By Ernesto Reyes

Ever since the APPO (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, The People's Assembly of Oaxaca) formed in response to state aggression against teachers on June 14, 2006, there has been a partially hidden struggle among several groups and factions to gain control of APPO's decisions, and to influence its political agenda. These factions, forgetting that the largest, best organized faction within the APPO is Sec 22 (the teachers union), believe in manipulating the goals of APPO, even though APPO bases its legitimacy on a broad sector of the population that acts beyond political factions and parties.

APPO embodies multiple visions of the so-called "left" in Oaxaca, formed outside the state's political process, even while some factions operate in both arenas. One is the Frente Popular Revolucionario (FPR), once identified by the state as the civil arm of the Ejército Popular Revolucionario (EPR), but that has since adopted positions so moderate that critics now accuse it of betraying its own principles.

Facing the FPR in diametrical opposition is VOCAL (Voces Oaxaqueñas Construyendo Autonomía y Libertad), whose sympathizers sprang from the street barricades setup during the 2007 uprising, but who are all too prone to call for "direct action" regardless of the consequences that such confrontations inevitably bring with the state.

At the close of the meeting this past November 25, attendees witnessed a confrontation between these two factions. Their disagreements spread out into violence in the streets, and the images were used by the media to discredit the struggle of the APPO in the eyes of the public opinion.

Throughout the march, thousands upon thousands of Oaxaqueños peacefully paraded, but what stood out was this infighting between "sectors of the APPO."   One example is that hooded street artists took to spray painting depictions of events of the 2006 uprising and subsequent repression, to the dismay of media compañeros, photographers and cameramen.

This violence and vandalism brought forth widespread negative repercussions. Unfortunately, the teacher's leadership failed to do more than distance themselves from these acts and failed to take anticipatory steps to resolve the split peacefully.