Andres Aullet, a lawyer involved in a Committee of Relatives of Political Prisoners of Oaxaca recently toured the UK speaking about the situation in Mexico. The tour was organised by No Sweat. Paul Hampton interviewed him.
PH. Many socialists have been impressed by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). How is it organised?
AA: APPO is a broad organisation of struggle, composed of many tendencies, with representatives from unions - including Section 22 of the SNTE teachers’ union, peasants and civil society organisations.
It is composed of over 200 delegates from these organisations. Some like the union reps are elected by their organisations; others such as the indigenous organisations send their historic leaders. It includes representatives from womens’ organisations. Other sectors, such as the taxi drivers, which have never been organised before (and were previously controlled by the mafia), have sent reps.
In one case, a representative from the university wasn;t doing his job properly, so the members put him under supervision to make sure he did. APPO is a truly representatives body, a sovereign assembly which some have called a commune. It one point 1,500 reps met to discuss taking power. However it is not a workers; council or soviet-type organisation - only a beginning.
PH. The CNTE [the teachers; rank and file movement that led the struggle] is a great example of what rank and file movement;s can achieve in even the most corrupt unions. What is the political character of the CNTE?
AA: The CNTE is the democratic opposition movement among teachers right across Mexico. It is particularly strong in Oaxaca. It fights for union democracy, against corruption, in defence of public education, for better pay and conditions and against the union bureaucracy. It has led struggles for over 20 years.
However its leadership is heterogeneous. Very few are Trotskyists. Most come from a Stalinist background. Others are politically closer to the (left-populist) PRD. But the CNTE is independent of all political parties. The CNTE in Oaxaca has been split between those who want to fight for power and those who accommodate to the local government. Some of its leaders, such as Rueda Pacheco have betrayed the teachers.
PH: what strategies are being debated at the moment?
AA: Many activists are discussing what to do in the state elections which are taking place in August and other later in the year for local mayors. The Stalinists want to support anyone opposed to the (long-time, now ex-ruling party) PRI, under the slogan “united front against fascism”, but this is just a cover for backing the PRD or even the (conservative) PAN. On the other hand many rank and file activists want workers’ candidates that represent the APPO struggle.
PH: What’s the state of the left in Mexico?
AA: The left has been in disarray for many years. In the 1980s the PRT, [linked to the orthodox Trotskyist Fourth International] stood candidates in elections and got some MPs. But it split in the early 1990s. Most of its members support the PRD, the party of Lopez Obrador who lost the election in July. Many of them work with the Zapatistas.
The Zapatistas themselves have barely lifted a finger for Oaxaca. They organised a day of action in December and that’s all. And their strategy of not taking power is no strategy at all for Oaxaca.
Another group called LUS is better, but over the last year they have concentrated on the electoral fraud, which is important, but not the central issue in the class struggle in Mexico. I also belong to the LTS [League of Workers for Socialism], which has argued that Oaxaca is the key class struggle the Mexican left should organise around.
PH: What about the PRD?
AA: The PRD is a petty bourgeois party and part of the bourgeois regime. It has not fought for solidarity with the struggle in Oaxaca, even though it has influence across Mexico. In fact it was responsible for the isolation of the struggle in Oaxaca. López Obrador has moved right since the election.
The PRD is not a trade union party like the Labour Party in Britain. It has some trade union leaders but not close ties with even the independent unions. It doesnÕ’t present itself as a trade union or workers’ party. The Militante group [linked to Socialist Appeal in Britain] works inside the PRD to transform it, but that’s not possible.
PH: How do you characterise the current period in Mexican history?
AA: Before the year 2000 Mexico was a Bonapartist regime, as defined by Trotsky in the 1930s. However as this regime broke down, the ruling class affected what Gramsci called a “passive revolution” - a reform from above to allow a three party system. The regime is still reactionary and showed the limits of the reform this year with the fraud. It is still a semi-Bonapartist regime.
PH: What’s the significance of the struggle in Oaxaca?
AA: Oaxaca shows that Mexico is catching up with the ferment across Latin America. It was the high point of the class struggle last year - a real revolutionary situation. Oaxaca showed that the key role the working class can play in leading other sectors such as the peasants in struggle.
Oaxaca also posed the question of political power, not just in the state but across Mexico. But the leadership was lacking.
PH: What can socialists in Britain do?
AA: You can spread the word about Oaxaca. We are fighting to free the political prisoners and we need support from workers organisations and students. We need your solidarity.
The struggle continues
OAXACA'S Section 22 of the National Education WorkersÕ Union (SNTE, in its Spanish initials) is run by the democratic CNTE caucus. Their long-delayed state assembly finally took place outside of the city of Oaxaca, on February 2. Afterwards Section 22 issued issued a flyer, stating the following:
1. The education workers have not and will not renounce the struggle to oust (state governor) Ulises Ruiz. “We don’t forget, and we don’t forgive, the assassinations, torture, persecution, disappearances and arbitrary arrests committed against the people of Oaxaca, and in particular against the democratic teachers, in complicity with the Federal Government.”
2. The education workers are with the APPO all the way: “We helped build it and we will keep on participating. It is the most important organising initiative for Oaxaca’s struggle against the dictatorial government.”
3. The education workers condemn (teacher’s union “leaders”) Elba Esther Gordillo and Felipe Calderon, and the use of education money for self-enrichment. “We don’t accept the formation of a new teachers’ section in the union, designed to fracture the union.”
4. The education workers stand against neoliberal policies, privatisations, salary adjustments, reduction in social spending, and the concentration of wealth among a few. “We defend the popular economy and the economic well-being of all Mexicans.”
5. They are complying with agreements signed with the government, but the Secretary of Internal Affairs is not.
“In the face of this situation, we education workers can not sit with our hands folded. The democratic teachers are in the struggle; we have not surrendered and we won't surrender, and on the basis of a mature policy, we go on united and organizsed until we achieve our objectives and those of the people of Oaxaca.”
The following day APPO organised its ninth megamarch since the struggle began. Around 30,000 attended, despite the heavy presence of paramilitary police. Although this was smaller than previous demonstrations, it shows that the struggle goes in Oaxaca continues.
