PROPOSALS FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONGRESS OF THE APPO

INDIAN ORGANIZATIONS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN OAXACA

Saturday, November 11, 2006.

ìAnd the old vulture lies in wait, high on his rock. He fixes his bloodshot eyeon the advancing giant, still unaware of the causes of the insurrection.Tyrants donít understand the right to rebellion.î (From /RegeneraciÛn/,September 10, 1910.)

*THE NATIONAL AND STATE CONTEXT*

Recent political events like the approval of the ìTelevisa law,î the vote fraudin the presidential election, and the refusal of the national Senate to declarethe removal of the powers that be in the state of Oaxaca, all confirm a tendencythat has grown stronger over at least three decades on the part of thegovernment and both national and international economic power groups. Needlessto say, the mainstream media, with some honorable exceptions, have been all toowilling to impose their vision and continue to manipulate public opinion.

In this context, the struggle that weíre now waging in Oaxaca was born amongour communities, peoples, organizations, students, tenant farmers, unions, andNGOs. Now, nobody can make us believe that thereís the least bit of compassionor justice in the rulers. Weíre convinced that theyíre only driven by theirquest for power and money. But, here below, weíve also learned that thepeopleís cry for justice and freedom is perpetual and that it cannot be silenced,not even by the tyrantís murderous bullets.

Today we are not only struggling against a local tyrant, but against an entiresystem, which for many years has implanted its political and economicstructures and continues to import external cultural forms in order to dominateus. Thus, all the repression and low intensity warfare that weíre experiencingin the state and in the country as a whole stem from the confrontation betweentwo projects: that of the oppressors and that of the oppressed, our project. Weare resisting the demand to turn over our wealth to a few people and to becomemodern slaves in the new exploitation centers, the /maquiladoras/, or to becomethe muleteers of our natural resources. We are resisting the loss of ourculture, of being governed by a gang of thieves that utilize power in their ownself-interest and to serve those who keep us in dire poverty.

We also remind you that itís not only the powerful who are responsible for oursituation, but also we, the oppressed people, who have let them have their wayfor many years, many decades, who have let those who degrade us stay in power.In other words, weíve often elected our own executioners or have sold ourdignity for a plate of lentils. And theyíve used our poverty to throw us a fewcrumbs. Our people have lived for too many years in this system that reduces usto beggars.

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*THE POPULAR MOVEMENT OF OAXACA*

In the face of this state and national reality, itís important to understandthat for the large majority of the indigenous and mestizo men and women ofOaxaca, for the peons, workers, teachers, students, youth and children with nopossibilities for work or study, women who support entire families in the worstpossible conditions, small businessmen, tenant farmers, and thousands ofmigrants, an in-depth transformation of our state is a matter of life or death;itís a question of survival for current and future generations.

The powerful are astounded that we are willing to go to jail, as if theconditions of life here are not themselves a kind of jail.

They are astounded that we are willing to die at the barricades, as if theyhavenít killed us in worse ways. They are astounded that we are willing to loseour salaries, jobs, and scholarships, as if they werenít planning to take themaway from us (as a matter of fact, many of us donít have them anyway). Theyíreastounded that weíre willing to keep from opening the schools, as if educationmattered to the regimeís mafia bosses and to the parasites in corrupt bureaucraticcircles. Theyíre astounded that weíre willing to sacrifice so much, to do somuch organized volunteer work, to stay up all night long so many nights, toendure hunger, as if we werenít used to it. Our resistance is our weapon, andthey couldnít deal with it and they never will.

For these reasons, the movement in Oaxaca is not a spontaneous outbreak, but anecessary, inevitable struggle thatís been anticipated and prepared for in athousand ways by countless peoples and organizations. For the Indian Peoplesññandthe majority of the teachers belong to themññtodayís movement didnít begin onMay 22 or on June 14, 2006. For years weíve confronted this authoritarianregime and have been pursued, jailed, and killed for doing so. The brutalonslaught of Ulises Ruizís un-government began against the organized indigenouspeoples. The political prisoners of the COMPA and the Promotora-Oaxaca,including the prisoners of our organization OIDHO, were the first victims ofthe fascist methods of this regime. Here, we only wish to recall the criminal,unpunished attacks with firearms by PRI authorities and police forces againstthe /tequios/ (communal work projects), community assemblies, and localorganizations in Santiago Xanica, San Miguel Panixtlahuaca, and Santiago Cuixtla.Other organizations will recall more nefarious deeds. The repression beganagainst those of us who pushed for the construction of broad-based alliancesbetween social and civilian organizations and trade unions. Above all, it wasdirected against those of us who are adherents to the Other Campaign. On May22, it wasnít only the teachers who set up the encampment, but all theorganizations in the Promotora-Oaxaca, of which Section 22 is a part.

With the repression of June 14, the process of struggle was accelerated andbroadened. Hundreds of thousands of people came together in marches, blockades,and barricades, and we began the construction of this movementís most importantachievement: the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, the APPO, an undivided,democratic space of this exemplary 21^st century struggle.

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*THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA - APPO*

The mass disinformation media have intentionally set about personalizing,minimizing, slandering, and criminalizing the APPO because, for the classesthat hold power, those of us who have created this organizational form aretheir greatest fear. We donít lend ourselves to their cooptation strategies andwe donít give in to economic offers or threats of repression. Itís preciselybecause we donít give in that they call us intransigent. Weíre peaceful, notpassive; weíre plural and autonomous, yet united; weíre from the base, notleaders or vanguards. Weíre combining centuries of indigenous organizationalexperience with strategies of modern social movements. This has sustained usfor almost six months and has won us respect from far beyond our borders. Andthis is what we have to strengthen and consolidate.

*ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE APPO*

We now have at least three challenges: the most important is the need for unityin the movement. Without this, it is impossible to meet the other two, whichare first, to adopt the structures that have been utilized by our peoples sincetime immemorial so that personal interests canít steamroll over collectiveneeds and interests, and, second, to adopt a viable project that includes thethinking of everyone seeking real change in our state and our country.

To consolidate our organization as the APPO, we need to take on even moregrassroots work, or work with our membership bases, for several differentreasons that weíll outline. First, due to the critical nature of the periodthat weíve experienced in recent days, it hasnít been possible to engage indeep reflection on the issues that we thought it was necessary to discuss. Tosay that the proposals that weíre presenting here come from below would besomewhat deceptive. Itís necessary that we end this congress with a minimaldocument that will allow us to keep doing grassroots work.

Itís urgent that we join together in our efforts, and in order to strengthenour organizational form, the APPO, we make the following proposals:

*THE BASES (FROM THE GROUND UP):* Taking into consideration that in eachcommunity (whether itís called a municipal agency, ranching village,neighborhood, or simply a community) thereís a teacher working and that many ofus have organizations in these same places, letís agree to call a local meetingof the APPO on a certain date, then a municipal meeting, then a district orregional meeting, leading up to another statewide APPO meeting. In other words,weíll be building up what we have, multiplying it. Then right here weíll beable to delegate responsibilities to see that the work is carried out effectively.We should always keep in mind that our timetable is not the timetable of thesystem or the government. Neither is this true of our practice; we work frombelow and from the left.

*COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP:* The APPO and its Council should never be trampolinesfor political careers in rotten institutions. Here, weíre going to struggle fora new Constitutional Congress and a new Constitution. Weíre not going to playat being legislators. Those who have come here to boast of their role instruggles that they have nothing to do with, or to impose ideologies, politicalparty strategies, or power bases for certain leaders, have not understood thatthe political force of the APPO resides precisely in the autonomous collectivedecisions of the bases and in the strict obedience of the chosen leaders to themandates of the assemblies. They havenít understood why compaÒeros died in thecommunities and at the barricades.

For these reasons itís important for the Popular Council of the APPO not toadopt any kind of vertical structure and for the *service* that its membersgive to the collective whole to be rotational, revocable and representative ofreal struggles, not of entrenched leaders or those who spout empty words. TheCouncil should include political prisoners and ex-political prisoners with ahistory of struggle.

*INDIGENOUS REPRESENTATION:* Oaxaca is a state with a majority indigenouspopulation, and this has to be reflected in the APPO and its Council, just asitís been reflected in the struggle. But we, as indigenous people in thestruggle, venture to say that we are talking about representatives of realindigenous struggles who have participated collectively with a high degree oforganization in this process. Weíre not talking about those perennial ìwell-knownindigenous personalitiesî who donít represent anyone besides themselves and wholove to make a folkloric appearance in the forums and news media.

*WOMEN:* At this stage of the movement, we are all aware that the Oaxacan womenhave conclusively shown that no struggle will be possible without them. Wethink that they should not only be taken into account with respect toorganizational work and actions, but alsoññand in equitable numbersññin all therepresentational and decision-making spaces such as the APPO and itscommissions.

*STRUCTURE AND PRINCIPLES*

Weíre now a national reference point, in which leaders and directors are nolonger the ones who are guiding the movement. Today we can speak of anauthentic struggle of the people and weíre proud of that. Structures exist thatprevented our movement from being aborted. We know that as long as our peopleare the ones who sustain and vitalize our movement and organization, theprisons and the murderous bullets of the tyrant wonít be able to destroy thisstruggle thatís been incubated in our people.

For these reasons what we now need, above all, is political ethics as a norm,the collective for making decisions, and legitimate representatives forimplementing them. We have to create the conditions and structures so thatthose who wish to utilize our movement for their own interests wonít be able todo so because our initiatives will deter any efforts to utilize the movement.We should bear in mind that weíre now constructing such a structure and believethat the teachersí state assembly is a good experience from which to learn.Letís perfect it, taking away its vertical structure and relying on both newand millenary libertarian, autonomous forms of organization. Today we knowexactly what we shouldnít do and that is to take part in the vile practices ofthe political system and its allies. We must earnestly seek a new way ofconducting politics.

The APPO now has the ability to change the correlation of forces in favor ofthe people because it *is* the people themselves. It canít betray itself. Wemust understand that. Thatís why we must all be heard. We canít build anythingif not through consensus. That does NOT mean voting and following the will ofthe majority. It means looking for a solution that we all agree with. Ourprogram should be based on NEVER AGAIN MAKING DECISIONS WITHOUT CONSULTING THEPEOPLE.

*INTEGRAL REFORM OF THE FREE, SOVEREIGN STATE OF OAXACA*

Our struggle also aspires to a project that has to do with a re-founding of thestate, drawing on the millenary wisdom of our peoples. We must venture to madeprofound changes, not just to import doctrines and ideas that have been appliedor that are being applied in other times and spaces that donít correspond toour unique situation, our culture, the development and practice of our peoples.Neither, however, should we be closed to more humane and more perfect forms,should one exist in the western system or any other system, but it should bebased in freedom, justice, and dignity.

One of the most serious problems in our country today is the cult ofpersonality, especially when it comes to our countryís presidents or stategovernors. We must demystify these figures, who are often fascist andauthoritarian like the one we are now dealing with in our state and those inother states throughout the country where the rulers are nothing more thancriminals operating under the ìstate of law.î

In order to take some steps towards demystification, the state government couldbe, first of all, collective, elected every three years or every six years. Incase it were six years, the presidency of the collective would be filled by oneof the six people for a one-year period. It would thereby be a presidency of arotational collective serving a six year term. The salary of these governorswould be no higher than what is required for a medium-level standard of living.This means that all six would earn less than a typical governor earns today.

Even though itís true that thereís an urgent need for an comprehensive reformin our state and itís necessary to hold a new Constitutional Congress andcreate a new Constitution, itís also true that we have to start from below,with an in-depth consultation. That requires a discussion not only involvingthose of us who are here today; at the same time we must consult ourcommunities, neighborhoods, unions, etc., just like we have done to elect ourdelegates. Likewise, we need a consultation that explains our reform agenda tothe people with whom we work and of whom we are a part.

*PLATFORM OF STRUGGLE*

Weíve initiated a process in which weíve exposed the ways in which politicalpower is responsible for all kinds of abuses against those who are strugglingfor their most basic rights. Today in Oaxaca, nobody is fooled, except thosewho still want to live in a system where we beg for crumbs. And those whoreceive the lionís share of these handouts and have a vested interest in thesystem continue to dole out a few pesos for food and other goods to the people,as if this were a solution to poverty.

We know that economic change in our state and our country wonít happen if we,those from below, arenít able to generate our own projects, whether we callthem productive, economic, etc. In other words, we must be self-managing, butin order to carry out these economic processes we must be ableññall togetherand in unisonññto take the power that is ours and to achieve a deep political,economic, and social transformation.

Today we think of the compaÒeros whoíve been killed, disappeared, tortured, andwounded by the repressive forces in this struggle.

Today the jails are full of political prisoners. They release five compaÒerosand jail twenty more. Weíre paying the price for demanding a deep change forour people. We know our struggle will demand more suffering, and so we canítabandon our principles halfway along the road without risking that more of ourbrothers and sisters will fill the jails. Thatís why our struggle has tocontinue until we live in complete freedom and, for this, we have to strengthenour organization.

Our primordial goal is to defend our natural and cultural resources. We canítallow government and business to take what doesnít belong to them, utilizingrotten institutions to justify their domination. For this reason, no singleorganization, community, union, etc. should confront the government inisolation. We must keep in mind that it is the governmentís aim to isolate usand destroy our movement.

Letís make sure that they arenít able to divide us into ìmoderatesî andìradicalsî either. We know that today in Oaxaca and Mexico, anyone who defendsthe legitimate rights of the people is a ìradicalî in the eyes of the powersthat be, and anyone who they consider a ìmoderateî is so classified because ofnot daring to question injustice in depth and to act forcefully to transformthe reality that weíre enduring.

And one last commentary: We men and women of OIDHO, indigenous farmers andtenant farmers of the most marginalized areas of the state, are not interestedin the power that concedes political positions; nor in ìpopular powerî if itsaim is to establish new vanguards and extol new leaders. The only thing thatinterests us is to construct, from the bottom and from the left, theorganizational and collective power of the peoples of Oaxaca, autonomous intheir decisions, but united in their struggle, which is the struggle of all ofus men and women who have decided to free ourselves from 21^st century slavery.No to alliances with political parties, with or without registration.

We welcome all alliances with organizations and movements that share ourstruggle, respecting our identity and our autonomy.

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA!

LONG LIVE THE APPO!

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE OF M…XICO!

FREEDOM FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS!

No More Repression and Misery among the Indigenous Peoples!

Victory Goes not to the Most Powerful, but to the Best Organized!

Santa MarÌa Atzompa, Oaxaca, November 9, 2006

OIDHO