"The Oaxaca Crisis and the Roots of Migration"
October 24, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
IC Center for Natural Studies, room 112
Miguel Angel Vasquez de la Rosa, founder of EDUCA (Services for an Alternative Education) in Oaxaca, Mexico, will present a talk centered on how globalization, the neo-liberal economic model, and U.S. trade policy have contributed significantly to the current conflict and social movement in Oaxaca as well as in many Mexicans' decisions to migrate to the United States.
In May 2006, teachers began camping out in the Zócalo (town square) of Oaxaca City to press for more funding for education. On June 14, in the middle of the night, the encampment was tear-gassed by police on orders from Oaxaca's Governor Ulises Ruíz.
But some 80,000 Mexicans united to force the police back, and soon formed the Popular Assembly for the People of Oaxaca (APPO). The protests continued throughout the summer and fall. On October 29, 2006, the Federal Preventative Police (PFP) cleared and occupied the Zócalo. In November the PFP violently drove the APPO out of Oaxaca City. Last December, the PFP turned over control of the city to the state police of Oaxaca.
Under clear threat of another repression, Miguel Vasquez de la Rosa has been at the center of it all, working to support the popular movement and preventing further violence. He currently serves on EDUCA's board of directors and as the coordinator of methodology and systematization. EDUCA advocates for the rights of indigenous communities and organizations in Oaxaca.
