Protests hit Oaxaca repression

In response to the Mexican federal police intervention in Oaxaca City and the killing of at least three people on Oct. 27—supporters of the popular movement known as the Popular People’s Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO), which has virtually governed life in the city for months—a call went out for protest demonstrations at every Mexican embassy and consulate in the world. The demands included ending the repression and the removal of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz.

Detroit WW photo: Cheryl LaBash

Starting Oct. 30, people demonstrated at scores of official Mexican buildings throughout the world, including dozens in North America. One of the people killed in Oaxaca City was Indymedia video journalist Brad Will, known in the U.S. progressive movement and especially to those involved in independent media and community organizing in the East Village of Manhattan.

Will was hit in the abdomen by gunfire from Mexican police as he was videotaping the attack on the people of Oaxaca City. According to reports, he died on the way to the hospital. Mexican activists have called him an “internationalist” who died heroically while showing his solidarity with the people’s movement.

New York WW photo: John Catalinotto

One of the most militant actions in the U.S. was a protest on 39th Street between Madison and Park avenues in Manhattan. Many of Will’s personal and political friends were among the hundreds protesting, and their grief and anger added to the determination of the demonstrators, who resisted the cops’ attempts to push them onto the sidewalk. About a dozen people were arrested for civil disobedience actions.

In downtown Detroit, community and labor representatives demanded entrance to the Mexican Consulate. The delegation demanded an end to the killing, withdrawal of Mexican troops and the resignation of Oaxaca’s governor. Ignacio Meneses, from Latinos Unidos de Michigan, pointed out that the faces of the gunmen who murdered Brad Will can be seen on a television video. The group demanded an independent investigation of the Will killing and the deaths of 14 other people.

— John Catalinotto and Cheryl LaBash