The Background:
500 years +14. The year 2006 was a tumultuous year in Mexico.
The southern states of Mexico (eg Oaxaca and Chiapas) have been the focus of popular dissent for many many years.
Increasing protest from marginalised sections of Mexican society combined with an (annual) teachers strike in the state capital of Oaxaca City eventually became the largest popular rebellion in over a decade. This was followed by hundreds of illegal detentions, disappearances and at least 18 documented deaths.
The broad based movement in Oaxaca to unseat an unpopular and corrupt governor turned into a grassroots uprising for direct democracy. For months hundreds of residents maintained more than 1000 streets barricades, protest camps as well as taking over the mainstream media outlets of the city. The Mexican government later sent in thousands of militarised police to crack down on the popular uprising and reinstate the status-quo.

Who is the guest speaker:
Our indyOaxaca compañero is indigenous to the Mixe territory of Oaxaca and an avid community radio, video and print and independent media activist.

What will we talk about:
We will discuss the reasons behind last years (2006) events in Oaxaca, the effects of bad governments, land struggles, exploitation, migration, the destruction of the environment, the continuing annihilation of indigenous cultures and the continual refusal of the people to make way for mega projects (such as Plan Puebla Panama). We will examine what it means to be autonomous, rebellious and the organisation of civil resistance in Mexico and the global south.

For more info contact:  zapaman@hotmail.co.uk

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