The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Two killed in front of Santo Domingo - UPDATE 2

Here is a story from the LA Times.  Be sure to read the comments following it as they take umbrage with The Times' account.

"The shootings are not believed to be drug-related but rather tied to the complex world of provincial politics in Oaxaca, where deals, scores, and broken alliances are often settled through violence. Campus-based student gangs, known as porros, are among those accused of carrying out fatal attacks against the teacher-led movement that sought to oust Gov. Ulises Ruiz in 2006......

Maldonado and Gonzalez were identified as leaders of a porro gang at a Oaxacan university that routinely clashes with police and opposition activists (link in Spanish). Ruiz, pressed by local reporters including Mexico's official state news agency Notimex (link in Spanish), dismissed immediate whispers in Oaxaca that the porro killings at the Santo Domingo church were somehow tied to the upcoming end of his six-year term as governor.....

Porros are often hired as unofficial muscle for politicians and political parties in various regions of Mexico. Operating as contracted thugs, the secretive groups are thought to openly attack or seek to sabotage opposition demonstrations, such as those that gripped Oaxaca during the conflict over Ruiz's rule in 2006. The Oaxaca teachers' group known as the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, or APPO, accused the Ruiz administration of hiring porro groups to attack its blockades in the city at the time. The gangs were known as "caravans of death" (link in Spanish).
In statements during the 2006 confrontations, APPO said at least 17 people died in attacks, but subsequent reports place that figure higher. Among the dead over the seven-month period of upheaval was the American journalist Brad Will, a case that Will's survivors say has never been fully solved."
 

1 comment:

Joan said...

Thanks for the link to the LA Times. This situation continues to intrigue me.

As far as I can see these two were not students, or of traditional student age. The story calls them leaders of a student gang. I think their activities just happened to take place where there were students present.

Also, it is not right to bring up Lane Gilbert's death in connection with political killings. His death was far from political.