KILL THE TEACHERS,
Mexico's Bloody Repression of Human Rights
Robert Joe Stout
“A blue pickup swerved in front of us. Some men jumped out, pushed my compañero to the sidewalk. I ran and they fired their pistols at me. When they caught up with me they beat me with their pistols and threw me face down on the asphalt. They tied my hands behind my back and threw me in the back of the pickup. When I tried to lift my head, they shoved it down again. They told me they had the names of the people in my family and they were going to screw them over too.
“They took me to the prison in Tlacolula. They blindfolded me. ‘How much are they paying you?’ ‘Who are your companions?’ ‘Don’t want to talk? Write it down.’ ‘We got your friend; she’ll talk. She’ll tell us everything we want to know.
“‘Write this down! I robbed trucks. I burned cars.’ Every time I refused to write what they said they hit me. I started to write, then paused and they kicked me in the back and in the stomach. They did this about twenty times. They told me to write down the names of three APPO leaders. They gave me the names to write down. I didn’t write them down. They kicked me. They took my cell phone and went through the directory name by name….”
Kill the Teachers tells the story of a mini-war in Mexico through the eyes of participants, victims and hundreds who witnessed the protests, the repression and the tragic aftermath.
Mexico's Bloody Repression of Human Rights
Robert Joe Stout
“A blue pickup swerved in front of us. Some men jumped out, pushed my compañero to the sidewalk. I ran and they fired their pistols at me. When they caught up with me they beat me with their pistols and threw me face down on the asphalt. They tied my hands behind my back and threw me in the back of the pickup. When I tried to lift my head, they shoved it down again. They told me they had the names of the people in my family and they were going to screw them over too.
“They took me to the prison in Tlacolula. They blindfolded me. ‘How much are they paying you?’ ‘Who are your companions?’ ‘Don’t want to talk? Write it down.’ ‘We got your friend; she’ll talk. She’ll tell us everything we want to know.
“‘Write this down! I robbed trucks. I burned cars.’ Every time I refused to write what they said they hit me. I started to write, then paused and they kicked me in the back and in the stomach. They did this about twenty times. They told me to write down the names of three APPO leaders. They gave me the names to write down. I didn’t write them down. They kicked me. They took my cell phone and went through the directory name by name….”
Kill the Teachers tells the story of a mini-war in Mexico through the eyes of participants, victims and hundreds who witnessed the protests, the repression and the tragic aftermath.
Synopsis |
Backed by the powerful PRI political party, Ulisés Ruiz fraudulently won the governorship of the southern state of Oaxaca. Among irregularities reported by journalists and various human rights and election observers were the buying of votes, physical intimidation and precincts in which every participant was credited with voting for Ruiz despite assertions from many who claimed that they’d marked their ballots for opposition candidates.
Once in office Ruiz (like many rulers before him) tightened his hold by expanding the size of the state police force and denying services to communities that had voted for his opponents. “You could feel the decomposition everywhere,” a human rights advocate remembered. “It was like living in occupied territory, like some foreigners had taken over the state, foreigners who didn’t care what the people felt or thought.” Among those who objected were the state teachers union. In May 2006 they organized a sit-in in the capital city of Oaxaca’s central district after Ruiz refused to consider new contract stipulations. Ruiz responded to Section 22’s demands with a show of force. “It was five o’clock in the morning. Some people started shouting — they’d gotten warning calls on their cell phones. ‘Get up! Get up! The police are coming!’ I saw flashlights snap on. Then we heard the helicopters. They came in so low their big rotors sent things flying through the air. Then the whistling sounds as they fired tear gas. ‘What are they doing? Why are they doing this?’ teachers were shouting. We were coughing and choking, we were blinded, we tried to get our things together, people were shouting for their children…” Oaxaca became a war zone. Demonstrators set up over a thousand street blockades, paramilitaries killed dozens, including a U.S. news photographer. Kill the Teachers details the arrests, persecutions, retaliations and consequences with on-the-spot reporting and interviews with participants and victims as the persecution contininued. The scars it caused remain. |