Mexico Leftist Leader Joins Oaxaca Protest

[cal04]

A leader of Mexico's largest leftist party led thousands of protesters in a march to the center of this historic city on Sunday, demanding the resignation of the state governor and the withdrawal of thousands of federal police.

Shouting ``Freedom for political prisoners!'' the demonstrators also called for the release of more than 200 people arrested in the six-month-long conflict in Oaxaca that has shattered the local economy and left at least nine dead.

Leonel Cota, president of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party or PRD, marched at the front of the demonstration alongside his party's lawmakers and Oaxacan protest leaders.

(snip)
The PRD has become increasingly involved in the Oaxaca conflict after keeping its distance for months. Last week party leaders took up the cause of protest leader Flavio Sosa, who was arrested in Mexico City, calling him the first political prisoner of recently sworn-in President Felipe Calderon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6272547,00.html

[EFerrari]

1. Good news, cal04.

Very good news.

K&R

:kick:

[Ken Burch]

2. Victory to the people of Mexico! Down with Calderon!

A revolution is the only thing that can save the place now. Reform is too little, too late.

[John Q. Citizen]

3. All right, those folks need some cover. Just as long as they don't try to

hijack the local movement but assist it.

They have some convergent issues, such as election fraud.

[Wiley50]

4. Yes and no

I've been searching all day for some info on the march planned for today
I'm glad you found something

Unfortunately, it's another slanted Rebbecca Romero AP story
The woman is a tool
If you look at all of the articles that bear her byline, side by side
It's easy to see

Something that our Newbie Duer Josewelder
who I initially distrusted
pointed out:
He thinks the PRD is behind everything that has happened in Oaxaca
He's wrong on that, but
He says Flavio Sosa was a PRD agent sent to co-opt the APPO
So then, when he was arrested, I see that the PRD is springing
for his legal representation. Now this.

Maybe our friend Jose is partially correct
But to say the PRD is behind it all is not correct
But it seems MS Romero seems to be beating that burro as well

The PRD seems to be co-opting the situation from my viewpoint
The poor in Oaxaca started all of this, for damned good reason.
But, it seems the PRD has seen an opportunity to use it
for their own benefit

I truly believe AMLO was cheated just like Al Gore was cheated
But the PRD isn't any more leftist than our own democrats are leftist
The center has been pushed so far to the right in both cases
that anything left of fascism is considered leftist

[John Q. Citizen]

5. The PDR has only the moral power that they won, and some seats and

a couple of governorships.

However, the people in Oaxaca do need some cover. The fact that national politicians are calling for release of the kidnapped is a good thing, that they are calling for the oustre of Ruiz, which is good also.

It means, in a sense, that the party which in the last election won most of the votes is standing together with the people of Oaxaca. Sure the PDR wants to get some votes in Oaxaca, but they are also lending support to the right side.

They stayed away a long time and it's good they are acting together, because for all of their differences, they face a brutal future if they all try to go it alone.

The effort to get a little justice in Mexico is a long term struggle. They may part ways at some point, but for the short term at least, I think it is mostly good.

[Contrite]

8. I'm confused

I thought the ELZN supported PRD's candidate Obrador, from reading NarcoNews.

Also, NarcoNews provides a background on Sosa which is illuminating:

http://narconews.com/Issue44/article2442.html

"During the 2000 elections, Flavio Sosa supported the then-candidate (and now ex-president) Vicente Fox through his organization Nueva Izquierda de Oaxaca (the New Left of Oaxaca). Sosa was an activist with the center-left Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and the Popular Unity Party in Oaxaca. From that organization he worked on behalf of Hector Sanchez in the local 2004 elections, in which this candidate won more than 40,000 votes. In the same way, Sosa has been a leader of the Democratic Peasants Union (UCD), now integrated into the PRD, and obtained a federal delegation. Some time later he pursued the state leadership of this organization, which lead to a rupture between him and the UCD.

Flavio Sosa, as a member of the APPO, and from the beginning of the Oaxacan conflict in June of this year, has stood out as one of the most outstanding leaders of this popular movement. This past November 26, his office in the Oaxacan capital City was burned by paramilitaries and his brother Eric was detained and sent to a prison in Tamaulipas."

So how does he go from supporting Fox to this?

[John Q. Citizen]

11. Mexico has been a one party (PRI) dictatorship for over 70 years. Many

people saw Fox (from the left side of PAN) as the more viable candidate to dislodge the PRI. A lot of leftists voted for Fox as a stratigic vote to remove the PRI from the presidency.

[nam78_two]

6. K&R.nt

[Vidar]

7. Thanks for the good news, cal04.

[cal04]

9. some pics

The demonstrators held photographs of people arrested during and after a riot in late November

[Selatius]

10. The PRD should've grown balls sooner. Fewer people would have been tortured and killed.

CEAPPO has been fighting long and hard against the thug Gov. Ruiz, but Ruiz won't listen to them. Instead, he sent in police to crush them and hires hitmen to torture protest leaders.

The PRD showing up to help you is like you fighting your employer for three decades or longer for the right to unionize before the Democrats finally pass a law recognizing your right to do so, long after you are dead. Then, the Democrats take credit for your struggle even though they didn't come until after the "party" ends.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. Are you suggesting they should continue not to support APPO? It's only been

CEAPPO for what, 4 or 5 months?

[Selatius]

14. No, I'm criticizing the fact that they've only now decided to do something. n/t

[EFerrari]

13. kick