[NetBehaviour] zapatista red alert - texcoco

[ivan lópez]

two articles from narconews about post-mayday méxico...
this time the virtual sit-in is at ->  
http://bang.calit2.net/CincodeMayo/

-ivan

##########################################
##########################################

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/5/3/211717/2654

Other Campaign Suspended: Red Alert in the Zapatista Good Government  
Councils of Chiapas
By Juan Trujillo,

MEXICO CITY, MAY 3, 2006: As the political demonstration in the Plaza  
of the Three Cultures, in this city's Tlatelolco neighborhood, came to  
an end, in reaction to the confrontations between flower producers and  
police in Texcoco leaving one dead -14 year old child Javier Cortéz- ,  
Delegate Zero-Subcomandante Marcos decreed a red alert in the  
Zapatistas' Good Government Councils in Chiapas and the temporary  
suspension of the Other Campaign's activities.

The preceding information has been confirmed by telephone from  
Tlalteloco by Narco News/Other Journalism  
<http://www.narconews.com/otroperiodismo> correspondent Roberto Chan  
Kin Ortega and by Hermann Bellinghausen of the Mexico City newspaper La  
Jornada.

Through this morning and afternoon the clash between flower growers and  
police has been reported mainly by a few radio stations and briefs on  
the La Jornada website  
<http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/index.php? 
id=estados1146686903.xml>. Just a few kilometers away from the  
battle-tested town of San Salvador Atenco  
<http://salonchingon.com/cinema/atenco.php?city=ny>, according to  
information from La Jornada reporters René Ramón and Javier Salinas,  
"at least nine municipal police and six flower sellers were injured in  
a confrontation that occurred this morning when the farmers, supported  
by the Peoples' Front in Defense of the Land (the organization of  
Atenco farmers that successfully blocked an airport project on their  
land in 2002), tried to set up in front of the Belisario Domínguez  
market to sell their products. After the scuffle about 50 Atenco  
residents took refuge in an apartment building armed with sticks,  
machetes and rocks. Meanwhile, around 500 riot police remain in the  
streets and 500 Atenco residents are blocking the Texcoco federal  
highway."

Ramón and Salinas' reports in La Jornada maintain that "the tension  
rose in the area as federal forces and several helicopters arrived. In  
total there are 800 riot police in the zone. One of the people holed up  
in the apartment building is Ignacio del Valle, leader of the Peoples'  
Front in Defence of the Land. Around 2:45 pm another clash occurred due  
to an attempt to remove the Atenco residents from the Texcoco highway.  
The protesters began throwing Molotov cocktails and burning tires."

According to Narco News correspondent Chan Kin Ortega at 6:20 p.m.,  
people are marching toward the office of the federal government's  
Interior Minister tonight. Tomorrow at 8 a.m. the Other Campaign will  
assemble at the University of Chapingo (in Ecatepec, near the scene of  
today's violence in the state of Mexico). A mobilization has also been  
called tonight for adherents to the Other Campaign and people in  
general at the Fierro Bridge and the University of Chapingo to support  
the people under attack.

Kind readers, Narco News' Other Journalism Road Team will be reporting  
on all the events of the coming hours and days...

##########################################
##########################################

http://www.narconews.com/Issue41/article1761.html

By Quetzal Belmont
May 4, 2006

On May 3rd, rural flower farmers from the State of Mexico took their  
flowers to the Belisario Dominguez Market, in Texcoco, with the hope of  
setting up their stalls outside of the market, where they would sell  
their flowers. But upon arrival, they were met by various local, state,  
and federal police authorities.

The flower farmers, who belong to the People's Front in Defense of the  
Land (FPDT), were violently attacked by police forces who claimed that  
they are not a legitimate business and that they don't have a  
designated location from which to sell their flowers.

Throughout the day, there were several confrontations between the  
flower sellers and the police, with the confrontations intensifying in  
the afternoon, when a massive police attack attempted to remove them  
from the area. The flower sellers responded by erecting barricades,  
burning tires, and throwing Molotov cocktails while police attacked  
them with tear gas, night sticks, and submachine guns.

As news of the confrontation spread, more members of their community of  
San Salvador, who belong to the same organization — the FPDT — as the  
flower farmers.

The confrontation resulted in the death of 14-year old Javier Cortés  
Santiago, who belongs to the People's Front in the Defense of the Land.  
Other members of the organization were injured, as were eight members  
of the police forces.

After the confrontation, approximately 80 flower sellers went to hide  
in a local home, but were later found there, attacked, and arrested by  
over 400 federal police. A Mexican television reporter who was at the  
scene was also attacked and beaten, leaving him unable to record the  
events that unfolded. One has to ask: What were their motives in  
discouraging the media presence?

During this attack on the home, one of the people arrested was Ignacio  
del Valle, a representative of the FDPT who is considered to be the  
front's leader.

So far 94 people have been arrested and taken to the town of Toluca,  
where they gave declarations and had their legal status determined. At  
the same time, eleven police officers are being held by members of the  
(FPDT) in a local auditorium.

Various controversies have emerged out of this conflict. It would  
appear that the arrest of Ignacio del Valle was an intentional  
provocation by the state and federal governments. This suggestion was  
articulated by Subcomandante Marcos (or as he's currently known,  
Delegate Zero), who as part of "the Other Campaign," is traveling to  
states around the country, and had just completed a visit to Mexico  
City.

It's strange that these events unfolded at the same time that the  
residents of San Salvador de Atenco, who belong to the People's Front  
in Defense of the Land, have been acting as security for Delegate  
Zero's visit to Mexico City.

Responding to the situation, Subcomandante Marcos announced that the  
EZLN is on red alert and that, for the moment, all activities  
associated with the Other Campaign have been suspended. At the same  
time, he put out a call for organizations to join forces and mobilize  
with the people of San Salvador de Atenco. Delegate Zero also declared  
that if anything should happen to him, there is someone waiting in the  
wings to take his place.

Another important call went out for people to meet at 8:00 AM, on May  
4th, on the campus of the University of Chapingo, to get organized and  
decide what kind of actions to carry out in response to the conflict.

For now, the FPDT's central demands are: unconditional liberty for the  
FPDT members who have been arrested and the withdrawal of all police  
forces who have occupied the area and who have been maintaining a  
blockade on the Texcoco-Lecheria higway for over 12 hours.

The task now is to analyze why this conflict is happening, taking into  
consideration the current socio-political context. There is the fact  
that the Other Campaign is well underway; Mexico is in an election  
year; and then there are economic interests to take into consideration,  
including the rumors of a Wal -Mart slated for construction in the area  
where the conflict began. A lot of questions remain unanswered.