CIPO-VAN would like to invite you to a very special fundraising dinner on June 14, 2014, which marks the 8th anniversary of what became known as “the Oaxaca Commune”: A popular uprising that started on June 14, 2006 against a State government unwilling to address the needs of the population and ready to use public and paramilitary forces in order to silence and murder dissenters.
We will prepare some of the best Mexican food & snacks you’ve ever had, and host a presentation and slideshow about the history of the struggle in Oaxaca since 2006. We will also present our most current campaign, Make Mexico Safe, in support of indigenous community organizers there.
If you cannot make it, please consider making a donation, and please give as generously as you can: without your support it will be very difficult to get this campaign off the ground! The fundraising dinner details are as follows:
Where: TBA
When: Saturday, June 14, 2014. Doors at 6 PM, program starts at 6:30 PM.
Tickets: $25-$50 sliding scale (no one turned away for lack of funds).
Please call Gil at 604-828-8909 or Raul at 778-791-3419 to make a donation or for more information.
Thank you and see you then!
CIPO-VAN
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About the Oaxaca Commune
In the early morning of June 14, 2006, a few hundred teachers who were protesting in Oaxaca City’s main square were attacked by close to a thousand police. They resisted but were overwhelmed. Before they were pushed off their camp they called for help through a small community radio transmitter (provided by CIPO-RFM’s Radio Guetza), and people from all over the city came to their aid. After a heated street battle, the people of Oaxaca managed to regain control of the square. This was the beginning of close to 5 moths of one of the most inspiring movements of peaceful resistance in Mexico’s recent history, during which the people of Oaxaca administered the transportation, education and government offices, while demanding the resignation of then-governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, who was linked to paramilitary forces that killed at least 25 people and disappeared dozens more.
About our current campaign, Make Mexico Safe
As CIPO-VAN we are always planning and dreaming creative ways to sustain our work in support of CIPO-RFM and other friends in Oaxaca. Unfortunately, community organizers -especially indigenous- are facing increased hardship as harassment and murders of have been rampant in the region. Under this environment of violence and fear, traditional ways of community organizing are increasingly less effective, giving people little space to keep doing this organizing work and even lead semi-peaceful everyday lives.
In response, we’re preparing to launch an international campaign of support that will highlight the 4 most crucial cases of injustice that our friends in Oaxaca are fighting for. The goal of this campaign is to pressure the government and surround CIPO-RFM with a shield of concrete international support.
Don’t forget, your involvement is crucial.