Rumor on the street has it that Ulises Ruíz Ortíz (URO) has already agreed with the teachers’ union to take an extended leave from office as governor, directly following the presidential election July 2, three days away.

      Nobody expects PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo to win from third position. Daily radio spots on the part of the teachers’ union, aired non-commercially on Radio Universidad, urge people to “Vote punishment” to the PRI and PAN.^[3] That was repeated at the Asamblea Popular (popular assembly) the night of June 28 to an overflowing audience in the Estadio Benito Juárez (the fútbol stadium).

      The wave of revolt we’re seeing is the heritage of 70 years of PRI repression, theft and neglect. People who may not know Madrazo’s name can tell you of the bad activities of URO, who embodies his party’s infamy. According to my same rumor source, 80% of the state population stand in opposition to the PRI. I don’t doubt it – coincidentally 80% of the population live in extreme poverty.

      If URO’s bowing out is not a true rumor, my guess is it will be true soon. By state law, if the governor is absent for some months, a new election to fill his term is required. Given that the Asamblea Popular de Pueblo de Oaxaca (APPO) is planning not only for a new government in Oaxaca, but looking forward to forging a new national constitution, I think it’s safe to assume that the Asamblea will choose the interim government and the legislative program of the state.

      My observations (that’s why this is comment, not news) lead me to believe that a statewide revolution has been in the planning for quite a while, waiting only for the correct moment. The plan to get rid of URO was surely on the agenda from the first day – I saw placards among the strikers calling for his removal. More important, the plans for bringing the state under popular, not party rule sounds like a long time effort.

      Ulises Ruíz helped, by attacking the teacher encampment on June 14. It was the spark that ignited the revolt and provided the moment to initiate the expulsion of the PRI.

      As of today teachers occupy the offices of Government House where Ulises Ruíz Ortíz (URO) operates in the Isthmus,^[4] the barracks of the Director of Public Security, the Attorney General's office, the Chamber of Deputies, the municipal offices of Oaxaca, the state Transportation and Traffic office, the firemen’s headquarters and the facilities of Channel 9 of Oaxaca television, according to reports published in the daily newspaper Noticias June 28.

      The airwaves of Radio Universidad,^[5] where students have been maintaining open lines in support of Section 22 of the National Education Workers Union (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, SNTE), were busy with bulletins such as that the governor shut down all urban transportation after 2:00 PM – and announcing meeting places for people seeking private volunteered transport. Buses arrived from all regions of the state, while blockades by both sides roll back and forth like dice.

      A representative of the Government Workers Union went on air, gave his name, and announced his union’s support for the teachers.

      The struggle (now 37 days) of Section 22 of the SNTE presented in Mexico DF a formal petition for judicial intervention against URO. The petition was handed to the Permanent Commission of the Federal Congress, accompanied by the first box of signatures of citizens, 146,000 of the 1,000,000 goal.

      The PRI member of congress, Heliodoro Díaz Escárraga, confirmed that SNTE has presented a demand for impeachment of URO, and explained that the application “will follow the formal process”.

      The fourth mega-march to oust URO moved along a fifteen-kilometer route from the airport road to the Oaxaca sports stadium. The marchers extended for five miles, starting with a motorcycle cavalcade and about fifty automobiles. Along the route supporters handed the marchers food, water and refreshments. When the first marchers arrived at the stadium, many were still at the airport road. Sound systems were erected outside and the largest ever Asamblea Popular de Pueblo de Oaxaca (APPO) convened. It was more like a fútbol (soccer) rally than a reasoned discussion, but I doubt anybody there held an opposite point of view. It was OUT! OUT! OUT! all the way.

      In Oaxaca, the historic custom has been local assemblies, usually meeting on the level of communities and cities, and rarely, regions. (Oaxaca is divided into seven regions.)

      A statewide meeting is significant not only for the vast show of popular opposition to the entrenched PRI domination, but as a preview of national assemblies. The talk is of a (federal) constitutional amendment.

      The present coalition – and this is not a teachers’ strike; it’s a social movement spear-headed by Section 22 – hopes asambleas will replace the elected legislature controlled by the PRI. The custom in Oaxaca, as in Zapatista territory, is that the leaders are those who carry out the commands of the people.^[6]

      The first meeting of APPO on June 14 chose, by election, a Comisión Directiva Provisional, a Committee of Provisional Directors comprised of three representatives each from: Frente de Sindicatos y Organizaciones Democraticos de Oaxaca (FESODO, the Federation of Democratic Unions and Organizations of Oaxaca); La Promotora por la Unidad contra el Neoliberalismo (PROMOTORA, a national grouping of diverse sectors of the population comprising social, union and civic organizations opposed to neoliberalism); Section 22 of the teachers union; students of all levels; non-governmental organizations; and all seven of Oaxaca state’s regions – 36 people. The Provisional Directors formed the base for establishing APPO. After its initial formation, APPO now claims to function by consensus.

      Approximately 40% of the state’s municipal government offices have fallen into the hands of supporters of Section 22. Oaxaca contains 570 municipios, or county seats, some of which serve large territories in the mountains and encompass perhaps 20 or 30 small towns. Towns in the mountains which are also designated municipios contain smaller villages called agencias, like Russian dolls within dolls. The office of mayor is held by teachers in 80 towns, some party-affiliated and some appointed by popular charge (usos y costumbres).^[7]

      The towns in the mountains, including speakers of 16 different indigenous languages, have long been ripe for organized opposition to the PRI. Some of them contain sophisticated populations like the people of Guelatao, the birthplace of Benito Juarez and the home of Jaime Martínez Luna, one of the original social philosophers on the implications of traditional uses and customs in confrontation with individualism, NAFTA and neoliberalism.

      In the more passive, poor and repressed towns, a PRI vote is bought with a bag of cement. These are the people who obey PRI caciques ^[8] in order to obtain the minimum for survival.

      One might wonder if remittances from the United States and other cities in Mexico are having another unexpected result.

      By June 27, the day before the fourth mega-march, teachers had occupied the municipal offices of 22 of the larger county seats, which had been previously governed by political operatives. PRI officials were locked out. The 22 towns in rebellion include some from the southern coastal tier, and another tier crosses the Sierra Norte to the Cuenca de Papaloapan (the basin of the Papaloapan River), reaching to the border with Veracruz.

      Ulises Ruíz forgot there’s a teacher in every town. Maybe he forgot that the number of teachers state-wide is nearly 70,000. The population of the entire state is between 3,500,000 and 4,000,000.

      The national election for president takes place July 2.

      Nancy Davies’ reports and commentaries on this unprecedented, phenomenal Oaxaca uprising appear primarily on the indispensable Narco News website, which is at http://www.narconews.com/ . A list of dispatches on this subject, with links, is available at http://site.www.umb.edu/faculty/salzman_g/Strate/2006-07-07.htm . I will attempt to update the list and links at that URL from time to time.

      For additional information and to participate in the intrernational effort in solidarity with the Popular Movement in Oaxaca, you can go to the Oaxaca Study-Action Group (OSAG) website, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaxacastudyactiongroup/
To join the group’s e-mails discussion list, write to oaxacastudyactiongroup-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

^[2] Section XXII is the Oaxaca State part of the National Union of Education Workers, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Educativo (SNTE). This National Union is tied closely to the PRI, but the strong Oaxaca section has a long history of militancy and independence. Within SNTE the teachers are not all aligned with the policies of the leadership, some being more radical, others less so. A significant radical grouping within, and sometimes critical of SNTE are those members who belong to the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), the National Coordination of Education Workers.

^[3] PAN are the initials (in Spanish) of the National Action Party (Partido Nacional Accion), the political party that gained the presidency for the first time in the election of 2000, when its candidate, Vicente Fox, dislodged the PRI from that post. Like the PRI, the PAN is closely allied with mega-capital. They tried (and are still fighting) to prevent loss of the unabashed corporate control they represent to the so-called "left-leaning" contender, Andrés Manuel López Obredor (AMLO), from whom they stole the July 2nd election by massive fraud. How the contest between the AMLO supporters and those of Felipe Calderon plays out is very important to APPO, because if Calderon, the PAN candidate is successful in securing the post, the chances of outright military repression by the federal army in Oaxaca are increased.

^[4] The Isthmus refers to the extreme eastern part of Oaxaca State (and the contiguous state of Veracruz). It is the narrowest part of North America, between the Pacific Ocean to the south and the Gulf of Mexico to the north. Oaxaca State is colored brown in the map. The capital, Oaxaca City, lies almost at the center, between

^[5] Radio Universidad is the independent station (I believe it is student-run) of the Benito Juáurez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (Universidad Autonomo Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, UABJO) in Oaxaca City. Since the radio station of the teachers was destroyed at the very start of the June 14th police assault, the students at UABJO have been broadcasting 24 hours a day, providing a prime source of information and communication in support of the APPO movement.

^[6] The Zapatista term for this novel (to “Western ears”) form of leadership is “commanding by obeying”, a concept which is of course mocked with smug sarcasm by many Oh-so-sophisticated readers of the supposedly responsible, reliable publications of the U.S. corporate press (think New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, etc.).

^[7] Usos y costumbres, uses and customs, refer to the traditional mode of social organization in many indigenous villages in Oaxaca. The seat of authority is the general assembly, the asemblea general, usually comprised of the heads of the community’s households. The assembly makes all important decisions, including the appointment of responsibilities, e.g. the mayor. Respected individuals are assigned, i.e. charged by the assembly with such responsibilities, which they assume, usually for a year, and for which they are uncompensated. The tasks assigned are called cargos, which are taken on as service to the community.

^[8] PRI caciques are individuals with ties to the PRI party who use their connections to secure some of the things the community needs, in return for which they act to control local conditions for the benefit of the PRI, for example by insuring the community’s votes go to the PRI.