Narconews: The Other Campaign Has Reached Oaxaca

The Zapatista "Other Campaign" led by Subcomandante Marcos has reached Mexico's most indigenous state, Oaxaca. New reports are pouring in daily in the pages of The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign:

http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/en.html

Michael Kummer reports from San Blas Atempa, a town in Oaxaca's Isthmus of Tehuantepec that has been a self-proclaimed "autonomous municipality" for more than one year. Inhabited mainly by indigenous Zapotec people, the town rose up on New Year's Day, 2005 to kick out a new mayor undemocratically imposed by a longtime local political boss, replacing its authoritarian municipal government with a popular autonomous council that occupied the town hall. The rebel town was to be one of Marcos' first stops in Oaxaca.

Kummer reports:

"On that violent night City Hall was converted it into an 'Autonomous Municipality.' The same words that the Zapatistas of Chiapas use to speak of their communities are now the words that the peasant farmers of San Blas Atempa (population 17,000) use to describe a local government that can govern even without funds from above. 'We have fought for recognition at the various levels, but our claims are neglected,' explained Doctor Francisco Salud Acevedo during the Other Journalism's visit to this town on February 4. Dr. Salud is one of 72 citizens of San Blas that have arrest warrants hanging over their heads stemming from those stormy events."

Read that full story, here:

http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/en.html

Also, Daniela Lima and Nick LaPoint report on Marcos' visit to the town of Tuxtepec on February 4:

"Tuxtepec, a city in the northwest of Oaxaca near the frontier with the state of Veracruz, about a five hour drive north of Oaxaca City, known for its high temperatures and thick vegetation, received Subcomandante Marcos ('Delegate Zero') and the Sixth Commission in the evening of February 4th at the grounds of CODECI. CODECI (Citizens' Defense Committee and Aid to Rural Communities) was started in 1996 by indigenous Chinanteco campesinos who were being displaced by prison construction. Since than, they have united with Mazatecos, Cuicatecos and others to defend themselves against often brutal attacks upon their land and culture."

http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo/en.html

Colleague, we will do our best to keep you informed via these email alerts, but to make sure you are up to date on the latest developments of Marcos' tour of the Mexican republic, please check the webpage linked above frequently.

From somewhere in a country called América,

Dan Feder
Managing Editor
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com

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