Sunday, December 3 was supposed to be a somewhat calm day for us. The police have control of Oaxaca right now. Many people in the movement are in hiding having left town or are laying low in safe houses. I was going home on the next day so decided I would pick a few things up that I wanted to bring back. Around 2:00 PM we decided to go get lunch at a pizza place about 8 or 9 blocks northwest of the Zocalo. It was just me and B and we put our order in and waited for E to meet us there. When E arrived she told us how on her way to meet us a man stopped her in the street, it was a student from the university who asked her how she was and said he had just come out of his safe house to get food for himself and the others. They didn’t speak long, but what this one student was doing was what most people in the movement were doing. While we were all sitting and eating together at the restaurant I noticed a half dozen police gathering and a few peering into the window. I said to B “The police are here, I think they are looking at us”. As soon as I finished my sentence a hand was on my shoulder in back lifting me out of my chair. Police appeared behind my 2 companions and lifted them up from their seats also. Some word were said in Spanish, I can’t really remember what but I put my hands up in the air as to not resist. We were forced outside the restaurant onto the street where we were put in the back of a pickup truck and forced to sit while police stood in the back around us. We immediately recognized that these police were not PFP but Oaxaca Municipal Police. The police made us write our name and age on a piece of paper (this would become a recurring theme the rest of the day). We asked questions of where we were being taken, what we were charged with but none of our questions were answered. We got on our cell phones and started calling anyone and everyone we could think of that could help us. The truck zoomed down streets and pulled into building that was open air once through the front gate. We were forced out of the pickup truck and officers grabbed us by the back of our pants with one hand and another hand on our shoulder and pushed us to where they wanted us to go. They took our names and ages at a small table and tried to take photographs at us. We resisted them taking our photograph saying that we wanted our consulate. The main officer in change laughed at us and said, “You are in Mexico not the United States”. We maintained our demand for the consulate and this only angered them more. We eventually decided that we would need to go along with this process and hope that people we had called could get us the support that we needed.
The next major battle was that the police wanted to separate the only woman in our group from us. After some argument we were forcefully taken separate directions. Me and B were taken to a room upstairs and E was kept downstairs. The room me and B were put in room that seemed to be an old gym that was partitioned off. There were windows facing out to the courtyard full of police and a little step to sit on. There was a TV mounted to the wall in one corner with a teargas canister next to it and a shelf on the opposite wall with 7 large trophies on it. We were kept there with 2-3 police in the room just guarding us. We made more phone calls to people telling them to get on the Indymedia IRC and let people know we are in here. Have them call the consulate and the embassy and human rights people. These would be the last phone calls that we would make from the police station.
The door to the room we were in opened and many people filed in. In the end there were 13 police officers in the room just for the two of us. An officer with a video camera came to us and wanted us to give our names and ages and a statement of why we were there (which we still had no idea why). When the main interrogator came in he backed the both of us back into a corner. He asked us why we were at the university. Who we talked to and asked us specific names of who we knew. This went on for an hour or two it is tough to say being that we had no way to tell the time. We kept telling them we were documentary filmmakers and that was our only reason and the only work we have done in Oaxaca. We also kept asking for the consulate and this really made the interrogator angry who said “You better respect me if you want me to respect you.” All of this was directed at B because my Spanish was just to poor and really seemed to frustrate the police more then anything. The main thing seemed to be is that the police had seen us all at the university and they were pissed about it.
The chief interrogator took our cell phones and my passport. B had forgotten his passport at the hotel. Another few people came in and spoke with us but not nearly as harsh as the chief interrogator. Eventually I was separated from B and brought down stairs by a guard holding the back of my pants pushing me along to the desk that originally took down my name and age. They made me empty my pockets and turn over all my possessions to be bagged. They also took my belt, shoelaces and hat. They made me take off my glasses and wanted to take them but after much pleading and begging I was allowed to keep them.
I was then put into a cell right next to the desk. The cell had two pipes on the floor that were exposed and were clearly what two toilets had been previously hooked up to and it all smelled of urine. The only good thing was that the cell had a window to the courtyard and I could see my friend E. I was very happy to see her and that she was okay. She got to stay on a bunch outside of my cell near the desk. She said that she was well and that a friend of ours was sending an attorney that would be here any minute!
After an hour of being in my cell a guard opened the door and once again grabbed the back of my pants and pushed me across the courtyard. While on my forced walk I saw B who also was being pushed over to the little desk that I had been at. I was taken to a small room with a man with a typewriter asked me questions. He was not very patient with my poor Spanish. Pointing at me yelling, “Cocaine!?” “Marijuana!?”. I replied, “No! No!, no cocaine no marijuana!”. He was simply asking me if I was a drug addict and other basic information. They then took my photo and grabbed me by the back of the pants pushed me back to my little cell. I saw E on the way back to my cell and she said that the lawyer was here and so was the consulate and that we would be going before a judge to hear our charges and penalty.
Eventually, I was brought out of the little cell again and pushed to a room where the judge was. There were about 7 or 8 guards standing outside watching since the room could only fit 3 people including the judge. We were all charged with molesting the public and obscenity. Basically the charges meant that “someone” had said someone fitting our description was running around pushing people and yelling bad things at people. We said that this was ridiculous and it was not possible but the judge gave us two choices, stay in jail or pay 300 pesos (roughly $30 US). There was very little choice even though the charges were bogus and both the consulate and attorney felt like we were getting out easy considering the extensive questioning about the university. E and I both paid and were able to leave but B did not have his passport so he had to remain until we could return with it. The consulate said he would remain with B until we returned with the passport. We eventually all got out and got all of our possessions except for our three cell phones. The police said that we could pick up our cell phones first thing in the morning.
We went back to the hotel and thought everything was over but around 7 PM while it was dark out two unmarked pickup trucks pulled up and we received a call from the front desk saying that the police were downstairs for us. I asked them to put the police on the phone and handed it to E who speaks Spanish fluently. The police said that we could have our cell phones back but we needed to come to the police station with them. E told them that it was to late out and that we would just come down to the station in the morning and thanked them. The trucks went away and we immediately called our attorney who said that we should meet him now and we would go to the station together. We met and I asked the attorney I he could ensure we would not be rearrested and he said he doubted it would happen but that the law in Oaxaca does whatever it wants these days and even he could be detained. So we went to the station and waited outside for the officers to come out to speak with us. The police insisted that the phones were locked up for the night and that we could not have them until the morning. Our attorney argued for quite some time even speaking with higher-ranking officers. The police also said that to their knowledge no officers had come by our hotel!
Our attorney left with us and took us though the plaza next to the police station to get us a cab back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel we discussed all that had happened. We don’t know who the men in the unmarked trucks were but possibly it was PRI or paramilitary. Either way if we would have gotten into those trucks I have a feeling things would have turned out very badly. We barricaded the room door that night and had someone on watch all night in case anyone came back for us. The sun couldn’t come up fast enough that morning and I was off on a flight at noon.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Back home
I arrived back in the states late last night and had to spend today getting a new phone because the police in Mexico confiscated mine. I will post the entire arrest story Wed. night.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Arrested!
So today we were out eating lunch when we saw police gathering around the resturant we were at. They came in and grabbed me first then my 2 other companions. We were forced into the back of a pickup truck and driven to the police station. It was crazy. We are out now and are okay but we don't think we are entirely out of harms way. I will post more on what happened later.
Libertad y Amor!
Libertad y Amor!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Things Get Worse
So the atmosphere here in Oaxaca is very tense. The last barricade, Cinco Senores, which is 6 blocks from the university, fell to the PFP today. People cleared the University and gave up the radio station peacefully. Almost all journalists have gotten the fuck out of Dodge and only a few remain and the ones we talked to today say they were leaving. The situation defiantly has worsened when a major paper here reported that the government has a list of over 100 foreigners with photos that they are looking to “talk” to. There is a march planned for December 1 here in Oaxaca but little has been said about it. The PFP are still in control of Santo Domingo and the Zocalo. That’s all for now and we are heading to our undisclosed location.
Siempre en la lucha!
Siempre en la lucha!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Update...
Once again I am behind in blog entries. I will recap the last few days even though they all seem to run together.
Last week we went out to a town 45 minutes from Oaxaca City. The town had taken over city municipal building a few months ago and kicked out their town mayor. The people we met with were men in the 50’s. They have been taking care of the town ever I asked where the police were and the men all laughed and said that the police had left with the mayor. They collect taxes every weekend at the town market to pay for trash collection and other necessities of the town. The also operate a radio station to keep the town informed with all that is going on. We also were able to speak with some of the women who were able to tell us what their involvement in the movement has been. We have all this on video and are working on getting translations done so that we can post it. We are also hoping to go back to the town during the day to view more of what the people there are doing and how it all works.
On Thursday we visited Cinco Senores the last barricade that is still held by the demonstrators. It is enormous! Cinco Senores is about 6 blocks from the University, which houses a medical center and APPO Radio. There are burned out buses and cars blocking every intersection and men and women defend the barricade 24 hours a day. Cinco Senores is a very dangerous place, many have disappeared from the barricade, and it is often attacked by gunshots at night. We were able to conduct several interviews with people who have been at the barricade for months. The people at Cinco Senores seem prepared for anything that the PFP may attempt to do and are prepared to defend their barricade to the end.
Friday like most of the week was calm with most people preparing for Saturday, November 25, the day of the mega march (their term not mine!). We mainly got our gear ready for whatever would happen on Saturday. The plan was supposed to have a HUGE many mile march that would start outside of the city and end by circling the Zocalo which the PFP were in and not letting anyone in or out for 48 hours!
When Saturday came we got on a bus near Santo Domingo that would take us to the beginning of the march. Hundreds were waiting to get on the buses some wearing helmets, some with large sticks, young, and old it seemed everyone was going to be at this march. On the bus ride that took about 30 minutes we saw hundreds more people sitting along the roadside waiting for the march to pass by them. When we got to the march it was amazing we could not see the beginning of the march or the end! It was huge; I have never seen anything like this before. While we marched people along the sides were clapping, holding signs and joining the march. When the march got to the Zocalo it easily circled the PFP. The PFP has put up sandbags and lots of razor wire to prevent people from entering the Zocalo. There was about an hour of calm before all hell broke loose. I don’t know how it all started but once it started it was on. There was tons of tear gas and demonstrators were ready with shopping carts full of rocks for their slings and slingshots. There were carts full of Molotov’s and many people with homemade bazookas. We saw 2 buses set on fire and pushed down the hill into PFP lines. Molotov’s were thrown and bazookas shot. The PFP responded with more tear gas, concussion grenades, and water canons shooting pepper spray. The battle lasted some 5 hours into the night. Some friends were right near a man that was shot in the leg by live ammunition. We saw people being carried on stretchers by medical students to the clinic near Santo Domingo. When all was said and done 3 people from the movement were dead and at least 200 detained.
Saturday night and Sunday the APPO radio called out names of people who were unaccounted for telling them to call home. Many people were hurt and were getting treatment from the medical center. We went over to the University where hundreds had gone for safety after the fighting the night before. We conducted interviews with street children who are now part of the movement and farmers. It seems that I always eat best when I am at the University where there is always plenty of supplies. When supplies get low a call for what is needed goes out over the radio and tons of supplies comes in. PFP helicopters were flying low over the University so people masked up for fear of being tear gassed and people fired the bazookas and came very close to hitting the helicopters. As the sun was setting we got word that the AFI was in town. The AFI is basically a 1920’s J Edgar Hoover FBI. People coming by car to the University were being pulled over and had guns put to their heads. It was time to leave and people from the movement had us run 6 blocks out to a main road where we piled into a cab. As we rode in the cab we saw pickup trucks full of PFP rolling through the area. We got out just in time but fortunately there would be no raid on the University Sunday just more and more state repression.
Monday, November 27 was mostly calm (whatever calm is around here). Santo Domingo is all cleared out and the PFP have it all blocked off. We went into Santo Domingo without a problem but other people we know had their bags searched before going in. The PFP is profiling people that might be part of the movement. All the anti URO (Governor Ulisis) graffiti was painted over and business that were not previously open were beginning to come alive. There was a march that was supposed to begin at the University but it was cancelled, there are also more rumors of a raid on the University. Things in the city seem much different and we have heard reports of houses being raided, It should also be said that Radio Ciudadana, the local radio that supports Governor Ulisis Ruiz, has been calling for citizens to attack houses where leaders of the APPO live as well as hostals or houses where foreigners may be staying, promoting a sense of terror in the Oaxaca City. They have been using scare tactics in their programming for several weeks. December 1 will be a big day and no matter how bad the repression in Mexico gets it will not solve the problems or kill the ideas that created this popular movement.
More 11/25 photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrae/sets/72157594392041212/
Siempre en la lucha!
Last week we went out to a town 45 minutes from Oaxaca City. The town had taken over city municipal building a few months ago and kicked out their town mayor. The people we met with were men in the 50’s. They have been taking care of the town ever I asked where the police were and the men all laughed and said that the police had left with the mayor. They collect taxes every weekend at the town market to pay for trash collection and other necessities of the town. The also operate a radio station to keep the town informed with all that is going on. We also were able to speak with some of the women who were able to tell us what their involvement in the movement has been. We have all this on video and are working on getting translations done so that we can post it. We are also hoping to go back to the town during the day to view more of what the people there are doing and how it all works.
On Thursday we visited Cinco Senores the last barricade that is still held by the demonstrators. It is enormous! Cinco Senores is about 6 blocks from the University, which houses a medical center and APPO Radio. There are burned out buses and cars blocking every intersection and men and women defend the barricade 24 hours a day. Cinco Senores is a very dangerous place, many have disappeared from the barricade, and it is often attacked by gunshots at night. We were able to conduct several interviews with people who have been at the barricade for months. The people at Cinco Senores seem prepared for anything that the PFP may attempt to do and are prepared to defend their barricade to the end.
Friday like most of the week was calm with most people preparing for Saturday, November 25, the day of the mega march (their term not mine!). We mainly got our gear ready for whatever would happen on Saturday. The plan was supposed to have a HUGE many mile march that would start outside of the city and end by circling the Zocalo which the PFP were in and not letting anyone in or out for 48 hours!
When Saturday came we got on a bus near Santo Domingo that would take us to the beginning of the march. Hundreds were waiting to get on the buses some wearing helmets, some with large sticks, young, and old it seemed everyone was going to be at this march. On the bus ride that took about 30 minutes we saw hundreds more people sitting along the roadside waiting for the march to pass by them. When we got to the march it was amazing we could not see the beginning of the march or the end! It was huge; I have never seen anything like this before. While we marched people along the sides were clapping, holding signs and joining the march. When the march got to the Zocalo it easily circled the PFP. The PFP has put up sandbags and lots of razor wire to prevent people from entering the Zocalo. There was about an hour of calm before all hell broke loose. I don’t know how it all started but once it started it was on. There was tons of tear gas and demonstrators were ready with shopping carts full of rocks for their slings and slingshots. There were carts full of Molotov’s and many people with homemade bazookas. We saw 2 buses set on fire and pushed down the hill into PFP lines. Molotov’s were thrown and bazookas shot. The PFP responded with more tear gas, concussion grenades, and water canons shooting pepper spray. The battle lasted some 5 hours into the night. Some friends were right near a man that was shot in the leg by live ammunition. We saw people being carried on stretchers by medical students to the clinic near Santo Domingo. When all was said and done 3 people from the movement were dead and at least 200 detained.
Saturday night and Sunday the APPO radio called out names of people who were unaccounted for telling them to call home. Many people were hurt and were getting treatment from the medical center. We went over to the University where hundreds had gone for safety after the fighting the night before. We conducted interviews with street children who are now part of the movement and farmers. It seems that I always eat best when I am at the University where there is always plenty of supplies. When supplies get low a call for what is needed goes out over the radio and tons of supplies comes in. PFP helicopters were flying low over the University so people masked up for fear of being tear gassed and people fired the bazookas and came very close to hitting the helicopters. As the sun was setting we got word that the AFI was in town. The AFI is basically a 1920’s J Edgar Hoover FBI. People coming by car to the University were being pulled over and had guns put to their heads. It was time to leave and people from the movement had us run 6 blocks out to a main road where we piled into a cab. As we rode in the cab we saw pickup trucks full of PFP rolling through the area. We got out just in time but fortunately there would be no raid on the University Sunday just more and more state repression.
Monday, November 27 was mostly calm (whatever calm is around here). Santo Domingo is all cleared out and the PFP have it all blocked off. We went into Santo Domingo without a problem but other people we know had their bags searched before going in. The PFP is profiling people that might be part of the movement. All the anti URO (Governor Ulisis) graffiti was painted over and business that were not previously open were beginning to come alive. There was a march that was supposed to begin at the University but it was cancelled, there are also more rumors of a raid on the University. Things in the city seem much different and we have heard reports of houses being raided, It should also be said that Radio Ciudadana, the local radio that supports Governor Ulisis Ruiz, has been calling for citizens to attack houses where leaders of the APPO live as well as hostals or houses where foreigners may be staying, promoting a sense of terror in the Oaxaca City. They have been using scare tactics in their programming for several weeks. December 1 will be a big day and no matter how bad the repression in Mexico gets it will not solve the problems or kill the ideas that created this popular movement.
More 11/25 photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrae/sets/72157594392041212/
Siempre en la lucha!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Day 5-6
I’ve gotten a bit behind in my bog entries so I’d like to sum up Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday we to the Santo Domingo in the morning to find that during the night someone torched all of the tarps and encampments the movement had set up. No one knew who actually did it but it seems that it was the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) or Governor Ulisis thugs (which is pretty much the same thing). The evidence of the torching was all around as there were huge burn spots on the ground and chucks of blue plastic from the tarps. Even though the encampment was burned people had already begun rebuilding. We met some of our new friends and talked for a while about what would be coming up the rest of the week. Our contacts told us that the rest of the week would be mostly people resting and preparing for Saturday when the people will retake the Zocalo from the PFP. We also heard a rumor that many of the PFP was pulling out of the Zocalo because they were needed to stop any trouble that may happen in Mexico City with the coming inauguration on December 1. We walked the 2 blocks from Santo Domingo to the Zocalo where all the fighting the day before had taken place. All was calm and once inside the Zocalo it was obvious that many of the PFP have left. With that said there are still several thousand PFP still occupying the Zocalo. We left the Zocalo to run some errands. The main thing was to find gas masks, which was surprisingly easy and cheap. By the time we finished our errands it was dark and we were back in the Zocalo. We watched the PFP for a while rotating shifts and moving equipment. It seems that the first day when we were in the Zocalo there were about 4,000 PFP and now it seems like there is about half as many if not less. While walking away one of the PFP brass walked behind us and asked us where we were from and what we were doing. We told him we were from the US and were documentarians (there was no use lying since we had gas masks in our bags). He seemed satisfied and was probably annoyed at our poor Spanish and let us go. We walked back through Santo Domingo and even though some of the encampment was rebuilt it was a ghost town. The people that had been sleeping there holding the encampment were no longer there.
Wednesday morning we had a meeting with some people we had met at Santo Domingo to go over video. I talked to several people from the movement about what would happen Saturday. I asked one companero if on Saturday the people would be victorious and he laughed and smiled and said, “I hope so”.
We went towards the Zocalo to grab a bite to eat and when we were done and started heading towards Santo Domingo and there was a march heading right for us! It’s amazing how things happen here. The march was of law students and their school is right next to the PFP roadblock at the Zocalo. They were all dressed very nicely and held copes of the Mexican Constitution in their hands. When the students came to the PFP roadblock the PFP put on their gas masks and readied. The students took a desk from inside the law school and stood on it giving speech after speech. “It is our public right to access the Zocalo”, “We paid for these tanks and armaments and you use them against the people, how dare you!” the students said. Professors from the law school also made speeches shaming the PFP about their sexual assaults of local women. Speakers were put on the balcony of the law school and more students made speeches. After 40 minutes of speeches the students ended their demonstration and returned to the school and went home. I only had my point and shoot with me since this was an unannounced march, and that’s what I have uploaded on my flickr account.
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrae/sets/
Siempre en la lucha!
On Tuesday we to the Santo Domingo in the morning to find that during the night someone torched all of the tarps and encampments the movement had set up. No one knew who actually did it but it seems that it was the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) or Governor Ulisis thugs (which is pretty much the same thing). The evidence of the torching was all around as there were huge burn spots on the ground and chucks of blue plastic from the tarps. Even though the encampment was burned people had already begun rebuilding. We met some of our new friends and talked for a while about what would be coming up the rest of the week. Our contacts told us that the rest of the week would be mostly people resting and preparing for Saturday when the people will retake the Zocalo from the PFP. We also heard a rumor that many of the PFP was pulling out of the Zocalo because they were needed to stop any trouble that may happen in Mexico City with the coming inauguration on December 1. We walked the 2 blocks from Santo Domingo to the Zocalo where all the fighting the day before had taken place. All was calm and once inside the Zocalo it was obvious that many of the PFP have left. With that said there are still several thousand PFP still occupying the Zocalo. We left the Zocalo to run some errands. The main thing was to find gas masks, which was surprisingly easy and cheap. By the time we finished our errands it was dark and we were back in the Zocalo. We watched the PFP for a while rotating shifts and moving equipment. It seems that the first day when we were in the Zocalo there were about 4,000 PFP and now it seems like there is about half as many if not less. While walking away one of the PFP brass walked behind us and asked us where we were from and what we were doing. We told him we were from the US and were documentarians (there was no use lying since we had gas masks in our bags). He seemed satisfied and was probably annoyed at our poor Spanish and let us go. We walked back through Santo Domingo and even though some of the encampment was rebuilt it was a ghost town. The people that had been sleeping there holding the encampment were no longer there.
Wednesday morning we had a meeting with some people we had met at Santo Domingo to go over video. I talked to several people from the movement about what would happen Saturday. I asked one companero if on Saturday the people would be victorious and he laughed and smiled and said, “I hope so”.
We went towards the Zocalo to grab a bite to eat and when we were done and started heading towards Santo Domingo and there was a march heading right for us! It’s amazing how things happen here. The march was of law students and their school is right next to the PFP roadblock at the Zocalo. They were all dressed very nicely and held copes of the Mexican Constitution in their hands. When the students came to the PFP roadblock the PFP put on their gas masks and readied. The students took a desk from inside the law school and stood on it giving speech after speech. “It is our public right to access the Zocalo”, “We paid for these tanks and armaments and you use them against the people, how dare you!” the students said. Professors from the law school also made speeches shaming the PFP about their sexual assaults of local women. Speakers were put on the balcony of the law school and more students made speeches. After 40 minutes of speeches the students ended their demonstration and returned to the school and went home. I only had my point and shoot with me since this was an unannounced march, and that’s what I have uploaded on my flickr account.
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrae/sets/
Siempre en la lucha!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Day 4
Sorry for the late post but yesterday was crazy. We met some people the night before who said they would give us a ride to the beginning of the march site on the edge of Oaxaca. We met them at 9am. They led us to a pickup truck, which had no license plate on it. Many people involved in the movement have taken their plates off their cars to avoid identification. It was a 4-door pickup and our ride insisted we sit in the backseat. So it was 2 of us and 12 communists in a pickup truck with a machete in the driver’s side door. We got to the starting point and had to wait over an hour before the start of the march. They were waiting for buses of people to come in from outside of the city. When the buses came in people got off carrying large sticks with nails in them for protection against the police. It was a diverse group, teacher’s students, farmers, the very old and the very young. The indigenous led the march and all other political groups were in the back. Along the way people were spray-painting messages telling the Governor and the PFP to get out. At one point a pickup truck with kids in all black and masked pulled up. They had home made bazookas, which they shoot out large fireworks with nails in them. A transport truck full of PFP went by the march and protesters screamed and yelled profanity at them telling them to leave. Midway though the march we passed several schools where demonstrators yelled “traitors” to the teachers who have gone back to work. One bank and a McDonalds on the route were vandalized with revolutionary messages spray-painted on them and their signs destroyed.
When the march got to the Zocalo demonstrators stopped within a blocks distance and screamed and yelled. Some people flashed their bazookas as a show of force. I did not witness any demonstrates use violence against the PFP but I don’t know what was happening the block behind me. Without any notice the police started firing tear gas. Once this happened demonstrators returned fire with their homemade bazookas. From this moment on a street battle ensued that lasted at least 3 hours. There was tear gas in pretty much every direction. People eventually retreated one block where they tore apart a construction site for material to build a barricade. One block further up old women were gathering rocks and putting them in shopping carts that young children would push to the front lines. Demonstrators held the barricades from which they launched their attack of rockets, and rocks. Many Molotov’s were prepared but none were thrown at the police that I was able to see. More then several demonstrators were injured and were carried on make shift stretchers to the clinic near Santo Domingo. Protesters torched a bus they were using as a barricade a block away from where I was and people on motorcycles were masked with bazookas sticking out of their backs. This march was supposed to stay nonviolent but once the PFP launched their barrage of teargas the battle was on. Police often taunted the demonstrators to hit them and would advance their line as if it were “Braveheart” the movie. The PFP is not trained for this type of action and it showed. They would pick up rocks demonstrators had thrown and throw them back. Eventually the PFP advanced past the barricades pushing the demonstrators back into Santo Domingo. At this point people seemed to decide it was time to go home for now since the “real” battle is supposed to take place on Saturday.
While we were walking around a masked man came to us. It was a friend we had met earlier who asked if we needed anything. We told him we needed to get to the University to meet a friend. He told us to come with him. He took us to his car (which had no license plate) and drove us around many side streets. The university is barricaded pretty well and there is a security checkpoint one must pass though to gain access. Once inside the university you can understand why it is so guarded it is the home of APPO radio, which broadcasts the movement’s message and news 24 hours a day. We were given food there and the outside kitchen the students have made is fit to serve a small army. Bottles read to be used as Molotov’s are stacked several feet high and sandbags surround the radio station. We eventually left the university and returned to our apartment. It had been a long day.
Siempre en la lucha!
More of todays photos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrae/sets/
When the march got to the Zocalo demonstrators stopped within a blocks distance and screamed and yelled. Some people flashed their bazookas as a show of force. I did not witness any demonstrates use violence against the PFP but I don’t know what was happening the block behind me. Without any notice the police started firing tear gas. Once this happened demonstrators returned fire with their homemade bazookas. From this moment on a street battle ensued that lasted at least 3 hours. There was tear gas in pretty much every direction. People eventually retreated one block where they tore apart a construction site for material to build a barricade. One block further up old women were gathering rocks and putting them in shopping carts that young children would push to the front lines. Demonstrators held the barricades from which they launched their attack of rockets, and rocks. Many Molotov’s were prepared but none were thrown at the police that I was able to see. More then several demonstrators were injured and were carried on make shift stretchers to the clinic near Santo Domingo. Protesters torched a bus they were using as a barricade a block away from where I was and people on motorcycles were masked with bazookas sticking out of their backs. This march was supposed to stay nonviolent but once the PFP launched their barrage of teargas the battle was on. Police often taunted the demonstrators to hit them and would advance their line as if it were “Braveheart” the movie. The PFP is not trained for this type of action and it showed. They would pick up rocks demonstrators had thrown and throw them back. Eventually the PFP advanced past the barricades pushing the demonstrators back into Santo Domingo. At this point people seemed to decide it was time to go home for now since the “real” battle is supposed to take place on Saturday.
While we were walking around a masked man came to us. It was a friend we had met earlier who asked if we needed anything. We told him we needed to get to the University to meet a friend. He told us to come with him. He took us to his car (which had no license plate) and drove us around many side streets. The university is barricaded pretty well and there is a security checkpoint one must pass though to gain access. Once inside the university you can understand why it is so guarded it is the home of APPO radio, which broadcasts the movement’s message and news 24 hours a day. We were given food there and the outside kitchen the students have made is fit to serve a small army. Bottles read to be used as Molotov’s are stacked several feet high and sandbags surround the radio station. We eventually left the university and returned to our apartment. It had been a long day.
Siempre en la lucha!
More of todays photos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrae/sets/
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