Letter in support of the people of Oaxaca

November 4, 2006
Issue 

As fellow media makers and artists, we are writing to honor the memory of independent journalist, filmmaker, and respected activist Brad Will, who was brutally murdered while filming the grassroots popular movement in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Along with Brad, six other people were killed this past week by officials of the illegitimate government of Ulises Ruiz and the federal forces that are now occupying Oaxaca. Among them were: Emilio Alonso Fabián (professor), José Alberto López Bernal (nurse), Fidel Sánchez García (construction worker) and Esteban Zurita López.

We are extremely alarmed to see that rather than cracking down on the violent paramilitaries who have been launching regular attacks on the people of Oaxaca, President Vicente Fox is using these murders as a pretext for escalating violence against the popular grassroots organization of the people of Oaxaca.

In solidarity with the people of Oaxaca, we add our voices to these demands:

  1. Ulises Ruiz out of Oaxaca!
  2. Immediate withdrawal of the occupying federal forces from Oaxaca!
  3. Immediate and unconditional freedom for all detainees!
  4. Justice for all murdered compañeros and punishment of guilty parties on all levels!

We make these demands in support of the Oaxacan people's efforts to establish a popular government that recognizes local traditions and values.

JUSTICE, FREEDOM, AND DEMOCRACY FOR THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA!

Michael Albert

Tariq Ali

Anthony Arnove

Stanley Aronowitz

Daniel Berger

John Berger

Noam Chomsky

Mike Davis

Roisin Davis

Bernadine Dohrn

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Eve Ensler

Gustavo Esteva

Eduardo Galeano

Danny Glover

David Graeber

Michael Hardt

Sonali Kolhatkar

Naomi Klein

Anna Lappe

Anthony Lappe

Camilo Mejía

Alessandra Moctezuma

Michael Moore

Mira Nair

Antonio Negri

Oscar Olivera

Francis Fox Piven

John Pilger

Katha Pollitt

Arundhati Roy

Jeremy Scahill

Danny Schechter

Wallace Shawn

Starhawk

Gloria Steinem

Jonathan Tasini

Alice Walker

Howard Zinn

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