Oaxaca in Crisis

We believe the time as arrived to publicly launch our blog. First, a little explanation of our title. RocaJem is meant to represent the two organizations with whom we identify. Rocablanca is the name of the missions base on the coast of Oaxaca where we collaborate with their medical clinic and organize visits to indigenous communities in the mountains. JEM stands for Jubilee Economics Ministries which is an effort to apply the biblical mandate from Lev. 25 in the Hebrew Bible to our situation today. We collaborate with JEM in organizing visits to an indigenous area of Chiapas, Mexico as well as trying to make public the voices of the poor in Mexico to those outside of Mexico.

We will be publishing blogs both in Spanish and English though only as time allows will we be able to translate each blog. We hope that through this means of communication we will be able to share what we are doing in Oaxaca, share ideas of how others can participate with us and make public the situation as we live it here in Oaxaca.

The reason we want to launch this blog today is because we are aware that news is not reaching others outside of Oaxaca about the violence that is being perpetrated right now in the capital city. Over the weekend the Pres. of Mexico authorized the intervention of federal troops into the city "to restore order." Those who have been protesting for more than five months for better public education in the city are resisting this intervention. The troops are arriving in tanks with high powered water hoses and tear gas. Those in resistance are resisting with sticks and stones,placards and the Mexican flag.

We will keep you informed and we look forward to being in conversation with you through this blog.