Mexico: Oaxaca at a Standoff
Liz Henry adds to the immense amount of commentary and analysis on the continuing violence in Oaxaca by looking at the role women and female bloggers have taken in the movement. Colin Brayton disagrees with the translated verb conjugation of a Washington Post reference to Proceso's Jorge Carrasco. Ana Maria Salaza publishes the first-hand account of Franc Contreras. Mark in Mexico continues with his own first-hand, anti-APPO accounts, concluding that he is “really having trouble coming to grips with what happened here today. It seems obvious to me that if some 5000 or so more riot police do not arrive within the next 24 hours, the city will be lost.” Finally, Ricardo Carreón opines: “this conflict has been growing for some time as the Federal Government was trying to avoid it an make it a local conflict. It is too late now and the APPO has grown too radical and too powerful to be overlooked. Fox is on the last days of his Administration. Will he fix this for once and for all?”
1 comment
Fox cannot fix this problem because it is as old as Mexico itself. This is an issue of poverty, but maybe more importantly this is a struggle between local autonomy and fading federal hegemony. The absence of the PRI and its long reach is also influencing events in Oaxaca. The PAN leadership does not have the mechanisms or the knowledge to meet the demands of the poor South. The PAN is a norteño party with norteño points of view, which are incompatible with México Profundo to use the words of Bonfil Batalla.