December 23--A group of teachers stand at a fold-up table cutting pieces of crepe paper and bunching them into colorful paper flowers. They string the flowers across branches and between trees. They are at the plazuela of the church, where the APPO’s (Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca, which has been leading the struggle in Oaxaca) alternative Noche de Rabanos has been relocated after 300 municipal police filled the famous Plaza de Santo Domingo in the zocalo. The police are here too, lining the entrances to the plazuela, with more camped a block away—riot gear ready.

The traditional brass instrument banda music in the air is accompanied by dancing on the stage. A few tourists and others walk past elaborate radish sculptures—scenes from the struggle of the last six months were carved from huge radishes. There is a figure of the PFP, with club and shield out. There's a helicopter hanging from a branch to simulate flying—with a body hanging out of it. Our favorite was the rabanos carved into a scene from the barricades: car-and-rock barricades manned by little figurines—both men and women—holding sticks with piles of rabanito rocks nearby.

Segundo informe de Oaxaca: December 22, 2006

For days we've been hearing the stories of repression. Over and over and over again the same story repeats itself: "We were kidnapped, beaten, hands tied and thrown face-down in a truck with a kick to the head for trying to look up. We were taken to a helicopter and they said 'let's see if you can fly' . . .we thought we were going to die." People have disappeared and others are in hiding -- the police are still looking for people and still threatening everyone -- people are scared.

Then today came a wave of joy -- thousands of people marching through the city of Oaxaca (along with other towns in Oaxaca, throughout Mexico, in the U.S. and Canada, in Europe, and in Latin America), their chants and songs filling the air for miles. All along the way dozens of youth decorated the walls that the city has been trying so hard to "normalize". Spray-painted slogans and posters were soon covering the route of the march. Most of the march was made up of adults of all ages, but a contingent of youth joined in gleefully singing a barrage of insults of the governor.