Oaxaca, Mexico: It's not all doom and gloom

I intended to write this post yesterday morning. Then all the action started over at the university, so I put it off until later in the day. Then, about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, word began to filter out about the disaster that the federal police, Oaxaca de Juarez and the state of Oaxaca suffered and I canned the whole idea for the post.

Well, that's not fair and balanced, really. There are and have been lots of things going on in and around the city that would give one some hope that this crisis is being, or at least can be, overcome. Briefly, a great number of people have rallied in support of the PFP, some in support of the governor, all in support of peace. A small army of city and state workers, PFP officers and private citizens are out every day trying to clean this place up. They are lifting and hauling, sweeping and washing, scraping and painting.

For the most part, the Día de los Muertos has been lost. At least the public ceremonies and celebrations. Halloween just about didn't happen at all. Many people did manage to get out into the cemeteries to place candles and offerings to their dearly departed. In many of the barrios and colonias, parades and stuff for kids went on as scheduled. People are trying, as best they can, to supercede the troubles and carry on with their daily lives as well as historical customs.

To not tell the whole story would do a disservice to a lot of people working very, very hard.

I'll let the photos tell the story.

Now, the fellow on the left doesn't look like he's quaking in fear of the heavy hand of Big Brother from Mexico City, recently arrived to strip him of his human rights and dignity, repress his rights to free speech and assembly and generally grind him under the boot heel of tyranny. And the fellow on the right doesn't look like he is too interested in crushing the poor, the innocent, the indigenous campesinos like the bugs he thinks they really are. Actually, both men seem more intent on catching up on the latest futbol scores. The fellow on the right also looks like he could be a big Detroit Red Wings fan, but looks can be deceiving. I have it on good authority that ice hockey appears really low on his list of intramural interests.


A family gathers around the grave of a lost one, talking things over.

The fellow on the far right in front of the sandbags seems to thinking,
"(Sigh) I really don't think we're going to finish this today."

Piling up the garbage for collection.

"I gots to git me a bigger barrel."

Neighborhood residents waiting for someone to come and get this crap out of their street.
The guy on the right with his arms folded, "Where's my Cadillac?"

She'll give'em any color they want, so long as it's white.

The heavy work goes on throughout the night. A burned out bus being loaded.

At first glance, it looks like she's got a paint roller in her right hand and a brush in her left.
One fist of iron and the other one steel. If the right one don't get you then the left one will.

A couple of very tidy boys. Mom would be proud.

This is the first time I or anyone else, other than those sleeping there,
have had a look at the Zócalo's bandstand since the middle of May.

I'm not sure that polypropelene bag is strong enough to hold all those rocks.

"Guys, just look at this. 162 unpaid parking tickets. Asshole."

As you have seen, a lot of people are mostly interested in getting this place cleaned up and back to normal. Good folks within the protective zones of the PFP have been struggling, and quite successfully, to try to return some sense of normalcy to their homes and families. And the PFP officers, so recently shot at, spit upon, barraged with rocks, bottles, explosive rockets and gasoline bombs, are pitching in to help.

Please visit the Pale Horse Galleries online store
for art, gifts and collectibles -- all hand made
by Mexican indigenous artists.
Thanks!
TAGS: Oaxaca, Mexico, Oaxaca teachers strike, APPO, PFP