Mexico: First Hand Account of Oaxaca Violence
Having met Bradley Will a week before his death in Oaxaca, British Journalist John Dickey asks, “does a gringo always have to die for the world to act?” Dickey also adds: “What you probably won’t hear either is that the APPO people do not carry any firearms. Their only weapons are rocks, clubs, molotov cocktails, and the occasional home-made fireworks mortar. To my knowledge, in 5 months of protests, they haven’t fired a single shot from a firearm. All the casualties have been on the side of the ‘protesters’, either APPO or teachers. Hooded delinquents have certainly inflitrated the protester’s ranks and fired shots, but the APPO has always insisted in unarmed resistance. (The fact is, the APPO probably does have an array of firearms, but have taken a brave political decision not to use them).”
2 comments
The whole situation in Oaxaca is already out-of-control and I figure that some in the APPO are armed. It is not bravery to accept murder without retaliation and people do have a right to self-defense. We will see how the whole situation unfolds. It is sad but true that the death of Companero Brad Will brought worldwide attention to this whole situation in Oaxaca. Who cares if a Mexican gets killed in Mexico as compared to a White man? Sad but true…..
I agree, there is a time to limit the killings by a show-of-force. Not an overwhelming one, but on edone to illustrate that they’re not kidding in the APPO. Self-defense is sometimes necessary for simple-survival, too.