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 Editorials | Issues | November 2006 
Mexico's Blood-Stained Struggle Mostly Ignored by U.S. Media
 San Jose Mercury News
| | People do incredibly brave things every day in Mexico, far from the border where so much of the U.S. media attention is focused. And sadly, even those attempting to retell the stories sometimes die trying. |
Asked to name the country where a journalist was recently murdered, most people would say Iraq. Few would guess Mexico. But Mexico is where the most recent death, at least at this writing, has occurred.
Brad Will, a 36-year-old from New York, died with his video camera in his hands. He essentially recorded his own death. He was shot as he covered the protests that began in the spring in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Yes, that is right: protests now half a year in duration.
What began as an annual strike by teachers has escalated into a movement pitting citizens against the federal police. Protesters have taken over the university radio station, encamped by the thousands in the town square and stopped traffic coming in and out of the city.
The conflict belies the image of all able-bodied Mexicans running for the border - desperate to take jobs in the United States picking vegetables, chopping chickens and changing sheets in hotels.
A tremendous number of Mexicans are very much fighting for change in their own country. This has always been the case. And until the country begins to resemble more of a democracy, it will continue to be true.
The efforts are massive compared to anything that has occurred in the United States in recent decades. For perspective, the much-cited 1963 March on Washington had an estimated crowd of 250,000 people. In Oaxaca, crowds have been put at nearly a million at their peak. In Mexico City this summer, the plaza adjacent to Los Pinos (Mexico's White House) was filled with up to a million protesters at times, and hundreds of thousands camped out for months in peaceful protest of the outcome of the presidential election.
In Oaxaca, the demands are similar. People are demanding the resignation of the governor of the state, believing he is corrupt and not representative of the people. But this level of social activism is not sustained over one issue, one candidate. Ultimately, what the people want is a deepening of democracy - fairer elections, freer press, responsive government, public safety and jobs.
Photos in Oaxaca show people linked arm-in-arm marching through the streets. They have used syringes to draw their own blood, making crude signs for their protests.
Some have engaged in rock-throwing at police, but for the most part protesters are unarmed and peaceful.
Other images spark memories of Tiananmen Square. Among the images posted online is a photo of a protester standing in a calm faceoff with a line of police in full riot gear. Her face barely a breath away from their plastic riot shields.
This summer, state police were sent into Oaxaca. Protesters wouldn't disband. Last weekend, federal troops came armed with riot gear, tear gas, helicopters and water cannons.
Journalist/activist Brad Will was known for his work with independent media. Many suspect his killers were hired by, or at the very least supported by, the government. A teacher and a demonstrator were also killed that day. And reports are still unconfirmed, but most say at least six people have been killed in Oaxaca since May. Others have simply disappeared.
Surely, there is more room in the mainstream U.S. media for coverage.
Yet this morning, the television showed unending replays of Sen. John Kerry making thoughtless remarks about the education levels of our military. Last week, coverage was dominated by the blond with the come-hither pose in an ad against a black Senate candidate.
People do incredibly brave things every day in Mexico, far from the border where so much of the U.S. media attention is focused. And sadly, even those attempting to retell the stories sometimes die trying. |
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