Between February 16 and 19, the First Cultural Week of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) took place in Oaxaca City. The participants included members from a variety of social organizations which make up the APPO. Forums, conferences, debates, and other cultural events dealt with issues like journalism, human rights, and the various perspectives of the APPO.
Following the Cultural Week, on February 20, the Second Ordinary Statewide Congress of the APPO began. After an inauguration open to the press, in the afternoon the organizations that make up the APPO met behind closed doors to discuss the various positions, beliefs, and proposals present in the Assembly.
Two members of SIPAZ were present at the Congress and interviewed various counterparts in the City of Oaxaca. A number of the counterparts stressed that the challenges for the delegates participating in Second Congress of the APPO will be to search for common ground, the acceptance of diversity, and the tolerance of different ideas and many different voices.
The objectives of the Congress included how to continue the politicization of the people of Oaxaca, as well as incorporate new movements which were born out the violence and repression of 2006-2007 and continue to function as neighborhood groups outside of the structure of the APPO. According to a number of actors, another of the challenges of the Second Congress is the need to reorganize the leadership and create a more transparent structure.
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