On the afternoon of November 4th, the the bus traffic to Oaxaca city was opened, at least for a while. After finishing my six weeks of Spanish studies in Huehuetenango, I was in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, and took the first bus here. At 6 in the the morning of the 5th, I have reached the Oaxaca bus station. My first impression is that the streets of Oaxaca are «clean». The Mexican federal police (PFP) hat removed most of the graffiti that had been covering most walls for the past months by painting over it – mostly with paint not matching the houses colors. In the morning the streets are empty as well; with the exception of a handful of tourists who obviously have not understood how serious the situation is.

The police has taken over the old headquarters of the protesters, the Zocalo square, and they have set up barricades around themselves much like those of the protesters. Outsides the barricades in the Zocalo, there is no police to be found anywhere. They are preparing themselves for new clashing; this time it is sympathizers from the 500km north from here lieing Mexico city who have announced a solidarity march, starting by bus from Mexico city and moving the last few kilometers into the city center by foot, ending their march at the Zocalo. With 6-7 lines of barbed wire, burned out cars at two entrance streets, four lines of police with the entire Robocop equipment at every entrance as well as at least four vehicles with water cannons, they must feel quite safe that no-one will be able to remove them from the Zocalo.

The demonstrators, who had started their protest by occupying the Zocalo in May, moved their camp to the square in front of the Santa Domingo church, a few hundred meters further north, as well as to the university area. While buying the UNAM newspaper La Jornada there, I meet Enrique Alcatraz, musician and APPO-sympathizer. Enrique explains who he sees the situation: «All of us here are here now only for reasons of solidarity [to the dead and those sitting in prison]. The teachers have already gotten their claims [of higher salaries] through.» Enrique admits that some of the teachers have traveled home after their initial wage demands were listened to, but «the decision to do that is taken by each local group [of the teacher’s union] collectively» — and everything would be undemocratic.

Enrique, who describes himself as having fought «at the forefront» among others while defending the university against the PFP, also describes how everything began: «The teachers have their strike every year, and normally the government gives in a little bit. Although they couldn’t give anything this year [due to having spent tax revenues from Oaxaca on the federal election campaign of the PRI], the union planned to leave on the 15th or 16th of June – that would already have been a months without salaries and one could come back next year.» Enrique believes that the attack on the teachers on the morning of the 14th led to «an enormously rapid radicalization» among the teachers, who took the Zocalo back «only two hours after the attack» as well as among the general population with the begin of the APPO. The fact that the APPO has an undefinable size, is most difficult to handle for the government, Enrique declares: «the governor tries to make it look as if the APPO only is a marginal organization. But the APPO-people here are representatives of different villages… and of course, some villages are bigger than others, but when they attack the APPO, they attack the entire population.» When Enrique begins to declare that the rapid succession of events not only is important for Oaxaca, but for the entire world, I agree with him.

But I wonder why there are close to no foreign participants. Except the handful of foreign reporters who greet one another with comments like «Hey, I seem to see you everywhere: Iraq, Afghanistan, Oaxaca…!», there are close to no foreigners. Also in the buses from Mexico city, whose people arrive with two hour delay at 2PM in the town center, there are only Mexicans. For Guatemaltecans and Belezians, the travel might be too expensive, but from the US American border, the travel to Oaxaca city costs around 150USD by bus, and should therefore be affordable for at least some. Especially given the Mexican 1968 experience, in which it was not the death of up to 3000 Mexican middle class students, but the injury of Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that made the international headlines, more international presence would be helpful. Enrique agrees with me in my assessment.

With the buses from Mexico, and the number of cars following them, the number of demonstrators grows exponentially, but confrontations with the police are avoided when the demonstration route is moved away from the Zocalo. According to those arranging the protests, the 12km long demonstration consists of over 1 million people, while the most oppositional radio station lowers the number to 3000. «3000! Tss…», says leader of the APPO, Flavio Sosa, in the evening, surrounded by mostly female teachers, and answering their various inquiries in front of the Santa Domingo church. Is he frightened, they want to know. «Fear, yes, but for my family, not me.» Happily he holds up the front page of the newest edition of La Jornada which announces that the governor of Oaxaca will be investigated from the federal level. After a few more questions, he needs to go. But he finds the time to congratulate two of the female teachers with their birthdays, before he walks on.

Several of the buses do not return to Mexico before the 6th of November and in the evening many therefore sit spread out in the university area and in front of the Santa Domingo church. Similarly as during transnational European protests, especially the youth discuss strategies, which organizations exists where and how to get to socialism from here, while food is given out for free and some play their guitars. If I would not know any better, one would not have thought that the protests had been as bloody as the actually were.

Of those active on an organizational level, I recognize several from the PRD Camp in the Zócalo of Mexico city of September and so I end up talking to students from Mexico city on the side walk in front of the Santa Domingo church. Different from Enrique, they do not have the same kinds of personal ties to Oaxaca, and they see this protest as part of a general movement «towards socialism» , as a «secret member» of the CP Mexico defines it. Also they agree with me that it is sad that there are no more foreign participants. But they seem to be divided in their analysis of why things have moved as rapidly in Oaxaca as they have. While several CP members and some members of minor local organizations believe that the poverty especially in rural Oaxaca means that the government has close to no legitimacy, some of the others believe that it is due to the blood of the Oaxacans, which is a mix of Aztec and Maya with very little influence from Spain. After a few hours, I say good-bye, but I am sure to see the same youngsters again, either at the APPO congress next weekend here in Oaxaca or on the 20th of November in Mexico city when AMLO «takes office», during the ceremony there.