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Protesters pour into Mexico's violent Oaxaca city

05 Nov 2006 21:46:36 GMT
Source: Reuters

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A Federal police officer (PFP) stands near a burnt bus in Oaxaca's main plaza, Mexico November 5, 2006, as students and protesters from the Popular Assembly (APPO) prepare to march in Oaxaca.
REUTERS/HENRY ROMERO

By Frank Jack Daniel

OAXACA, Mexico, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters trying to oust a state governor marched on Sunday in the Mexican tourist city of Oaxaca where demonstrators clashed with police last week in a deepening conflict.

Soldiers searched cars for weapons and riot police unrolled razor wire in the city center as a security measure for the protest by opponents of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, who is accused of authoritarianism and corruption and refuses to resign.

"The people are demanding the Oaxaca governor goes, even though there is blood. The people are ready to die," said protester Esther Guzman, a teacher.

A five-month-long local conflict in Oaxaca spiraled into a national problem when President Vicente Fox sent thousands of federal riot police to expel striking teachers and leftist activists from the street barricades they had built.

Federal forces backed by armored vehicles with water canons clashed with protesters throwing gasoline bombs last week. At least one protester was killed in clashes, bringing the death toll since the conflict started to about 15, mostly activists.

On Sunday, one youth was wounded when gunmen opened fire on a university campus occupied by students. The campus contains a protester-run radio station.

In Oaxaca city's leafy central square, police donned body armor in fear of clashes with marchers. The army checked cars on highways into the city, apparently looking for firearms.

Before the crisis, Oaxaca was popular with visitors for its Spanish colonial buildings, Indian cultures and thriving art scene. But in the hills beyond Oaxaca city's wide valley, villagers live in grinding poverty, with poor schooling, few jobs and bad health care.

Fox has vowed to resolve the Oaxaca issue before fellow conservative Felipe Calderon takes office on Dec. 1 but Gov. Ruiz, from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, refuses to step down.

His opponents, a loose coalition of teachers, Indian groups and leftists, also vow not to give in and enjoy the support of a large part of the mostly poor population of rural Oaxaca.

A prolonged crisis in the state will be a challenge for Calderon, who already faces protests from supporters of his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who claim the conservative won July 2 presidential elections fraudulently.

"Many different leftist currents are converging here, from the center-left of Lopez Obrador to the most radical," said Isaac Torres, a member of a human rights group affiliated with the Zapatista guerrillas.

"If Calderon doesn't moderate his policies he will face problems," he said.

Lopez Obrador supporters organized massive street marches and camped out in central Mexico City for much of the summer to reject the July election result.

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Last updated:Sun Nov 5 21:47:29 2006