Oaxaca Ungovernable

From Subversones 

In June of 2016 – ten years after the uprising that lasted for more than six months in this state of southern Mexico – teachers and communities of the eight regions of Oaxaca returned to the streets.

Their main demand is the repeal of the education reform package of structural reforms known as the “Pact for Mexico,” that the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has wanted to impose on the country since 2013 under the influence of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter American Development Bank.

These reforms are intended to privatize education and other sectors such as health, telecommunications, and energy, and the Mexican government is threatening workers directly, not just the teachers, but the people of Mexico in general. Therefore, the movement is not to teachers:

This movement ceased to be magisterial, now it is a social movement, why? Because the common people are the hardest hit in all aspects. So all peoples are organizing ourselves to raise their voices.

Moreover, in many parts of the Oaxacan territory, resistance is not limited only to disavowing these reforms but also people organizing to directly fight megaprojects in various areas, threatening communities. Beyond that, people are fighting against a repressive colonizer state, and to demand their right to land, territory and autonomy.

Unlike the experience in 2006, when the main focus of resistance concentrated in the city of Oaxaca, now the resistance is spread out. What has not changed is the government ‘s response to the protests: as brutal repression remains the main reaction. To date, hundreds of people have been injured and more than ten have been killed by various segments of the police and gendarmerie government.

With this documentary, we want to know what happened between June and August, through the voices of villagers, teachers, mothers and municipal authorities of Oaxaca.