Oaxaca: death squads murder civilians

The Solidarity Caravan with the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, Mexico, was ambushed by death squads (UBISORT) that declared having the support of the governor, Ulises Ruiz. Two to five people killed.

These tragic and despicable events unfolded these last few days (May 28-30) as a popular caravan in solidarity with a besieged free municipality in the southern Mexican state. The paramilitaries, masked and very young, attacked the caravan killing at least two people: Mexican human rights activist Beatriz 'Bety' Cariño and Finnish internationalist Jyri Antero Jaakkola. A group of activists and journalists had to seek refuge in the forest with some of their members injured. Others were kidnapped but eventually set free.

Bety Cariño was a veteran human rights activist and founding member of the Indigenous Communitarian Radio Network of SW Mexico.


Jyry Jaakola was a human rights obsever from Finland.

The autonomous (self-ruled) municipality of San Juan Copala has been in the last weeks besieged by police, troops and death squads, which have forced people to stay in their homes under effective death threat. Snippers of UBISORT watch the streets and can at any time murder anyone.

This is the most sad situation that the illegitimate government of the right wing PAN (which rigged the elections by all accounts) has brought to Mexico: militarization, death squads and mafia wars. This is the destiny for the US colonies in America or elsewhere (see Iraq or Afghanistan: not much difference).

But Mexico has an alternative: a growingly strong popular movement that will eventually turn the tides.

Sources: La Haine[es] (includes videos), Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha[es].

Update: photos of Basque demonstrations against the attacks of Oaxaca at La Haine now.