I just returned to San Francisco after spending eight days in Oaxaca, México, as part of an international human rights delegation. Our mission in Oaxaca was to collect testimonials and information regarding the conflict of the past few months, to create a report that would be used in the international community as an advocacy tool and as a source of information, and to provide an internationalist presence in Oaxaca so as to aid in reducing arbitrary state terror and paramilitary activity

Oaxaca is one of the poorest and most neglected states in México, in terms of government resources and services. Not coincidentally, Oaxaca has one of the highest indigenous populations (the Zapotec peoples make up one of the largest groups). The state government is characterized by deep-seated corruption. Segments of the non-profit and labor communities are in bed with the state government. And the governor, Ulysis Ruiz, uses police repression to quell discontent.

Last May, teachers took over the main &ldquozocalo,” or plaza, in downtown Oaxaca to protest slave wages and undignified conditions in the schools. Gov. Ruiz responded to this peaceful protest by calling in the federal police and using rifles, tear gas and other military equipment against the teachers. Many were arrested and tortured.

This response by the state government helped build popular support for social justice, generally, in Oaxaca and consolidated people&rsquos demand that Gov. Ruiz resign. The Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) was formed and consisted of a broad range of sectors, including students, indigenous groups and progressive forces. APPO and the teachers organized massive, peaceful marches and street takeovers. The state government responded with brutal repression, leaving over a dozen dead and around 80 in jail to be interrogated and tortured.

In the meantime, most Mexicans continue to survive on $4 a day, the country&rsquos minimum wage. United States agricultural companies have made the price of corn so high that the average person can no longer afford the country&rsquos main staple, the tortilla. And many Mexicans continue to be displaced off their land and out of their towns and cities because they can&rsquot compete with the Walmarts and developers of fancy malls. Politicians like Gov. Ruiz in Oaxaca use their power to crush, kill and torture those who dare protest.

In order to survive, and to feed their families, people have no choice but to leave their loved ones behind and migrate from Oaxaca, El Salvador and Nicaragua to the United States to work any job they can find.

Oaxaca and San Francisco&rsquos Bayview, Mission and Fillmore districts have much in common. Our Black and Brown neighborhoods are neglected by government officials when it comes to resources and services. Many, especially young people, can&rsquot find living wage jobs and lose hope of ever finding them. And too many of our people are forced to move out of their homes, pushed out by yuppie businesses and developers of fancy condos.

When oppressed peoples dare protest their oppression in San Francisco, they are faced with corrupt politicians, like those who invalidated petitions collected by Bayview Hunters Point residents to save their neighborhood from the Redevelopment Agency. And police repression is rampant in parts of this city where Black, Brown and Asian-Pacific Islander youth are simply trying to survive.

From Oaxaca, México, to the Bayview, San Francisco.

In Oaxaca, APPO and the teachers continue to organize marches and direct actions. It is inspiring and moving to know that they continue their struggle. In San Francisco, we continue ours as well.

Renee Saucedo is an attorney and organizer with La Raza Centro Legal and the San Francisco Day Labor Program. She can be reached at HYPERLINK "mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it " This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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