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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2006 
Protesters Take Two Police Officers Hostage Near Oaxaca
 Rebeca Romero - Associated Press
| | Two unidentified police officers are shown to the press after they were taken hostage by demonstrators in the town of San Bartolo Coyotepec, near Oaxaca city, Mexico, Tuesday Aug. 15, 2006. The police officers were taken hostage while searching for a protest leader to arrest him, the latest sign of unrest in the southern state of Oaxaca, where protesters have besieged the picturesque capital since June, occasionally clashing with police. (AP/Pablo Spencer) |
San Bartolo Coyotepec, Mexico Two police officers allegedly attempting to arrest a protest leader were taken hostage Tuesday by a crowd of demonstrators armed with machetes, police said.
The police were being held in the jail of the small town of San Bartolo Coyotepec, about 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Oaxaca City. They arrived early Tuesday, looking for protest leader Flavio Villavicencio, Police Chief Manuel Moreno said. It was not clear why Villavicencio was being sought, or if police planned to charge him with a crime.
The hostage-taking was the latest sign of unrest in the southern state of Oaxaca. Protesters have besieged the state capital, Oaxaca City, since June, when state police attacked striking teachers occupying the historic central plaza while demanding a wage increase.
Since then, thousands of teachers, unionists and leftists have camped out in the plaza, spray-painting buildings with revolutionary slogans, smashing hotel windows and erecting makeshift barricades. Most businesses remain closed and police have pledged not to enter the plaza.
Local police officers Jose Luis Diaz and Joaquin Jimenez Ogarrio told reporters their capture was due to a misunderstanding. In contrast to Moreno's version of events, they both said they were off duty on Tuesday and just happened to be passing by Villavicencio's house when angry townspeople detained them.
But Villavicencio's wife, who was not identified, said the officers entered her house and pointed a gun at her and her children.
The striking teachers, meanwhile, said they would take the two officers to the Oaxaca City central plaza to exhibit them. They did not elaborate and police officials did not comment on any plans to rescue the two kidnapped officers.
Also Tuesday, the Mexican Association of Newspaper Editors issued a news release condemning the teachers' decision a day earlier to block national Mexican television network Azteca and two daily Oaxacan newspapers from covering their events, due to the media outlets' alleged alliance with state Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.
In addition to demanding a raise, the teachers have pushed for the resignation of Ruiz, whom they accuse of using force to repress dissent and of rigging the 2004 election to win office. Ruiz has denied the accusations and refuses to step down |
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