Women Take Television Station in Oaxaca

Several hundred women took over the Oaxacan state television station, on Tuesday, August 1st...

Earlier in the day, several thousand women and girls marched through the streets of Oaxaca city demanding the resignation of state governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz. Many of these women are schoolteachers who were joined by students, housewives, workers, and campesinas. Many marched in their aprons, carrying pots and pans, spoons and spatulas.

At the end of the march, several hundred women took over a handful of public buses and headed for Channel 9, the state radio and television station. They entered the station without resistance, and took some of the station workers "hostage," insisting that they help the women get on the air (these workers were not subjected to any kind of physical nor verbal agression, and went on the air later to say that they had been treated well, and that the women even provided them with food). The women began transmitting on the state radio station almost immediately, and later that evening, during the news hour, began broadcasting on the television as well.

Meanwhile, the teachers are wrapping up a week-long consultation of the rank-and-file across the state, to decide how they will continue to particpate in this popular movement that started out as a teachers' strike, but which has exploded into a state-wide popular movement demanding the resignation of the governor. The school year begins in two weeks, and many teachers are worried about the possibility of being out on strike at the beginning of the school year.