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Report from Oaxaca: Federal Police Do Not Have Control of
the City
Brad Will 1970-2006: Friends Remember Indymedia Journalist
and Activist Killed in Oaxaca
Brad Will In His Own Words: Archival Footage of Slain Journalist
and Activist Discussing the Importance of Community Media
and the Struggle Against NYC Demolition of a Lower East Side
Squat
David Rovics Pays Tribute to Fellow Musician and Friend Brad
Will
Report from Oaxaca: Federal Police Do Not Have Control
of the City
Mexican President Vicente Fox has sent in thousands of federal
police to Oaxaca to crush the popular uprising there. We go
to Oaxaca to speak with Gustavo Esteva, founder of the Universidad
de la Tierra in Oaxaca. Esteva says, "The police can
come and occupy with all their weapons and tanks. They can
occupy one area, they can occupy one specific point, but they
cannot control the city. They cannot take over our lives and
our country." [includes rush
transcript]
We turn now to Oaxaca where Mexican President Vicente Fox
has sent in thousands of federal police to crush the popular
uprising.
Last night police stormed the city with armored vehicles,
helicopters and water cannons. The police seized control of
the city square.
Over the past four months, the residents of Oaxaca - sparked
by a teachers strike - had turned the city into an autonomous
zone. The police and official government had been kicked out
- in its place the protesters formed the Popular Assembly
of the People of Oaxaca or APPO.
For months entire families have been camping outside to oversee
barricades protecting the city. The protesters have been demanding
the resignation of the state's governor Ulises Ruiz and the
formation of a more representative government.
But in recent weeks the authorities have used increasingly
violent tactics to crush the largely non-violent movement.
On Friday gunmen linked to the government shot dead the New
York Indymedia journalist and activist Brad Will as well as
a local teacher named Emilio Alonso Fabian and a demonstrator
named Esteban Zurita. Two more protesters were shot dead on
Sunday.
We talk more about Brad Will's life later in the show but
first we go to Oaxaca to speak with Gustavo Esteva. He is
the founder of the Universidad de la Tierra in Oaxaca and
author of many books including "Grassroots Post-modernism:
Remaking the Soil of Culture." Gustavo is also a columnist
for La Jornada.
- Gustavo Esteva, founder of the Universidad de la Tierra
in Oaxaca and author of many books including "Grassroots
Post-modernism: Remaking the Soil of Culture." Gustavo
has also been a columnist for La Jornada.
Brad Will 1970-2006: Friends Remember Indymedia Journalist
and Activist Killed in Oaxaca
Mourners gathered outside the Mexican consulate in New York
on Saturday to pay tribute to journalist and activist Brad
Will. He was shot dead in Oaxaca Mexico on Friday. He died
with his camera in his hands. We speak with some of Brad's
friends and colleagues who remember his lifetime of activism.
[includes rush
transcript]
Indymedia journalist Brad Will had been covering the situation
in Oaxaca for four weeks. In his last dispatch from Oaxaca,
he wrote about a demonstrator named Alejandro García
Hernández who was killed on the barricades.
Brad wrote "one more death... one more martyr in a dirty
war... one more time to cry and hurt... one more time to know
power and its ugly head... one more bullet cracks the night."
On Friday, Brad died at those same barricades. He had his
videocamera in his hand. His camera kept recording even after
he was shot.
- Footage from Brad Will's camera.
Brad Will died as he was being taken to the hospital. He
was 36 years old.
The Mexican daily El Universal has published photos of the
alleged executioners. On Saturday, the mayor of Santa Lucia
del Camino, Manuel Martinez Feria, said five men had been
turned over to state authorities for possible involvement
in the killing. He identified them as two members of the local
city hall, two municipal police officers and the former justice
of the peace of a nearby town.
Reporters Without Borders said it was deeply shocked over
the killing of Brad Will. The organization called for Oaxaca
governor Ulises Ruiz to be summoned before the new prosecutor's
office dealing with attacks on press freedom. It also urged
federal authorities to investigate Ruiz and the Oaxaca municipal
police.
John Gibler joins us on the line from Oaxaca. He is an independent
journalist who knew Brad Will.
- John Gibler, U.S.-based journalist based in Mexico.
Here in New York, demonstrators are gathering outside the
Mexican Consulate at 9 a.m. this morning to protest the murder
of Brad Will and the killing of other peaceful protesters
in Oaxaca. Brad Will was a well-known and much loved activist
and journalist in New York and around the world. He was involved
in countless struggles over the past decade.
Many in New York remember him standing on the roof of a squat
on 5th Street in Manhattan just as the city was trying to
demolish the building. The scene was captured in a documentary
made by Paper Tiger Television.
Brad would later play a key role in trying to protect the
city's community gardens. He hosted his own radio show on
the pioneering microradio station Steal This Radio.
For years he was involved in the Indymedia network in New
York as well as in Latin America. He spent much of the past
few years documenting the people's movements in Brazil, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Argentina and most recently Mexico.
On Saturday night, an emergency rally was held outside the
Mexican consulate in New York. Speakers included longtime
New York activist Beka Economopoulos.
- Beka Economopoulos, New York City activist speaking,
October 28, 2006.
Brandon Jourdan of the New York City Independent Media Center
also spoke outside the Mexican Consulate.
- Brandon Jourdan, New York City Independent Media Center
speaking, October 28, 2006.
Joinsing us in our firehouse studio are two guests who knew
Brad:
- Dyan Neary, was a close friend of Brad's. Together they
traveled extensively through Latin America to help build
Indymedia centers.
- Leslie Kauffman, longtime New York activist and friend
of Brad's.
Since Friday hundreds of activists from around the world
have paid tribute to Brad Will. Many have posted their memories
on the New York City Indymedia website.
On Sunday we reached one Indymedia activist in Brazil named
Toya who worked closely with Brad.
- Toya, Indymedia activist in Brazil.
Brad Will In His Own Words: Archival Footage of Slain
Journalist and Activist Discussing the Importance of Community
Media and the Struggle Against NYC Demolition of a Lower East
Side Squat
We turn to some archival footage of Brad Will, the U.S.
journalist and activist shot dead in Oaxaca on Friday. We
play a recording of Brad from the late 1990s at a time when
he hosted a radio show on the pioneering microradio station
"Steal This Radio" and a recording of Brad talking
about efforts to prevent New York City from demolishing a
squat on the Lower East Side. [includes rush
transcript]
We turn to some archival footage of Brad Will. The following
was recorded in the late 1990s at a time when he hosted a
radio show on the pioneering microradio station Steal This
Radio.
- Brad Will, speaking in 1998. Courtesy of Paper Tiger
Television.
Brad is also remembered by many for his efforts to prevent
the city from demolishing a squat on the Lower East Side.
When the city moved in to demolish the building on Fifth Street
he stood atop the roof waving his arms. Brad's efforts stalled
the demolition but the city eventually leveled the building
which housed a cafe, a meeting place and a performance space.
Brad later talked about the building in a program produced
by Paper Tiger Television called "ABC Survives, Fifth
Street Buried Alive."
- Brad Will, excerpt of program, "ABC Survives, Fifth
Street Buried Alive." Courtesy of Paper Tiger Television.
David Rovics Pays Tribute to Fellow Musician and
Friend Brad Will
Musician David Rovics, pays tribute to his friend, Brad
Will, the U.S. journalist and activist shot dead in Oaxaca
on Friday. Rovics says, "For those of us alive today
who had the honor of being one of Brad's large circle of friends,
his memory will be with us painfully, deeply, lovingly, until
we all join him beneath the ground -- hopefully only after
each of us has managed to have the kind of impact on each
other, on the movement, and the world that Brad surely had
in his short 36 years." [includes rush
transcript]
We end today's show with a tribute to Brad Will from his
friend and fellow musician, David Rovics.
- David Rovics, musician remembers his friend, Brad Will.
Website: DavidRovics.com
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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