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EL ENEMIGO COMUN premiers in the Bay Area
"el enemigo común" scratches beneath the surface of neoliberalism, at some of the its most hidden atrocities in recent North American history. The film documents instances of paramilitary activity against indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico from 2002 through 2005 while including scenes from an international human rights movement in 2003, in Miami against the Free Trade Area of the America's, and in Cancun against the World Trade Organization. The three locations in isolation expose the disparity of North American resistances, but together bring us closer to understanding the nature of an emerging common struggle.
EL ENEMIGO COMUN
produced by
Austin Indymedia
Bay Area Premieres
with filmmaker
Simon Sedillo
$3 - no one turned away
San Francisco
Thursday February 9th
@ Station 40 (3030b 16th St. & Mission)
8pm
Oakland
Monday February 13th
@ AK Press (674 23rd St. & San Pablo)
8pm
"el enemigo común" scratches beneath the surface of neoliberalism, at some of the its most hidden atrocities in recent North American history. The film documents instances of paramilitary activity against indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico from 2002 through 2005 while including scenes from an international human rights movement in 2003, in Miami against the Free Trade Area of the America's, and in Cancun against the World Trade Organization. The three locations in isolation expose the disparity of North American resistances, but together bring us closer to understanding the nature of an emerging common struggle.
Tear gas, rubber bullets, and direct actions set behind the compelling faces and voices of survivors of incomprehensible atrocities expose the extremes of these relevant acts of modern political repression. The film challenges what we already know about paramilitary activity in Mexico, US involvement in said activity, and the current face of resistance against human indignity and injustice in North America Today.
Bouncing back and forth from community to community, "el enemigo común" is both an introduction to some of the many ignored resistances in North America, and it is also an urgent call to action for international civil society, to stand in solidarity against state sponsored repression and for human peace, dignity and justice, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The film provides a historical context for the current violent incarnation of capitalism and empire, and provokes action against it as a common enemy.
WATCH TRAILER: houston.indymedia.org/uploads/sequence_1.mov
WEB SITE: elenemigocomun.blogspot.com/
AUSTIN INDYMEDIA: austin.indymedia.org
------------------------------------
Behind the Film;
Over the Course of the last four years, Simon Sedillo of the Austin independent Media Center has been working to expose the devastating impact of neoliberalism in Oaxaca, Mexico. In August of 2001, along with another collective member Jeffery Lazar, Sedillo embarked on a journey to southern Mexico. During the following years, Sedillo would visit Oaxaca on multiple occasions building trust among organizers and community members. In the summer of 2002 Sedillo and Lazar returned to Oaxaca and participated as independent human rights observers for the newly formed organization COMPA, or the Oaxacan Anti-neoliberal Popular Magonista Coordination, during a three month long permanent sit-in at the Oaxacan State Capitol.
The sit-in was intended to highlight institutionalized paramilitary activity and arbitrary detentions in Oaxaca, in particular the May 2002 Agua Fria Massacre where 26 indigenous peasants from Santiago Xochiltepec were assassinated and 17 others from Santo Domingo Teojomulco were detained as scapegoats for the murder. The sit-in in Oaxaca City demanded the liberation of those falsely detained, including grade school children, a 69 year old woman and an assortment of innocent men. Throughout the duration of the sit-in COMPA used escalating direct action tactics to demand the release of their prisoners and the persecution of the real murderers. After three months of struggle COMPA set its sights on the Independence Day celebrations in Oaxaca City and threatened to block the governor's "Grito" or celebratory battle cry, a 200 year old tradition. On September 11th, 2002, Sedillo along with 4 other US citizens, was detained at the Oaxacan state capitol, and given 3 days to leave the country, for violating Mexican Federal Law by participating in political activities as a foreigner.
In September of 2003, Sedillo along with many others, attended the 5th Ministerial Conference of the WTO or World Trade Organization in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, in order to document demonstrations there against the most powerful countries in the WTO. There Sedillo was introduced to independent videographer and human rights activist Jessica Lawrence. The protests would render Sedillo and Lawrence with unforgettable images of international solidarity against the impunity of a global empire.
The following November, 2003, Sedillo along with Eric Paulus and Brent Perdue, attended demonstrations at the Free Trade Area of the America's (FTAA) Summit in Miami, Florida. There the three documented unprecedented amounts of police brutality, and contributed to exposing a media black out and cover up of the week's events.
From 2002 - 2005 Sedillo maintained a working relationship with COMPA communities and contributed to an international campaign for the liberation of the Teojomulco prisoners. With the help of The Austin Independent Media Center, Indymedia.org, The Rhizome Collective, Dr. Noam Chomsky, and many dedicated others, Sedillo's work contributed to the release of all 17 Teojomulco Prisoners, and three additional COMPA organizers detained for political motives in 2004, under false pretenses.
In 2005 Sedillo, Paulus, and Perdue returned to Oaxaca as the Austin Independent Media Center and followed up on four years of hard work. The team updated COMPA's story with the most recent acts of repression committed against their communities, as well as with interviews of the now liberated Teojomulco prisoners. In collaboration with COMPA, the Austin Independent Media Center, and the Rhizome Collective, Sedillo produced a film, which brings all of these stories together in an amazing exposé of neoliberalism, and some of its most recent atrocities in North America.
Today Sedillo is a member of the Rhizome Collective, the Austin Independent Media Center, The Youth Liberation Network, and Caracol el Machete and his work with each one of these organizations has given fruit to a variety of local and international projects associated with self empowerment and human rights. With the help of the Student Farm-worker Alliance (SFA) Sedillo is currently touring "el enemigo común" to universities across the US, and will begin a European tour in April 2006.
-----------------------------------------------
The tour has 4 basic goals:
4- Raise money through benefits in host communities, and honorariums from universities to sustain the tour and be able to reach out to under represented, marginalized communities in host communities. Community Centers, immigrant groups etc.
3- Organize a campus based student group to engage in solidarity organizing with indigenous groups in Oaxaca, Mexico: Letter writing, Solidarity actions at the Mexican Consulates and the Embassy, and eventually sending human rights observation teams to go to Oaxaca and work.
2- Raise money for the COMPA's in Oaxaca through the sale of merchandise, and through any extra money earned from Honorariums and benefits.
1- Raise general awareness to the plight of indigenous groups in Oaxaca, and discuss neoliberalism and traditional mesoamerican indigenous principles of unity and resistance.
produced by
Austin Indymedia
Bay Area Premieres
with filmmaker
Simon Sedillo
$3 - no one turned away
San Francisco
Thursday February 9th
@ Station 40 (3030b 16th St. & Mission)
8pm
Oakland
Monday February 13th
@ AK Press (674 23rd St. & San Pablo)
8pm
"el enemigo común" scratches beneath the surface of neoliberalism, at some of the its most hidden atrocities in recent North American history. The film documents instances of paramilitary activity against indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico from 2002 through 2005 while including scenes from an international human rights movement in 2003, in Miami against the Free Trade Area of the America's, and in Cancun against the World Trade Organization. The three locations in isolation expose the disparity of North American resistances, but together bring us closer to understanding the nature of an emerging common struggle.
Tear gas, rubber bullets, and direct actions set behind the compelling faces and voices of survivors of incomprehensible atrocities expose the extremes of these relevant acts of modern political repression. The film challenges what we already know about paramilitary activity in Mexico, US involvement in said activity, and the current face of resistance against human indignity and injustice in North America Today.
Bouncing back and forth from community to community, "el enemigo común" is both an introduction to some of the many ignored resistances in North America, and it is also an urgent call to action for international civil society, to stand in solidarity against state sponsored repression and for human peace, dignity and justice, in Oaxaca, Mexico. The film provides a historical context for the current violent incarnation of capitalism and empire, and provokes action against it as a common enemy.
WATCH TRAILER: houston.indymedia.org/uploads/sequence_1.mov
WEB SITE: elenemigocomun.blogspot.com/
AUSTIN INDYMEDIA: austin.indymedia.org
------------------------------------
Behind the Film;
Over the Course of the last four years, Simon Sedillo of the Austin independent Media Center has been working to expose the devastating impact of neoliberalism in Oaxaca, Mexico. In August of 2001, along with another collective member Jeffery Lazar, Sedillo embarked on a journey to southern Mexico. During the following years, Sedillo would visit Oaxaca on multiple occasions building trust among organizers and community members. In the summer of 2002 Sedillo and Lazar returned to Oaxaca and participated as independent human rights observers for the newly formed organization COMPA, or the Oaxacan Anti-neoliberal Popular Magonista Coordination, during a three month long permanent sit-in at the Oaxacan State Capitol.
The sit-in was intended to highlight institutionalized paramilitary activity and arbitrary detentions in Oaxaca, in particular the May 2002 Agua Fria Massacre where 26 indigenous peasants from Santiago Xochiltepec were assassinated and 17 others from Santo Domingo Teojomulco were detained as scapegoats for the murder. The sit-in in Oaxaca City demanded the liberation of those falsely detained, including grade school children, a 69 year old woman and an assortment of innocent men. Throughout the duration of the sit-in COMPA used escalating direct action tactics to demand the release of their prisoners and the persecution of the real murderers. After three months of struggle COMPA set its sights on the Independence Day celebrations in Oaxaca City and threatened to block the governor's "Grito" or celebratory battle cry, a 200 year old tradition. On September 11th, 2002, Sedillo along with 4 other US citizens, was detained at the Oaxacan state capitol, and given 3 days to leave the country, for violating Mexican Federal Law by participating in political activities as a foreigner.
In September of 2003, Sedillo along with many others, attended the 5th Ministerial Conference of the WTO or World Trade Organization in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, in order to document demonstrations there against the most powerful countries in the WTO. There Sedillo was introduced to independent videographer and human rights activist Jessica Lawrence. The protests would render Sedillo and Lawrence with unforgettable images of international solidarity against the impunity of a global empire.
The following November, 2003, Sedillo along with Eric Paulus and Brent Perdue, attended demonstrations at the Free Trade Area of the America's (FTAA) Summit in Miami, Florida. There the three documented unprecedented amounts of police brutality, and contributed to exposing a media black out and cover up of the week's events.
From 2002 - 2005 Sedillo maintained a working relationship with COMPA communities and contributed to an international campaign for the liberation of the Teojomulco prisoners. With the help of The Austin Independent Media Center, Indymedia.org, The Rhizome Collective, Dr. Noam Chomsky, and many dedicated others, Sedillo's work contributed to the release of all 17 Teojomulco Prisoners, and three additional COMPA organizers detained for political motives in 2004, under false pretenses.
In 2005 Sedillo, Paulus, and Perdue returned to Oaxaca as the Austin Independent Media Center and followed up on four years of hard work. The team updated COMPA's story with the most recent acts of repression committed against their communities, as well as with interviews of the now liberated Teojomulco prisoners. In collaboration with COMPA, the Austin Independent Media Center, and the Rhizome Collective, Sedillo produced a film, which brings all of these stories together in an amazing exposé of neoliberalism, and some of its most recent atrocities in North America.
Today Sedillo is a member of the Rhizome Collective, the Austin Independent Media Center, The Youth Liberation Network, and Caracol el Machete and his work with each one of these organizations has given fruit to a variety of local and international projects associated with self empowerment and human rights. With the help of the Student Farm-worker Alliance (SFA) Sedillo is currently touring "el enemigo común" to universities across the US, and will begin a European tour in April 2006.
-----------------------------------------------
The tour has 4 basic goals:
4- Raise money through benefits in host communities, and honorariums from universities to sustain the tour and be able to reach out to under represented, marginalized communities in host communities. Community Centers, immigrant groups etc.
3- Organize a campus based student group to engage in solidarity organizing with indigenous groups in Oaxaca, Mexico: Letter writing, Solidarity actions at the Mexican Consulates and the Embassy, and eventually sending human rights observation teams to go to Oaxaca and work.
2- Raise money for the COMPA's in Oaxaca through the sale of merchandise, and through any extra money earned from Honorariums and benefits.
1- Raise general awareness to the plight of indigenous groups in Oaxaca, and discuss neoliberalism and traditional mesoamerican indigenous principles of unity and resistance.
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en Espanol:
Enemigos de la injusticia
El gobierno debe dejar de robarnos nuestras tierras!
Demandamos respeto para nuestros derechos de propiedad comunitaria!
Tradicionalmente y a lo largo del tiempo la propiedad de la tierra le ha pertenecido a la gente de un modo communal y queremos mantener ese derecho de propiedad, tener control sobre ella y beneficiarse de ella, no que el gobierno se beneficie de ella!
La gente de Oaxaca y de todo el pais debe tener la libertad de ponerle precio a los productos que venden y no que lo haga el gobierno mexicano o los burocratas de la OMC!
No es justo que ellos nos digan que no podemos vender nuestros productos a personas en otros lugares que quieren comprarlos bajo las condiciones que la OMC y los gobiernos de Mexico y de otras naciones nos imponen.
No es justo que los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y de Europa subsidien a corporaciones multinacionales para ayudarles a vender maiz, frijol, leche y otros productos. Como puede competir loa pequenos contra esto?
Este sistema no es libre comercio verdadero. No estamos pidiendo subsidios para nosotros mismos, solo queremos tener las mismas ventajas que todos.
Les pedimos a nuestros hermanos y hermanas de la comunidad internacional que han venido aqui a la conferencia o a protestar contra la OMC que le digan al mundo entero que no estamos en contra del libre comercio, simplemente queremos tener la misma oportunidad de para alcansar una vida digna.
Nuestra tierra no esta en venta !!!!
In English:
Enemies of Injustice
Government must stop stealing our land!
We demand respect for our property rights!
The people who live on the land and have traditionally owned this property on a communal basis must control the land and profit from it – not any government!
The people of Oaxaca and all of Mexico must be free to set their own prices for the things that they sell and not have this dictated to them by the Mexican government or WTO bureaucrats!
It is not fair for them to tell us that we cannot sell our products across borders to other people who want to buy them unless we meet certain conditions.
It is not fair that the governments of the United States and Europe give subsidies to corporations to help them sell their corn, beans, soy, milk, and other products. How can ordinary people compete?
This system is not real free trade. We aren’t asking for subsidies for ourselves, just a level playing field.
We ask our brothers and sisters in the international community who have come here for the conference or to protest against the WTO to tell the world that we are not against free trade – we simply want the opportunity to make money just like other people.
Enemigos de la injusticia
El gobierno debe dejar de robarnos nuestras tierras!
Demandamos respeto para nuestros derechos de propiedad comunitaria!
Tradicionalmente y a lo largo del tiempo la propiedad de la tierra le ha pertenecido a la gente de un modo communal y queremos mantener ese derecho de propiedad, tener control sobre ella y beneficiarse de ella, no que el gobierno se beneficie de ella!
La gente de Oaxaca y de todo el pais debe tener la libertad de ponerle precio a los productos que venden y no que lo haga el gobierno mexicano o los burocratas de la OMC!
No es justo que ellos nos digan que no podemos vender nuestros productos a personas en otros lugares que quieren comprarlos bajo las condiciones que la OMC y los gobiernos de Mexico y de otras naciones nos imponen.
No es justo que los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y de Europa subsidien a corporaciones multinacionales para ayudarles a vender maiz, frijol, leche y otros productos. Como puede competir loa pequenos contra esto?
Este sistema no es libre comercio verdadero. No estamos pidiendo subsidios para nosotros mismos, solo queremos tener las mismas ventajas que todos.
Les pedimos a nuestros hermanos y hermanas de la comunidad internacional que han venido aqui a la conferencia o a protestar contra la OMC que le digan al mundo entero que no estamos en contra del libre comercio, simplemente queremos tener la misma oportunidad de para alcansar una vida digna.
Nuestra tierra no esta en venta !!!!
In English:
Enemies of Injustice
Government must stop stealing our land!
We demand respect for our property rights!
The people who live on the land and have traditionally owned this property on a communal basis must control the land and profit from it – not any government!
The people of Oaxaca and all of Mexico must be free to set their own prices for the things that they sell and not have this dictated to them by the Mexican government or WTO bureaucrats!
It is not fair for them to tell us that we cannot sell our products across borders to other people who want to buy them unless we meet certain conditions.
It is not fair that the governments of the United States and Europe give subsidies to corporations to help them sell their corn, beans, soy, milk, and other products. How can ordinary people compete?
This system is not real free trade. We aren’t asking for subsidies for ourselves, just a level playing field.
We ask our brothers and sisters in the international community who have come here for the conference or to protest against the WTO to tell the world that we are not against free trade – we simply want the opportunity to make money just like other people.
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/26.jpg"><br><br>
10th September, 2003. Farmer Lee Kyung Hae stabbed a knife into his heart on top of police barricades in Cancun, Mexico. "WTO kills farmers!" were his last words, we believe. 10th September, 2004. We are back on the streets again. Despite the desperate demands from people all round the world, WTO negotiations continue and the Korean government, while fulfilling its commitments to the WTO, continues to promote liberalization of the Korean rice market, and reduction of government control.
<br><br>
During the last ten years, the World Trade Organization(WTO/OMC) that appeared as a result of the Uruguay Rounds and the recently promoted FTAs are being driven forward towards one aim - to maximize profit of transnational capital by liberalizing agriculture and driving millions of workers away from subsistance farming, and into other lines of work. The WTO and FTAs are not merely trade organizations or agreements - they have become neoliberal doctrines and transnational laws regulating trade, and therefore every aspect of our economic lives.
<br><br>
Despite the decade of misery and endangering of the planet, transnational capital and the WTO are still pushing their agendas forward. They are telling Korea, with a mere 25% food self-sufficiency, to open up our lifeline - our rice. They are making our farmers grow enriched GMO rice, containing the DNA of other organisims in addition to the vitamins and nutrients they claim we need. Also, on 1st August, despite resistance from developing countries and peoples around the world, the WTO agreed upon the framework for the Doha Development Agenda. The Noh Moo Hyun government, in accordance with the trend, is also actively promoting FTAs with Singapore, Japan, ASEAN, EFTA and other numerous countries. In some ways, the last decade seems to have been a rehearsal for times to come.
<br><br>
The struggle to stop liberalization of rice and to protect food sovereignty is a struggle for subsistance farmers' livelihood and is at the same time, a struggle to protect the farmers' heritage of quaintness. The true meaning of food sovereignty is producing and consuming food according to our "needs", not selfish wants; and to be able to collectively decide what and how much we want to eat. The democratization of diet is key to our future. Also, it is the task of all of us to stop the WTO from depriving us of our education, healthcare, culture, water, genetic diversity, the human genome, and other essential services, which we believe to be The Commons. Food and public services are a matter of life - they are our common assets, and should be subject to the tragedy of such commons. They are our rights. They should not be objects of trade and commodification.
<br><br>
We remember the struggle, last year, of teachers and students against the submission of GATS offers, and also the struggle of peasants against the Korea-Chile FTA. And today is the one year anniversary of the Cancun struggle, in which 180 Korean workers, peasants and activists saved enough rice to pay for travel all the way to Mexico to fight with our international comrades against the ministerial, and also in which Lee Kyung Hae sacrificed his life. Just as the struggle in Cancun became the struggle of today, let the struggle of today become a even stronger struggle of tomorrow. Next week holds our future!
<br><br>
[The following are photos taken during the Korean Farmers League's protest of Globalization and Corporate Domination in Cancun, Mexico. ¡Vive la revolución del precio bajo!]
<br><br>
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/walmart1.jpg">
<br><br>
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/walmart2.jpg">
<br><br>
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/walmart3.jpg">
<br><br>
10th September, 2003. Farmer Lee Kyung Hae stabbed a knife into his heart on top of police barricades in Cancun, Mexico. "WTO kills farmers!" were his last words, we believe. 10th September, 2004. We are back on the streets again. Despite the desperate demands from people all round the world, WTO negotiations continue and the Korean government, while fulfilling its commitments to the WTO, continues to promote liberalization of the Korean rice market, and reduction of government control.
<br><br>
During the last ten years, the World Trade Organization(WTO/OMC) that appeared as a result of the Uruguay Rounds and the recently promoted FTAs are being driven forward towards one aim - to maximize profit of transnational capital by liberalizing agriculture and driving millions of workers away from subsistance farming, and into other lines of work. The WTO and FTAs are not merely trade organizations or agreements - they have become neoliberal doctrines and transnational laws regulating trade, and therefore every aspect of our economic lives.
<br><br>
Despite the decade of misery and endangering of the planet, transnational capital and the WTO are still pushing their agendas forward. They are telling Korea, with a mere 25% food self-sufficiency, to open up our lifeline - our rice. They are making our farmers grow enriched GMO rice, containing the DNA of other organisims in addition to the vitamins and nutrients they claim we need. Also, on 1st August, despite resistance from developing countries and peoples around the world, the WTO agreed upon the framework for the Doha Development Agenda. The Noh Moo Hyun government, in accordance with the trend, is also actively promoting FTAs with Singapore, Japan, ASEAN, EFTA and other numerous countries. In some ways, the last decade seems to have been a rehearsal for times to come.
<br><br>
The struggle to stop liberalization of rice and to protect food sovereignty is a struggle for subsistance farmers' livelihood and is at the same time, a struggle to protect the farmers' heritage of quaintness. The true meaning of food sovereignty is producing and consuming food according to our "needs", not selfish wants; and to be able to collectively decide what and how much we want to eat. The democratization of diet is key to our future. Also, it is the task of all of us to stop the WTO from depriving us of our education, healthcare, culture, water, genetic diversity, the human genome, and other essential services, which we believe to be The Commons. Food and public services are a matter of life - they are our common assets, and should be subject to the tragedy of such commons. They are our rights. They should not be objects of trade and commodification.
<br><br>
We remember the struggle, last year, of teachers and students against the submission of GATS offers, and also the struggle of peasants against the Korea-Chile FTA. And today is the one year anniversary of the Cancun struggle, in which 180 Korean workers, peasants and activists saved enough rice to pay for travel all the way to Mexico to fight with our international comrades against the ministerial, and also in which Lee Kyung Hae sacrificed his life. Just as the struggle in Cancun became the struggle of today, let the struggle of today become a even stronger struggle of tomorrow. Next week holds our future!
<br><br>
[The following are photos taken during the Korean Farmers League's protest of Globalization and Corporate Domination in Cancun, Mexico. ¡Vive la revolución del precio bajo!]
<br><br>
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/walmart1.jpg">
<br><br>
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/walmart2.jpg">
<br><br>
<img src="http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/02/walmart3.jpg">
<br><br>
A video summary of Bureaucrash's protest action in Cancun, during the WTO's 5th Ministerial Summit.
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