The Miscelánea Oaxaqueña de Acción Común Collective has launched the campaign “Oaxaca Occupied! We Didn’t Arrive, We Were Already Here” in opposition to the folklorization of Oaxaca’s traditions, the plagiarism of its textile designs, gentrification, overtourism, and what they describe as the “prostitution of the Guelaguetza.”
The collective also released the song “Canto Viento”, written by Zapotec singer-songwriter Julio Vallejo and performed by Tapacamino Colectivo Musiquero.
This Thursday, the collective will hold a march departing from Benito Juárez Market along Flores Magón Street, in the Historic Center of Oaxaca City.
They explained that “this initiative arises as a multidisciplinary effort to document and denounce the triple occupation (spatial, labor, and symbolic) suffered by our territory, where the city has ceased to exist as a place to live and has instead become something to be sold.”
They shared the following data:
Housing and Displacement: “The cost of housing in the Historic Center is prohibitive, requiring more than 83 years of the average state salary to purchase a property, while the number of Airbnb listings has increased by 650% over the past decade, displacing long-time residents.”
Water Inequality: “Amid a water shortage affecting many neighborhoods, a single visitor consumes up to four times more water than a local resident, while there are no effective regulations for the tourism sector.”
Cultural Extractivism and Labor Precarity: “We denounce the folklorization of traditions and the plagiarism of Indigenous textile designs, as well as an economic model in which most of the jobs created are informal and poorly paid, benefiting only global chains and outside interests.”
Lyrics of the Song “Canto Viento”
Goddess land of corn,
Oaxaca of Carmen Alto,
today tons of asphalt
imprison your roots.
They sell you within your own country,
just as they sell your children,
who, without your shelter,
endure the pain.
They have turned you into folklore
and into a business for the rich.
They have turned you into folklore
and into a business for the rich.
Oaxaca is not merchandise,
nor a rented Guelaguetza.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
Our true ritual,
dance, color, and joy.
Museums and handicrafts
have become a show for foreigners.
Today the owners of wealth
profit from the Guelaguetza.
Even sorrow is sold
without anyone stopping it.
That is why the air in Oaxaca
carries winds of protest.
That is why the air in Oaxaca
carries winds of protest.
Oaxaca is not merchandise,
nor a rented Guelaguetza.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
Let us recover our history,
let us go back in time.
Oaxaca is without feeling,
yet filled with memory.
No more degrading weddings
that humiliate us.
Together let us return
to the land and to the ritual.
And the true Guelaguetza
we will celebrate together.
And the true Guelaguetza
we will celebrate together.
Oaxaca is not merchandise,
nor a rented Guelaguetza.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
Oaxaca is a song carried by the wind,
a celebration of joy and nostalgia.
A beautiful song, a magical song,
dance, ritual, and offering.
A people told through your story,
of offerings and celebration,
living and dying with its music.
A song of love for the land.
Pure mountain water
with fire in the heart.
Pure mountain water
with fire in the heart.
Oaxaca is not merchandise,
nor a rented Guelaguetza.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
We are memory and origin,
we are not occupied land.
Letra de la canción “Canto Viento”
Tierra diosa del maíz,
Oaxaca del Carmen Alto,
hoy toneladas de asfalto
encarcelan tu raíz.
Te venden en tu país
como venden a tus hijos,
que solo sin tus cobijos,
resisten al dolor.
Te han convertido en folklor
y en negocio de los ricos.
Te han convertido en folklor
y en negocio de los ricos.
Oaxaca no es mercancía,
ni Guelaguetza alquilada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Nuestro ritual verdadero,
danza, color y alegría.
Los museos, la artesanía,
son show para el extranjero.
Hoy los dueños del dinero
regentean la Guelaguetza.
Se vende hasta la tristeza
sin que lo detenga nadie.
Por eso en Oaxaca el aire
carga vientos de protesta.
Por eso en Oaxaca el aire
carga vientos de protesta.
Oaxaca no es mercancía,
ni la Guelaguetza alquilada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Recuperemos la historia,
vamos atrás en el tiempo.
Oaxaca es sin sentimiento,
recargado de memoria.
No más bodas vejatorias,
que nos están humillando.
Vamos juntos regresando
a la tierra y al ritual.
Y la Guelaguetza real
te estaremos celebrando.
Y la Guelaguetza real
te estaremos celebrando.
Oaxaca no es mercancía,
ni la Guelaguetza alquilada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Oaxaca es un canto viento,
fiesta de alegría y nostalgia.
Canto bueno, canto magia,
danza, rito y el pedimento.
Pueblo narrado en tu cuento,
de ofrenda y celebración,
que vive y muere con su son.
Canto de amor por la tierra.
Agua limpia de la sierra
con fuego en el corazón.
Agua limpia de la sierra
con fuego en el corazón.
Oaxaca no es mercancía,
ni Guelaguetza alquilada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Somos memoria y origen,
no somos tierra tomada.
Source: proceso
