On today’s show, we examine the new geography of war in the context of the “old” geography of Chiapas. We talk with a compa of ours on the ground in Chiapas, who reports on some of the most recent clashes of the low-intensity war in Mitzitón, Bachajón, and Tila. We use these events, and the bigger picture in which they take place, to help us frame the conversation about the new letter from Subcomandante Marcos: “Notes on War.”

Read the full introduction on Indybay.

In-depth interview with Alejandro Reyes on the current state of repression and low-intensity war in Chiapas being waged against Zapatista communities and human rights organizations. Topics include: big-picture analysis focused on the Proyecto Mesoamérica, “sustainable rural cities,” and ecotourism; detailed reports on repression in Mitzitón, Bachajón, Tila, and the coast region; and some implications of the death of Samuel Ruiz. All in the context of the recent letter from Subcomandante Marcos to Professor Luis Villoro, titled “Notes on War.”

We interview Mike Flynn  the President of the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Chapter about the recent People’s Hearing on Racial Profiling and Police Violence that happened this month on Feb 19th and 20th. Mike was one of many organizers who made this space possible. Mike speaks about the history of the organizing efforts and specifically what made this critical space possible, the structure of the people’s hearing, why such a strategy is necessary a midst a low intensity war happening in communities of color here in oakland, and the success of this specific space.

Complete Video and Audio of the People’s Hearing can be found at

www.peopleshearing.wordpress.com

The focus of this month’s show is war. War is everywhere, it surrounds us and permeates every aspect of society; war is strikingly apparent, captivating our eyes and ears with gunfire and explosions, but it is also silent, subtle, seemingly innocuous, difficult and at times even impossible to see. War is also everyday life under capitalism. War therefore takes many different forms simultaneously. What we want to do today is not simply report about sites of war but examine some of war’s different modes, the forms that war takes across space and time. We will look at three formations: Mexico and the narco-state, North Africa and the repressive state apparatus, and the Bay Area and the police state. Despite their differences, all of these geopolitical sites have experienced the varying but devastating effects of war and, furthermore, they all recognize that the enemy is the state in some form or another, state agents or institutions like the police or the military tied to bureaucracies of power and the reins of capital.

The full intro can be found at

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/03/07/18674060.php

Today’s show is a difficult one. This past month—actually, within the course of a single week—Zapatistas, Other Campaign adherents and sympathizers around the world lost two extraordinary compañeros. John Ross, who passed away on January 17, was an author, poet, journalist, and activist who left his home in New York in 1957, following the Beat Trail to Mexico City.  John wrote extensively about the Zapatista struggle and Mexican politics, dividing his time mostly between Mexico City and San Francisco.  John personifies the kind of physical and mental migrations we hope to make in the best of worlds in our own attempts to define and practice a solidarity that goes beyond its conventional, privileged form. It moves beyond the global as something that’s always “over there,” to a way of imagining a politics that actively resists and undoes borders, creating community and encounter in all that we do…

Full intro is available on indybay.org.

In this segment, DJ Alita reports from La Paz, Bolivia on the festivities of the fifth anniversary of the government of Evo Morales, and the first of the Plurinational State. It focuses in particular on the contradictions revealed by the gasolinazo, as well as debates about the uses of the Zapatista concept of “mandar obedeciendo.”

Relatos Zapatistas show from January, focused on mechanisms for producing communication and community in and around the prison-industrial complex. Does struggle resonate through walls? Includes special interviews regarding the Georgia prison strike and solidarity in the Bay Area, the Prison University Project at San Quentin, and gang injunctions in Fruitvale.

Full introduction available at Indybay.

Interview with a member of Redwood Curtain Copwatch who has been organizing around the 2007 police killing of Martin Cotton II. The interview tells the story of Martin’s murder in the Humboldt County Jail by Eureka Police Department (EPD) and the Sheriff. It also describes how Redwood Curtain Copwatch has kept Martin’s killing in public memory even though the Humboldt County Judicial system has yet to prosecute any Eureka officers and Humboldt County Sheriff who were involved. Martin Cotton’s 5-year old daughter and father are suing EPD and the Humboldt Country Sheriff; the trial begins on Jan 11 at the Courthouse in Oakland. Please check out Redwood Curtain Copwatch for more information.

THE POLITICS OF VICTIMHOOD: Special podcast featuring interviews with Zach Levenson, a UC Berkeley student involved in protests around police brutality and the murder of Oscar Grant, and the privatization of public education; and John Gibler, a reporter who’s extensively covered Mexican social movements and conflicts including the Zapatistas’ “Other Campaign,” the Oaxaca rebellion of 2006, and the Mexican government’s narco-wars.

Full introduction available at Indybay.