In Defence of Marxism

The provocation orchestrated by the governments of Fox-Calderon and Ulises Ruiz, with civil guards shooting like paramilitaries and killing 4 people, among them a teacher and an American cameraman, as well as injuring scores of others, was the first shot in the repression of the masses.

Today federal troops burst into Oaxaca massacring the people - people struggling for justice, decent salaries for their children, and democracy so that they can decide their own destiny - under the excuse of restoring the "order" which they had previously violated.

The best of the working people of Oaxaca have risen up to face the troops of the murderous government. The people are firmly resisting on the barricades. They have no arms or bombs, only the dream and the hope for a better world after centuries of oppression and misery. For months the people of Oaxaca have been building a new world. They are the advanced guard of the revolutionary future of Mexico.

In this decisive hour in our history, the advanced layers of the working class and the youth of the country and the world pay tribute to the valour and courage of the people of Oaxaca in their struggle to transform the present. Yes, we pay tribute to the valour of our brothers and sisters in Oaxaca, struggling without end, until the end, together with all those fighting in the trenches around the world, united in hand and voice, spreading the seeds of the correct methods and superior organisation that they have planted.

Long live the proletarian heroes of Oaxaca! Long live the men and women of the Commune! History already speaks of them. Today, as in the Revolution of 1910, and in 1968, the blood of our class illuminates the future.

There is still time to stop the killing hands of these governments. We must stop this genocide! Hands off Oaxaca!

We call upon the entire nation of Mexico to publicly demonstrate and rise up to aid Oaxaca, which is drowning in blood. We demand an end to the massacre, the withdrawal of the PFP, all forces of repression and the paramilitaries, as well as a political solution to the conflict.

It is necessary to strengthen our unity in action, to strike together on the same day at the same hour with firm, strong action in Mexico and around the world to defeat the murderers, as we did on January 12, 1994 before the military offensive against the Zapatistas. We must not allow the struggle in Oaxaca to be isolated. The struggle must be extended!

We must mobilise the masses urgently across the whole country. We propose the following:

1. That the PRD and the trade unions, the social and student movements come out strongly against the repression and organise a massive demo against the genocide in Oaxaca.
2. That these organisations call, without delay, a 24-hour national general strike to be extended to 48-hours. If there is no response the strike must be extended indefinitely, as the CNTE has correctly raised.
3. To continue calling for the resignation of Ulises Ruiz and the satisfactory fulfillment of the demands of the Teachers-APPO petition for a political solution to the conflict.
4. That the National Democratic Convention be publicly pronounced and AMLO sent to Oaxaca to act as a political shield against the repression.
5. For the formation of human chains, "Belts of Peace", in two concentric rings around the city of Oaxaca and the metropolitan area to avoid ceding permanent and total control of the city to the forces of repression.
6. For the sending of caravans of support and struggle from across the country to Oaxaca in order to strengthen the resistance and the barricades.
7. For the sending of letters to newspapers, calls to radio stations and posts on the Internet throughout the whole world, demanding an end to the repression in Oaxaca, the withdrawal of federal troops, accusing and making the murderous governments responsible for all the deaths and the massacre.
8. We must close all the highways of Oaxaca, the Federal District (DF) and the major cities of the country.
9. For the intensification of the campaign in the metro, the markets, public roads, trade unions, and schools.
10. For the calling of protests in front of the Mexican embassies and consulates around the world.
11. For the extension of popular power, as set by the example of the APPO, the Commune of Oaxaca. For the establishment of a national APPO and its extension to all 31 states in the country.
12. For the occupation of public, federal, and state buildings in Oaxaca, the Federal District (DF) and across the whole country.
13. To call on the soldiers not to repress working people. Out of every 10 soldiers 6 are from Oaxaca! Lower your guns, soldiers! Soldier, ask yourself - whose side are you on? Desert! Leave Oaxaca!
14. For the immediate closure of all centres of study, approved in emergency assemblies.
15. For the release of all political prisoners, and proof that those who have disappeared are alive.

October 29, 2006

See also:

• Police brutality at the picket of the Mexican Embassy in London
  
• Emergency demo in front of Mexican Embassy in Brussels
• Mexico: state of siege in Oaxaca - For a revolutionary answer to repression