This week, we’re sharing an interview we just conducted with Madeleine Wattenbarger and Axel Hernández of the Cooperativa de Periodismo in Mexico and Ambar Ruiz of Radio Zapote about the case of autonomous resistance and repression in the Mazateca community of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón in Oaxaca, Mexico, so named for being the birthplace of the Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón, revolutionary Mexican anarchist who was murdered by medical neglect by the US prison system in 1922 (check out our 2022 episode on the history).
We talk about the rise to economic and political power of the family of Manuel Zepeda and his daughter Elena, their weaponization of the judiciary against community defenders resisting a hijacking in 2014 of the traditional community assembly and the years of organizing by Mazateca women whose loved ones face long prison sentences. We also speak about the case of Miguel Peralta, a Mazateca anarchist challenging his 5 decade sentence related to this case, as well as the recent murder by medical neglect while in prison of militant anarcho-punk Yorch Esquivel at the hands of the Mexican state at the behest of UNAM.
Media mentioned:
- Observatorio Memoria y Libertad: https://observatoriomemoriaylibertad.org
- Facebook and Instagram
- Radio Zapote: https://radiozapote.org/
- Avispa Midia: https://avispa.org/en/
- Cooperativa de Periodismo Instagram and Youtube: https://www.instagram.com/chingadamadrx/
- Cooperativa de Periodismo Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIrcSb3v_q8hxD1iqulLSw
Groups to follow:
Further reading:
- “A Oaxacan Indigenous Community Fights a New Round of Bogus Charges,” NACLA
- “Communal care, backbone of resistance in Oaxaca,” Ojalá
- Excerpts of our translation of the MANIFESTO OF THE FEMALE SELF-DEFENSE FORCES IN SUPPORT OF FREEDOM (June 2023, translated & narrated): https://ahuehuete.substack.com/p/eloxochitlan
- And finally, a letter from Miguel Peralta to Yorch, narrated by Miguel Peralta
. … . ..
Featured track:
- De Cara A La Pared by Lhasa from La Llorona
This week on The Final Straw Radio, you’ll hear three interviews relating to community needs and recovering concerning Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina.
Over the first weekend of October, 2024, there was a deluge from two storms (including level 4 Hurricane Helene) descended on southern Appalachia, mostly on the eastern side which includes Asheville and other parts of western NC, eastern TN, south eastern Ohio, and northern Georgia. At the point of this recording there are over 200 known dead and hundreds missing, portions of the region continue to be without electricity or cellular service, and where the toxic mud and water linger and separate people from medical and community care. This episode, we’re speaking with two people who’ve lived in the region and have been helping other residents distribute storm relief.