"...el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.”

In the spirit of today, a quote from the ever-wise Benito Juarez:

"Entre los individuos como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.”
Between individuals, as between nations, respect for the right of all is peace.

Today is el Dia de los Maestros (Teacher's Day). I don't think the US really celebrates it, although we probably should because teachers put up with a lot of shite, but here in Oaxaca, there is a lot of history and a lot of tension that comes with it.

The teacher's strike in Oaxaca in 2006, turned into a huge civil uprising, and from it, the APPO was born (caution...wikipedia says that the neutrality of these articles are being disputed, but you can get the general idea). Here's another article from 2006 that tells a bit about what was going on at the time.

It's been almost 3 years since the end of the violence related to the strikes, and it seems that Oaxaca, in particular, is still affected. Tourism has never fully recovered, and it seems with the news coverage of the border violence and drug cartels, and most recently the N1H1 business, it doesn't look good for the Mexican economy.

So a shameless plug for Oaxaca, because it's quickly winning my heart: please remember that Mexico is a big country, just like the US - just because there was a civil uprising 3 years ago, doesn't mean it is still unsafe for tourists; just because the border towns are having issues with drug wars, does not mean the entire country is under siege; and just because less than 50 out of more than 100 million people in Mexico contracted and died from N1H1, does not mean that the entire country is a cesspool, just waiting to infect visitors with disease.

(It's frustrating that one week's worth of hyperbolized media coverage of the N1H1 virus has so irrepably crippled the Mexican economy. The US news outlets don't even mention it anymore. It's pretty much obsolete, and yet, it will continue to affect Mexico's economy for months, if not longer.)

And that's the end of my rant. I'm off to watch the professional Oaxacan baseball team and then practice my new salsa moves at some swank salsa bar.

Paz y amor.