks and a slingshot." "The women's broadcasts were having such an impact, that the government of Ulises Ruiz destroyed the transmitter with gunfire." "With a military operation at dawn, he physically destroyed it." "So these idiots thought that, by destroying the antennas, they were going to silence us." "But they didn't take the people's creativity into account." "Radio Plantón, property of the teachers... destroyed." "Radio Universidad, property of the University... destroyed." "Channel 9 and ARO AM, public property... destroyed." "We were left with no other choice." "That same morning, the movement took over 12 commercial radio stations." "13 RADIO STATIONS TAKEN OVER IN OAXACA" "ARMED ATTACK PROVOKES TAKE OVER OF RADIO STATIONS IN OAXACA" "We apologize to the gentlemen here for having interrupted their program, but this is urgent." "The radio stations have always been against us." "Because the government pays them." "It gives them good money." "Right now we are in the radio stations, but we are only borrowing them." "Compañeros and Compañeras continuing with our program here in Radio La Ley." "All the power of communication in the hands of the people." "Julie, this keeps getting more confusing, but it looks like the moment belongs to the radicals." "The state Attorney General said that what is happening in Oaxaca is the work of urban guerrillas." "Groups connected to clandestine guerrilla organizations." "They subject you to constant terror and the next day some idiot behind a set says that you are the violent one, and that you are in no position to dialogue." "Sending greetings to my teacher who has been participating in the struggle." "The teachers who are guarding the House of Representatives are requesting the song Jaula de Oro or Elba Esther." "To say Fox is stupid isn't an insult." "It's just a description." "Don't forget that he coined that phrase saying that women are washing machines with paws." "Right now the situation is so unsafe, with all the attacks against the movement." "When something happens, they announce it on the radio, and wherever we are, we know what is happening." "The people in the movement knew that they had no other choice, that if they didn't have a media outlet to amplify their voice, the repression would be brutal and inevitable." "To everyone in the APPO, and to all the teachers who are guarding the occupied buildings, there's a truck full of masked individuals out by Tlalixtac de Cabrera." "So you should all stay alert and aware throughout the night." "We can hear shots being fired outside Radio La Ley 710 AM!" "They're coming from the ministerial police." "Alert compañeros!" "Someone's wounded!" "Get a car!" "They're shooting here in the Reforma neighborhood, close to one of the newspapers." "These are municipal police trucks." "The process enters a phase that is similar to the state terrorism seen during the South American dictatorships." "State forces participate." "They have two separate roles." "During the day they are police, and at night they go out to kill dissidents." "Mobilize!" "Ring the church bells!" "Mobilize now!" "Go to the occupied buildings in your community!" "Alert!" "Alert!" "Alert!" "If someone tells you, at two-o-clock in the morning," ""Neighbor, the police are shooting like crazy, in the streets, with big guns, with AK-47 s,"" "would you go out into the streets?" "Most people would crawl under their bed, not move a muscle, and cover their ears until it was all over." "No." "The people came out." "They opened fire on the radio station that the people of Oaxaca have occupied," "Radio La Ley." "A woman called us a few minutes ago and said she saw this morning's ambush and got the license plates of the murderers.... 810 and 708." "Three compañeros from the Calicanto barricade were detained." "They were detained by municipal police." "This caravan of terror that was sent out by the state government, appeared to be cornered." "Wherever they tried to go in the city, they were completely cornered, by the barricades in the streets, and by the radio stations providing updates about what was happening in the streets." "The radio was a form of defense, because it let us know where they were... in what street, in what barricade." "The radio demonstrated its importance time and time again." "I'd say that lots of lives were saved by the radio." "I recommend that we maintain this blockade indefinitely, because the entire city is blocked off." "We should be very careful." "I'm sure you've heard on the radio that there are armed thugs driving around in convoys." "They killed one compañero." "They have big guns." "What are we going to do with our little fire and cardboard?" "It's sad." "What's happening to us is very sad." "There's no justice for us, the people." "How frightening." "What a scare." "Let's change the subject." "I think that now..." "The darkest hour is just before the dawn." "The teachers are tired of this situation." "They want to go back to classes." "The state government announced that it has initiated the legal process for firing teachers who don't return to classes this week." "There was a good possibility that today, or tomorrow at the latest, the teachers from Local 22 were going to return to classes." "However, today's violent acts have ruled out that possibility." "In the following days, the movement gave back 10 of the 12 occupied radio stations, but at the same time established over 1000 barricades that went up every night, across the city, for over two months." "On June 14th, 2006 in Oaxaca's plaza, the world turned upside down." "Early in the morning, just before dawn, no one would have imagined what was about to happen." "The teachers' strike was occupying the plaza while the damn government prepared the ambush." "The police shouted" ""Before the day begins" "We'll get rid of this encampment"" "and the repression began." "Where are they from?" "They're from the barricade." "Where are they from?" "They're from the barricade." "This is a face mask with a sanitary pad." "A teacher needs to get all the way to Etla." "She already identified herself." "We put up the barricades to protect ourselves by preventing the movement of the police." "That's what the barricades are for... to keep out those armed vandals." "You're listening to the program "To the Barricades." "On the Front Line. "" "A car with a wounded person from Brenamiel needs to get through." "I just want to send greetings to my girlfriends here, courageous preschool teachers in the barricade." "1, 2, 3...." "You can see it, you can't miss it" "Ulises is a pothead!" "The bonfire, the sandbags, a stick, a slingshot, a rock." "That's what we use to defend ourselves." "I think he's looking for an excuse to use his weapons and his forces." "But he's not going to find it." "We're peaceful!" "We'll take this as long as we can." "The barricade?" "Yes, it's a form of self-defense, but even more importantly it's a space where organizing happens naturally, a space where people get to know each other." "Tolerance, respect, solidarity, overcoming prejudices..." "The city was a space where that had been lost, where that didn't happen anymore." "You know, globalized society and all that." "Well, in this situation, it happened." "I help you even though I don't know you." "You help me even though you don't know me." "This demonstrated that the people can infact identify with each other again." "We can overcome this individualism that has been imposed upon us by the system." "We're calling on all the residents of Santa Lucia to close off all access to the municipality." "This is urgent." "It would be hard to imagine a movement having the same capacity for resistance and rapid response as this movement has, without it having radio stations under its control." "Well, there are lots of people, hundreds of people at the Rosario antennas, ready for whatever comes." "Compañeros who are listening to us in the various barricades, strengthen the barricades and don't fall victim to any provocations." "The media outlets, and especially the radio, have played a fundamental role in strengthening the movement in Oaxaca." "But, with the take-over of the radio stations, one of the characteristics that bothered me and many others, is that they were always rallying the people to take immediate and direct action." "And yes, that does influence the people's frame of mind." "I think it lifted people's spirits a lot." "But it did little to expand their consciousness." "The radio was also used, as it has been historically, for taking power." "The most hegemonic voices within the movement used these radios as a way to disseminate their way of thinking." "The spontaneity of the struggle probably justifies some of the mistakes that were made." "But one of those mistakes would be only using the radio to stir things up." "They lacked content." "There was a need for more explanation about the reasons behind the movement, the movement's dynamics and objectives." "But one thing is clear..." "The people who took over the media outlets gained experience." "That is knowledge." "That is something you can't take away." "The people learned how to use the media." "And more than that, they realized that... it's easy." "On September 6th, the Federal Electoral Tribune declared Felipe Calderon president-elect." "Today friends, the future won..." "It's a future of hope and civility, taking the place of a violent past... a past that disregarded the law, and mocked the institutions." "The Mexico that won, the Mexico of the future, is the Mexico of law and order." "But a recount of votes had never been carried out, and Calderon's legitimacy was questioned by large sectors of Mexico's population." "He wouldn't take office for another three months." "Tenemos un gran respeto por las instituciones democráticas de México." "Respetamos la labor y la decisión del tribunal electoral." "Esperamos trabajar con el gobierno del presidente electo, Felipe Calderón." "With Vicente Fox leaving office, and Felipe Calderon on his way in, there has been a lot of talk about "bad precedent."" "The worst precedent would be for a governor to step down in response to a conflict of this size, because then other states might find themselves in the same situation, and why not the nation's president?" "The PAN needs the support of the PRI to legitimize the president-elect, and to guarantee that he takes office and is able to govern." "So the PRI gives that support under the condition that" "Ulises Ruiz not be removed from power, and makes it clear that if Ulises Ruiz falls," "Felipe Calderon could be the next to go." "No shameful agreements have been made between the government and the PRI, nor between the PAN and the PRI!" "We are not protecting Ulises Ruiz!" "We are respecting the law and its institutions!" "The problem in Oaxaca will be resolved before this administration finishes its term, on November 30th." "Teacher #3, we have a link, we have a link." "Ok, let's go on the air." "We are now linked up with the compañeros at 1111 AM and 98.5 FM." "Today we want to make public the decisions, agreements, and pronouncements from yesterday's State Assembly." "It was agreed that the teachers will not return to classes until URO leaves Oaxaca." "It was also agreed that a march will leave on Thursday, September 21st, walking to Mexico City, where we will establish a plantón in front of the National Senate building, demanding the resignation of the tyrant, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz." "As the Santa Maria neighborhood we could participate in the march that is going to leave on Thursday." "We were talking about it last night in the barricades... we could add our little grain of sand, as a neighborhood." "We just have to get organized." "September 21st." "120 over 90." "Even if you tell me that I can't go, I'm going anyway." "At that point we had no money." "We weren't getting paid." "Many of us went with only five dollars in our pockets..." "Let's go." "To walk and walk." "Up with the teachers." "Long Live Oaxaca." "On September 21st, more than 3000 teachers and other members of the APPO, set out on foot to walk from Oaxaca to Mexico City." "They would walk over 560 kilometers through some of the country's most difficult terrain, depending almost entirely on the communities along their path for food and shelter." "The people united will never be defeated." "We had tried everything... the plantón and everything else." "We thought that walking to Mexico was also a form of struggle, that would help us achieve our objective." "In fact, on the first day of the march, Vicente Fox said" ""You don't have to walk all the way to Mexico City... we can dialogue."" "Out with Ulises, Out of Oaxaca!" "He's already fallen!" "Ulises has already fallen!" ""I'm With You Teacher"" ""Teacher, thanks for fighting for me"" "Long Live the Oaxacan Teachers!" "He's already fallen, he's already fallen." "Ulises has already fallen." "This goes in your shoe for absorption." "When you start to get blisters, you have to put a Kotex in your shoe... a sanitary pad." "But now the Oaxacans are coming to the nation's capital!" "This situation that hasn't been resolved by local and federal authorities is threatening to come to Mexico City." "There was no way to stop the march that departed from Oaxaca, with Mexico City as its destination." "We can only hope that there is no room for their expressions of violence and vandalism in Mexico City." "On October 2nd, the eleventh day of the march, schoolteacher Jose Manuel Castro Patiño died of a heart attack." "That same day, more than 4000 army troops established a presence throughout the state of Oaxaca and in the capital city." "I ask the people of my land, my beautiful Oaxacan land, blessed land of poverty," "I ask you to strengthen the resistance." "With his ambition, the repression began." "He sold the Guelaguetza and destroyed everything beautiful." "The resistance began in my land of Oaxaca." "It is extremely important that we put up every single barricade." "Our capital city, and our state of Oaxaca, woke up to the presence of more than 4000 soldiers from the armed forces." "We are so tired of this." "And everyday that we advance, we grow more tired of the federal government's racist attitude and refusal to pay attention to this problem." ""Teachers from Oaxaca, an Example for the Country"" "Lots of solidarity... so much solidarity." "And sometimes I cried, to see that people who have nothing were giving us food." "Oaxaca!" "Hang in there!" "Neza welcomes you and supports you!" "Oaxaca is present!" "Oaxaca is present!" "I ask the people of my land, my beautiful land of Oaxaca, blessed land of poverty," "I ask you to strengthen the resistance." "THE APPO ARRIVES." "After walking for 19 days, the marchers arrived in Mexico City and established a plantón in front of the National Senate building." "During the march, Radio Universidad had returned to the air." "But the two occupied commercial stations had succumbed to signal interference from the Federal Secretary of Communications." "The interference sounded like this:" "It looks like there are two logical outcomes." "One is that the federal police enter the city of Oaxaca." "The other is the fall of the governor." "This movement, that is so full of contradictions, lies, and inconsistencies, can only be confronted with the dissuasive presence of state forces." "I don't know if the federal police are going to enter, or not." "But I don't see any other option." "In Oaxaca, gunmen continued attacking the nightly barricades." "On October 14th, they shot and killed Alejandro Garcia, while he and his family were serving coffee to their neighborhood barricade." "That same week, a federal commission of senators paid a visit to Oaxaca city, to determine if Oaxaca was officially in a state of ingovernability... a determination that would allow for what is known as a" ""disappearance of powers" in the state." "Mexico City" "The senate recognized that there is ingovernability, but at the same time, declared that it will continue recognizing Ulises Ruiz as governor." "Nevertheless, the assassinations continue." "Our compañeros are dying in the barricades." "So the horror continues in Oaxaca, and there is no way to stop it." "So last Monday, the decision was made to begin a hunger strike... the hunger strike that we see here." "It's been going on for 11 days now." "This hunger strike that we are carrying out is a peaceful form of struggle." "All the government buildings, in Oaxaca city, have been taken over." "There are barricades every night, to protect the citizens." "But these forms of struggle haven't been sufficient to demonstrate to the federal government that it should get rid of Ulises Ruiz, once and for all." "Yes, I'm Hungry." "But for Justice!" "The hunger strikers could listen to Radio Universidad from Oaxaca, via Radio Kehuelga in Mexico City." "The teachers are debating their participation in this struggle, which began on May 22nd, 2006." "They shouldn't leave the struggle." "They started it." "So they should stay with the struggle, because now is the moment that we all need to stay strong." "At this point, I don't think it would be a good idea for them to throw in the towel." "I think that the origins of this conflict have been overshadowed by certain groups, some of them very radical, who have taken control of the teachers' movement." "...separate the teachers from the APPO." "...there are divisions, or at least differences, between Local 22 and the APPO, in terms of how they continue participating in this conflict." "The teachers will return to classes, and these radical groups of vandals, will be punished." "The government desperately needed to separate the teachers from the rest of the movement, so it could get away with more repression." "Because it knew that, while the people are committed to the struggle, the teachers are organized." "And their organization made it possible to keep the buildings occupied and everything else." "Yesterday the teachers' State Assembly decided that the teachers will return to classes." "Last Thursday, Rueda Pacheco came out in the media and insisted that the teachers are lifting their strike." "Enrique Rueda Pacheco." "Secretary-general of Local 22 of the teachers' union, in Oaxaca." ""Rueda." "Traitor of the Movement."" "As soon as Rueda Pacheco appeared on television declaring that the teachers would return to classes, without first having consulted the rank-and-file, the people identified him as a traitor." "I am convinced that agreements were made between our union leadership and the federal government." "And even more with the state government." "With or without Rueda, the struggle continues." "Ulises Ruiz has to go." "The secretary-general made declarations in order to divide us." "And it worked." "Compañeros teachers, don't let this get you down." "The people know that the rank-and-file teachers are united with the people." "Neither Enrique Rueda, nor the union leadership, can speak on our behalf." "The men who have died in this struggle will have died in vain, if we allow ourselves to be divided." "They want to divide us so they can conquer us." "Teacher:" "Don't Abandon Your People." "When some of our leaders say that we aren't part of the APPO... well, the truth is, it's easier for us to say:" ""You aren't our leaders,"" "than to say we aren't part of the APPO." "Nevertheless, after five months out on strike, and over two months without a salary, teachers from some regions began returning to classes, while others remained out on strike." "Look here, you can see the plantón." "Stop the Repression." "How much does a notebook cost?" "Ten pesos!" "Add that to the 130 pesos, and in one day the mother spent it all, and that money is supposed to last for a whole month." "Was it enough?" "Noooo." "So, what do we need?" "More!" "So, what are we going to say to the government?" "These are the names of the people who died, where?" "In Oaxaca." "In Oaxaca, right?" "That's where your teachers have been." "Here, for example, we have the name of Andres." "(speaking zapotec)" "On October 25th, all of the radio stations in Oaxaca went off the air... except for Radio Universidad and a new FM station called Radio Ciudadana." "All the young women need to be very careful when they are out walking at night." "It turns out that many of the APPO people, those vandals, have AIDS." "They are raping young women at night with the intention of infecting them." "While the movement is transmitting with a legal radio station..." "Radio Universidad, the government is transmitting with a pirate station." "There are radical, foreign journalists in Oaxaca, who are trying to turn our city's reality into a living hell." "Everyone knows that the station is created by the governor, using the power of the state, as another tool in the dirty war." "We are getting organized to go to Radio Universidad and get them out of there by any means necessary." "There's a blockade over by the technical school, and we are inviting the neighbors to get rid of those lazy bums." "Mexico City" "Third Week of the Hunger Strike" "Right now, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz's gunmen are carrying out attacks." "Please be very careful." "There are people with guns and machetes on the roads into town, waiting for anyone who shows up there." "The latest information is that four people are dead, six people injured, and 8 people detained." "The name of the indymedia reporter who was killed is Bradley Will." "A compañero has been killed in San Bartolo Coyotepec... a teacher." "We have to get together to carry out actions here in Mexico City... actions that create chaos, so they hear us." "We can't allow them to keep killing our compañeros." "Offices of the Secretary of State Mexico City" "There has been another armed attack on Ferrocarril Avenue and Calicanto street." "They injured another compañero in the shoulder, and killed an indymedia reporter." "I was running and they caught up to me, and they hit me in the head with a machete, and they broke my arm." "That day we were all running, trying to escape wherever we could." "Running wherever we could, because the bullets were flying." "They came to kill us!" "On October 27th, para-police forces attacked numerous barricades, killing three people, including a reporter from Indymedia New York, and injuring dozens more." "Within twelve hours, thousands of Federal Preventive Police, or PFP, were on their way to Oaxaca City." "Take URO with You." "We are calling on all the people of Oaxaca to carry out peaceful protests against the intervention of the federal police." "The agreement is that we will not be aggressive, we will not enter into direct confrontation with the federal police." "We will resist peacefully, and in large numbers, against the aggressions of the PFP." "In the name of God, we will not use repression." "This isn't about repression." "This isn't about aggression." "Get rid of that camera or I'll get rid of it for you!" "The idea isn't to repress." "We have to be careful because the tanks are shooting water mixed with acid." "The Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca is calling on all of the organizations in the country, and on all the organizations and conscious people of the world, to mobilize in support and solidarity with the people of Oaxaca." "We're receiving a call from France!" "Compañeros, from France, we send you all of our solidarity." "We are keeping track of what's happening, listening to the radio on the internet." "We are calling from San Francisco and Sacramento, California." "Right now we are also carrying out protests." "We know what's happening!" "We are listening!" "We are with you!" "By the end of the night, three people had been killed." "And more than 40 people had been detained or disappeared." "That number would rise to over 100 in the following days." "They're informing us that the federal police are taking the zocalo, right now." "We have to avoid direct confrontation." "Everyone is coming to Radio Universidad, as a strategic location." "Everyone should bring their barricades to Radio Universidad, to protect the voice of the people." "Of the 70 most marginalized communities in the country, 30 of those communities are here in this state." "The children come to school hungry, with no shoes." "We reject the presence of the federal police." "Fuck you!" "Don't you realize?" "!" "The governor is killing the people!" "Murderers!" "Do you want more money, young man?" "Is that why you kill people?" "We are hundreds of thousands of Oaxacans who don't want bad government." "We are asking you to find your dignity." "Have you no shame or dignity?" "The APPO re-established itself in the city center, with a new plantón only four blocks from the PFP encampment." "There they celebrated Day of the Dead." "Brad!" "This can't be happening!" "Some of the leaders of the APPO, and some of the media have been saying that people died as a result of this police intervention." "That is absolutely false!" "For a moment, for a moment..." "Oaxaca was Baghdad, with acts of vandalism that are more irrational than terrorism." "Yes." "We can see that the federal police operative has been a success." "We appreciate the intervention of the federal police!" "What we have here is a small group of slackers who want to take our city hostage." ""Thank You PFP"" "Out with the APPO!" "Out with the APPO!" "Ulises hang in there!" "The people will rise up!" "Long live the PFP, gentlemen." "Long live the PFP." "We will keep working until all of them are behind bars." "Those people are a bunch of liars." "I want to express my thanks to the federal police." "It makes me sad that these radical vandals are still taking the streets." "They have been planting the seeds of terror, with their acts of terrorism." "TV Azteca, Oaxaca Supports You." "The success of a counter-insurgency strategy requires that some part of the citizenry accept it." "In other words, they need consent from the citizenry, and they get that through the use of propaganda." "The media legitimizes the use of police force against the people who the propaganda has already identified as "vandals, subversives, and bad guys."" "Table for Reporting Disappearances and Detentions" "The compañeros who were detained.... we don't know where they are." "Eight of them were in the Cinco Señores barricade." "And three more of them are from the university, including one who participates here at the radio station." "They detained us and beat us." "They gave us electric shocks in the feet and the chest, they strangled us with nylons," "and they forced things under our fingernails." "They moved us to a safe house and that's where they started asking questions:" "Who was active at the radio station?" "How many people were working at the radio station?" "Maximum alert, right now, compañeros." "November 2nd." "Please, come help us." "They are attacking us." "We need support at Radio Universidad." "Now is the moment to come out and defend Radio Universidad and to put up lots of barricades." "Even with tanks and machine guns, you can't silence the people!" "Even with tanks and machine guns, you can't silence the people!" "We are calling on the people to come out and defend Radio Universidad!" "Fill the streets with planks full of nails to try and puncture the tires on the tanks!" "The federal police are forcing the doors of the university with their tanks!" "Enough, please!" "Enough!" "We will resist, because we know we can't lose this voice!" "We are going to defend our house!" "They are going to have to mobilize absolutely all of their troops if they want to enter the university!" "We are here, all the people, seeking justice!" "And here no one is going to back down, because it's the people." "And the people never back down!" "In a way, it's like a Mexican version of the Palestinian Intifada." "We don't like violence, but in response to this kind of state violence, we see a David and Goliath situation, where David comes out to throw rocks at the tanks." "People of Oaxaca, we have to find a way to stop those tanks!" "The federal police are seconds away from knocking down the university gates!" "Let them come in and get us and kill us here, but we are going down with our radio station!" "Well then, they'll have to pull us away from the microphones." "He's already fallen!" "He's already fallen!" "Ulises has already fallen!" "After more than seven hours of confrontation, the federal police were forced to withdraw their attack." "Radio Universidad stayed on the air." "Throughout the six months of conflict, the APPO had been creating spaces where civil society could look beyond the demand for the resignation of Ulises Ruiz and envision a new kind of governance in Oaxaca." "...the possibility of having their own media..." "I think that's something we should be talking about with other social movements in this country... how that became possible here in Oaxaca." "The central premise of the new constitution will be the well-being of all persons, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, social condition, or religious belief." "On November 10th, with thousands of federal police occupying the city, those efforts culminated in the APPO's first constitutional congress." "Over the course of 4 days, the congress established a statewide council of over 250 representatives." "With the constitutional congress, the APPO became more inclusive and broad-based." "People from neighborhoods and barricades became representatives, as did some of the minority groups like youth and students." "The congress is a turning point." "Lots of indigenous communities and organizations also joined." "And I think some very interesting things came out of it... the need for a profound change in Oaxaca, culminating in a new social contract... or a new constitution." "We're putting forth proposals, and dialoging between all the different sectors, to figure out what kind of change we want for Oaxaca." "How to strengthen our cultures, how to achieve autonomy for our peoples... that process can't be stopped now." "There has been a change." "Oaxaca will never be the same." "The people are going to be much more demanding, and much more participatory." "And even if Ulises Ruiz falls, the APPO will continue." "Because the injustice won't end with the fall of Ulises." "Hunger won't end with the fall of Ulises." "November 25th" "We are maintaining a human chain around them, for 48 hours, with the hope that it will get them and Ulises out of Oaxaca." "Cowards!" "Cowards!" "Today we are carrying out a peaceful protest, demanding the immediate removal of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz from power, the immediate removal of the federal police from Oaxaca, and the safe return of our compañeros who have been disappeared." "The idea was just to maintain a human chain around them, and not to attack, or anything like that." "But the police already had their plan." "On November 25th, the federal police responded to the human chain that the APPO established around their encampment with a massive police offensive that resulted in hundreds of people being detained, tortured, and in some cases, disappeared." "The police raided homes and dragged the wounded from hospitals." "It was such an oppressive climate... knowing that they could raid your home, wondering what had happened to the disappeared, wondering what they were doing to the detained." "The strategy is, in fact, to instill so much fear that people stop participating." "What the governor did, well..." "I hope the same thing never happens to his family, because it's so hard, and the day that it does happen to him, he'll know what it feels like." "Arrest warrants were issued for hundreds of movement participants, especially those whose voices had filled the airwaves." "Many were forced into hiding, including several of the people who appear in this film." "There are arrest warrants for each and every one of them." "If I find out where they are," "I'll go after them and get them wherever they are." "If they're hiding in the churches, then we'll get them in the churches." "They all have to fall...." "Every single one of them." "They are all coming down." "When the hour of truth comes, they are going to be crying like faggots." "Gentlemen, it's all over." "Peace is finally returning to Oaxaca." "They started kicking us brutally, and they told us they were going to light us on fire." "I'm a single mother." "My son is 15 years old." "He hasn't come home!" "I still don't know where he is." "His face is completely broken." "He has several broken ribs, and he has been beaten over his entire body," "At about eleven- o-clock, the state police raided two schools in Villa de Zaachila, during classes, with the children inside." "Five teachers are reported to have been detained, three of them are women preschool teachers." "People of Oaxaca, our women are being raped and tortured!" "They are oppressing us!" "They are torturing us!" "Please, hear our voice." "We are waiting for you." "Please come." "Please." "When Radio Universidad succumbed to signal interference, the APPO handed the station over to university authorities." "It was the last media outlet in the hands of the movement." ""Radio Universidad, Heroic Voice of the People..." "I Support You."" "Three Months Later..." "Well, then." "Well, then." "You're going to hear that phrase a lot..." "Well then, we are back on the air here at Radio Plantón, and it's 10:47 in the morning." "Radio Plantón is back on the air, and we invite you to participate in today's great mega-march." "The Coordinating Committee of Oaxacan Women organized today's march, and our reporters are telling us that it's huge." "People are overcoming their fear, and the use of the media will have to play a role in that." "The radio has played an essential role in this movement, and now we have to rebuild it, so we can overcome the fear." "It feels like years." "It was only a few months." "But here we are, back on the air." "The people of Oaxaca will never be the same." "They experienced what can really be done with the media, and now they will always want more information." "They broke through an information blockade that had become the status quo." "After what happened in Oaxaca, the scenario has changed completely, and I think that this country can never go back to the way things were before, after what has happened in Oaxaca." "I would like to see, after all this, the creation of more spaces for citizen expression... spaces that provide legitimate information." "They should allow us to also have a space where we can broadcast what we want, and what we feel, because we're human." "We have rights too." "Not just the government." "...a community radio station where the women and men of Oaxaca could broadcast the needs of each neighborhood." "I want to know what my people are suffering." "I want to know the truth about what is happening." "Because, when you listen to the news on the radio, all you hear is stupidity." "You don't hear the truth when you listen to the radio." "We have always threatened them that they better tell the truth, or we are going to... run them out of Oaxaca, so as not to say something crude."